TB: Leaf Color (was Garden Report)
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: TB: Leaf Color (was Garden Report)
- From: "* a* C* W* <c*@digitalpla.net>
- Date: Sun, 8 Feb 1998 10:07:16 -0700 (MST)
Rusty writes:
> Anyway, some of them are growing practically on top of other
> irises, and I noticed something... Have any of you ever noticed that the
> fans of certain culitvars are a different shade of green than the plant
> they grow right next to? Just curious.
Rusty,
J. Marion Shull who meticulously described the TB irises of his day in his
1931 book "Rainbow Fragments" noted leaf color using the following terms:
gl=glaucous, g=green, yg=yellow-green, bg=blue-green, d=deep (a modifier of
any of the preceding), and t=purple-tinged (glaucous refers to the whitish
substance on the surface of the leaf that gives the green of the leaf
itself a grayish cast).
By this sytem he classified the leaf color of SINDJKHA, for example, as
glyg=glaucous yellow-green
LORELEY was bgt=blue-green with a purple-tinged base
QUAKER LADY was glgt=glaucous green with a purple-tinged base
MADAME CHEREAU was glg=glaucous green, and so forth
The diversity of leaf color must be related to the diversity of ancestry of
TB iris. For example, I believe purple leaf bases are supposed to be
derived from I. variegata and I. pallida is known for its glaucous
blue-green foliage.
Jeff Walters in northern Utah (USDA Zone 4, Sunset Zone 2)
cwalters@digitalpla.net
