Historic Tall Bearded Iris CLEMATIS and the British controversy.

THE GARDEN
June 4th 1921

NOTES OF THE WEEK

A New Iris to which we take exception. — The Bearded Irises of June have an old-world charm, and so long as this is preserved we have no fault to find with the hybridists, but there is a tendency on the part of some hybridists to develop the size of the flowers at the expense of grace and form.
There is one new variety to which we take exception — it is named 'Clematis' — in which the standards of the flower open out like the falls or lower petals. The flowers appear like those of a large six-petal Clematis. All six segments of the flower reflex horizontally. But why turn half a flower inside out ? And why produce a beard on petals on which there should be no beard ?Does not the Iris owe much of its charm to its beautiful curves and natural outline of its flowers ?

THE GARDEN

June 18th 1921

NOTES OF THE WEEK

A Champion for Iris Clematis. — A recent note has provoked a vigorous champion to defend Iris Clematis and the hybridist. We hope others will enter the lists, and that they will not all be on one side! It is very remote from our wish to belittle the labours of the patient and painstaking workers to whom garden-lovers owe heavy debts ; but it must be conceded that they do not always realise their own ambitions, any more than they invariably please the taste of all and sundry even when they produce what is evidently satisfactory to themselves But where taste is concerned who shall be the final judge ?
Anyhow we think an interesting discussion should follow our correspondent' s valiant defence of the criticised Iris.

THE GARDEN

June 18th 1921

IRIS CLEMATIS: THE TENDENCY OF HYBRIDISATION

THE exception taken to the above Iris in The Garden of June 4 is at once interesting and illogical. Interesting because it opens up the question as to where the aims of the hybridist should cease ; whether, for instance, a change of form in any particular flower is as permissible as a variation of colour. Illogical because it concludes that such change is not permissible, and argues from this conclusion, and also a purely personal objection to the form taken by this particular flower, that there is in it a lack of beauty. More illogical still is the suggestion that the hybridist is responsible for this particular variation of form. The point to which " exception " is taken appears to be that " the standards of the flower open out like the falls, or lower petals."
Does the writer really think that this detracts one iota from the beauty of the flower ? If so, he rules out of the scope of his admiration other Irises, both species and varieties, that possess the same characteristics. All the six petalled Iris Kæmpferi would be excluded. Neither Iris tectorum nor gracilipes would have a place in his garden. Surely he would not " take exception " to these, among the most admired of the whole genus.
Returning to the effect of hybridising,the development of the peculiar characteristics of Clematis was the very natural result of a very natural process. There was no intention, or effort, on the part of the hybridist to " turn half the flower inside out." The only artificial act was in conveying the pollen from one flower to another. Neither of the two parents showed the tendency developed in the offspring. Even the act of the hybridist was unnecessary. A chance seed from a bursting pod, in a garden where the science of hybridisation was unknown, might conceivably have produced the same results, and had 'Clematis' been a natural hybrid, collected in some far distant comer of the world, should we still " take exception " to its shape. If Nature chooses to make the interior of the standards more beautiful than the exterior, and then, in her wonderful economy, rather than waste her effort makes the standards reflex to show that interior, for what shall we blame her ? If there is any blame it is on Nature and not the hybridist, for she alone is responsible.

But there is a deeper and more serious suggestion in the paragraph referred to. The writer is willing to find no "fault with the hybridists," providing they preserve that indefinite, unprogressive and elusive attribute called " old world charm." If this is to be the foundation of judgement, it will eliminate from cultivation 99 per cent, of all the Irises, Sweet Peas, Dahlias, Roses, Carnations, Carrots, Potatoes, Cauliflowers and every other product of the modern garden. Chelsea Shows would be no more, and that bright little periodical 'The Garden' would either become a botanical catalogue of known species, or die from lack of material to fill its columns. Horticulture might survive for a time by collecting and distributing the weeds of the world, and the garden would become a very dull place, for if the "charm" is " old world " enough it would resolve the modern garden into a collection of species.
 

