IRIS 



213 



Iris, continued 



in uncertainty where to look for names, 

 were they separated into special sections, 

 whether for botanical, horticultural, or 

 commercial reasons. 



Therefore, with the consent of the 

 American Iris Society, the American 

 Joint Committee has rearranged the 

 Iris List to conform to the alphabetical 

 standard, and has revised the abbrevia- 

 tions. These follow each name (where the 

 classification is known), so that each 

 variety is readily referable to the special 

 group or section to which it belongs. 



One of the most serious difficulties the 

 American Joint Committee has had to 

 encounter is the duplication of names 

 caused by the re-use of established 

 names for new introductions, or, in 

 some cases, the renaming of old varieties; 

 in fact, these mischievous practices have 

 caused a large part of the chaos in com- 

 mon names of plants which now exists 

 in American horticulture. The dupli- 

 cations doubtless occur more as a result 

 of ignorance than deUberate intent to 

 deceive. The results, however, are 

 pernicious, for the confusion increases 

 yearly. The genus Iris is a conspicuous 

 example of this bad practice. Therefore, . 

 to conform to the established and salu- 

 tary rule of the American Joint Com- 

 mittee, it has been necessary either to 

 omit such duphcated names or to print 

 them in italics as unaccepted names. 

 The American Iris Society has agreed to 

 this procedure. 



The Subcommittee of the American 

 Joint Committee who edited this Iris 

 manuscript wishes to go on record as of 

 the belief that the use of many names 

 in this Iris hst, particularly Latin 

 binomials and trinomials, which the 

 American Iris Society insisted should 

 be adopted as common names, could 

 often have been replaced advantage- 

 ously by more suitable English com- 

 mon names. For illustration a single 

 example suffices: Pseud acorus Foliis 

 Variegatis for which the Subcommittee 

 preferred the name Variegated Yel- 

 LOWFLAG, Yellowflag Iris being the 

 common name of the species Iris pseu- 

 dacorus. 



American Joint Committee on 

 Horticultural Nomenclature 

 Harlan P. Kelsey, Secretary. 



Statement of the American 

 Iris Society 

 This list includes, as far as possible, all 

 species and varieties now in American 

 commerce, usually classed under three 

 main groups: Group I, Bearded Iris 

 (Pogoniris) ; Group II, Beardless Iris 

 (Apogon) and Crested Iris (Evansia) ; 

 Group III, Bulbous and Miscellaneous 



Iris, continued 



Iris; because these groups are distinct 

 both botanically and horticulturally. 

 These names are taken from the Check- 

 List of the American Iris Society, 

 seventh revision, December, 1921, with 

 additions and corrections up to Jan- 

 uary, 1923, which gives all species and 

 varieties that have been introduced 

 into American commerce. For use in 

 Standardized Plant Names this com- 

 plete list has been shortened by omit- 

 ting varieties now believed to be obso- 

 lete. Except for this omission, Group I 

 is believed to be fairly complete. Many 

 names have been shortened and a few 

 have been changed to conform to the 

 American Joint Committee's principles 

 of nomenclature. Group II, especially 

 as regards Japanese Iris (Iris kaempferi 

 varieties), is not as complete as Group I. 

 The present chaos in the nomenclature 

 of these varieties is due to (1) the care- 

 lessness or unscrupulousness of certain 

 Japanese nurserymen in sending out 

 varieties incorrectly labeled; (2) the 

 difficulty of spelhng Japanese names; 

 (3) the different translations of Japa- 

 nese names in Europe and America; 

 and (4) the common practice of re- 

 christening Japanese varieties in Europe 

 and America. To obviate the difficulties 

 outlined in (2) the American Iris Society 

 has authorized the registration of the 

 names as translated in the present list. 

 The names mentioned in (4) cannot be 

 accepted because they differ in almost 

 every nursery. Group III is far from 

 complete. 



The name of the originator and the 

 date of introduction are given in 

 parentheses where these facts have been 

 ascertained. Sources of information are 

 believed to be accurate but are not 

 guaranteed. 



EXPLANATION OF IRIS 

 CLASSIFICATION 

 The Irises in this list may be referred 

 to three main groups, divided into 

 twenty-one sections as follows: 



Group I, 

 Bearded Iris (Pogoniris) 

 This group, commonly but erroneously 

 known as German Iris, comprises the 

 well-known garden Irises derived from 

 species from southern Europe and Asia 

 Minor, some of them known in cultiva- 

 tion for more than two hundred years. 

 The distinguishing characteristics are 

 (1) the conspicuous beard on the 

 lower petal, or fall; (2) a root which is 

 a rhizome and which will stand long 

 exposure to air and drought without 

 injury, after the manner of bulbs. The 

 plants of this group need well-drained 

 soil and sunny exposure. 



