Re: Re: Iris missouriensis
- Subject: Re: [iris-talk] Re: Iris missouriensis
- From: J* a* C* W*
- Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2001 20:46:19 -0700
> From: Gerry Snyder <gerrysnyder@mediaone.net>
> I am curious about size variability. Twice in the mid/late 1970's in
> the early spring I did horse/back-packing trips into the Big Sandy
> region of the Wind River Range in Wyoming. Both times there were
> carpets of small (around 1/2" tall, no more than 5" tall--for those
> of you in the real world, that's something like 1 cm. bloom, 8 cm.
> tall) purple flowers covering large areas of the flatlands.
> Were these altitude-dwarfed I. missouriensis, or is this even within
> normal size variability?
Gerry,
There are apparently a number of depauperate forms of I. missouriensis
found in extreme environments, including the mythical "I. pariensis" from
the desert country along the the Utah-Arizona border that was discussed in
a couple of articles in the AIS Bulletin in the early 1990's. Your high
mountain form is almost certainly another such case. I don't believe anyone
has identified a native iris in the Rocky Mountain-Great Basin region other
than I. missouriensis in its various incarnations.
Jeff Walters in northern Utah (USDA Zone 4/5, Sunset Zone 2, AHS Zone 7)
jcwalters@bridgernet.com
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