Brooklyn Botanic Garden Record 



VOL. XIV JULY, 1925 NO. ,i 



THE TEST GARDEN FOR BEARDLESS IRISES 



Arrang-ements were made with The American Iris Society in 

 1920 for the estabhshment of a test garden for the Beardless 

 (Apogon) Irises at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The original 

 plan contemplated primarily the study of the Japanese irises (Iris 

 kaempferi), and a considerable number of varieties were sent to 

 the Botanic Garden in 1920-21 by those interested in the project. 

 As a matter of fact, however, httle progress has been made in at- 

 tacking the problems connected with this group of irises. 



Doubtless the Bearded Irises are much more familiar as garden 

 plants. Most people who have a flower garden possess one or 

 more varieties of the bearded type. The larger gardens may 

 contain varieties of dwarf bearded, intermediate bearded, and tall 

 bearded. There are several varieties of dwarf and interniediate 

 bearded, and the tall bearded are represented by a very large col- 

 lection of varieties. During the past twenty-five years workers in 

 England, France, Germany, and the United States have been \ery 

 active in the development of new varieties, most of which belong 

 to the tall bearded group. 



The section of Beardless Irises, or the Apogons, is a large one 

 and consists of several very distinct groups. The}- all dilTer from 

 the bearded irises by the absence of the hairs, or beard, on the 

 fall. Our native blue flag {Iris versicolor) which grows com- 

 monly in the swamps in eastern United States is a familiar ex- 

 ample of a beardless iris. In some gardens we may find varieties 

 derived from species of the Sibirian group, as Iris sibirica and 

 /. orientalis. A much larger group, from the standpoint of the 

 development of varieties, is the group of true Japanese irises de- 

 rived from Iris kaempferi. 



A renewed efifort is now being made to effectively studv the 

 Apogon Irises, especially the Japanese, Sibirian, and Spurian 



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