Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Specific Families and Genera => Iris => Topic started by: BULBISSIME on April 25, 2011, 10:25:18 PM
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Let's start a new topic with this tour we made few days ago with Thomas.
The aim was of course to see Onco's in nature, and you will see we had some success, it was a really wonderful week....
Fisrt day in Damas, big city with Jabal Qassyoum surrouding the city, where iris damascena grows.
It was the end of the flowering period but this year was a bit later for Onco's than usual, and we were happy to find few clumps with some buds and flowers remaining... and waiting for our cameras.
Some of them were also eaten by hundreds of caterpillars :(
Here are the first pictures and I hope Thomas will join me quickly ;D ;) after jumping from the cliff...
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fred, fantastic, i hope i where in this area too :'(
pleas more pictures.....
cheers
chris
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Thankyou for sharing these Fred
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:o SUPERB!!! :o More please!
Seems on this trip you was just right in time! ;)
Glad here do not exist those caterpillars.
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WOW :o
Like Hans I am waiting for more ;)
These caterpillars (Ocnogyna loewii) ate almost all the Irises (Iris atrofusca) in Tel-Arad this year :(
Usually they are fed on annual plants, but in Tel-Arad there was very little rain, so what left to eat are the Irises and other bulbs.
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Good to see Damas as well in the first photo.
I do envy those of you who are able to visit the natural areas for the oncos.
You all live - relatively- close and flights seem to be fairly reasonably priced compared to an Australian visiting.
I am sure glad that caterpillars do not visit the arils here.
Keep the pictures coming. Good to see Thomas's happy face again. Is he having to visit the oncos to get enough articles for the next Yearbook?? ;) ;)
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Don't worry Pat, Thomas will have hundred of pages to write ;) ;D ;D
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Looking forward to seeing more of this exciting trip. Your picture of Damascus doesn't show the horrors presently going on there. Were you comfortable travelling in Syria at this time?
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Lesley, the trip was very nice and we didn't have any problem; Syrian people is so kind.
I'm still waiting for Thomas.... so some Iris swensoniana to wait for him.... different forms, and as usual colors differs depending of the light.
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Glad you were not hamperd by the politics there Fred.
I like the look of swensoniana, I hope I may be able to try growing it one day, is it posiable to grow or is it a more difficult species?
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Fred there is much variation in colour in swensoniana - looks like some of the leaf ends have been munched off.
Can someone tell me if the redness in the last photo signal is just bleached out and that the signals in the others are concentrated to make their darkness? In other words the same pigmentation colours but in different concentrations??
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Fantastic pictures, Fred!
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Pat, the pink one is a variant, no more.
but all the plants are quite similar in this area.
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Hi Fred. Another great trip and hopefully many of your marvellous photos to share with us!
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Great photos, Fred! But why in hell do I look so fat :o ?
I will join in tomorrow, God willing, or after the weekend. I haven't got the complete overview over my photos (I took ~800 in six days) yet.
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"Great photos, Fred! But why in hell do I look so fat ?"
;D ;D Thomas, I only have a camera, not a magic box 8) ;D ;D
Nappy to see you here, and good luck with your pictures....
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"Great photos, Fred! But why in hell do I look so fat ?"
;D ;D Thomas, I only have a camera, not a magic box 8) ;D ;D
That's what Ian always says to me, Thomas.... it's a problem for a lot of us! ;)
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Let's start a new topic with this tour we made few days ago with Thomas.
The aim was of course to see Onco's in nature, and you will see we had some success, it was a really wonderful week....
Fisrt day in Damas, big city with Jabal Qassyoum surrouding the city, where iris damascena grows.
It was the end of the flowering period but this year was a bit later for Onco's than usual, and we were happy to find few clumps with some buds and flowers remaining... and waiting for our cameras.
Some of them were also eaten by hundreds of caterpillars :(
Here are the first pictures and I hope Thomas will join me quickly ;D ;) after jumping from the cliff...
FANTASTIC!
Hendrik
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"Great photos, Fred! But why in hell do I look so fat ?"