Please do not misunderstand me. There is something absorbingly interesting in a collection of species, whether of Irises, Roses or anything else, but who would care to go back to a garden of types ? Some months ago I remember the " Notes of the Week " in The Garden opened with a quotation from the pen of Mr. Eden Phillpotts : "Man has availed himself of the great laws of evolution in mightier matters than the Iris : but in no theatre of his unsleeping efforts has he created purer beauty, or wakened for the flower lovers, truer joy than among the bearded Irises of June."
The bearded Irises of to-day are just as much departures from the original species, in one way or another, as 'Clematis' is from its first parents.
Is not the whole scientific effort of the day directed towards developing the best and eradicating.the worst characteristics in every genus? 
It is not a question of developing " size of the  flowers at the expense of grace and form." Man cannot of himself breed a new form. Nature may do so by taking a hand in his efforts, but even she is bound by her own laws. She only reproduces unequally the good or bad attributes from remote or near ancestors. 
No one knows better than the hybridist how accidental some of his best results appear to him to be, and this despite all the laws of Mendel. 
Twelve seeds from a single pod may produce as many variations, and of them one may be half the size and one twice the size of the parent, and one only, as in the case of 'Clematis', may choose to assert itself as a variation of form, and the hybridist is impotent. He cannot even be assured that the form will reproduce itself from seed. 
The probabilities are that it will if Nature has endowed the new characteristics with strength and individuality sufficient thereto. 
If we take exception to a form adopted by one Iris because it reproduces the form of another, or even if we object to the form of one flower because it resembles that of another species, where shall we stop ? Orchids resemble butterflies and bees. Shall we " take exception " to the Orchids, or the butterflies and bees ?
Some of the characteristics that have been bred into the newer Irises are just as pronounced as this reflexing of the standards horizontally in 'Clematis'. Standards have been strengthened and elongated. Falls have been broadened and rendered horizontal or drooping, as the case may be. Stems branch low down where once they bore their flowers rigidly, alternately on each side of an erect stem. Colours have been mingled, and new colour shades introduced that have added infinitely to the charm of the Iris as a garden flower. So much is this the case that we are all in the position of the little girl who, when asked to describe the colour in an Iris, said : " I really cannot tell you what colour it is, but it's every kind of fairy colour."
All this is tolerated, together with the wave, in Spencer Sweet Peas, and other modifications ; and yet because Nature chooses to adopt a form a little different from the standard set up by man as the ideal, " we take exception."

It may be argued that Nature sometimes produces monstrosities, which is true ; but it is not in violation, but in pursuance of her own laws. The stronger characteristics of one parent may be reproduced in unequal proportions to the best of the other. The scientist may make mistakes in endeavouring to assist Nature by trying to impose on one variety the desirable characteristics of another, which may be due to his ignorance of what has gone before. Nature never forgets what has gone before. Mere size has nothing to do with beauty, in flower or animal. It is proportion that counts. The hybridist cannot " develop the size of the flowers at the expense of grace and form" unless Nature retaliates for some precious violation of her laws by producing inequality, and thus lack of proportion. The little Iris gracilipes magnified to the size of the largest Iris Kæmpferi would be just as beautiful if all its characteristics were equally magnified, nor would it be less beautiful than the finest Kæmpferi. We may admire diminutiveness, but smallness does not in itself 
constitute beauty. It is the little thing that reproduces perfectly the characteristics of the larger that attracts us. Therefore mere increase in size does not necessarily mean loss of grace and form. Little things are valuable when they are seen quite near. The largest flowers become smaller to the eye when seen in the distance. Who would reduce Iris Lord of June to the size it appears to be 20 yards. away ? Would they not rather have gracilipes magnified so that its beauty is not lost to sight at that distance ?
There is a very apt quotation from a well known author in his attempt to define beauty which is appropriate here : " Beauty is the moment of transition, as if the form were just ready to flow  into other forms." 
GEORGE DILLISTONE. 

THE GARDEN
March 24th, 1923.

MOISTURE LOVING IRISES

........This characteristic they undoubtedly derive from Iris setosa. It is interesting to note that the Bearded Iris Clematis, which almost certainly represents, a cross between a June-flowering Bearded Iris and a Kæmpferi form, not only has six petals all in the horizontal plane, but that all the petals bear beards.

THE GARDEN
April 7th, 1923.

