Top and bottom left: Iris chrysographes; Bottom right: Iris bulleyana x chrysographes
well above 15,000 feet. I am short of breath at 14,000
feet in Colorado—but mysteriously few seemed to
have symptoms of altitude sickness at much higher
elevations in Yunnan!
Perhaps we can blame the spectacular weather
we experienced, or the peak bloom where literally
hundreds of species of spectacular flowers greeted
us every day—dozens of kinds of primroses,
meconopsis—including blue poppies—in variety, and
all the elegant rabble of classic alpine genera.
Some of the most breathtaking displays of color
were produced by members of the genus Iris. The
most common and abundant species we found were
in the Siberian Section—only the species that grow
here belong to the 40 chromosome subsection of
Siberians. This subsection is practically restricted
to China—and generally need a little pampering in
cultivation—disliking drought or extremes of cold in
winter or heat in the summer.
The first species we found in this group was I.
chrysographes—which occurred in amazing profusion
and variety in the Hong Shan Valley—a remote corner
of Yunnan bordering Sichuan to the north and slightly
east of the Yantze River gorge.
Spring 2019 AIS Bulletin 17