These purple iris (picture) are outside a fence on Main Street near East 46th in Vancouver. Sometimes I find that there is not much point in taking plant names past a certain jumping-off point. I do like to distinguish Magnolia stellata from "all the other, big magolias"; but I feel, for my needs, a big purple magnolia is a big purple magnolia. Or, mostly, a big pink rhododendron is a big pink rhododendron. Unless, of course, a person is studying these highly cultivated plants. So: am I best to label pictures such as this one as "Purple Iris", or is there a finer breakdown advised?
They're bearded iris, and the bearded iris are grouped to type... tall, intermediate, miniature, standard, border, aril... http://www.irises.org/About_Irises/Cultural Information/BeardedClassifications.html I'd probably call them purple beards and be done with it.
Well, that led me to the Pacific Bulb Society's discussion of bearded versus, I assume, clean-shaven irises: http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/GardenBeardedIrises It could be a German iris. Thank you.
Generally "bearded iris" and "iris germanica" are interchangable... A stickler for botanical names would call them "iris germanica"... While in mixed company, they'd be referred to as "beards". The non-beards comprise everything else... Some people go their entire lives never knowing that bearded iris were only a small part of the iris family. If you're gardening on the west coast, you have a wide selection of pacific coast iris you can grow... and we can't. down in the deep south, we grow the Louisiana iris, plus the Virginia iris... and then there's those African iris, japanese, russian, and those iris family almost runs from the southern hemisphere. Edit: Or maybe not... Your article seems to have found a number of bearded iris that weren't iris germanica.
okay; and thank you, both stone and Ron. Question about the L. being definitely included as advised. Is this because: (1) You were a good friend of Carolus', and you like to see him receiving due recognition; (2) because the "L." adds some taxonomic information to the species name; (3) just for the L of it. Much appreciated, no matter what. Thanks again.
Brings up more targeted hits showing the plant you have has long had this specific name given to it, distinguishing it from the legions of tall bearded iris cultivars. That it may itself be a garden hybrid is a side issue, you wanted a name for this particular iris and that name is Iris X germanica L.
Since you did then go on to ask what the "L" meant, here's something on that. Wikipedia's Author citation (botany) page has this to say, with an example for Rubus
Thanks, all. I shall have to learn more, as usual. @Wendy, thanks for info. Actually my "(1) You were a good friend of Carolus'…" is in reference to your famous botanist; Carolus is the Latinized form of his name, frequently used. —I shall have to remember to ask the authorities to kindly refer to my newly discovered species simply by adding G., rather than bothering with the entire Groonx. I think it looks more elegant and bestows me a certain status. With this in mind, I have only to find a few new species. I believe my friend Alexander Skutch managed that, but so far my West End alleyway rescues have yielded rather a paucity of plants previously unknown to science.
:D That's great! A few new species.... I feel lucky to find names for the wild iris that I discover.. Any new types are going to be limited to whatever the bees and myself induce through cross-species pollen transfer... that has been difficult since losing the garden in the frost pocket, and starting over in the Sandhills.... My wetland iris haven't thrived, and I've never been much of a fan of the beards, which grow fine...
I see. A Stone unturned metamorphosing into a rolling Stone. Well, we seek comfort and convenience and order in our lives, but providence often gives us immeasurable help in turning things upside-down. Take heart. I knew a very beautiful girl some years ago. She had everything, and she was a magnet for all sorts of males. She was beautiful—very beautiful—kind, creative, and intelligent. She was the rare person who seems to be able to attract everyone, young and old, male and female. And she was genuine. Amongst her many male friends, though, I noticed quite a few who obviously had been through very hard times. They were on the edge of society, or had been; raggedy nonconformist intellects and borderline behaviors. I liked these fellows too, but I asked her, once, how she came to have such a proportion of these fellows in her circle. —And she told me this: "A man who never experiences upset, and whose life is pretty well the way he wants it, say, to his age 30 or 40 or so; without disaster, without the horrific surprise of having to start over, without losing all he had—such a man is quite often closed, self-congratulatory, and boring. A man who loses it all, and must choose to die or to begin again, and has to leave his wrecked Cadillac and find a whole new Part II in his life-story, is quite often humble, three-dimensional, imaginative, compassionate, and understanding. And so a lot of my friends show their scars." It doesn't have to be that way, but it often is that way. Generally speaking. Since then, I've noticed that myself. Since then, I've been okay with my own scars that were courtesy of providence.