CORRESPONDENCE

MOISTURE LOVING IRISES

...............How the Japanese have evolved their hybrids from the single- flowered wild form of I. Kæmpferi is not known ; but probably, as in many other garden plants, these double forms have merely arisen in cultivation without any admixture from another species. The same explanation applies without a doubt to the Bearded Iris Clematis. Seedlings of I. pallida not infrequently appear with some or all of the " standards " changed in form, and there is even extant a paper by a learned Professor of Innsbruck who seeks to prove that this flat form of flower is the archetype of all Irises. His whole argument is based on an I. pallida identical in shape with the variety I. Clematis. Mr. Bliss was the raiser of Clematis, and he will probably support the statement that I. Kæmpferi was in no way responsible for its shape. There is in fact, no authenticated hybrid between a bearded and a beardless species of Iris. — W. R. Dykes.

THE GARDEN
April 28th 1923

CLEMATIS- FLOWERED IRIS.

MR. DYKES in his notes on moisture-loving Irises, in your issue of April 7, refers to the origin of Irises of the type of the Bearded Iris Clematis in which all six petals reflex. So far as Bearded Irises are concerned, I. Kæmpferi has certainly nothing to do with the appearance of this type. The parentage of Clematis is Cordelia x Princess Beatrice. It was the only one of the batch of seedlings of the cross which displayed this form. Clematis is the most perfect example of this type that I have raised, but the form in varying degree of perfectness has appeared casually from many other crosses of Bearded varieties. It is probably a teratological form — a freak. I should not be inclined to agree with the learned Professor of Innsbruck that this flat form of flower is the archetype of all Irises, since it is the standards that are modified from the normal form, and in assuming the position of the falls they not only take up the special colouring of the falls but also develop (more or less perfectly) a beard. That is, the transformation is from a simpler form of petal to a more highly specialised. If it was a reversion towards an ancient type, one would expect that the transformation would be, on the contrary, from a more specialised to a simpler form. Therefore it is much more likely that the Crocus or Sparaxis form of flower was the original and most primitive form of the first Iris. But these Clematis forms, furthermore, raise interesting questions in heredity, since they do not appear to transmit according to Mendelian laws and, indeed, are not constant, flowers of quite normal form often appearing on the same plant, and even on the same spike as the Clematis forms. — A. J.Bliss.

As always clicking on the above image will take you to the larger, higher resolution version.
For more on Arthur Bliss Irises be sure to visit Anne Milner's National Collection of Arthur Bliss Irises web site. Listed in the above 'International Iris Links tab.

Reproduction in whole or in part of this post, its opinions or its images without the expressed written permission of Terry Johnson is strictly prohibited. Copyright Terry Johnson and Heritage Irises ©

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Iris Evansia, Iris Japonica, Crested Iris, NADA.

NADA when in bloom it is like a Christmas Tree on steroids, and once it starts it blooms for a very long time, but you can never tire of it. Large well feed plantings of these blooms just blow you away.

Bulletin of the American Iris Society, April 1938, Number 69. Iris notes from Southern California, Lena M. Lothrop 

I managed to attend the Show for a few minutes and was very much upset. There was just one beautiful exhibit there and it was outstandingly so. It is a hybrid of Mr. Giridlian's crossing between japonica and Wattii. It is much superior to either of its parents. The stem with its many flowers, each one following close on the heels of another is beautifully branched. The flowers are larger than those of Wattii and have more color. If you can grow japonica you will find this worthwhile. He has registered it as Nada and I did intend to see to it that it was awarded an H. M. for it deserves it-all agree to it but no one attends to it. 

Bulletin of the American Iris Society, February 1938, Number 68. Report of Iris Show held in connection 'with the Pasadena Flower Show, April 16, 17 and 18, 1937. The most beautiful exhibit was a bowl of Nada (japonica X Wattii) brought in by its originator, Mr. J. N. Giridlian. It was not entered in competition but the judges insisted in giving it a Special Avvard.

