Re: HYB: Tetraploid I. suaveolens

Martin,  I have not heard of anyone developing a tetraploid form of
*suaveolens/mellita*, but I think such would be very useful.  Crossed with
*pumila,* for instance, it could produce some very small "SDB" types that
would probably fall into the MDB category.  There are a lot of folks who would
be very interested in such a hybrid.

There are brief descriptions of techniques for use of colchicine with adult
plants and well as tiny seedlings for chormosome doubling.  I would expect the
Oryzalin/Treflan/Surflan use would give similar results as the colchicine, but
have no idea what the dilution needs to be.  The article, which I believe I
sent you, from Kevin Vaughn about his use of these herbicides with other
materials is a good starting point.

You might try an online search for technical research papers concerning both
these chemical families used for inducing polyploidy.  Something might surface
that would give you some help.

Another source of very valuable information might be Dr. Tamburg in Germany.
Thomas Tamburg has a Berlin address, and has been working with Siberian irises
for a number of years.  A number of his tetraploids are on the market.  His
address is listed in the back of the Check List 1999.

Yet another source would be to get in contact with someone from the Median
Iris Society.  Rita Gormley, who is on Iris-talk, is a potential contact
person who could put you in touch with someone who could answer your question
about *suaveolens* I think.

SIGNA is another source.  You should be able to find an on-line address for
them.  I don't believe I have it on file, but am fairly sure it exists.  A
search engine such as google.com should surface their site quickly.

Best of luck to you in this venture!  I for one, and I doubt I am alone in
this, will be waiting to hear your results.

Neil Mogensen z 7, western NC, USA

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