Dear Dennis, The stems are not zig-zagged as those in the image referenced below show and the stems are a rather light green. But, don't worry, I've at least narrowed down the genetic provenance and learnt what a 'Louisiana iris' really is. Those were my main concerns. Andrew -----Original Message----- From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Dennis Kramb Louisiana Irises are beardless irises in the series Hexagonae. There are five species: Iris brevicaulis, Iris fulva, Iris giganticaerulea, Iris nelsonii, and Iris hexagona. And there are countless hybrids between them. All these species & hybrids are classified as "Louisianas". There's a society for them (of which I'm a life member): http://www.louisianas.org/ There's even a Facebook page for them: http://www.facebook.com/#!/LouisianaIris Yours is probably not a pure brevicaulis. It's too dark. It looks like a hybrid with fulva or nelsonii in it. It's hard to guess exactly. Are the stems heavily zig-zag shaped, like this? http://signa.org/index.pl/… I've grown Black Gamecock and Dorothea K. Williamson, and Black Gamecock is darker. Again, it's hard to guess exactly, but B.G. wouldn't be my top pick based on your photo. Modern Louisiana hybrids are exceptionally flamboyant, as you can see here: http://iriscitygardens.com/newintroductions.html I think they are superior to tall bearded irises, and they have displaced all others as "my favorites" in my garden. Iris borer is not a problem because I grow them submerged in water. The borer larvae can't reach the rhizomes! Mwahahahaha... ;-) Dennis in Cincy (where LA irises will be blooming in a couple weeks) On Fri, Apr 29, 2011 at 9:09 PM, AW <awilson@avonia.com> wrote: > Thanks to all who have answered so far. I do not know the varietal > name, but I suspect 'Black Gamecock' is a possibility. What I really > wanted to know is whether it belongs to I. brevicaulis as a varietal > or whether it might be a hybrid of some sort. People use the term > 'Louisiana Iris' somewhat loosely. > As I read it, this group includes several species. Thanks > > Andrew > > > My guess would be Black Gamecock which shows a lot of Iris brevicaulis > influence for a Louisiana hybrid in flower shape and size but is much > darker and richer in color such as the photo shows. > > -- > Alani > Tallahassee, Florida > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >