HIST: Purple King
- To:
- Subject: HIST: Purple King
- From: J* a* C* W*
- Date: Thu, 18 May 2000 20:26:27 -0600
Hello, Everyone!
At our local iris show last year one of our members brought in a collection
of stalks of unknown Historics for possible identification. The only one we
were able to give a name to was Quaker Lady. I asked for a start of it, but
later in the season when she went to dig it up she couldn't remember which
clump the stalk had come from and so she dug up divisions from two clumps
and gave them to me. One had pbf and the other didn't. I am assuming if
either one of the rhizomes I received is QL it is the one with pbf.
Unfortunately, this one has had growth problems due to our oscillating warm
and cool weather this spring and will not bloom this year. The one with all
green leaves has bloomed, however, along with the IBs. The stalk is 19
inches high and has 4 buds (two in the terminal and one in each of two
somewhat elongated upright branches that grow close to the stalk). The
flower form, pattern of haft venation, and beard color and shading appear
identical to those in the photo of I. germanica on the HIPS website, but
the flower color is a nearly uniform deep royal purple rather than the
bitoned blue-violet of the typical germanica.
The 1939 AIS Checklist considers all named forms of dark, purple germanicas
to be synonymous with PURPLE KING (collected in Katmandu, Nepal by Wallich
in 1830). I have never come across a reference to PK in the recent iris
literature. Is PK still considered to be a valid name and are positively
identifiable clones of PK known to be in existence? The purple iris I have
described is not uncommon in this area.
Jeff Walters in northern Utah (USDA Zone 4/5, Sunset Zone 2, AHS Zone 7)
jcwalters@bridgernet.com
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