The Irises

The botanical division of the iris genus into divisions and subdivisions is an old one, and does not necessarily reflect the closeness or distance of plants according to their DNA, but simplifies the groupings somewhat for the grower and collector. The first grouping gives us the Rhizomatous-rooted Division, Tuberous-rooted division and Bulbous division all of which are self explanatory. The rhizomatous-rooted group is then further divided to form the 3 subdivisions Apogon, Evansia, and Pogon. Apogon means lacking beards. Evansia iris have a crest or ridge in place of a beard, and Pogon irises have a beard. While all these species are all native to the Northern Hemisphere, they are all grown to a greater or lesser extent by gardeners and collectors in Australia. In this work I have attempted to provide concise notes on each grouping, followed by cultivation advice for the more commonly grown species and hybrids.