Bulletin of the American Iris Society, April 1949, Number 113. Iris Japonica and its Hybrids, J.N. Giridlian, California.The late W. R.Dykes, writing in The Gardeners' Chronicle of May 28, 1921, said,'Among the Evansias something good might come from the crossing of I. watti, which does so well when planted out in a cool house. It ought to cross with I. japonica ..." Mr. Dykes was unable to make the cross because he had no luck in flowering the plants and when they did at last bloom they did not respond to cross pollenization. At best they are shy seeders even in Southern California where they bloom profusely.
It seems that Mr. J. C. Stevens, of Greenville, New York, and myself, working independently, made this cross at about the same time, except that I used the japonica type form and he used the variety Uwodu. At any rate the hybrids raised were both registered in the year 1936, and in both instances 'Watti was used as the pollen parent.
The results obtained, while being equally lovely, are quite distinct in many respects. Mr. Stevens' variety was named Fairyland and mine Nada. The Fairyland plant is unlike either parent. The foliage is very narrow, dark green and superficially resembles a California species. It makes a very compact growth and is quite low-growing. It flowers in April on upright, short-branched stems,with many flowers nearly the size of watti. The color is white heavily and attractively spotted deep violet. It is a good pot plant.
Nada has very large foliage, larger than either parent, bright green, which grows fan-shaped on 12-inch stems. Well grown plants will stand about three feet high. The flowers are produced earlier than Fairyland's and are a shade smaller than those of japonica, but much more numerous. I have had as many as 200 flowers on one stem over a three-month period. I think Nada has more flowers per stem and a longer blooming season than any other iris. The flowers are well ruffled, white with a slight lavender sheen with yellow crest and light lavender spotting in the haft. As the flower stem is strong and wiry, it is held up well and does not flop over. When cut, nearly every bud develops. It makes an excellent house or greenhouse plant and is very attractive when planted in a hanging basket.Nada is not sterile and will produce seeds either selfed or crossed back to either parent. However it is a very shy seeder and that is the reason why I have been unable to raise many more varieties from succeeding generation crosses. The only other one on the market now is a selfed seedling of Nada which is named Darjeeling. This is an improvement over Nada in size of flower and ruffling.

Bulletin of the Seattle Iris Society, November, 1947. Iris Nada, Mrs F.B. Eylar, Seattle, Washington.
Though Nada, the beautiful little crested hybrid, isn't at all happy in my garden and gets frosted each winter, I am always hoping that some year will be warm enough for it to bloom. Our garden is about 800 feet above the Lake and doesn't have the protection of the fogs either. It would be interesting in the next bulletin to have expressions from different members as to what success they do have with it and how located in their garden, for I do know that some members do have complete success with it.
Nada is a hybrid as the result of crossing two of the crested type, japonica and watti. Japonica has orchid-like flowers of a uniform shade of lavender on 2-foot stems with many branches making a huge bouquet of one stem. The blooming season is very early, February to April, so it is for sheltered gardens. The blossoms of Nada are nearly exactly like japonica but the background is white with very delicate shadings of the blue or lavender. When examined closely, the blossoms are exquisitely formed and marked. Many people call japonica Nada, which is incorrect, as Nada is white "japonica."
Watti, the other parent, comes from the southern slopes of the Himalaya mountains with growth habit more like a dwarf bamboo than an iris. The fan of leaves is perched on top of a two- to four foot stem. It is easy to detect the qualities of each of the parents of the beautiful Nada. It has the large, graceful, branched panicle of watti, also the rather bamboo effect in the foliage-the beautiful golden 'crest of watti and the general form of japonica. It is not a showy flower but most exquisite at close range with its fringed style arms and waved petals. I certainly envy the favoured members who can grow it successfully.

 Southern California Gardens, Victoria Padilla University of California Press, 1961
One of his earliest introductions was an iris cross that he called 'Nada' which, because of its evergreen foliage and dainty orchid like quality of its numerous flowers, has become one of the most popular iris of its kind in California and in the southern states.

