Oncos 2009

[Oron Peri]

Pat,

I'll give you the information as species come to flower, about depth of rhizomes and type of soil.
As said earlier it would be wiser not to give exact locations since some species are allready risking  extinction.

Iris atropurpurea is the only species to grow on the Mediterranean coast line in some cases as shown in my photos some 200mt from the sea but some colonies are as far as a few km  inland.

All colonies grow in sandy soils, young plants/clumps are at the depth of 5-10 cm older clumps up to 20 cm deep. I don't think they dig themselves down so much as it is the sand it self that coveres them more and more each year by new sand added with the help of wind and currents from the Nile.

Three of the species grow in sandy soils I. atropurpurea, I. mariae, I. petrana [syn. I hieruchamensis].

[ashley]

How wise you are, Miriam, to be cautious..... I was shown, only recently, references to  newspapers/websites, where there are reports of a well-known seed-seller having been detained  last Spring in Turkey with many hundreds of rare Iris species in his possession, all dug from the wild .... and claiming they were for a migraine cure 

Maggi,

I think most of us would be determined not to deal knowingly with such individuals.  Can you name them here, or at least PM those who want to share the information?

[art600]

Maggi

I also would like a PM if you think it appropriate

[Luc Gilgemyn]

So would I Maggi if it's not too much trouble.

[Maggi Young]

I will PM you....... actually, I will email you with the links and translations.


Edit by M:   see Post below: Re: Oncos 2009
« Reply #29 on: February 02, 2009, 03:01:08 PM » for links to articles about plant theft.

[Rafa]

It is a pleasure to see these Iris growing happy in their natural inhabits, thank you Miriam and Oron!!
I can't wait to see yellow forms!!

Note: I will invite to dinner the first one who post it!!

[ashley]

I will PM you....... actually, I will email you with the links and translations.

Thanks Maggi.

[Hans A.]

Miriam and Oron, could you please tell something about virused plants in nature, are they common between sane plants or can they just spotted in less perfect sites ?

I ask this because two years ago I received an virused Iris atrofusca with Idea to get seed of it and destroy it afterwards (certainly seperated from all my other plants). Last year it was a very poor plant and looked extremly ill (and did not flower), but this year it looks quite well and I think especially if it would grow in the ground it would hardly possible to recognize it is badly virused.

[Miriam]

Hans, it is very rare to see virused plants in the nature and those virused plants are getting ill every year and they will die eventually. The plants that are likely to get virus, are usually suffering from stress cause by unfit growing conditions.

About your Iris atrofusca, probably it suffers from leaves-diseases and not virus as it looks well now...
It is hard to distinguish between virus and leaves-diseases, but to be sure you have to wait until bloom and see if the flower is striped.
Recently, I was witness to a similar situation. We (me and an expert to Oncos) have noticed an ill Onco that was healthy last year. So we did an experiment and we cut its bad looking leaves off and it now looks perfectly healthy!
We did that with some other ill Oncos, and those who were virused, have not had healty leaves and looked bad as before.

[Lvandelft]

Oron, Miriam, thank you for showing these  beautiful pictures of I. atropurpurea.
I really love it that you both are showing the surrounding of the plant habitats.
This tells so much about the plants likings.
Really some plants to dream of growing here, because we garden in pure sandy soils.
 

[Rafa]

Hans, could it be a regelia sepcies?

[Hans A.]

Thanks Miriam , I will keep the plant until it flowers (or even more... ) - and then I also will see if it is a Regelia 

Rafa you are right the coloration is something strange and remembers Regelia or even Iris aphylla - but Rhizomes and the time when it sprouts show it is an Onco and last but not least I received it from a very reliable query ( to which of sure I would send it back if it was  not correct labeled...  )

[arillady]

Again thanks Oron and Mariam for your expertise. I have not heard of leaf disease before.
Pat

[Ezeiza]

Hi:

     An aphid attack produces distortion and decoloration in the leaves but aphids also spread virus.  A big problem is that growers usually fertilize a lot and this masks virus mosaic that is most evident at leaf tips as the plants are sprouting. Later on, the foliage turns a deeper green and mosaic is no longer visible.

    As our Israeli friends can tell us, such soils n the Middle East has little if any organic matter, hence low nitrogen and high contents of other elements proper of desertic soils.

    The information on "bulb" depth is invaluable as the effort plants make in adjusting themselves to the level they prefer is usually minimized.

Regards

[Joakim B]

I must say that I am impressed with the lovely plants so thanks for showing.

Regarding wild collected plants
 I think it is valid to put the links to the article here about someone in the trade being caught with wild collected plants.
SRGC does not claim anything about this person. It is the magazine that claims and it is valuable so that people do not buy from wild collected material.
People should not be able to claim ignorance when ordering wild collected plants from that seller later.
Next time the seller might not be caught and can sell with profit to cover the fee he will have to pay for the plants he was caught with!
The seller can easily get his own version here if he likes so I think it is better to help stop wild collected plants to be sold by spreading the information. Here an hunger for plants can be started by seeing lovely plants but if people here also is warned about a seller than they will not quench the hunger with wild collected plants.
I think there is other wise a very lax attitude to buying wild collected plants amongst some gardeners (not necessarily members of the forum or members of SRGC) as long as one does not know for certain that they are wild collected.

I think the firmest of attitudes must be taken when it is wild collecting at this scale.
Kind regards
Joakim

http://anadoluekspres.com/haber_detay.asp?haberID=385
http://www.haberk.com/haber/20440/bitki-kacakcisi-doktor-cikti-haberi/