I may be quite wrong about this, but I think the only iris native to the area mentioned is Iris missouriensis, which comes in various shades of blue-lavender. The habitat Joe described is typical of this widespread species of the intermountain West. Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon, USA Joe wrote: >I was in New Mexico recently and found some lovely iris plants (native I >guess) near Las Vegas. The area is quite a desert, but on the road out of >town (Hwy 104, to the east of town) I found a lot of irises growing. They >were really pretty, pale-blue to white-blue. > >They grew in clumps and when I dug down I could see they were bulb-type >irises. They grew alongside the road where water would collect from rains >and snow melt. I didn't see them anywhere else in New Mexico.