Luc; If you are looking for more information on Aril Iris Species go to the Aril Society International (ASI) website and you will see lots of pictures. My friend Yuval Sapir and Ori Fragman did much of the work that you are citing on Royal Irises. Yuval I believe is currently working in the USA on pollination by bees. He has been doing several post Docs and I forget now whether he is in California or Indiana. The ASI produces a beautiful yearbook the size of Herbertia but with more pictures. I have lots of information on Arils but I am under the gun to get everything packed for my big move. I can only do short messages until maybe July. Best Wishes, Bob --- lucgbulot@aol.com wrote: > > Hi all, > > I have been searching the web for more information > on the Oncocyclus of Israël and Lebanon. Here is a > summary of what I found. > > The Iris section Oncocyclus comprise 10 species in > Israel and Jordan (see list below), all endemic with > limited and distinct populations. > > In 1998, the Royal Iris project sponsored by the DFG > and common to Mainz University in Germany, The > Hebrew University in Israel and Bethlehem University > in the Palestinian Authority aimed to reinforce the > connections between three nations, in addition to > the conservation targets. The project had four > goals: recording and conservation of all populations > in Israel, monitoring population dynamics, > systematic reviewing and pollination ecology > research. > > The main objective was to discover the relationship > between the Royal Irises’ special characters: > solitary giant flower, no nectar reward, dark > colour, and male bees lodging. The Royal Irises are > known as the first priority for conservation in > Israel. As a result the following species were > studied. For each species, the flowering period is > listed, followed by the distribution and > in parenthesis the best place to see wild > populations. >    > Iris lortetii - Beginning of April - Upper Galilee - > Shomron Mts. (Tel Hatzor). > > > > Iris bismarckiana - March - Upper & Lower Galilee > (Dishon gorge, Givat Hamore). > > > > Iris hermona - mid March - Central Golan Heights > (Mapalim crossroad). > > > > Iris atrofusca - mid March to April - South Golan, > Gilead Mts. Mts., Shomron & Judea deserts, Arad to > Beer Sheva > (Tel Arad, Haon escarpment). > > > > Iris haynei - March - Gilboa (Gilboa - Mt. Barkan). > Barkan). > > > Iris atropurpurea - mid January to February - > Coastal plain (Nes Ziona, Netanya Iris reserve). > > > > Iris bostrensis - Second half of March - North > Jordan (Ramtha to Mafraq). > > > > Iris nigricans - April - Moab Mts., Jordan (East to > Kerak). > > > > Iris petrana - April-March - Edom (Jordan); North > Negev, Yerucham to Dimona (Dana Nature reserve, > Yerucham Iris reserve). > > > > Iris mariae - Beginning of March - Sand dunes of the > Western Negev (Agur dunes, Kibutz Magen).Agur dunes, > Kibutz Magen). > > > Although many taxonomists dealt with this section in > the last 120 years, no quantitative research was > held. Many transition forms between species or > populations are known from the field. The project's > purpose was to examine the speciation trends in the > Royal Irises, and connect eco-geographic conditions > with morphologic and genetic variance. The research > conducted in 1998 revealed that the morphological > traits changed along the eco-geographical > North-South gradient: flower size, stem height and > leaf characters change along the aridity gradient. > The results suggesting that the Royal Irises should > merge into four morpho-species: Iris lortetii, Iris > Bismarckiana (include I. hermona), Iris haynei > (include I. atrofusca, I. atropurpurea and I. > petrana) and Iris mariae. > > Details are to be found in : > > > Arafeh R.M.H., Sapir Y., Shmida A., Iraki N., > Fragman O., Comes H.P. 2002. Patterns of genetic and > phenotypic variation in Iris haynei and I. atrofusca > (Iris sect. Oncocyclus the Royal Irises) along an > environmental gradient in Israel and the West Bank. > Molecular Ecology 11: 39–53. > > > Sapir, Y., A. Shmida, O. Fragman and H. P. Comes. > 2002. Morphological variation of the Oncocyclus > Irises in the southern Levant. Botanical Journal of > the Linnean Society. 139: 369-382. > > If anybody is interested I have a pdf copy of that > paper... > > Hope this will help the Iris maniacs... > > Luc > > > Arafeh R.M.H., Sapir Y., Shmida A., Iraki N., > Fragman O., Comes H.P. 2002. Patterns of genetic and > phenotypic variation in Iris haynei and I. atrofusca > (Iris sect. Oncocyclus the Royal Irises) along an > environmental gradient in Israel and the West Bank. > Molecular Ecology 11: 39–53. > > > Sapir, Y., A. Shmida, O. Fragman and H. P. Comes. > 2002. Morphological variation of the Oncocyclus > Irises in the southern Levant. Botanical Journal of > the Linnean Society. 139: 369-382. > > If anybody is interested I have a pdf copy of that > paper... > > Hope this will help the Iris maniacs... > > Luc > > > > > > Iris atropurpurea - mid January to February - > Coastal plain (Nes Ziona, Netanya Iris reserve). > > > > Iris bostrensis - Second half of March - North > Jordan (Ramtha to Mafraq). > > > > Iris nigricans - April - Moab Mts., Jordan (East to > Kerak). > > > > Iris petrana - April-March - Edom (Jordan); North > Negev, Yerucham to Dimona (Dana Nature reserve, > Yerucham Iris reserve). > > > > Iris mariae - Beginning of March - Sand dunes of the > Western Negev (Agur dunes, Kibutz Magen).Agur dunes, > Kibutz Magen). > > > Although many taxonomists dealt with this section in > the last 120 years, no quantitative research was > held. Many transition forms between species or > populations are known from the field. The project's > purpose was to examine the speciation trends in the > Royal Irises, and connect eco-geographic conditions > with morphologic and genetic variance. The research > conducted in 1998 revealed that the morphological > traits changed along the eco-geographical > North-South gradient: flower size, stem height and > leaf characters change along the aridity gradient. > The results suggesting that the Royal Irises should > merge into four morpho-species: Iris lortetii, Iris > Bismarckiana (include I. hermona), Iris haynei > (include I. atrofusca, I. atropurpurea and I. > petrana) and Iris mariae. > > Details are to be found in : > > > Arafeh R.M.H., Sapir Y., Shmida A., Iraki N., > Fragman O., Comes H.P. 2002. Patterns of genetic and > phenotypic variation in Iris haynei and I. atrofusca > (Iris sect. Oncocyclus the Royal Irises) along an > environmental gradient in Israel and the West Bank. > Molecular === message truncated ===