A Georgeous Juno

Jane McGary janemcgary@earthlink.net
Sun, 09 Mar 2003 13:59:13 PST
Quoting from Josef Halda's 1997 seed catalog: 
"Juno sp. JJH970737 [Dagestan, E. Caucasus] 3200m; subalpine rocky slopes;
china-blue and yellow single fls. on 5 cm stems; georgeous."

I bought the seeds. It's blooming -- on 18 cm stems, not 5, no doubt owing
to the warmer conditions and lower light -- and it is indeed "georgeous."
Now if I only knew what it is!

I hope someone can help me identify it. I have no way of posting photos
(perhaps someday I'll find somebody willing to come out here -- I'll
happily pay plenty -- and get all the hardware working together), but here
is a description:

Leaves fully developed at flowering (in warm conditions, though), bright
green with thin whitish margin, more gray on reverse, lower 2.5 cm wide,
upper narrower and rather erect, clasping and mostly covering the scape.
Flowering scape 18-20 cm tall.
Falls about 5 cm long, winged, white strongly veined deep violet, deep
violet on outer half with bright golden yellow zone inside the violet zone;
crest white with some deep violet stippling along the top, slightly
undulate, not dissected.
Standards about 1.5 cm long, white with violet veins, held almost
horizontally,; I don't know the correct term for their shape, but it is
obcordate with a long narrow pointed central lobe extending out.
Style arms large, soft lavender deeper in the middle; hafts have broad
wings that turn under on the margins; anthers white.

The color pattern is like that of some forms of I. narbuti, but that
species has deflexed, not horizontal, standards (according to the
description in Brian Mathew's "The Iris") and the haft of the fall is said
to be unwinged; also, it grows far to the east of where my iris was
collected. I compared it with all the species described in that book, but
it contains very few that are said to grow in the eastern Caucasus.

I'll send this query to a couple of specialists by private mail also --
sorry if you get two copies!

Thanks,
Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon




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