I. Kochii
[V]
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Full Description
IB E R7D
Sometimes seen listed as Kochi or Kochii
From Biltmore Nursery catalog for 1912: “Unexcelled in beauty and profusion of bloom, this variety deserves the most widespread planting. The flowers are so large, and are borne in such masses, that a clump of them becomes a huge bouquet in May or June. A rich, claret-purple covers both standards and falls of the flowers.”
From Cornell Extension Bulletin 112, 1925: “(Native of Italy, 1871). Color effect a rich claret-purple self. S. intense reddish Rood’s violet, reticulated the same on the lighter claw. F. Rood’s violet, veined inconspicuously the same on lavender haft.
The beard is coarse, sparse, projecting, and conspicuously yellow tipped. The segments are slender and satiny in texture. Its growth, where it succeeds, is moderately vigorous. The foliage is stiff, broad, deep green, and persistant [sic]. Its exceptional color, intermediate growth, compact habit, and early flowering make this variety excellent in mass planting. It has been sold as Midnight, Purple King or Queen, Spectabilis, and so forth. Rating 78.”
From J.C. Nicholls’ Irises catalog for 1928: “(Wild hybrid) 26 inches. Early deep blackish purple self. Good form, texture, and habit. Grows and blooms well and is an old favorite. Native to Italy.”
From Rainbow Gardens catalog for 1925: “S. and F. rich claret purple; very handsome.”
From Longfield Iris Farm catalog for 1936: “AM RHS. A wild iris of southern Europe. Blackish purple.”
From Storrs & Harrison Co Painesville nurseries 1921. (Atropurpurea). A handsome, dark variety, both standards and falls a rich claret purle; the falls coated with translucent black.
IB-E-R7D. synonym Atropurpurea
Provenance: Image 2 from Presby Iris Gardens, Montclair NJ 2013.