Squalens
[V]
What's This?
Full Description
TB L S
A natural hybrid in shades of violet-gray, muted golds and smokey violet-reds, of interest to hybridizers because of its ruffled petal edges. Native to regions in central Europe, Germany, Italy where I. variegata and I. pallida overlap. Synonym of Iris x sambucina, according to W.R. Dykes. More a type of naturally occurring hybrids than a specific variety.
Comment: From Phil Edinger: “SAMBUCINA (ed) and SQUALENS rate the same comment: that they’re not distinct clones but represent two general types of color combos you get from pallida/variegata crosses and re-crosses. Dykes discusses it well in The Genus Iris where he notes that Linnaeus gave really sketchy accounts of these, lacking botanical detail, so it’s impossible to pin either name on specific clones as described by Linnaeus. In The Eupogon Iris Species In Cultivation (The Median Iris Society: 1970), it is noted that “typical” Sambucina has purple leaf bases whereas “typical” Squalens does not. Both are rather soft, pastel combinations, one more blended the other more inclined to be bicolor (soft yellow/dirty lavender), which would rule out the Kew Squalens you have on the site. But it came from Kew with the name attached! These two really deserve a Roots writeup sometime, just so people won’t think there is a “true” plant of either.”