274 



THE GARDENERS 1 CHRONICLE. 



[Apkil 27, 1912. 



^ 



NOTES ON IRISES. 



SOME NEW IRIS HYBRIDS. 



Complete dominance does not seem to prevail 

 when two widely-separated species of Iris are 

 crossed together. On the contrary, each character 

 of the hybrid seems to be a compromise between 

 the corresponding characters in the two parents. 

 Moreover, the investigation of the results in sub- 

 sequent generations is rendered impossible by the 

 complete sterility of the hybrids, both with 

 their own pollen and with that of either of the 



parents. 



It is, perhaps, premature to base any conclu- 

 sions on a few instances, but the results that I 

 obtained by crossing I. chamaeiris with pollen 

 of I. Korolkowii and I. Congialti with pollen 

 of I. tectorum have been confirmed by a fresh 

 cross which I now propose to describe. 



In 1909 I crossed a flower of I. Clarkei which 

 comes from an elevation of about 10,000 feet on 

 the Himalayas in the neighbourhood of Darjeel- 

 ing with pollen of a form of the Californian I. 

 Douglasiana, which has flowers of a pale pinkish- 

 buff colour. I must confess that I hardly expected 

 to obtain any result from a cross between such 

 dissimilar species. However, when the flowers ap- 

 peared in due course in June, 1911, there was no 

 doubt that the two parents had combined to form 

 an entirely distinct new Iris. In the first place 

 the flowers are of a curious colour, that can best, 

 perhaps, be described as crushed strawberry — 

 that is to say, the pinkish buff of the pollen 

 parent, I. Douglasiana, has almost, but not quite, 

 obscured the blue-purple of I. Clarkei, the seed 

 parent. The bluish tinge is obviously present, 

 and the colour is quite different from that of 

 I. Douglasiana. 



Another obvious compromise between the cha- 

 racters of the two parents is found in the leaves. 

 Those of I. Clarkei have a peculiar polished 

 upper surface and are glaucous beneath. More- 

 over, they die away entirely in early autumn. 

 Those of I. Douglasiana are of a thick, leathery 

 texture, deep green in colour, persistent through 

 the winter, only dying away when the fresh 

 growths have developed in spring. They are 

 usually more or less glaucous, at least in the early 

 stages of their growth. The leaves of the hybrid 

 seem unable to decide which parent they intend 

 to follow, for the central leaves of a tuft are often 

 entirely glaucous, while the outer leaves of the 

 same tuft have the curiously dissimilar surfaces 

 of I. Clarkei. This was the state of the foliage 

 of my half-dozen plants when I began to observe 

 them closely ; but I am sorry to say that this was 

 not until I found flower-spikes, so that I do not 

 know what appearance the leaves have in the 

 early stages of their growth. 



When I. Clarkei lost its leaves in September 

 the hybrid was still quite green and vigorous, 

 and I wondered whether it was going to follow 

 the example of I. Douglasiana and keep its foli- 

 age until the spring. At first it seemed as 

 though this would be so. But not long before 

 Christmas the leaves turned yellow, and have 

 now withered entirely away. 



Another curious feature of the hybrid plant is 

 that its flowers are mottled with a number of 

 fine dots of a deeper shade of pinkish lavender on 

 the blade of the falls, though there is no trace 

 of any such dots on the flowers of either of its 

 parents. 



The standards also are mottled in the same 

 way but more faintly. They are not held erect, 

 as in I. Douglasiana, nor yet are they so much 

 depressed as in I. Clarkei. They have wavy 

 edges, which seem to result from the struggle be- 

 tween the plane surface of the standards of I. 

 Douglasiana and the long, deeply -channelled haft 

 of I. Clarkei, in the same way that the mottling 

 appears to be the consequence of the competition 

 for dominance of the pinkish-huff of the pollen 

 parent %nd the deep blue-purple of the seed 

 parent. W. 22. Dykes, Charterhouse, Godalming. 



BOTANISING IN BULGARIA. 



(Concluded from p. 253.) 