;D ;D Thomas, I only have a camera, not a magic box 8) ;D ;D
That's what Ian always says to me, Thomas.... it's a problem for a lot of us! ;)
I am not THAT fat as it seems in the photo. I just like loose-fitting clothes, but I never felt they would bloat me so much... :-\
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Thomas and Fred, THANK YOU for your efforts, taking pictures of theses jewels in a difficoult time to Syrian people. I hope one day Syrian people could enjoy also their botanical treasures.
Thomas, fat? this is impossible as Hans told me you are a good runner!!
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taking pictures of theses jewels - do you add Thomas to that statement or is it the irises?;) ;) ;D ;D
It would be a very difficult time to be visiting Syria at this time - Glad you are both safe.
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"Great photos, Fred! But why in hell do I look so fat ?"
;D ;D Thomas, I only have a camera, not a magic box 8) ;D ;D
That's what Ian always says to me, Thomas.... it's a problem for a lot of us! ;)
I am not THAT fat as it seems in the photo. I just like loose-fitting clothes, but I never felt they would bloat me so much... :-\
Never mind Thomas, to Maggi and me and some others you look positively svelte. :D Besides, on such a journey, I'm sure comfort is more important than looking like a bean pole.
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Thomas,.. still waiting for you ;D ;)
Close to Iris swensoniana, was Iris bostrensis, with also few color variations, and sometimes not in a very nice landscape...
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Interesting "habitat" in that first photo. Maybe this species will feel at home in my back yard. ;)
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Really beautiful plants in a strange habitat ::)
Thanks for sharing this pics!
But where is Thomas....? ;)
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Did you feel tempted to become a rubbish collector Fred? ???
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OK, here I am...
First a batch of Iris swensoniana. We had a fabulous time there, although high winds spoiled the photos a bit.
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Half an hour after Iris swensoniana we reached an Iris bostrensis habitat (the tour was on April 11):
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It is good to find you safe and not fallen over the Syrian cliff, Thomas!
May I remind you, and others, that the preferred size for Forum pictures is a maximum of 760 pixels wide?
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Great Pictures Thomas, I'm very happy to see them !
shall we go to the next day ?
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It is good to find you safe and not fallen over the Syrian cliff, Thomas!
May I remind you, and others, that the preferred size for Forum pictures is a maximum of 760 pixels wide?
Sorry, didn't know. I only knew about the 500k max size. :-\
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Great Pictures Thomas, I'm very happy to see them !
shall we go to the next day ?
Go ahead. I don't have any photos of the next day. Anyway, the excursion to I. yebrudii ssp. edgecombii would be better told than shown in photos ;D
I'll dig through the kirkwoodii stuff (Apr. 13, 14) tonight or tomorrow.
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Great photos Thomas but the environment is not the best in some ways.
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Fantastic photos Thomas!!!
It seems Iris bostrensis has the golden background color which is typical to Iris auranitica. Are the habitats of Iris auranitica and Iris bostrensis close to each other? What is the altitude there?
Iris swensoniana seems to grow in a more arid zone: the dark color of the flower and the size (what is the the size of the flowers?like Iris petrana in Yerucham?)
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I. swensoniana has about the same flower size as I. petrana but the entire plant is much smaller. The habitat is basalt gravel only, almost no organic materials, and extremely dry.
The altitude should be about 1050 m for this bostrensis population, the tels where I. auranitica grows are at about 1500 m but they grow on the lower slopes as well, maybe at 1300 m. Bostrensis seems to be much more common in this area (not a good region to explore at the moment), and well into Jordan, but I know this population only.
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Thomas, I'll let you tell the story about this day... :)
and I show you some pictures of Iris yebrudii spp. edgecombii, north to Damas.
This species is close to I. damascena and it's really difficult to distinguish them if you don't have the origin of the plant.
P. mouterde in "Nouvelle flore du Liban et de la Syrie" only mention it without description
It was described by Dinsmore & Chaudhary, with one subspecies : ssp. edgecombii with larger flower than the type, more densely veined.
We didn't found the type... for the next trip ;)
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Very beautiful pictures Thomas and Fred, I had not heard of Iris yebrudii
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Now we need some maps with topography showing where the different species are native so that we can get a picture of the conditions that suit. But I guess that might not be a good idea for the unscrupulous plant collectors.
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That's the point, Pat. One can never be alert enough. Thanks for mentioning it.
