Re: Siberians/Japanese


In a message dated 96-09-12 09:35:01 EDT, you write:

>The seeds were called 'Kaempferi hybrids', which, as  explained before,
>doesn't mean anything, but does that give a clue to ploidy?
>
>

Any Japanese iris seed you obtained from Parks is almost certainly diploid.
 Actually, tetraploid Japanese irises are quite rare.  McEwen was the lst to
introduce any, and very few have been introduced.  In fact, I can't think of
anyone else who has introduced any.  

To the trained eye, it is possible to guess correctly more often than not by
just looking at the foliage of a clump as to whether a Japanese or Siberian
is tetraploid....but I should seriously doubt if anyone could do so all the
time.  Actually, I find it easier to distinguish with Siberians than with
Japanese.  As a rule, the foliage is wider.  In bloom it is easier to tell
the difference.  

Tetraploids tend to have wide foliage. The stalks tend to be larger and
somewhat "stiff."  The flowers are usually large and have a more "leathery"
appearance.  I personally find both Japanese and Siberian tetraploids to be
less graceful than diploids because of their "stiffness."  For me, the
tetraploids have never been as good in making big clumps as the diploids, and
number of bloom stalks has been far less.  

For getting top prizes at an iris show, the tetraploids tend to be very
impressive because of their large flowers.  My favorite tetraploid Japanese
iris, and one that does better than most for me, is DOUBLE FIRST, a huge
white.  There are a number of tetraploid Siberians that I like, e.g. ORVILLE
FAY, SULTAN'S RUBY, HARPSWELL HAZE.  But all in all, my preference tends to
the diploids. Clarence Mahan in VA



Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index