Nada- Houseplant, Joan Cooper, Minnesota.
Leaves grow in broad fans with the largest individual leaves up to two inches wide and twenty inches tall. As they lengthen they droop, leaving the 22 inch bloom stalks displaying their flowers well above the leaves. Bloom stalks have 5 to 7 branches, each with at least three flowers, looming on widely separated days.
Very infrequently there may be too flowers on one steam opening the same day.
Each flower is at least 2½ inches wide and standards and falls are on the same plane.Standards are ½ inch wide by about 1¼ inches long, opening pure white, taking on a slight lavender cast as they age. The shape is unusual with a cat's-eared effect at the tips. Forms are slightly under 1 inch by 1¼ inch, ruffled and fluted, with a bright yellow orange crest and yellow orange dots deep in the throat. Pale lavender dots develop around the crest as the flower ages. The style arms add much interest, are ¼ to ⅜  inch wide by a bit over ½ inch long, pale lavender and unbelievably fringed at the tips. Each flower lasts approximately 28-30 hours, overlapping with the next days blooms.

Iris for Every Garden, Sydney B. Mitchell. Japonicas and Hybrids.
J.N. Giridlian in Arcadia, California has raised from a cross of japonica and Wattii a beautiful hybrid, Nada, and from Nada, a further introduction called Darjeeling. These make lovely garden plants, well-established clumps producing numerous stems with hundreds of butterfly-like blooms, most attractive in the garden and plentiful for cutting.

AIS Checklist 1939
NADA Ev-W1 (Giridlian 1936) Berry 1937 Bull. AIS 68: 69. Feb. 1938 % R., 1937 ( japonica X WATTII) H.M. A.I.S. 1939.

 As always clicking on the above image will take you to the larger, higher resolution version.

Reproduction in whole or in part of this photo without the expressed written permission of Terry Johnson is strictly prohibited.
Photo credit and copyright Terry Johnson and Heritage Irises ©. 

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IRIS FIMBRIATA, THE FRINGED IRIS OF JAPAN, Sir Michael Foster.

Plate 503, Drawn at Kew, April 1885

THE GARDEN

August 1st, 1885.

THE FRINGED IRIS OF JAPAN

IRIS FIMBRIATA

The graceful Iris figured in the accompanying plate was first described by Thunberg in 1793, and named by him I. japonica. It must before this have been introduced into England, for Mr. Baker states that the Banksian herbarium contains a specimen from Kew Gardens dried in 1792. Curtis figured it in the Botanical Magazine, in 1797, as I. chinensis, and in Redoute's " Liliaceae " it appears as I. fimbriata. On the ground of priority, which certainly should in most cases decide a question of nomenclature, the plant ought to be called I. japonica; but I. fimbriata is so happy a term, and I. japonica so little distinctive a one, that I venture in this case to break a wise rule and adopt the name I. fimbriata.
In a considerable number of Irises the fall or outer perianth segment bears along the medium line of the claw and the adjacent part of the blade not a beard composed of hairs, as in the ordinary bearded Irises, but a crest — that is to say, a ridge cut up into a number of tooth-like projections. These crested Irises, as distinguished both from bearded Irises and from beardless Irises, in which the whole of the fall is smooth and even, have been classed together in a group under the name Evansia.

I have myself some doubts about the validity of this group, since, on the one hand, a crest more or less developed appears in certain bulbous Irises — ex.gr., in the Juno group — while traces of a crest appear in some species whose allies are clearly beardless ; and, on the other hand, the group, thus constituted by the possession of a crest, seems to me to contain plants wholly diverse from each other. Be that as it may, however, the Iris which we are considering now is a crested Iris and belongs to this group of Evansia.
It is a native of Japan (middle and southern islands) and of the middle and southern regions of China. The rhizome bears, fanwise, broad ensiform leaves, and sends out numerous runners or stolons, by which it may be rapidly multiplied. The stem, I foot or 2 feet high, is branched, bearing clusters of flowers. The individual flowers are short-lived, lasting only for a couple of days or so, but they are borne in profusion, a well-established plant giving a succession of flowers lasting many weeks.

The plate gives a fair idea of the form of the flower, the crisped and broken margins of the falls and standards, and especially the fringed edges of the crests of the styles, justifying the name of fimbriata, or fringed. But it is very difficult to reproduce the charm of the colouring, the delicate light blue-purple or lavender forming the ground colour of the whole flower harmonising pleasantly with the yellow and orange of the crest by help of patches and veins of darker purple scattered here and there. A well-grown plant with several stems covered with these graceful flowers, which make up in delicacy and refinement what they lack in size and depth of colour, is a very acceptable sight ; and in a warm atmosphere a slight, but agreeable, fragrance makes itself felt.