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In fact, the I. yebrudii ssp. edgecombii habitat was the only place where I really needed assistance in addition to the books. And it came from Prof Chaudhary himself in 2007.
All the other locations can be found -by scientists and unscrupulous collectors alike- just by reading readily available sources. Of course, GPS data and other stuff must not be published, but generally the locations are not too big a secret, I'm afraid.
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Iris yebrudii is a SCRUMPTIOUS iris. :D
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Same day, after some discussions with our driver who would prefer to go back to Damas....because the previous Iris was not really in a safe place...
Finally, we went to a place to search Iris assadiana, with an incredible wind ( small stones were flying ) that we founded one week too late, only one poor flower left, destroyed by the wind.
This is a really small and stoloniferous species, growing in the desert.
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Interesting how I.assadiana does form clumps - guess the available nutrients help to dictate this.
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Wonderful pictures!
In my opinion, this Iris yebrudii ssp. edgecombii is just another population of Iris damascena and not a different species...
Same day, after some discussions with our driver who would prefer to go back to Damas....because the previous Iris was not really in a safe place...
The entire Middle East is not really a safe zone unfortunately ::)
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Great pictures Thomas and Fred! I really envy you... ;) :o
The pictures of Iris yebrudii ssp. edgecombii are the first good ones I see! Thank you so much for sharing them, from the picyures it is really complicate to see differences between this one and Iris damascena - it may be a bit darker and it hardly seems to have an Oncoblotch, but who knows how the others are... ::)
Like the picture of Iris assadiana - to see such healthy leaves in such an vegetationfree area is surprisingly!
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I agree with you, not easy to make differences between plants, except by geographical areas.
Need to study them deeper.
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If the area is very windy and subject to erosion, perhaps it is the roots of the iris that prevent greater erosion than seems to be present anyway. A useful "weed." ;D
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Lesley, they are really not enough to prevent anything :)
The soil is compact and not sandy with many small stones that prevent erosion.
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Finally, some photos of our Iris kirkwoodii trip on April 13. I limit myself to ssp. calcarea because ssp. kirkwoodii var. kirkwoodii (the type) was a bit over peak flower, and the light conditions weren't so great in that afternoon.
A beautiful place in a village but with cattle and sheep wandering about. Friendly folks even when we scaled the wall of their fields and took a stroll...
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This is Iris kirkwoodii ssp. kirkwoodii var. macropetala near Al Bara and Serjila towns (April 14). Unlike var. kirkwoodii, they were quite different from ssp. calcarea. The population was mostly still in buds but we found a nice number of clumps in flower.
We were hosted by some friends whom I had met in earlier visits. Interesting discussions about the current situation and the wider outlook.
Serjila is one of the most famous 'Dead Cities' that are scattered around Aleppo, originating from the 5th or so centuries. I saw irises right in the museum area before, but this time we weren't moving around too much. There were, however, some of the best clumps of this series right outside Serjila.
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Finally some Iris yebrudii ssp. edgecombii photos taken in our hostel in Damascus.
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This is my last photo from the trip (April 15): Fred shooting Iris damascena, ten (vertical) meters away from the first homes of a low-income neighborhood...
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Thank you so much Thomas for these photos - also especially good to see the habitats of the plants and people.
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Fantastic pictures Thomas! :o
Thank you so much for sharing them! Specially the habitat pictures are of great interest! Great landscape...
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Very wonderfull Pictures - Thankyou
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Just Marvelous :o :o
Have you seen other interesting and endemic geophytes there?
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An incredible journey. Thanks so much to you both for amazing plants and pictures. I never imagined oncos growing in such profusion, clumps with dozens of blooms. You will treasure these sights all your lives.
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some more pictures from Iris
kirkwoodii kirkwoodiae and var...
plus the team as a bonus ;D ;D ;)
Edit : to change kirkwoodii to Iris kirkwoodiae Chaudhary
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Oh! The team is only in the last photo? Not the cows and sheep, then? ;D
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Brilliant report, great photos and made me smile :) Thanks Guys!
