92 
Ofye ^flower (Brower 
June, 1920 
The American Iris Society. 
The Iris season is here, our appreci- 
ation and enthusiasm is at its height 
over the beauties of the newly opened 
blooms and yet this is the time for hard 
study, for the observance of details that 
will make our gardens still lovelier an- 
other year and give us notes for refer- 
ence and discussion through the dull 
months. The season is all too short 
though even now on May 1st my Iresis 
are beginning. As you read they will 
be in their prime, and even in July they 
will be carrying color. 
What I always think of first is the 
general effect, loose stalks of bloom are 
borne from one clump to another, 
sometimes for close comparison, some- 
times with new color combinations in 
view, and then perhaps, spade in hand, 
I actually shift a well-flowered clump 
for more decorative placing. This last 
is not wholly satisfactory either this 
year or next, but there is no chance 
of negligence at least. But it is the 
dryer, less alluring things I must urge 
upon you all, the gathering of descrip- 
tions, hybridizing, the judging and 
comparing of your varieties one with 
another, and always in the background, 
the idea of a future symposium and 
classification ; the first will bring about 
the discard of poor varieties in time 
and the last will do much to assist in 
the correction of nomenclature and 
the proper listing of too similar varie- 
ties. You are familiar with the present 
groupings, pallida, etc., which first in- 
troduced by the Belgian growers Krel- 
age & Sons in 1892 is now outgrown, 
so broadened in application by the ad- 
dition of new introductions as to be 
valueless to the purchaser. About 
1916 R. Wallace & Co. of Colchester, 
England, first made a brief classifica- 
tion based on color and it is from their 
1919 catalog that I present this method. 
CLASSIFICATION. 
A committee of the Royal Horticul- 
tural Society has been studying this 
subject for some years in connection 
with the Iris Trials at Wisley and I am 
glad that we are to have the privilege 
of co-operating with them this year. 
Their preliminary work is not for pub- 
lication, but color, not botanical re- 
lationship, will form the major subdi- 
visions. I give four suggested schemes 
(three of them fundamentally the 
same) as proposed by members of our 
Committee on Nomenclature. They 
are presented in simple form, without 
comment though I have introduced 
similar terminology in all and given 
examples in some cases. Try them 
out while your Irises are in bloom and 
let us know your opinions. 
First — zls proposed by A. J. Bliss in 
The Garden, Feb. 7, 1920 : 
Class I — White — 1. White seifs; 2. White 
ground plicatas ; 3, Amoenas, (Thorbeck.) 
Class II— Bicolors — Blue neglectas ; ( Black 
P. ince, Perfection.) 
2. Red neglectas ; ( Monsignor .) 
3. Blue pallida bicolors, ( Oriflamme .) 
4. Red pallida bicolors. 
Class III — Purple Selfs— 1. Blue seifs, (pallida 
Dalmatica ); 2. Red seifs, (Caprice ox: Queen 
of May. ) 
Class IV- Blends (squalens) — 1. Light. 
2. Dark, (Alcazar) ; 3. Red, (Jacquini- 
ana) ; 4. Yellow, (Eldorado) . 
Class V — Yellow— 1. Variegata ; 2. Yellow 
ground plicata ; 3. Yellow seifs. 
Second — From 1919 Catalogue of R. 
Wallace & Co.: 
Sub-divided into April, May and June 
flowering. 
Class I - White self. 
Class II — White feathered with purple (pli- 
cata.) 
(a) Color confined to margins of stand- 
ards, (Mme. Chereau.) 
(b) Color suffused through standards, 
( Parisiana . ) 
Class III— 5. white or slightly tinted. F. pur- 
ple, (amoena.) 
Class IV— Purple Bicolors. 
Class V— Purple Selfs, (a) lavender, (Albert 
Victor), (b) Blue-purple, (Brionensis.) ( c ) 
Red purple, (Caprice.) 
Class VI— Yellow Selfs. 
Class VII — S. yellow, F. purple, (a) S. pale, 
(Gajus). (b) S. deep, (Honourable.) 
Class VIII — Shot shades, (a) Yellow pre- 
dominating, (Eldorado.) (b) Lavender pre- 
dominating, (Nuee d’Orage.) (c) Purple 
bronze effect, (Alcazar.) 
Class IX — Lilac and Rose Shades. (Her Maj- 
esty, Isoline.) 
Third - As proposed by C. H. Hall, 
Pennsylvania : 
Class A — White. 
1. Blade of Standards uniform coloring 
(self.) 
(a) F. uniform coloring; (1) self; (2) 
bicolors, velvety or non-velvety. 
