HIST: Limitations of '39 Color Codes
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: HIST: Limitations of '39 Color Codes
- From: "* a* C* W* <c*@digitalpla.net>
- Date: Sat, 3 Jan 1998 11:25:41 -0700 (MST)
In describing the color of PTOLOMEE (Vilmorin, 1931) Anner writes (from a
catalog description):
>
> "Very large flowers, Standards dauphin blue, flaring falls purple violet
> shaded toward the edges, styles pyrethrum yellow with dauphin blue
center,
> beard sunshine yellow, straight stems, strong and beautifully slender."
In attempting to describe PTOLOMEE's color from the code in the '39
Checklist, I wrote:
> PTOLOMEE codes out as R3D, which I decipher as a deep purple bitone.
This discrepancy illustrates the deficiencies of 1) moi, and 2) the '39
Checklist in their ability to convey an accurate sense of the colors of the
irises listed therein. That is why HIPS efforts to collect all kinds of
printed descriptions are such a vital part of the endeavor to preserve our
iris heritage and identify historic cultivars.
>
> As plant pornography goes, this is not altogether to be despised. Of
course,
> another description says "dolphin" blue, so there it is in a nutshell.
A fairly clear case of over-translation as "dauphin" in French is the same
word as "dolphin" in English, but the French word carries connotations
other than "marine mammal" that are lost when the word is translated.
Jeff Walters in northern Utah (USDA Zone 4, Sunset Zone 2)
cwalters@digitalpla.net
