Tobacco Road

Dr. R.E. Kleinsorge, R. 1941 / I. 1942
Iris Class:
Bearded
Bearded Class:
Tall Bearded
Age:
1940-1949
Fall Color:
Brown/Rust
Standard Color:
Brown/Rust
Pattern:
Self
Beard Color:
Gold/Tan
Hybridizer:
Kleinsorge
Rarity:
Believed Extinct

Full Description

TB 34″ M S4M

One of the most notable iris in history, this lovely tobacco brown variety set a new milestone in it’s color class when it was introduced. It is quite probably the most used for hybridizing with almost 200 registered varieties listed showing it as a parent. Sadly it was known to rot in most parts of the country and it is probably extinct now, as no one has been able to locate it for several years now.

From Cooley’s Iris Garden’s catalog for 1942: “When this iris first opened in Dr. Kleinsorge’s garden, it was so different, so remarkable in both color and form, that we lost interest in the many other splendid seedlings in the same garden. You have seen or read about brown irises before. Many of them are basically deep crimson-purple, or dirty lifeless blends. Some of them are fine irises, such as Louvois or Brown Thrasher. But these are on the very dark side. TOBACCO ROAD is a golden tobacco brown.”

(Aztec Copper) x (yellow sdlg #228: (Far West X Jean Cayeux)), HM 1944, AM 1946.