Re: Sweet Lena

In a message dated 96-08-29 21:05:07 EDT, you write:

>Sweet Lena has been 
>identified as Pallida Androfertila - and was so identified by Tira 
>Nursery in Israel (per Holland's ad in April 1996 Bulletin, Page 114)

Please believe me when I say that no one is angry about you bringing this
subject up...I am sure that others who have commented on it are as grateful
as I am.  This is an interesting subject that requires some attention.  And
you are absolutely right about what the issue is...it involves AIS
registration policies.  I certainly don't blame Mr. Holland for applying for
registration...but his application should have been denied, or at least until
people knowledgeable on historic irises had a chance to grow it and compare
it to historic cultivars. 

Reference Tira Nursery identifying this cultivar as " I. pallida
androfertila," I can find no reference to such an iris in any of the
literature.  This appears to be a spurious name, without validity. 

 "Androfertilia" simply means "male fertile."  Iris pallida is fertile both
ways, so what in the world would such a term as "I. pallida androfertila"
mean?  It would seemingly mean that it is not a true clone of I. pallida,
because a clone which was not female fertile would not be a true form of the
species.   I am sure Tira Nursery is a reputable firm, but I seriously doubt
the expertise of their staff when it comes to identifying iris species forms,
other than perhaps Oncocylus species.  

Your point about this information being in an ad in the AIS Bulletin is a
good point...but even though Tira Nursery identified this iris as Iris
pallida androfertila, as the ad says,  does not make Tira's Nursery's
identification a correct identification.  As I said above, the name seems to
be a non sequitur, i.e. nonsense.  

Someone, commented that some people are not interested in names, just
interested in beautiful irises.  If you are interested in getting the plant
you are paying for, or the iris you want, you should be interested in proper
names and in supporting the registration system and rules.  

Before there was an iris registration system several different cultivars were
sold under the same name.  Some nursery would see a lavender blue iris and
decide it looked just like the PALLIDA DALMATICA that Mrs. Jones had...they
would then tack the name PALLIDA DALMATICA on the iris and sell it under that
name. (Had they identified the cultivar correctly by its proper name, which
might be OLD RAGGEDY IRIS, they could get $1.00...but having renamed it
PALLIDA DALMATICA they now got $6.00 for it. )  Sometimes the same name was
given by different breeders to several different irises...thus when you
bought a BLACK PRINCE you might get one of 5 or 6 different irises...I hope
this explains why names and registration are important..  

Clarence Mahan in VA, who believes names are important.
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