 |
[For the specimens from which our plate was prepared
we are indebted to Messrs. Barr & Sugden, who possess
one of the most complete collections of Irises known.]
Drawn by CONSTANCE PIERREPONT. |
THE GARDEN
December 20, 1879.
THE GARDEN FLORA.
PLATE CCXL
A GROUP OF BEARDLESS IRISES.
Everyone knows and, knowing, admires the bearded Irises ; but it is not
everyone who is aware of the beauty and the delight which may be found
in the beardless Irises, a group of which is represented in the plate
issued with the present number. In this, as in so many other instances,
the popular judgment is founded on reason. Taking them all through, no
beardless Iris, not even the Kæmpferi (the one beardless Iris which has
been honoured with the title of a " florist's flower," and which was
described and illustrated in No. 406, p. 198) possesses that union of
grace of outline with delicacy of colouring, which is the charm of such a
bearded Iris, for instance, as I. pallida. Yet many of the beardless
Irises are handsome and indeed lovely, and they are all worthy the
attention of those who love flowers as flowers, and who do not regard
plants merely as material for constructing the gaudy or the grotesque
patchworks sometimes spoken of as gardens. To the gardener who is also a
botanist they have an especial interest, because they are not only much
more widely spread than the bearded forms, but in all probability
older, that is, earlier in origin.[Ref i]
Not only are the recognised species belonging to the
beardless division more numerous than those of the bearded, but the
differences between the several kinds are much more marked and distinct.
The bearded Irises are very much alike, and, in giving them separate
names, stress has often to be laid on such variable characters as colour
and size. The beardless Irises, on the other hand, present a large
number of tangible unlikenesses, enabling the very beginner to recognise
the differences between the several species. Numerous, however, as are
the various kinds, a very little study shows that they may be arranged
with more or less completeness into a number of groups, each consisting
of central or typical and outlying members.
One group, of which the beautiful unguicularis (or stylosa) may be taken
as the type, is not represented in the plate, for the very good reason
that the members of this group flower in winter or quite early spring,
whereas most of the beardless Irises and all those pictured in the plate
flower in mid or late summer. I regret this unavoidable omission,
because unguicularis is, perhaps, the most lovely of all the beardless
forms. Possibly its beauty appears all the more striking, at all events
we appreciate it the more, just because it comes to us in the winter. It
is an excellent, easily-managed pot plant, flowering readily under
glass (in the open it is apt to be cut by the frost), and I would
strongly advise those who are the happy possessors of a little
greenhouse to obtain from Messrs. Barr & Sugden, or from Mr. Ware,
or from some other of the nurserymen who make a speciality of Irises,
good, strong, sturdy specimens of this delightful plant, taking care to
choose those with the pots crammed full of roots. I think they will not
be disappointed. The flowers are not very numerous at a time, but they
come in succession ; I had last winter a plant which went on flowering
from the beginning of December to the end of February, right through
that memorable dreary season. Its large and elegant lavender coloured
flowers, which, whenever they felt the influence of a little warmth and
sunlight, sent forth a delicate and delightful fragrance, brought me
consolation on many a dark and dismal day. I well remember that before
the Iris flowered my little greenhouse was nearly filled with
Chrysanthemums, of whose bloom I, and especially my gardener, were not a
little proud ; but as soon as my first unguicularis bloom had opened I
was impatient until my Chrysanthemums had been cast out : its delicate
and sweet beauty made me intolerant of the showy, but, compared with it,
garish florists' flowers. A very distinct group is formed by I. spuria
and its allies. These are, for the most part, tall plants, blooming
somewhat late in summer, with erect, rather narrow leaves and close set
flowers, and their ripe capsules are strongly ribbed. One of the
handsomest of these is I. ochroleuca. No. 6 in the plate. The opaque
waxen whiteness of its large petaloid stigmas, [Ref ii] closely bent down, as in all the members of this group, over the falls,
gives a peculiar charm to the flowers, contrasting as it does with the
rich yellow of the falls themselves. The origin of ochroleuca is unknown
; it exists, as far as is known at present, in gardens only. A variety
with the name gigantea is highly spoken of. One disadvantage in this
