Re: SPEC setosa ques

> It is interesting you ask those specific questions, because Duane Buell,
> who is also on the list suggested that well-drained soils, such as you
> find in high alpine, would be a strong limiting factor for a plant such
> as setosa. He thought if the plant turned out to be setosa, and was not
> growing on muskeg, with water on its roots fairly constantly, then that
> plant had a special adaptation.
> One of the most noticeable habitat-limiting factors for setosa in my
> area seems to be water supply. They grow thickly in mud flat areas on
> the coast where there is 1) no root competition from trees, 2) a fairly
> constant water supply to the root zone, but 3) water doesn't stand on
> the rhizome itself for any extended time. They exist in a fairly precise
> band that is not constantly wet in the rhizome area, but has available
> water in the root zone.
I am looking into the question of whether or not setosa will grow in
alpine areas by attempting contact some botanists familiar with the
flora of Maine,NH and SE Canada.  What I have learned so far is that in
this part of the zone that it grows, it is found predominantly in
coastal bog areas and it is rated as a s3 (s1=most endangered,
s5=prevalent). That population rating means that there are between 50
and 100 populations of it in the wild, if I remember correctly, and
there is a chance I don't.  My conclusion is that it could ocur more
inland and possibly higher in elevation.  I have never been to mid or
northern Maine to check this out, though.  On occaision it is possible
to find muskeg or peat type bogs at high elevation, But I tink that it
would be resonable to conclude that the odds of this happening
frequently is slim.  A setosa that  has adapted to a drier condition is
more likely, I think.  The setosa gene pool is large enough for that to
have happened somewhere.  The trick may be to find it.  
> I have a question. Why do you collect setosas - for study? I notice
> you're a college student. I'd like to know a lot more about the types
> you have, where you got them, etc. Unfortunately, they are the only type
> I can grow very well here, so I focus on them quite a bit. You can
> e-mail me off-list if you're afraid it'd be too long. I'm really curious
> about your chinese setosa. If you have a scanned pix, I'd like to see
> what it looks like. I can't quite picture it from your description. You
> said you were wondering if its traits were influenced by its growing at
> high altitude - is that the normal habitat for this chinese setosa? And
> would you know at what altitude? I didn't know setosas were known for
> growing at altitude. For the environment to control its growth habits
> for more than one generation, it would need to be a genetic
> adaptaptation, I believe.
I am a 19 year old college freshman and I have been growing them for at
least five years now because I find them intriguing.  What other single
Iris species can be from 5 inches to more than three feet in height?
there are few, but not many.  I have been making crosses for the last
three years between the different colors and sizes with the hope that
some recessive traits will show up in the next generation.  I do not
have any of my stuff scanned, though I have slides and should do so
soon.  On the chinese setosa, the flower is fairly different form the
typical.  It is blue violet and is thinner of substance (more droopy)
and it also have a slight, uniform twist to the falls.  Again, the
foliage is short, wrinkly and wide and the stalks are slender with a
fairly high bud count. I have crossed it with whites and the variegated
form (this is yet unstable varigation, there are no clones of it that
exhibit the potential to produce 100% variegated increase, it seems to
be around 50% varigated increase) as well as the shorter canadensis and
some white ones with pink buds. One white with pink budded seedling has
a third branch consistently, plus a spur for ten buds or more. 
Otherwise, rarities have not really shown up yet, other than the deep
wine red that I mentioned before.  I have a tet variety called moorsee
that have a fairly differnet flower form, and also a fairly good number
of sibtosas from different origins. I hope that this answers the above
questions, I have been kind of rambling.
> In another letter, Juri Pirogov asked if you had marbled setosa
> described by Dr. Rodionenko from Kamchatka. You described an off-white
> one that had a marbled "virus" type pattern. I don't understand what you
> mean by "virus" pattern, but I have a pink setosa which has streaky
> coloring, some years going so far as to create subtle "banding". Is this
> what you and Juri are referring to? It doesn't look especially marbled,
> more on the streaky side. 
OK, it might be considered to be marbled, we are dealing with words
whose meanings are tough to distiguish, The anthocyanin (i think)
pigment shows up on a flower that opens slightly pink and fades to white
in 6 hours in streaks of inconsitent size and they are not evenly
distributed over the flower.  The more wine pink streaks on a flower,
the thinner the substance seems to be.  As far as contagious conditions
are concerned, I don't believe this to be as there are other setosas and
other species planted all around it.  Feel free to ask for clarification
on any point here, It is a bit late now and I am sure I forgot to
address something. 
 Andrew Wheeler
>From Ice covered Maine. -5 to 0 F or so outside, high of maybe 20
tommorrow. Enjoy your Unguicularis all you warm people.
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