Oncos 2009

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Wonderful pix Zhirair ! 
Very nice species - unknown to me anyway.
Thanks for showing it !

[Maggi Young]

Maggi,
you're right; the height is about 25-30 cm, but it can be taller as well depending on year and the climate.

Thank you, Zhirair. So the flower is large for the size of the plant..... I like that!

[Miriam]

Thanks Zhirair for showing us this rare species that is hardly seen.
It is thought that Iris grossheimii is a natural hybrid between Iris acutiloba and Iris iberica subsp.lycotis. Are these two species growing near by?

[BULBISSIME]

Many thank's Zhirair for this nice sp. also unknown for me .
Hope seeds will be available... one day  

[Lesley Cox]

Thank you Zhirair, I'm not likely ever to see this species except on this wonderful Forum.. A lovely species.

[arillady]

Again thankyou Zhirair for showing this rare beauty. Is there much in the way of conservation reserves or measures at all in Armenia to protect these irises? It is so good to see these irises growing in their natural habitat.

[Paul T]

Beautiful, Zhirair.  Great pics.

[Boyed]

Thanks Zhirair for showing us this rare species that is hardly seen.
It is thought that Iris grossheimii is a natural hybrid between Iris acutiloba and Iris iberica subsp.lycotis. Are these two species growing near by?

Pleased to hear your comments.
Mariam,
I expected that somebody would ask me this question. No, I don't think that iris grossheimii is a natural hybrid between mentioned species. Iris grossheimii grows in far south of the country near the border with Iran and is very are. Unlike other oncos, you walk around 2 hours to find 2 or 3 plants. It grows in 2 localities and the spisimens are quite uniform. Iris lycotis doen't grow in this region; but iris acutiloba grows, but quite far away.

Pat, I regret to say this, but in Armenia the governmnet doesn't so far take measures to protect nature. Maybe we have more serious prolems to solve, I don't know.
I remember when we were in the locality of tulipa florenskyi 1000 of plants were digged out intentionally for a special purpose. It was a horrible scene. I suppose that was done by pirates, as the local population only collects flowers for bouquests (20-25 plants), but doesn't dig them.

[Boyed]

more pics

iris grossheimii
iris iberica ssp. lycitis (quite a dark form)

A question for specialists with good experience: beacuse of systematic heavy rains some of my oncos developed pale brown spots on the leaves. I am very concerned. I checked the rhizomes and they seem to be O.K., but the pale brown spots gradually expand on the leaves. What kind of desease it could be. Mightl it effect rhizomes as well? It resembles tulip fire. If you look attentively at the iris lycotis photo, you can notice the decease on its leaves.

[arillady]

Zhirair,
I have the same problems when the weather is cold and damp like now. The leaves were looking great until this past week which has been cold and damp. This happens every year and does not seem to effect the rhizomes at all.
Even the arils growing in all gravel except for the tips of their roots have the same sort of leaves in winter.
It would be lovely to have the leaves looking great at the same time as the plants are flowering but it does not happen here much at all. Arils in their natural habitat have great leaves it seems from photos seen.

[arillady]

Are these arils that you are showing us flowering now?

[Boyed]

Dear Pat,

Thanks a lot for your comments on the decease. It's a releaf on my heart! I was very concerned about it and thought that the rot could affect the rhizomes as well and finally I might loose my irises.

Those onco species generally flower here in our area during the first decade of May, but because of late spring their blooming was set back, and this year they strated to flower just at the beginning of June.

[arillady]

Zhirair,
I will take a photo later today of the leaves here and you can compare - in case  I am wrong. Just try to keep the drainage as free draining as is possible.
It is always this time of the year that I wish I had the means to limit the rain falling onto the beds

[arillady]

I will show you some of the patches as they look today -the white gravel one is the one that has gravel nearly to the tips of their roots.
The others have a mix of gravel and our dark brown clay loam soil. The closeup is in a raised bed but with the clay loam soil mix.

[BULBISSIME]

Here are some pics to illustrate variation in Iris sofarana ssp. kasruwana, in a same place.

I think the differences between I. sofarana and ssp. kasruwana are not really clear nor evident ... and more genetic studies could help identification.