group is that the flowers are so close set on the stalk that they have
not room to expand, and, as shown in the figure, are tilted up on one
side. A gathered cluster makes, however, a very handsome centre in a
nosegay ; and, as is the case with almost all Irises, the buds expand
readily in water. Next to ochroleuca, perhaps even surpassing it, comes
the allied I. Monnieri, a very tall plant coming from Crete, with
abundant large flowers of a rich yellow colour. It is one of the latest
flowerers, showing a full bloom even when Kæmpferi has passed away, and
has the further merit of being fragrant. The odour is not very powerful
but very pleasing. Very closely allied to these is the Himalayan form,
I. aurea, No. 8 in the plate. This is a very handsome plant, with which I
hope soon to become better acquainted than I am at present. I. spuria
itself, with its many varieties, does not recommend itself to me very
greatly. In some of the forms, as in the so-called spuria major, and
also in the Algerian variety known as Reichenbachii, the colouring is
bright, and some people might think them handsome, especially when seen
in masses ; but the mixture which they offer of blue or purple and
yellow is to my mind too coarse to be pleasing ; besides, there is a
certain stiffness and want of elegance in their outlines. I prefer the
smaller flowers of such varieties as that known as desertorum, with its
paler flowers, narrow falls, and, in some cases, marked fragrance, or
even the white Gûldenstadtii, which, however, is very inferior to
ochroleuca. Some of the spuria group are absolutely worthless from a
gardening point of view. When you have devoted the best nook in your
garden, and unwearied attention to a plant which, in the end, bears,
amidst a dense mass of tall, strong leaves, a number of insignificant
dirty-coloured flowers, you begin to understand the meaning of the
phrase "of botanical interest only." As an outlying member of the spuria
group, I may refer to the little I. graminea, though this is by some
authors associated with quite different kinds. [Ref iii]
This is of no great value as a border plant, the flowers are too much
hidden by the over-topping leaves, and the flowers themselves are singly
of no great beauty. Nevertheless their mixed blue and purple tints will
be found to render them of value as cut blooms ; they can then be made
to harmonise most effectually with other flowers.
Next to I. Kæmpferi, with which the present paper does not propose to
deal at all, the mo5t popular, and, on the whole, the most beautiful of
the beardless division, are the members of the sibirica group. In the
typical form, I. sibirica, the flowers are, it is true, small, but they
are produced in unstinted profusion, and their colouring and marking
fully atone for the want of size. Many seedling varieties of sibirica
of divers colours and tints are to be met with in the nurserymen's
lists, all of them beautiful, some of them exceedingly so. The great
feature in all of them is the delicate veining and marbling of the
falls, as indicated in the white variety represented as No. 5 in the
plate ; but it is impossible in any lithograph to reproduce the tints
and gradations which make up the charm of the living flowers.
All these
kinds are worthy of cultivation; the only one to be avoided is I.
sibirica fl. -pi.[Ref iv]
Besides the garden varieties, there are many kinds of natural
occurrence, such as the form known as acuta, with comparatively short
flower-stems, and flexuosa with white flowers : and stretching away from
the type are forms which may be recognised as distinct species, Messrs.
Barr & Sugden are distributing a charming plant of this group, with
pale and with also deeper purple flowers, under the provisional name of
trigonocarpa ; and Haage & Schmidt have a kind which they call
tenuifolia,[Ref v] possessing the desirable feature that the flowers emit a perfume like
that of cloves. But the one kind which "no garden should be without" is
the form known as orientalis, No. 4 in the plate, the flowers of which
are larger.the falls broader and bigger, and the colouring more intense
and deeper than in I. sibirica. The red sheath or spathe, moreover,
gives the plant a beauty while it is still in bud ; few sights are,
indeed, more charming than a well-grown plant of orientalis, with its
flowers partly expanded and partly ensheathed as buds.[Ref vi]
I have not yet had an opportunity of studying as closely as I could wish
I. tenax, a North American form (No. 2 in the plate), but it is
obviously a close neighbour of sibirica, and is a very desirable plant ;
it is now being carefully cultivated and may be obtained from the
leading firms.
Allied to tenax, on the one hand, and, in many of its features, to
orientalis on the other, and yet forming the centre of a group of its
own, is the Californian form I. longipetala.
