Re: HIST: Iris germanica colour ?

> From: bourdillon.iris <BOURDILLON.IRIS@wanadoo.fr>
> very interesting, do you think it's possible to make a map with the
> repartition of different I.germanica in All Europe ? I have a map with
> mediterrenean zone but not for east .

Luc,

Since none of the common forms labeled I. germanica seems to be a true
natural species, the distributions that were recorded for them when people
first took the trouble to write them down merely represent the extent to
which they had been spread around by human agency at the time the
observations were made.

There are published indications that the center of variation for germanicas
is in the vicinity of Arles in southern France around the mouths of the
Rhone. There was an interesting article in the Spring 2002 issue of SIGNA
(the journal of the Species Iris Group of North America) by Nigel Service
in which he provided a detailed description of several germanica forms from
this region. (This was supposed to be the first of several articles on the
subject, but the second one has not yet appeared).

The germanicas that are depicted in Vincent van Gogh's famous painting of
the irises he observed growing in the garden of the asylum at St. Remy are
certainly not the nepalensis type that is usually associated with this
area, since they are predominantly blue-violet and distinctly bitoned (the
lone white iris in the painting has been identified as I. albicans by
Clarence Mahan).

Jeff Walters in northern Utah  (USDA Zone 4/5, Sunset Zone 2, AHS Zone 7)
HIPS Commercial Source Chairman
jcwalters@bridgernet.com 

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index