■ (SPEC) Iris stolonifera Maxim.

1880, Botanical author Maximowicz

Iris stolonifera Maxim. (Carl Johann Maximowicz, 1880, Bokhara & Turkestan); Regelia L height 12-24" (30-60 cm); Color Code-S3M. Easily distinguished by the band of yellow, reddish, or dark brown bordering the standards and falls. In some varieties it may suffuse into the centers but usually the central area has a light, almost white, ground washed with a metalic lavender. Named for its stoloniferous rhizomes which are not unlike those of some other regelias.

See below:

• * References
• * Variations
• * Hybrids

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References

Max. in Bull. Acad. Pet. 26: 535. 1880
Van T. 1909; 1938;
Tip Top 1938.
Salb. 1929;
Dykes, The Genus Iris 126. 1913, illustrated in color; Description. Rootstock , a somewhat slender fleshy red-skinned rhizome, with a tendency to send out new stolon like growths (see Plate XLVII, Fig. 2 ). Leaves , ensiform, somewhat dark bluish green, purple at base when young, coarsely striated. Stem, 1-2 ft., wholly concealed except at the summit by clasping leaves, bearing a single head of 1-3 flowers. Spathe valves , green, navicular, sharply keeled, slightly scarious at the upper edge and flushed with purple, 2l in. long. Pedicel , very short. Ovary , 1 in., rounded trigonal, with a groove on either face, bright pale green. Tube , 1 in., funnel-shaped, green with a purplish tinge. Falls . The obovate blade is not separated by any constriction from the broad haft, which is a yellowish-white with conspicuous diffuse orange-brown veins. The blade is of a fine blue purple with a waved edge suffused with bronze. The beard is bright yellow behind and sometimes tipped with brown in front, 2 1/2-3 in. by 1-1-1/4 in. Standards , obovate unguiculate, blue purple with fine darker veins in the median parts, bronzy brown at the edge from the confluence of brown veins. On the inner side there is a distinct linear beard for more than 1/3 of the whole length, of yellowish hairs tipped with brown or orange. 2 1/2 in. by 1 1/4 in. Styles , blue purple. Crests , narrow triangular, bronze brown, with distinct veins. Stigma, entire, semicircular, prominent. Filaments, short. Anthers, very large and at least twice as long as the filament. Pollen, cream-coloured or slightly tinged with blue. Capsule , with thin walls, 3 in. long, tapering at either end, sharply trigonal, dehiscing below the beaked apex. Seeds, light brown, with conspicuous white aril. Observations. The nomenclature and synonymy of this Iris are somewhat confusing, partly owing to the fact that the species was first described from dried specimens alone and partly to the undoubted existence of several forms in the wild state. The facts seem to be as follows. In 1869 Mme 0. Fedtschenko discovered an Iris in the Zarefshan (Sarafschan) valley in the mountains of Turkestan which Maximowicz described as I. stolonifera in 1880 (v. supra). About 1883 Dr Regel received from Bokhara an Iris which he named I. Lez'chtlznz; overlooking apparently the existence of Maximowicz's I. stolonifera, to which he makes no allusion. In 1884 Foster received some plants through Max Leichtlin from General Korolkow, which proved to be very wide-spreading in their growth. He therefore named them I. vaga. In the next year, 1885, he received another specimen from Gen. Korolkow, which, owing to its closer growth, he labelled I. vaga var. compacta (MS). In the Gardeners' Chronicle for 1888 (ii. p. 36), however, he acknowledged that his I. vaga was "only a very distinct variety of I. Leichtlini." In 1908 seeds and rhizomes were collected in the original locality in Zarefshan by Goldbeck and Fedotoff (see Fedtsch. I.e. p. 75, n. 3). These flowered in Mme Fedtschenko's garden, near Moscow, in 1909, and she was able to compare them with specimens of I. vaga, which she had received from Foster, and as to the identity of which there was therefore no doubt. She came to the conclusion that I. vaga was merely a synonym of I. stolonifera. But even if all the forms must be looked upon as belonging to the same species, it is useless to deny that the plant is variable in the growth of the rhizome, in the presence or absence of purple colouration at the base of the leaves, and in the colour of the flowers. These are always blue, edged or shot with brown, but the shade of colour may be either pale or dark, the veins may be heavy or faint, and, above all, the beard may be of bright yellow or bright blue or of an intermediate mixture. In. my own garden I have observed that the same plants, which in one year had yellow beards, in the next had blue, and in another had beards of a dingy colour resulting from the juxtaposition of bluish and yellowish hairs. Max Leichtlin, to whom I appealed to know the colour of the beard of I. Leichtlinii; replied that it was " of a nondescript colour," and contained yellow, white, and blue hairs. No explanation of this change has been put forward. But even if this change in the colour of the beard points to the unreliability of this character, it may be useful to record that Maximowicz's I. stolonifera and Regel's I. Leichtlini had yellow beards, while Foster records (MS.) that the beards both on the falls and on the standards of his I. vaga consisted of hairs that were blue or bluish white above and white tipped yellow at the base. The stem was nearly two feet high. This form I still have in cultivation and I cannot separate it specifically from typical I. stolonifera.
Hort. 7: 8, 191. 15 Apr. 1929, illustrated;
Yr. Bk., I.S.(E.) 45. 1933;
Wal. 1934;
Berr 1938;

