Re: I. missouriensis
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: I. missouriensis
- From: D* L* <g*@rogerswave.ca>
- Date: Wed, 29 Jan 1997 04:50:39 -0700 (MST)
On Tue, 28 Jan 1997, Barbara Mann wrote:
> Glad to see someone working with I. missouriensis. It was the wild iris of my
> Montana yourth. It grew very well in pastures forming clumps about a foot in
> diameter. The seed pods made wonderful "rattlesnake rattles." The form I grew
> up with was very pale with stippled veins and was virtually the same for
> hundreds of square miles. Only in my college years did I find a population
> which varied from white through lavender and shades of blue. This group was
> growing near Larmie, Wyoming."
>
> Missouriensis seems to be quite variable around here, possibly because the
> Santa Fe area is at a jucture of mountains, plains, and high desert, and the
> number and quality of microclimates is staggering! There is even rumored to
> be a population of yellow I. missouriensis somewhere on Johnson Mesa, and one
> of these days if I can get somebody to point me in the direction of Johnson
> Mesa, I'll go looking for them. taking your camera with you, i
hope.
The wildflowers book says that missourienses grows in wet meadows
and if it occurs it is an indication of water close to the soil
surface. So if the environment is dry under the soil surface it may
not grow very well. Plus there is the variability with
microenvironments that Barb mentions.
--
Diana Louis <dlouis@dynamicro.on.ca>
Zone 4/5 Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
