The “Iris Center of the Universe” is the phrase applied by Dr. John 
K. Small, Head Curator of the Museums and Herbarium of the New 
York Botanical Gardens, to the region centering around New Orleans, 
Louisiana, when speaking about the rich fields of Water Iris which lie 
in the vicinity of that city. The greatest development of this Iris Cen- 
ter extends about fifty miles north, east and south of New Orleass, and 
about one hundred miles northwest, west, and southwest. Dr. Small, to 
whom we are indebted for a scientific study of southern plant life, re- 
fers to his discovery of these rich Iris fields in the journal of the New 
York Botanical Garden, in the following words: 
“This remarkable local development of Iris in the tip of the Missis- 
sippi Delta is as yet inexplicable. Aside from its magnitude, the out- 
standing points are the often vast colonies of species, the great range 
and combination of colors, and the unusual size of the plants. Flower- 
ing stalks six feet tall are not unusual. Stalks seven feet high have 
been found during our explorations. In such cases a six-foot man has to 
look up in order to see the terminal flower. In view of these facts, the 
Lower Mississippi Delta natural Iris field constitutes the one most 
spectacular botanical and horticultural discovery in North America 
from the standpoint of a single genus within such a limited area.” 
The discovery of Southeastern Louisiana’s truly remarkable Iris 
display by Dr. Small was more or less of an accident, for it was inci- 
dental to a botanical expedition from Florida to Western Texas, made 
during the Spring of 1925. Several plants were sent to the New York 
Botanical Gardens where they flourished and flowered the following 
Spring. Although commonly called Water Iris, it was found that the 
Louisiana plants. were not only hardy in New York City, but in the 
soils and climate of New Jersey, Maryland, and Florida. In all a total 
of more than 8,000 plants were sent North for study, and they thrived 
in ordinary garden soils, whereas in their native home, many species 
actually lived in standing water. 
The first of the new Iris discoveries to be named by Dr. Small was 
described in 1927 under the name of Iris vinicolor, the wine-colored Iris. 
This flower, shown in the accompanying illustration, is a rich vinaceous 
or reddish-purple, with a single yellow crest or ridge down the center of 
the long, gracefully-spreading sepals. In 1929, Dr. Small described six 
additional forms as new species, Iris violipurpurea, I, giganticaerulea, 
I, chrysophoenicia, I. miraculosa, I. chrysaeola, and I. atrocyanea. A 
brief description of these will give some idea of the wide variety and 
beauty of the new Irises. 
Violipurpurea is about the same size and shape as vinicolor, but in- 
stead of being a reddish-purple it is a beautiful shade of violet- purple. 
Giganticaerulea, the giant blue Iris, is perhaps one of the tallest Tris 
known, with its Hower stalks as tall as six or seven feet. It is generaily 
of a violet-blue or nearly-blue color, with spreading fan-shaped streaks 
of white. The crest is compound with several lateral ridges which 
spread outward. These ridges may vary from greenish-white to deep- 
orange and beyond them lies a zone of white which is streaked outward 
into the blue.There are many color varieties in this Iris, viz, shades of 
dark violet, violet blue, lavendar, lilac and white. 
Chrysophoenicia, the gold-embroidered Iris, is usally a dark violet- 
blue (plum color) with a crown-shaped golden crest zone at the base of 
the sepals. Chrysaeola, a related form, is a bright-violet with a yellow 
crest, on each side of which is a zone of greenish yellow, streaked with 
brownish veins. 