Although, as I have said, I doubt the solidarity of the Evansia group as a whole, this I. fimbriata has certainly allies. Iris tectorum, also a Japanese and Chinese plant, with its much larger and more gaudy flowers, has many affinities with it ; and intermediate between the two comes an Iris which was introduced by seed from the Himalayas by Mr. Frank Miles, and which Mr. Baker proposes to call I. Milesi. And I am inclined to think that the I. nepalensis of Royle, when we come to know it more fully, will also prove a very close neighbour, as indeed does an unnamed Iris from Lahul, which M. Max Leichtlin has kindly given me, but which proves to be a most difficult plant to grow. The I. nepalensis of Don, which is identical with the I. decora of Wallich and with an Iris from Kumaon called I. kumaonensis (which name accordingly ought to be withdrawn), though a crested Iris, differs in most important features from the others just named.

Confining ourselves to the narrower group to which I. fimbriata belongs, we thus find that, while its centre is in China and Japan, it stretches away westward to the Himalayas, where it disappears. Strange as it may seem, and yet in accordance with what we know of the laws governing the geographical distribution of plants, we can pick up the group again if, moving eastward instead of westward, we cross the Pacific Ocean and North American continent, for the little Iris lacustris of the shores of Lake Huron and I. cristata of the States of Virginia and Carolina are not only crested Irises, but Irises in their essential features closely allied to I. fimbriata. In accommodating themselves to their American homes they have become dwarfed, though they have not lost all their beauty. The effects of conditions of life are still further seen in the little I. verna of the more northerly Eastern States, for this seems to me to be in reality a crested Iris which has lost its crest.
All the specimens which I have hitherto seen of I. fimbriata are exactly alike. I have never met as yet with any distinct variations. I have, however, in my possession two named kinds from Roozen, but as they have not yet flowered with me, I can say nothing about them.

In this rough climate of England, I. fimbriata — save perhaps in some southern paradisaical garden, such as that of Mr. Ewbank — must be grown as a cool green- house pot plant. Even with me it will live out of doors (I did not try it, however, in the winters of 1879 to 1881), but it only lives. To flower adequately it must have the protection of glass and the help of artificial warmth in winter. In its native home it is found in moist and shady situations, and must not, therefore, be dried off  like I. tectorum, which, as its name implies, may be and is grown in its native home on a dry house-top.
I have not found it very particular as to soil ; a rich open one, composed of loam, thoroughly rotten manure, a little peat perhaps, and a good deal of sand, seems to me to suit it best ; with too much peat the rhizome is apt to rot. I usually take a runner in winter, grow it on during the rest of the winter, spring, and early summer, shifting it from a 3-inch to a 4½-inch pot, and then to a 5 -inch pot, giving plenty of water and a genial temperature. By that time the pot has become well filled with roots and most of the foliage has been made. I then place it out of doors, not wholly in the shade, but exposed freely to our feeble English sunshine, taking care that it never gets quite dry, but keeping it, as respects water, rather stinted than otherwise during the late summer and autumn. In the winter it comes back into the house ; as growth begins again water is given more freely, and, according to the temperature to which it is exposed, the bloom may be expected from Christmas, or even earlier, onwards. If the young plant thus treated does not bloom the first winter, I keep it in the same pot, or one slightly larger only — for it seems to do rather better for being somewhat pot-bound, provided that it gets adequate nourishment — and subject it to the same treatment. The chief points of culture to be attended to seem to me to be — ample moisture, air, and light in the winter and early part of the year, and a season of comparative, but not absolute, rest during the latter half of summer and autumn.

M. Foster.

 Published in 1885, I considered Sir Michael Fosters completely unabridged articles need  once again to have some light shine upon the words and allow the readers see how prescient the man was. T.J.

