Muddymitts said:Want to show one more Iris for the purpose of discussion. I don't know why this Iris is a Plicata and not a Luminata -- who can tell me?
Vapor:
Ghio, 2002
I hope this doesn't come across as a flippant answer, but the reason is someone (probably me) checked the Plicata box instead of the Luminata box.
Keep in mind, there is nothing remotely "official" about how the terms in the Flower Patterns field are used in the Iris Database. Even within AIS, there is no official determination that a given iris is a "luminata" or a "plicata" or an "amoena" or a "neglecta" or whatever. It's just generally understood what those terms mean and, like anything that's generally understood, it's subject to interpretation.
Most of the information in the Iris Database is taken directly from the AIS registry, but some of it is not and the Flower Patterns field is one of those. Flower Patterns are included in the database for one reason, and one reason only. It's a search aid.
Say you want to add some luminatas to your garden, but you don't know which ones. Go to
http://garden.org/plants/group..., click the box for Luminata, hit "Search".
You won't get every luminata ever hybridized (somebody would have had to check the box in the database), and you'll probably get some that don't match your personal idea of what a luminata should look like (some irises don't fit neatly in the categories we make up for them), but you'll get a nice long list and it might help you find the irises you want for your garden.
That's all it's there for.
But, as far as I know, there's no other database on the web that allows you to search for irises this way. Some commercial growers have websites that sort of have the capability, but they generally just include the varieties they sell.
