It is written as 西藏鸢尾 in Chinese script and known as 'xi zang yuan wei' in China.[2]
It is occasionally commonly known as 'Clark's Iris'.[3]
The Latin specific epithetclarkei refers to J. B. Clarke who hd collected herbarium specimens (of the iris) in 1875.[4]
The iris was found in Tonglo, India in 1857 by Dr Y Thompson and also in 1868 by Dr T. Anderson.[5]
It was first published and described by Baker in 'Flora of British India' (London) in July 1892. Later he also published it in Handbook of the Irideae Vol.25. in Aug-Nov 1892.[6][7] Unfortunately Baker had made a mistake, when he first described the iris, he had based his description of the plant, using a sketch drawn by Joseph Dalton Hooker (within Kew Gardens Herbarium).[4] Hooker had found the plants in Tonglo in India and at Yakla in Sikkim (at an alititude of 10,000 ft above sea level).[5]
Baker had misread a faint pencilled note on the side no beard or crest, which he read as beard and crest (missing the no). This meant he classified the plant as within the Pseudevansia Group of plants. Later, in 1907 more plants and seeds from Tonglo, arrived in the UK and the mistake was found [4]
In 1910, in Curtis's Botanical Magazine, Tab. 8323. Vol.136 published by Otto Stapf, he noted that plants raised in gardens did not match the description and that it should be classified as coming from a region similar to Iris delavayi in China.[5] This was later classified as the Siberian series.
As most irises are diploid, having two sets of chromosomes. This can be used to identify hybrids and classification of groupings.[8]
It has a chromosome count: 2n=40.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).[9][10] 2n=40, (Sim. 1934, ex Randolph & Mitra, Bulletin of the American Iris Society 140: 58. 1956) and 2n=38, Sachiko Kurasawa 1971.[5]
This places it within the sub-group of the series, called the Sino-siberians.[8][9]
The seeds of Iris clarei have been studied by liquid chromatography.[12]
Cultivation
The Sino-siberian irises all generally have similar cultivation requirements.
They are not as hardy as the other group of Siberian irises.[8] They also don't like very hot conditions either. Preferring the northern parts of America and United States to the over warm southern America. They will tolerate temperatures of up to – 10 degrees C. But may survive lower if protected or well mulched in winter.[8]
They prefer soils with a ph level of 5.5 to 7 (acidic to neutral) and more moisture tolerant.[10][9][13] They do not like free-draining soils (or sandy soils).[8] They are also tolerant of windy conditions.[13]
They prefer positions in full sun but can tolerate partial shade.Although they produce less flowers in shaded positions.[13]
They can be mulched with peat or garden compost in spring.[14][13] They can also be fed in spring with a general fertiliser but it is not essential.[8]
They can be divided after flowering (in early summer) if the clumps become too big and congested.[14] Also propagation is best carried out by division of the rhizomes.[13]
They then should be replanted 25cm (10ins) apart and 10cm (4inches) deep.[14][13]
New plants can be planted in spring or autumn.[8][13] But the ground needs to be prepared before planting. New plants need to be well watered during the first season.[13] New plants also take at least 2 years to become established.[8]
They can be used in gardens, at waterside locations beside pools or streams.[10]
^Nongthombam, Ullysess. "Clark's Iris". flowersofindia.net. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
^ abcDykes, William (2009). "Handbook of Garden Irises"(pdf). beardlessiris.org (The Group for Beardless Irises). Retrieved 1 November 2014. Cite error: The named reference "handbook" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^ abcdPries, Bob (1 April 2014). "(SPEC) Iris clarkei Bak". irises.org (American Iris Society). Retrieved 17 December 2014. ((cite web)): no-break space character in |title= at position 7 (help)
