Post-office Iris
JFlintoff@aol.com (Mon, 10 May 2004 18:48:20 PDT)

Judy

I wonder if the old blue bearded iris is a form of I. pallida? Many of
its forms have a very pleasant grapey fragrance. It is a tough survivor across
North America and one occasionally sees it along roadsides and next to
foundations of houses long gone.

I don't know of any lists of fragrant irises, but the 1939 Check List of
the American Iris Society has fragrance codes for many cultivars and species
known to the editor Ethal Anson S Peckham. For instance, she correctly codes
the old dwarf yellow bearded ' La Perle ' ( 1901 ) as that of lily of the
valley. Flowering now ' Afterglow ' ( 1917) has a complex fresh scent with a hint
of lemon in the background and ' Yvonne Pellitier ' ( 1916 ) a fragrance that
Peckham codes as that of waterlily. As I am only interested in iris species
and old bearded hybrids, I cannot comment on modern cultivars, tho there must be
many fragrant ones.

The rhizomes of many bearded irises, especially clones of x germanica (
such as ' Florentina ' ) and pallida have when drying out a pronounced fragrance
of violets. They were ( still? ) used in perfumery as " orris root " . I'm
wondering by the way if your off-white iris from the post office may be '
Florentina ' , a greyish white; it too is a real survivor in trying conditions.
Do you have any photos?

Jerry John Flintoff
Vashon Island,Washington,USA
Zone 8