This, the various cultivated specimens of which appear to vary not a
little, is a showy plant ; but its rather long and straggling falls, in
spite of their charming light violet or lavender colour, and their
graceful markings, give it a more or less unfinished look.[Ref vii] Closely resembling longipetala in its foliage and habits, is the form
which Regel has introduced under the name of I.spectabilis. It was
gathered by his son, Albert Regel, in Central Asia, and, to judge by its name, ought to be handsome. My plants
of it have not yet flowered, and I can say nothing more about it, but
Regel promises an early description of it.
As the centre of another group we may take the common American I.
virginica. This is a vigorous floriferous plant, spreading very rapidly
when grown in a somewhat moist rich soil. The flowers vary very
considerably in tint, and some of the more deeply-coloured forms are not
unhandsome. There is, however, a certain stiffness and formality about
the blooms which, to my mind, prevents it being considered as a really
attractive kind. More highly coloured, frequently very striking from the
juxtaposition of a pure white and a deep rose tint, is the very closely
allied I. versicolor ; but this, too, lacks a certain elegance, so that
one is, in looking at it, led to wonder why a flower so beautifully
coloured gives one so little pleasure. Many seedlings, both of virginica
and versicolor, are in cultivation ; and, though what may be perhaps
considered as the typical forms of each are very distinct, almost every
intermediate stage between the two may be seen.
One feature of the virginica group is the small development of the
standards, and we thus pass to the very handsome I. tridentata (No. 1 in
the plate). This, which is also a North American form, can hardly be
said to possess any standards at all ; they are reduced to insignificant
little peaks, which have to be looked for to be seen. In return the
falls are largely developed, highly coloured, and manifest real beauty
in their form and markings. It is an abundant bloomer, a strong grower,
spreading very rapidly, and in every way a desirable plant. I.
tridentata is an American form, occurring in the Northern States ;[Ref viii] The
form of the flowers, especially the stigna firmly reflexed over the
fiddle-shaped fall, the ribbed capsule, the characters of the roots, and
other features are most distinctly those of the spuria group, in spite
of its leaves being, especially in the narrow-leaved form, narrower than
the other members of the group.
Asia a closely allied, or at least a strictly analogous form, I. setosa.
No. 3 in the plate, which, however, is a far less beautiful plant than
its American ally. No one who compares tridentata with virginica can
doubt that the two are closely allied, and yet tridentata has quite
other affinities. In spite of its comparatively broad leaves, many of
its features point to the narrow-leaved sibirica group, especially to
orientalis. On the other hand, it is, I think, impossible to overlook
its affinities with the Kæmpferi group ; and its beauty seems to be due
to the fact that some of the characters of these two groups are added to
those of the plainer virginica.
Resembling tridentata and setosa in one feature, viz., in the smallness
of its standards, but in reality quite widely separated from them, is
the common yellow Flag, I. Pseudacorus, a variety of which is seen in
No. 7 of the plate. Common as is Pseudacorus, everyone who has grown it
fairly, will, I think, be ready to admit its beauty. Whoever has in his
garden a pond or a ditch, or even a thoroughly damp spot, ought to plant
this Iris largely. Few things, indeed, are more beautiful than a great
clump of this yellow Flag, with the tall leaves starting up from the
side of a pool, and the golden clusters of flowers gleaming bright in a
midsummer sun.
Three things it loves — a rich soil, plenty of water, and abundance of
sunlight. It is cruel to place it, as I have seen it placed, in some
dank dark hole, where the sun's beams never reach it ; it is
disappointing to plant it, as I have seen it planted, in a dry and stony
spot, where summer is to it one long continued thirst. But put it where
its roots can run at will in rich black mud, and yet its head raise
itself to the full light of a summer sky, and it will be a golden glory
throughout the long days of June. Such are some of the more conspicuous
and common beardless Irises, but I have far from exhausted the list. I
have said nothing of the wide-spread Iris fœtidissinia, worth growing,
not for its flowers, which are almost absolutely ugly, but for the
bright orange berries of its gaping winter fruit, and still more for its
glossy dark green leaves. I have said nothing of the bulbous Irises,
which are all beardless forms, and which, save for fear of tlie anger of
the botanists, I would say seem to me even more closely allied to
various non-bulbous forms than they are to each other. But I should
weary the reader if I said more. Interesting, too, as is the story of
their geographical distribution, I must pass that over, and end by
saying a few words about their culture.
