SOS: Irids in Danger

I took the liberty of copying the iris list's concerns to Dr. James Waddick,
of the Rare Iris Study Center,  who is concerned and very intimately involved
with the study and conservation of plant material.  This is what he wrote
back:

Subj:	 Rare Irids
Date:	98-04-09 10:12:32 EDT
From:	jim-jim@swbell.net (James W. Waddick)


Dear Kathy;
	The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has
regularly published a variety of terms for various degrees of
threat/endangerment:
	'Rare', 'Threatened', 'Endangered'  and of course 'Extinct'. The
Nature Conservancy adds levels called 'of concern', 'sensitive', 'special
concern' etc.

	Since I have not heard any more than what was superficially
reported, I suspect these are 'ball-park' figures and probably pretty
close. Since the family Iridaceae is fairly large (approximately 100 genera
and 1800 (or so ?) species), widely distributed and of some commercial
interest, it is expected that many would be somehow affected by human
expansion and climatic change.

	The largest problem is that (and probably because most iridaceae
have little or no economic value) they are relatively poorly known.
Consider the North American species. Regardless of claims, there has been
no comprehensive study of most species. How many Louisiana iris species are
there? What are their distributions especially on the coastal plains and
FL.
	There are at least two very threatened (endangered) species in the
US - Iris lacustris and I. tenuis. At least two other species are
extensively collected for the garden trade: I. cristata and I. verna. And
there remains one very poorly known iris I. pariensis whose exact status
remains problematical.
	Considering that the status of American Iris are fialry well known,
those of third world countries are surely more idfficult to assess.
	The genus Iris consists of some 250 or so species. Other genera,
especially those restricted in habitat or dug for local exploitatiion
(mostly purported herbal remedies), are much more threatened. Wild
collection for horticulture continues to put pressure on too many bulbous
plants in general, especially on the rarest and most endangered species.

	A few years ago I contributed to a book called 'The Gardener's
Guide to  Plant Conservation" done by the World Wildlife Fund's Nina
Marshall. It is still available from them: (410)516-6951 Also check your
library for this title - it is quite enlightening. It includes the genus
iris, plus a wide range of other problem groups such as cacti, orchids,
'wildflowers', etc

	As to the 'need' for an irid section of AIS, this is beyond me. I
do know that both the BIS and SIGNA has offered seed of  'other iridaceae'
for many years in their seed exchange. Bulbous irids are well considered by
the International Bulb Society (IBS). As to the AIS' willingness or
interest to include other irids more widely, I cannot guess, but suspect
there might be more interest in developing a separate society for irids
(excluding the genus Iris). That is up to the interests of its founders and
members.

	There is considerable literature on the family and many specific
genera such as Moraea, Gladiolus (has it's own society), Crocus ( has a
sub-section of BIS), and various Cape Bulbs -all of which have publications
devoted to their cultivation.

	If there is any 'bottom line' to all this, I believe it is the need
of all interested persons to support the basic research to understand the
status of rare, threatened and endangered plant species. Knowledgeable
gardeners can play a major role in conserving the species in cultivation
and keeping pure stocks of plants. That is one of the roles of the 'Rare
Iris Study Center': to connect researchers and gardeners to determine the
means of growing these rarities in cultivation as many have highly specific
needs and are horticultural challenges.

	Please feel free to passs the above in part or total to the pesons
you quoted.

	Best wishes and thanks for the interest generated by the recent
announcements.			Jim W.

	Thanks		Jim W.
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