Re: Re: HIST:Swerti vs. Swertii & a bit on plicata origins

Hi Tom,

The other plicatas related to I. pallida that I know of do not have the
"pinched" falls.  In your hybrids I had assumed that the characteristic of
the flower had come from the other parent, without really thinking about
it.  I haven't seen a flower of 'Kupari' yet (am working on it), but from
your comment I'm guessing it's not this way.

There are a number of other I. pallida type diploid plicatas, and most of
them have "normally" shaped pallida type flowers.  Some "better" looking
old ones include 'Ma Mie' and 'Mme. Chereau'.  They are also larger.

I've seen this odd shape as in 'Swertii' in a few other pallidas, not all
plicatas, but can't remember off-hand the names, nor if any even have
names.  The closest that I can think of the name for is 'Fairy', and it is
also a plicata, though the coloring is not so well expressed.  Perhaps this
trait is indeed something derived from another species besides pallida in
the ancestry, but it would tend to argue against I. variegata which has a
strong tendency toward flaring or even horizontal falls.

I'm just guessing, but I doubt that this shape is linked to the plicata
gene (unless there are more than one version of the plicata gene or of the
plicata gene-carrying chromosome), since most of the plicatas I know
(including diploids) are not of this shape.  There are a few old plicata
tetraploid TB's that come to mind that do tend to have the falls bent back
under, but they are mental pictures, and I need to look up the names at
home.  They don't have the squarish small flower of 'Swertii' though.

Dave

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