In nearly all the forms, the one golden rule is that inculcating
"wholesome neglect." Let them alone as long as they are doing well, and,
above all, do not dig and scratch about their roots. Almost without
exception all of them hate to be disturbed, and resent interference by
refusing to flower. All of them like the sun. If you care for Irises do
not plant them, as they are often planted, right in shade of trees or
big shrubs, though some of them, more especially fœtidissima, will do
fairly well there. If you feel that that you are bound to obey the
injunctions of the vade mecum of gardening by which you swear,
and which tells you that Irises are the things for "woodland walks " and
"shrubbery borders," choose some open glade into which the sun can
pour, and not the dark recesses of some leafy cavern. To put the best
and handsomest forms, however, in any other position than in the warmest
and sunniest spots of the open border is, to my mind, downright
wickedness.
They all of them like rich soil, full of decomposed vegetable matter.
The coarser and stronger forms will feed on even rank manure, but to the
more delicate ones this is almost poison ; and all of them, indeed,
thrive all the better if their food is given to them in a well-digested
form. If it is thus well digested they can hardly have too much of it.
As regards moisture, they vary a good deal. I have already insisted on the necessity of water for Pseudacorus, and many of the spuria group
thrive best in the damp. Others again, as Monnieri, hate the damp, at
least, in winter, and will stand very considerable drought in summer.
The conditions which would suit the majority would, I think, be
comparative dryness in winter and an abundant supply of water in summer.
Unfortunately, this is the very reverse of what they generally meet with.
They also vary a good deal as to the nature of the soil they like best.
Some, such as the spuria group and the longipetala group, like a deep,
somewhat stiff, but rich loam, and their long, thong-like roots reach
down for an amazing distance. The sibirica group, as also the virginica
group and tridentata, have finer, fibrous, matted roots, and are partial
to a lighter, looser soil, which, however, must be proportionately
richer in vegetable matter. Hence many of these are grateful for the
gift of peat.
Let me end by speaking of one great drawback to these beardless Irises.
By far the greater part of them die down completely in winter ; and wise
are they to do so. Who in the November weather, which has come upon us, does not envy them I Who would not gladly now go into winter quarters,
if he could be sure that he would awake strengthened and refreshed as
soon as the bitter half of May were over? But their brown withered
leaves makes them in the late fall and early winter an eyesore to those
who like to have a garden, but who do not love flowers. I mean the
people who insist on having a good " blaze of colour," and do not care
how the colour is obtained ; who, but for the fashion of the thing,
would, if they dare speak the truth, be found to be equally content
whether the colours were made up of delicately-wrought flowers and
leaves, or machine-made "dummies" of rag and paper. Such people are
generally governed by a demon called "tidiness," who arms them with
instruments of mischief called "shears" and " rakes," and sends them,
when the winter days come on, into the border to "tidy it up." Such
people ruthlessly cut down the ripening foliage, just when the loss of
the green summer tint shows that the goodness of the leaf is passing
into the root ; they tear away the dead leaves, and rob the plant of
that wrapping with which Nature strives to shelter next year's shoots
and buds from the winter blasts ; they scarify and scratch the soil,
lacerating the tender fibres, of which the plant stands so much in need ;
they make the surface smooth, carefully removing every scrap of loose
nourishment that is lying about, and leave the ground so that the early
winter rains may flatten it into an almost polished surface well-nigh
proof against all mellowing influences ; and having wrought all this
wreck, call it order. Whoever wishes to cultivate Irises, or, indeed,
any other flowers for the sake of the flowers themselves, must early
recognise that Nature is untidy — that dead leaves and a rough soil are
the winter forerunners of the summer's bright foliage and abundant
bloom. Whoever is unwilling to leave the foliage of the past summer
untouched, so that when it has served its purpose the worms may carry it
below to enrich and lighten the soil ; whoever is unwilling to let his
border soil remain rough and open, so that the rain may pass through it,
and the gases of the atmosphere be absorbed by it, and the crumbling
hand of frost loosen it ; whoever is not ready, when occasions demand,
to see his border covered all the winter with " untidy " mulching of
rich but inelegant " muck," should not take up the culture of Irises.