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Iris Evansia, Iris Japonica, Crested Iris, FAIRYLAND

Dainty white speckled florets smother this plant making a truly welcome display that starts in late winter and continues until the Tall Bearded Iris. Flowers are listed as in the checklist as B7 (Pink to Red toned self) which is just so completely wide of the mark. This plant has smaller growing sword like glossy green leaves, has no canes but sheathed stolons spread from plants traveling close to the surface quickly establish new plants that lead to form a large clump. In New Zealand  'Fairyland' grows best in semi shade as our harsh sun tends to badly burn the leaves. Registered by James C. Stevens of New York and introduced by Samuel Berry of Redlands, Southern California, who specialised in species Iris. My 'Fairyland' plant was gifted to me by Mary Richardson of Upper Hutt, whose garden is just full of New Zealand Iris History and also pleasantly packed with Iridaceae bulbs that put on a bold complementary display in the spring and early summer.

IRISES, A Gardener's Encyclopedia, Claire Austin.
Iris japonica 'Fairyland'
This short, spreading plant bears white flowers on upright stems. Height 30cm (12in.) Parentage I. Uwodu X (an American form) X  I. confusa.

AIS Checklist 1939
FAIRYLAND James C. Stevens, Reg 1936  Evansia. Ev.-E-B7 L  I. uwodu X I. confusa. J C Stevens 1936.

As usual, clicking the above image will take you to the larger, higher resolution version.
Photo credit and copyright Iris Hunter. 

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Iris Evansia, Iris Japonica, Crested Iris, BOURNE GRACEFUL

Medium size flower which is deep lilac-blue with strong orange-yellow signal surrounded by old gold to dark violet flecks and a violet border around the white signal area. The flowers are borne on distinctive green stems that become darker towards the bottom, but the plant itself has no canes. The long glossy leaves are ribbed and coloured purple at the base (PBF)

The Iris Yearbook (BIS), 1975,"An Iris Japonica Seedling", J.R.Ellis.
From pollination's of the Ledgers variety of Iris japonica with pollen from the plant recorded as the Capri form of Iris japonica ( B I S Yearbook 1966 page 138) a vigorous hybrid has been obtained which has been registered as 'Borne Graceful'. For the last two years this hybrid has been grown in a cool greenhouse where it has flowered profusely from the end of March to the beginning of June. The flowering spikes reaches a height of 4 feet and the flowers which are 2 ½ inches to 3 inches across are pale mauve in colour with a deep yellow crests surrounded by deep mauve spots.
Cytologically, the hybrid has approximately 61 chromosomes and this is the highest chromosome number recorded in Evansia irises. The parental species, Ledgers variety and the 'Capri form' have a 54 and 31 chromosomes respectively and the higher chromosome number in the hybrids stems from the fact that neither parent forms are cytologically true species. Ledgers variety with 54 chromosomes has been reported by Chimphamba (Cytologia 38:501-514, 1973) to have a triploid chromosomal constitution and in crosses with I.cofusa give gametes with different chromosome which range from 24 to 30 chromosomes (unpublished data). The 'Capri form' of I.japonica was also by Chimphamba to have a chromosome complement indicative of hybrid origin. It is highly sterile because of meiotic difficulties, but produces a few functional pollen grains which, in all probability have not been reduced in chromosome number. An unreduced gamete with 31 chromosomes from the 'Capri form' together with a 30-chromosome gamete from Ledgers variety have almost certainly combined to give the hybrid 'Bourne Graceful'.

I have used the B&W photo taken by the hybridiser,this was published in the BIS Yearbook in 1975
then I changed the photo taken in the garden today to B&W to confirm ID .Click on collage to enlarge.

The Iris Yearbook (BIS), 1975, '1975 Registrations'.
BOURNE GRACEFUL    Jack R. Ellis, Reg 1975. Evansia  I. japonica.  Ledgers variety X I. japonica Capri form. Very pale mauve with darker mauve spots around yellow crest 42 " height. April-June in cool green house. A.M.,(J.I.C.), S.C.,C.M., 1975 . 

AIS Checklist 1975
BOURNE GRACEFUL   J. R. Ellis, Reg 1975.  SPEC 42" (107 cm) E-M.  Very pale mauve with darker mauve spots around yellow crest. I. japonica var. Ledgers X I. japonica var. Capri., British Iris Society 1990.

