HYB: HIST: edges, spots, amoenas, luminatas, umbratas

Thanks Chuck for all the great information/thoughts etc.  My brain
doesn't absorb it all as fast as it used to, and frustratingly forgets
the whole story halfway thru, but I'm getting there.

I've spent some time tracing pedigrees and looking at pictures.  Chuck's
comment about light edges 'just being part of the luminata pattern' (and
therefore not 'umbrata') was really interesting.  Because I love the
lighter edges, and generally don't get all that excited about zonals,
'regular' plicatas, or flowers otherwise with light centers, I hadn't
been paying attention to enough to realize there are different types of
'umbratas'.

I looked up all the irises that Chuck mentioned as having the 'umbrata'
pattern, plus some from Blyth breeding, plus LIASON, plus all the ones I
could find in my treasured 1947 Schreiner catalog, plus ones from Mike
Lowe's web site.  I haven't finished with all of them but many/most of
them trace back to WINE AND ROSES, and further back to SHAH JEHAN - no
wonder that I fell madly in love with that one.  (A gift from another
lister several years ago who didn't know its name but was sure I'd like
it!). Some go back to WABASH. Some are luminatas and go back to
plicatas.  

The 'umbrata' pattern from SHAH JEHAN and WABASH seems to be dominant
(tho I don't know for sure what all the un-named/undescribed links in
some of the generations are).  (another senior moment - I can't remember
whether or not the amoena pattern has to have a white ground or if it
just has to have anthocyanins suppressed in the standards.  Assuming
it's the latter), do all recessive amoenas have light rims around dark
falls?  Would somebody forward that question to Griff Crump if he's not
'listening'?

Do all luminatas have a light edge on the falls?  This is probably where
my much muddied mind came up with the idea that the 'umbrata' pattern
might be linked to the plicata allele.  Any idea how the plicata allele
gets switched from only having pigment at the edges of the falls to not
having any at the edges?

Then there are the interesting 'umbratas' whose pedigrees make no sense
at all!  Some of these come from plicatas, some come from pinks, some
come from 'washes' a few generations back that suddenly become a much
stronger pattern.  

The power is off, it's 10oF outdoors, my laptop battery isn't fully
charged, and I'm not going to try to find/decipher my handwritten
scribbles about pedigrees by candlelight, so won't list all the
cultivars that I researched in this post, but will do that later, if
anybody's interested.  The one that stands out in my mind is RUSTLER. 
It seems to be the source of COPATONIC's gorgeous umbrata pattern.  I
couldn't figure out from the pedigree where RUSTLER's pattern came from
- lots of pinks and plicatas scattered around and a couple with light
rims, but nothing that seemed to be dominant.  Does COPATONIC have
children yet & do they have the 'umbrata' pattern?  Does it seem to be
transmitted as a dominant trait?

Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
brrrr - getting light enough outdoors to get some wood in here and start
a 'fahr'.
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