They, like other plants, are meek and unresenting ; they will strive to
bloom in spite of all his bad treatment ; but he will never enjoy the
profuse beauty which is the reward of proper treatment. F.
[Ref i] I
must not enter into this point here, but there are many reasons for
thinking that the curious tuft of hairs on each of the three outer
petals or " falls," which we call the "beard," is a comparatively late
introduction, the first Irises which came into existence being, in all
probability, plain beardless ones.
[Ref ii] It
may, perhaps, be worth while to remind the reader that the flowers of
the Iris consists of the following parts : On the outside are the three
outer petals or divisions of the perianth, which, since they generally
hang or are bent down, are called " falls." Within these, and
alternating; with them, come the three inner perianth divisions, which,
since they are generally erect, are called "standards." In the centre of
the flower the style splits up into three stigmas, each of which,
broad, highly-coloured, and petal-like, spreads out and hangs over, or
sometimes is closely bent down upon the fall opposite to which it is
placed. Each stigma terminates in two triangular, often-toothed,
sometimes large, sometimes small, flaps, the so-called crests, well
shown in many of the ligures of the plate. The stigma, in overhanging
the fall, gives rise to a sort of tunnel, sometimes with a wide,
sometimes with a narrow, mouth, and on the outside of the stigma, at the
base of the crests, just at the mouth of the tunnel, is a narrow ledge.
It is on this ledge that the pollen must fall to fertilise the plant.
Inside the tunnel, lying underneath each arching stigma, sometimes
readily visible, sometimes almost entirely hidden, is an anther. All
Irises have markings on the fall just at the mouth of the tunnel, for
the purpose, apparently, of attracting insects ; and the insect, a bee
for instance, in entering the tunnel for the purpose of sucking the
nectar at the bottom of the stigma and fall, brushes against the ledge
of the stigma, and deposits on it the pollen which he has gathered from
another plant. The beard of the fall, which leads from the surface of
the fall right into the tunnel, seems to be a device for compelling the
insect to brush against the ledge.
[Ref iii] The form of the flowers, especially the stigna firmly reflexed over the
fiddle-shaped fall, the ribbed capsule, the characters of the roots,
and other features are most distinctly those of the spuria group, in
spite of its leaves being, especially in the narrow-leaved form,
narrower than the other members of the group.
[Ref iv] If any " double-minded " florist wishes to have brought home to him the
evil he is doing by his efforts to " double " flowers which Nature
intended to be single, let him look at this vile ami ugly parody on a
beautiful original.
[Ref v] The real I. tenuifolia, of Pallas, is something quite different.
[Ref vi] Orientalis
is by many regarded as identical with Fischer's hæmatophylla. It is
obvious, however, from Sweet's description that the latter is quite a
different plant from the former. It is much shorter, smaller, and
flowers much earlier. I have not yet come across what has satisfied me
as Fischer's hæmotophylla, though I am anxious to do so. The feature
which led Fischer to give it" the name he did— the red colour of the
young leaves and shoots— cannot be relied on for diagonistic purposes ;
very many forms have the young leaves and first shoots more or less red.
[Ref vii]
Curiously enough, longipetala has an imperfectly developed rudimentary,
but still very distinct, crest on the falls ; it seems to be a link
between the beardless and the crested divisions.
[Ref viii]
Curiously enough, longipetala has an imperfectly developed rudimentary,
but still very distinct, crest on the falls ; it seems to be a link
between the beardless and the crested divisions. In the Southern States
there grows another form, which in Baker's list is called tripetala, and
which, from Sweet's description, seems to be a delightful plant. It is
more delicate than tridentata ; its leaves are narrow and linear, not as
in tridentata, somewhat broad and ensiform. It is found in Florida,
and, as far as I know, is not in cultivation in England at the present
time. Its re-introduction is a desideratum.
Once again its a great privilege to feature Michael Foster with some of his earliest published thoughts on Irises.
He is still a consummate authority on Irises and his writings open many
doors to Irises of the past with his beautiful and unique descriptions.
A major hat tip to Phil Edinger for his succinct observations, and discussions which are always appreciated.
Clicking on the above images will take you to the larger, higher resolution version.
Reproduction in whole or in part of this post, its opinions or its
images without the expressed written permission of Terry Johnson is
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