dwarfs
Here's a new subject.
With my interest in the background of various types of cultivars, I find
one big group that I know extremely little about. The dwarf bearded types.
Historically these were often called "I. pumila" in the same way that all
the tall bearded cultivars were often refered to as "I. germanica", but I
know this is generally not correct.
I find that in the the literature they get far less attention than the
TB's. I have a fair handle on how the TB's came to be, and I have a pretty
good understanding of the background of the MTB's, but I'm also curious
also about the dwarfs and intermediates. Since many dwarf species of
bearded Iris do not have the usual base number of 12 chromosomes, I'm
curious which species are mostly involved in their ancestry, and what is
the chromosome make-up. It seems that most modern cultivars are fertile
(?); so, are they derived mostly from base-12 species now too. Or, are
they produced over and over by crossing tall cultivars with dwarf species
and cultivars?
I know that several of the older IB's were from TB's crossed with I.
chameiris/lutescens sorts, and that they ended up being very like the true
I. x germanica with 8+12+12+12 chromosomes, and were of rather poor
fertility. However, I assume that this isn't still the case with most
modern cultivars?
I know it's probably not a simple picture, and I'm sure that it's all old
hat to some of you breeders. But, if anyone can fill in some background
basics, I'd love to learn more.
By the way, I'd also like to learn (if possible - could be a long list?)
which of the IB's (and perhaps SDB's?) are indeed 44 chromosome cultivars
derived from TB's crossed with I. chameiris/lutescens. These seem to be
very tolerant of our climate in New Mexico, to be strong growers, and to
rebloom really well for me.
I know I can research this from pedigrees, and eventually come up with many
answers, but I would like to put some framework in place in my mind before
I leap in blindly.
Thanks,
Dave
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