Synonyms

Leichtlini, Regel; vaga, Fos.

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Variations

Iris stolonifera cultivars: 'Decorated Blue Beard', 'Decorated Delight', 'Decorated Giant', 'George Barr', 'Here I Am', 'Leichtlini', 'Merlin's Magic', 'Real Harmony', 'Red, White, And Blue', 'Conical', 'TurkishDancer', 'Turkish Delight', 'Vaga', 'Zwanenburg Beauty'.

Hybrids

Iris stolonifera crosses:

• Iris stolonifera X Iris korolkowii: 'Korola', 'Vera'
• Iris korolkowii X Iris stolonifera: 'Lucia', 'Orestes', 'Turkoman. 'Vulcanus'
• Iris hoogiana X Iris stolonifera: 'Blue Moon', 'Bronze Beauty Van Tubergen', 'Ken Bastow', 'Stonehenge'
• Regelia hybrid, 1/4 Iris stolonifera: 'Verhooga'
• Iris stolonifera X regeliocyclus: 'Persian Garnet', 'Sheik Jamil'
• Regeliabred X Iris stolonifera: 'Moments Later'
• Iris stolonifera X regeliabred: 'Silken Finery', 'Stolen Moments'
• Iris stolonifera X oncogeliabred: 'Bedouin Child', 'Desert Fire', 'Sadira'
• Oncogeliabred X Iris stolonifera: 'Persian Art'
• Iris acutiloba X Iris stolonifera: 'Tel Hashi'
• Iris stolonifera X Iris barnumae: 'Bedouin Dusk'
• Iris stolonifera X oncocyclus hybrid: 'Hera'
• Iris stolonifera X oncogelia: 'Tadzhiki Bandit', 'Tadzhiki Eclipse'
• Arilbred X Iris stolonifera: 'Dizzy Delight'
• Iris stolonifera X Iris pumila: 'Stolpum #1'
• Iris stolonifera X Iris lutescens: 'Benjamin', 'Little Master', 'Mountain Pottery', 'New Era', 'Spring Caper'
• Iris stolonifera X standard dwarf bearded: 'Little Trooper'
• Iris germanica X Iris stolonifera: 'Twilight'
• Iris stolonifera X tall bearded: 'Afrosiab', 'Saffron Charm', 'Silken Dalliance'
• Tall bearded X Iris stolonifera: 'Dust Storm'
• ¼ Iris stolonifera crosses: 'April Blue'; 'Bandana'; 'Bedouin Nightfall'; 'Bronze Falcon'; 'Bowl Of Violets'; 'Charming Morn'; 'Darling Who Knows'; 'Exotican Art'; 'Exotican Design'; 'Exotican Pixie'; 'Exotican Rival'; 'Genetic Artist'; 'Genetic Burst'; 'Genetic Leader'; 'Hoopla'; 'Ibab'; 'Kalisaf'; 'Kazakhstan'; 'King's Silk'; 'Lavender Lemon'; 'Little Sheba'; 'Saffron Cloud'; 'Saffron Jewel'; 'Saffron Moon'; 'Saffron Sunrise'; 'Tantalizer'; 'Werckmeister's Beauty'; 'Winter's Charm'; 'Yera'

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-- BobPries - 2009-12-10