ID Needed

Here are two old irises that has been in my yard for years. Does any one know the names?

its very short, less than 10"


This message was edited Apr 22, 2009 5:18 PM

I call them unknown purple

The second pic looks a lot like a variation of the species iris I.germanica but the height
doesn't seem to be correct unless they are stunted for one reason or another. I would
think 10" or less would put them in the standard dwarf category. There are some experts
with dwarfs on the forum so you should get some good info.

Closeup of one of my rescues from a naturalized site. One of the forum members was
very generous last year and sent a true species germanica to me which is about to bloom
now. I will have a "marker" to compare with mine. The ones I rescued are common as dirt
around these parts.

i call the bitone purple with silver beards - i must have 1000 of them. every year i rip them out and give them away. they multiply like rabbits. if you drop a tiny piece of rhizome, you'll have a whole stand of them growing in the spot next year.

is this the same one? this is part of a big clump in my neighbor's yard, we mowed them down last year.

photo little dark, actually more purple

Greenthumbs--did you ever get a proper id of that particular pest? I dug several out of
a wooded area and saw another huge group naturalized along a county road. They are
my first bloomers and some are about to burst open now.

looks more right when enlarged, can't get my act together today.

no, i don't have an ID on it. they were the first iris i ever grew, a neighbor gave them to me.

there's so many iris that look alike, i don't even try to ID any. either they come with a name, get planted with a tag and logged in the grid or they are just there to be enjoyed.

I have been curious about it's id because I would like to cross it with some other old
unnamed irises I have. I am told the old diploids and the newer tetraploids do not
hybridize well if at all. Otherwise, we are of the same thought concerning names.

Hello mnorberry,

There were numerous old purples, though fewer of those had/have the white (or bluish white) beard. In reading old literature, I’m often impressed with just how many varieties there were - it would be nice to be able to identify those still remaining like the two you have.

Of those we do currently have an ID of AND you can purchase from a place you will get the right one, ‘Eleanor Roosevelt’ would be a good one to buy - I would suggest you purchase it from Superstition as they excel in correctness.

'Eleanor Roosevelt' can be about 10"; I. germanica would be 8-12" taller than it. The IB vs. TB on very old historics goes much more to bloom time than to height as they were a ‘designer class’ created to fill the bloom time between Dwarfs and Tall in the gardens of the time (1900-1915ish)

In my garden I have one circulated as 'Black Magic' (which should have an orange beard), and 'Eleanor Roosevelt'. I'm posting a picture I took of them - with a properly labeled ER on the right - it’s so hard to tell most times… even with the labels! In the back left of the picture, is an I. germanica of sorts.


To my eye, I see no real difference that could not be explained simply to age of bloom - and just the slight difference in angle to the camera/sun makes the colors look very different. Good luck in your ID hunting,
hespiris