Ik company with Herr Kellerer an excursion 

 was arranged to the Rilo Mountains. After a 

 day's drive from Kostenetz in pouring rain, we 

 reached Tchamkouri to learn that the rain had 

 been so heavy that the road was washed away 

 by the floods, so it was decided to visit Moussala, 

 the highest mountain in Bulgaria, nearly 

 10,000 feet high. A good road runs through 

 some miles of forest of Spruce and Silver Fir to 

 the King's and Prince's residences at Sitnyakovo 

 and Sokoletz. In these places his majesty has 

 small rockeries, in which many choice alpines 

 flourish. Near Sokoletz, 4,000 feet high, grow- 

 ing on a hillside were some interesting wild 

 plants. Carlina acanthifolia was plentiful, with 

 its rosette of leaves and large Thistle heads rest- 

 ing upon the ground. A silvery-leaved Vetch, re- 

 sembling Vicia argentea with flowers similar to 

 the Tufted Vetch, was very pretty but most diffi- 

 cult to dig up, for its roots descended for 2 feet 

 and more into the ground. Orchis sambucina 



the traveller had the choice of wading through 

 it or going waist-deep through Juniper Scrub. 

 The latter, however, is not by any means so try*. 

 ing as clambering through "Klek," as Pinui 

 montana is called. The latter is the last of all 

 trees on the mountain side. Some of the stems 

 were 15 inches in diameter, and trail over th« 

 ground for many yards before their branches be- 

 come erect ; other trees are erect from the start 

 This Conifer covers many acres, and is valued 

 by the peasants for firewood. 



Bruckenthalia spiculifolia takes the place of 

 our Ling on the mountain sides ; it is usually 

 pink, but deeper forms may be seen, and we 

 found two plants with pure white flowers. On 

 dry banks Linaria dalmatica grandiflora was 

 very effective. It was growing about 2 feet high, 

 with larger flow T ers and of a paler yellow than 

 the type. In moist places, in fact sometimes 

 in bogs and by streams, patches of scarlet were 

 produced by Geum coccineum, while on the 

 sides of rocks G. bulgaricum was seen. 

 Erroneous ideas exist in regard to this plant, for 

 in some catalogues it has been described as a 



[Photogjaph by C. F. Ball, 



Fig. 128.— onosma tauricum, pal£a* 9 native of Bulgaria: flowers yellow. 



plant with large, bright yellow flowers. J* 

 reality, the flowers are poor, pale yeilow, a r 

 ing and cup-shaped, the petals never expana s 

 properly. Until I saw it at Sokoletz I * JJ 

 thought it was a poor garden plant, but a *b 

 by Herr Kellerer it is valuable for its « c0 ™ 

 foliage alone. The leaves are about iui ^ 

 across, very sticky, and glandular, and 

 distance the foliage resembles that ot a 



Gunnera. toauent 



Pulmonaria rubra seems always to k 1 ^ 

 shady places, but Campanula abietina seen 

 grow anywhere but in the driest spots. ^ 



At last we came to a large, grassy g ia 

 inland lakes, which are the source of tn« ^ 

 Maritza which flows into the fi ^ ge tufts of 



was plentiful in company with colonies of 

 Botrychium, Lunaria and Dianthus tenuiflorus, 

 whilst the yellow -flowered Sempervivum patens 

 and others took possession of the stony places. 

 The upland meadows were a mass of flowers, in 

 fact similar to those of Switzerland. Orchids 

 abound, and a pretty Campanula, with light-blue, 

 sessile flowers, on stems 2 feet high, was dis- 

 covered, as well as a distinct Silene, with white 

 flowers in round, capitate heads. In moist 

 meadows, Polygala major, with Gentians for 

 company, raised its beautiful flower-stems 1 foot 

 high in blue, white and pink. In another place, 

 the pretty little Silene Lerchenfeldiana was grow- 

 ing in the crevices of the rocks, its trailing stems 

 covered with glaucous leaves, and bearing pink 

 flowers at the tips. Once through the Fir woods 

 the path to Moussala is most interesting, wind- 

 ing between mountain ranges affording glorious 

 views, the snow-peaked cap of Moussala appear- 

 ing and disappearing in the distant landscape. 

 So heavy had been the rain that the rocky path 

 was for several miles a mountain stream, and 



which 

 the 



flows 

 short 



were 



Among the short grass *«* - - flower9 . 

 Gentiana pyrenaica bearing purplwn-wue ^ 



In cultivation Dianthus microlepis may ^ 

 flower-stem 2 inches and 3 inches !»«, . 

 growing wild in the turf it makes cusn ^ 

 like Silene acaulis, the soft pink fl ower ^ 





