Re: SPEC: I. "cengialtii"

From: "Ian E. & Shirley Efford" <avocet.intl@sympatico.ca>

Linda asked about the identifications of the "Richardson collection".  
I took 60 plant clumps from him and grew them in a special bed. 
Unfortunately, his collection had become very muddled, to say the least.
Some were unlabelled, some were labelled very well but the plants turned
out to be from quite different groups, and others were labelled
correctly.  

Quite a few Louisianans cropped up, although none were labelled as such.
Quite a few were in the versicolor-virginica-v.shrevei group and remain
in that group!  As far as I can see there is a gentle gradation between
there three species.  As to the books' statement that virginica has a
"central yellow signal covered with fine, long hair" [a key to
separating the species from versicolor], don't you believe it!  Has
anyone every seen this hair?  I have torn dozens of flowers apart and
cannot see a thing [there is always the possibility that age is the
cause of my failure to see them].  Either everything is versicolor or
the hair is a myth perpetuated by the systematists to keep us from
identifying the plants.

I. cengialtii fits into this whole problem of identifying Bruces'
plants. I do not know what it is at this point.  It is certainly not
reichenbachii and most probably pallida.  Bruce had a large number of
"pallida", ranging in height from 1ft to 4ft.  Confirming they are all
pallida is another problem.

Ian, in Ottawa where he is planning six new beds by next summer to keep
up with the plants that are arriving and is asking the government for
200 acres in the centre of the city, just in case. 

 all been identified?  Is your I.
cengialtii a form of I. reichenbachii or ??

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