Clicking on the above image will take you to the larger, higher resolution version.
Photo credit and copyright Iris Hunter

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Iris Evansia, Crested Iris, CHENGDU.

The Evansia or Crested Irises are a interesting group of different irises all with different chromosome counts. 'We at home' are just starting a collection of these plants now that the trees we planted some 18 years ago are starting to give the mottled shade habitat that evansias like so much to grow in. Evansias do like growing in many places in New Zealand and these delightful and distinctive irises add great value to the garden, although they are not used as much in gardens as they deserve to be. 
 Much has been said and written about the 'DNA' of 'Chengdu', some have suggest it is a natural form of I.confusa and other more enlightened folk have suggested it is a species of its own. What we do know for sure that it was collected in Sichuan, South West China by Jean Gardiner and sent to Jean Witt in America. It forms a dense clump of glossy rich green leaves that are held in fans, bottom of this foliage strongly tinted purple-black, Historic Iris aficionados refer to this as PBF. The branching bloom stalks rise to a height of 102cm (42"). Blooms for several months in Spring with exquisite almost orchid-like 4-4.5cm blooms in contrasting shades of deep lavender that have a bright yellow crest surrounded with white which in turn is surrounded with a prominent purple zone which extends as veins towards the blade of the fall. Slight vanilla fragrance.
 
The Iris Yearbook (BIS), 1991,  “Evansia Irises : Two New Species”,  page 96, Dr. Jack R. Ellis.
The second potential new species I. "wittii", is named (without permission) after Mrs Jean Witt of Seattle who kindly sent a plant approximately ten years ago, with details of its origin/location in south west China. It was received as a probable form of I. confusa. With smaller growth form, more delicate inflorescence and with mid violet-purple flowers, it is morphologically quite distinct from all previously introduced forms of I.confusa. It has recently been cytologically studied by Young Lim, who has noted chromosomal differences from I."confusa', I. "wattii" and I. "nova". The cytogenetic evidence combined with the morphological differences would justify its recognition as a different species in the cane bearing Evansias assigned to group 1.

Gardening with Iris Species, Proceedings of an International Symposium, Edited by James W. Waddick, 1995.
'Following the Evansia Trail, From a Question Mark', Revie Harvey, New Zealand.
The latest edition to our Evansia collections has not to our knowledge been given an official title. It is very popular with all growers and viewers and is commonly called "Chengdu" in honour of the district in China from whence it was discovered in recent days. In this Southern Hemisphere, it has adapted well to seasonal climatic conditions. The bright green foliage is attractive in the off-season. The florets are small but neatly proportioned in mid-violet-blue and by far the most colourful of the range. For a period there was a theory that it was another form of I. confusa, a view that I refuse to accept and I felt was proven when I grew the two plants in close proximity. Like all Evansia forms brought into cultivation from the wild, it is a reluctant pod parent. However seedlings raised from a bee pod have been true to the blue parent. At this time the first blooms are being from a cross of "Kilkivan" with 'Chengdu" showing some variance from both of the parents.

Irises, A New Zealand Gardener's Guide, Pamela McGeorge and Alison Nicoll, 2001.
Evansia or Crested Irises
Two evansias more recently available are I.'Nova' and I. 'Chengdu'. The first of these two is a tall plant that sets seed reliably and has large white blooms marked with gold. It was found in a garden in the U.K., but has not yet been found in the wild. I. 'Chengdu', however, came from China, and it appears from a recent study that it might be a species in its own right. It has glossy dark green leaves and deep lavender flowers with a prominent purple zone surrounding the white area adjacent to the the deep yellow crest. Its growth habit is similar to I. confusa and is very similar to a variety named 'Martyn Rix'.

AIS Checklist 199
CHENGDU (Jean Witt, R. 1997). SPEC (evansia), 20-24" (51-61 cm), M. S. and style arms light lavender; F. slightly darker, signal white with medium lavender halo, yellow crest. Collected 1980 by Jeanne Gardiner between Kanding, Tibet, and Yaan, Sichuan, China, ca. 3000' elevation; probably I. confusa.

 
As always clicking on the above image will take you to the larger, higher resolution version.
Photo credit and copyright Iris Hunter.

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