Re: Reblooming Classification - 'Lady Emma'

I think they are classed as they are registered, and as they bloom under 
optimal conditions, which means that if they are smaller when they flower 
in the autumn, the classification is still the same.

In my growing conditions, with poor soil, high nearly constant winds, hot 
summer days, cool nights, sunny dry weather year-round, most IB's measure 
down as either MTB's or SDB's, even when they bloom normally in the 
spring.  When they rebloom, they pretty much all would fit into the SDB 
classification.  The  SDB's tend to be about the same size as the MTB's, 
except that the flowers are larger (that is they mostly flower at around 3 
to 6 inches tall).  So growing conditions can and do make a huge 
difference in how tall a stalk is and in how big a flower is. 

By the way, regarding 'Lady Emma', there was discussion about its 
classification recently, in which it was called an IB, but pointed out 
that it is registered as an MTB.  I mentioned that it is really 
genetically more like most IB's. 

I did finally get around to checking out it's pedigree, and it is 
definitely an IB by breeding, and it should have 44 chromosome (though I 
don't know if it's been counted yet).  Along some lines it represents at 
least the 12th generation of TB ancestry from species origins, but from I. 
pumila it is only the third generation.  The species included in it's 
ancestry are I. pumila, I. variegata, I. pallida, I. trojana, I. cypriana 
(which is probably just a regional form of I. trojana), I. mesopotamica 
(also probably belongs in I. trojana), and the collected cultivars 'Amas' 
and 'Macrantha' (which probably should be referred to I. varbossiana, 
which is also close to I. trojana).  Possibly there are others, as there 
are TB cultivars of unlisted parentage, some apparently never named. 

Except for I. pumila, which makes it small, 'Lady Emma' has the classic 
ancestry for a tetraploid TB Iris, with mostly I. pallida and Near Eastern 
tetraploid TB species as ancestors, plus I. variegata sneaking in through 
'Aurea', 'Cordelia', 'Gracchus', 'Hector', and 'Jake's Blue'.   I. pumila 
comes in as "I. pumila Schecht", which was crossed with 'Clear Sailing' to 
produce 'Twice Blessed' - a 40 chromosome SDB, which was crossed with 
'Autumn Orangelite' (a 48 chromosome TB) to produce 'Lady Emma', which 
should by parentage be a 44 chromosome early flowering classic old 
fashioned IB.

When I talked about classifications and how they tend to related to 
ancestry and chromosome make-up before, I forgot to mention that many 
diploids were registered as IB's or BB's, because they were too big to be 
MTB's and too small to be TB's.  They should in mind be a classification 
of their own.  They were dominant cultivars in their day, but they are 
mostly ignored now, except by collectors of historics.  Very few new 
cultivars come out of this type any more (Thomas Silvers seems to be 
making some nice ones though).   'Lady Emma' definitely is not one of 
these either.

Just for fun -    I'm not going to try and put a pedigree chart here, but 
below is the list of cultivars found in the ancestry of 'Lady Emma'. There 
are more than listed, because some of the following do not have parentage 
listed in their registry entries, or the pollen parent wasn't known.  They 
should all be 48 chromosome tetraploids unless noted otherwise.  Lots of 
rebloomers in here, only a couple of MTB or potential MTB ancestors - way 
back:

I. cypriana
I. mesopotamica
I. pallida (diploid, 2n = 12)
I. pallida 'Gertrude' (diploid, 2n=12) *
I. pallida 'Juniata' (diploid, 2n = 12) *
I. pallida 'Mme. Chereau' (diploid, 2n=12) *
I. pumila (tetraploid, 2n = 32)
I. x sambucina 'Aurea' (diploid, 2n = 12) *
I. x sambucina 'Autumn Elf' (diploid, 2n=12) *
I. x sambucina 'Cordelia' (diploid, 2n = 12) *
I. x sambucina 'Hector' (diploid, 2n=12) *
I. x sambucina 'Honorabile' (diploid, 2n=12) *
I. x sambucina 'Jake's Blue' (diploid, 2n=12) *
I. trojana
I. trojana 'Trosuperba'
I. varbossiana 'Amas' *
I. varbossiana 'Macrantha' *
I. variegata
I. variegata 'Gracchus' (diploid, 2n=12)*
'Afterglow'
'Ambrosia'
'Argentina'
'Autumn King'
'Autumn Orangelite' (registered as TB 18", often listed as BB)
'Autumn Sunset'
'Bruno'
'Cardinal'
'Caterina'
'Clear Sailing'
'Conquistador'
'Coritica'
'Dauntless'
'Dolly Madison'
'Dominion'
'Evelyn Pullar'
'Fall Fairy'
'Helios'
'Jelloway'
'Kalinga'
'Lent. A. Williamson'
'Naranga'
'October Shadows'
'Purissima'
'Rameses'
'Rose Madder'
'Rosy Wings'
'Sally Ann'
'September Sparkler'
'Shelford Chieftain'
'Tiffanja'
'Tiffany'
'Twice Blessed'
(?Schreiner's) yellow seedling 9-17

*Species designation is based on observation, and believed to be correct. 
I. x sambucina refers to all plants with I. pallida and I. variegata 
hybrid ancestry.  The cultivar(s) distributed as 'Sambucina' belong to 
this botanical nothospecies, but not all members of I. x sambucina are the 
cultivar 'Sambucina'

Dave

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