(b) F. marked or shaded throughout, 
with light or dark borders. (Rhein 
Nixe.) 
2. Blade of Standards marked or shaded, 
(a) F. uniform, etc. (b) F. marked or 
shaded similar or different from the 
standards. (Mme. Chereau.) 
Class B— Yellow ; C. Red; D. Blue ; E. Bronze 
and Gray effects, each class divided as in 
Class A. 
Fourth -As proposed by R. S. Sturte- 
vant in The Garden, Jan. 31, 1920. 
Class I— Self. (In effect.) 
A. White; B. Yellow; C. Pink, clear or 
crude ; D. Lavender, light or dark ; E 
Blend, pink, yellow, or lavender predomi- 
nating. (Afterglow, Queen Alexandra.) 
Class II— Bicolors. 
A— Blade of Fall unveined, velvety or not 
velvety. (Jacquiniana.) 
B— Blade of Fall veined, velvety or not 
velvety. 
Class III — Plicata. 
A— S. Veined throughout. (Mrs. G. Reuthe.) 
B — S. Margined. (Jeanne d’Arc.) 
C — S. Inconspicuously marked. (Pancroft.) 
' Minor divisions on white lavender, yellow 
or blended grounds. 
I am afraid that all this will prove 
difficult of comparison but search 
among your varieties, particularly 
among your seedlings, and try to place 
the most unusual of them all some- 
where in each classification ; that is 
the final test. Will the scheme prove 
a key to identification ? I think that 
you will find the terminology familiar, 
the colors red, blue, or pink are merely 
suggestive and who does not recognize 
a self or a bi-color, venation, borders, or 
markings ? If we can work out a really 
good classification, gather together 
complete descriptions of all varieties, 
will it not be possible to compare, even 
to name, varieties from our records 
and so to supplement the much slower 
work of our Trial Gardens. 
NOTES. 
By the way, I have had little response from 
our appeal for lists of stock available for 
trial plantings. Many, if not most of you 
are surely generous and yet it seems as 
though your Secretary and the small com- 
mittee in charge would be obliged to write 
to each of you personally to procure your 
support. There are at least 380 members 
now, do you really intend to ask so much of 
a few of us ? July is the time we want the 
plants, but we need the lists to choose from 
now. Do your share in helping us establish 
gardens that will introduce to many city 
dwellers the beauties of our favorites. 
I have been much interested in the first 
Official Data Card, filled out and returned 
from a rank amateur in Chihuahua, Mexico, 
but if he didn’t describe albicans I am much 
mistaken. I do not expect to be able as yet 
to name all the unnamed descriptions sent 
in, but surely this first report has a pleasant 
promise. The data cards will be sent on re- 
quest and we now have an accompanying 
card which explains diagrammatically terms 
of shape and carriage. We need these de- 
scriptions for future report, they may be 
added to your garden files and breeders who 
wish to register new varieties should send in 
as complete descriptions as possible. At 
present our Registration is of name only, 
but it is only a matter of experience before 
we will be in a position to give provisional 
advice as to new varieties and a final judg- 
ment in our trial grounds. In the last few 
years there have been at least 250 new in- 
troductions, the present popularity of the 
Iris will greatly increase this number, the 
Society must step warily if it is to help its 
members to select only the best. 
EXCHANGE. 
Another matter has come up that I think 
may prove of interest to many of you and 
that is “ Where can one procure certain 
species?” In justice to our many com- 
mercial members the Society cannot estab- 
lish an interchange of listed varieties but 
there are many species not in the trade. I 
know of but one dealer supplying Spanish 
and English Irises, reticulata, histroides, the 
Junos, even the Indian pogoniris Griffithii 
and Collettii are apparently unobtainable. 
Then some of us want native species, cristata 
alba for example and the California species 
which are difficult to transplant must be 
raised from seed. If you want or can supply 
things in these lines, let us get together, but 
remember that I can only refer you to nur- 
series for listed varieties. 
Just a chat on what is in the garden 
here this early May. Iris reticulata is 
gone and down almost below the 
ground surface pods are forming ; I 
can feel the buds in the pumila hybrids 
and the first Korolkowi crosses and a 
number of the Junos are showing color. 
The Korolkowi hybrids are very apt to 
be weirdly blotched and streaked with 
dingy olive or purple but a few throw 
graceful small flowers of clear deep 
lavender, nothing wonderful but of in- 
terest to the fancier. The Juno sind- 
jarensis I have bloomed before, but the 
others will be new to me and the fol- 
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