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Maggy, we're on all pictures !
cows and sheeps are disguises to approach irises without frighten them 8) :P
By the way, here is are the very last pics : Iris damascena the last day, other viewpoint :)
and.. CHEERS !!!!!
see you later :-X
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If all the world could take away their wars with flowers we would be fine and so would the countries involved.
Thanks Fred and Thomas for such a safe (on our parts) journey.
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Maggy, we're on all pictures !
cows and sheeps are disguises to approach irises without frighten them 8) :P
By the way, here is are the very last pics : Iris damascena the last day, other viewpoint :)
and.. CHEERS !!!!!
see you later :-X
Oh! Very clever plan.....and I see it worked!
Pat, well said!
Cheers! 8)
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:o
Great Team!!! you really did an important document of this genus. It is an invaluable work.
Fred and Thomas, I suggest you an article of Syrian oncos, in SRGC journal.
Perhaps Iris basalitca might be missing...
You really deserve this juice Fred ;)!!
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:o
Great Team!!! you really did an important document of this genus. It is an invaluable work.
Fred and Thomas, I suggest you an article of Syrian oncos, in SRGC journal.
Perhaps Iris basalitca might be missing...
You really deserve this juice Fred ;)!!
A superb idea, Rafa! We are so fortunate to have such reporters. 8)
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If I were an onco, I think I would be more frightened by a sheep than by Fred. ;)
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If I were an onco, I think I would be more frightened by a sheep than by Fred. ;)
;D :) ;D Thank's !
regarding the article, Thomas is a very good writer I think ;D
We missed Iris basaltica because we really didn't have time to go to see it, and we also need reason to go back ;)
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Tom the cows also seemed to be lying down on some irises.
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Just back from another trip in Syria, here are some pictures of Iris auranitica, which was rare this year and earlier than usual, Iris swensoniana seed pods, and Iris antilibanotica, which was... late ! I was very lucky to find few flowers, but I missed many many buds :'( :'(
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Beauties, Fred! Very lovely and photographed with your usual skill. Glad you are safely home again 8)
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Thank's Maggy.
the trip was safe and very nice for us as we were ... alone as tourists ! nobody in palmyra, Bosra or everywhere.
people, as usual was very kind but many hotels and restaurants were closed.
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Wonderful to go back and STILL find some in flower while others were in seed. Two bites at the most beautiful cherry. ;D
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Superb! :o :o :o
Thanks for sharing those fantastics pictures!
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Fred,
very nice stuff. Good to know all went well on your trip. One can only hope Syria gets back together soonest.
Jamie
PS: pollen arrived
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Beautiful as usual Fred
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:o :o
Wonderful report!
After Israel, Lebanon and particularly Syria, visiting Iran is a piece of cake for you ;) ;D
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Gorgeous plants and pictures Fred !
Thanks for showing !
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Afghanistan Miriam ;D ;D 8)
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Afghanistan Miriam ;D ;D 8)
Dont taunt me -I'd like to there Fred!
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me too Peter , me too :P
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Good to hear that you are back alive! Great photos indeed.
Where do we go from here? Iran, as already mentioned? Afghanistan is on my list, too, but can't be done for the forseeable future - landmines >:(
So, what about Georgia and Armenia in 2012 ? ;)
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Up to you Thomas ;D surprise !!
But I agree, Afghanistan,... not yet !
Lesley, did you mean two birds with one stone ?
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Up to you Thomas ;D surprise !!
But I agree, Afghanistan,... not yet !
Lesley, did you mean two birds with one stone ?
In a round about kind of way ;D Well not quite, two birds with the one stone would be two tasks achieved by a single effort while two bites at the cherry means two rewards from a single (can't think of the right word here. I'm sure you know what I'm trying to say. Help me Maggi.)
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Up to you Thomas ;D surprise !!
But I agree, Afghanistan,... not yet !
Lesley, did you mean two birds with one stone ?
In a round about kind of way ;D Well not quite, two birds with the one stone would be two tasks achieved by a single effort while two bites at the cherry means two rewards from a single (can't think of the right word here. I'm sure you know what I'm trying to say. Help me Maggi.)
Fred, a cherry is a very nice little fruit and so is your onco trip. In English, we are very lucky if we can get two mouthfulls out of one cherry... we got two shots at onco trips from you :) :)
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Thank's for explanations !