Lysa, our curatorial scholar from the USA, writes about a rare and beautiful iris being sheltered and propagated in the JBG. It has an interesting history …
1880s Palestine, out on the rocky foothills near Nazareth stands Dr. Pacradooni Kaloost Vartan. An Armenian born in Istanbul, Vartan attended missionary school in Constantinople only to become an interpreter for the British army during the Crimean War. While interpreting for the army, he learned of the inadequate facilities that served as battlefield medical hospitals. This led him to study in Edinburgh to become a doctor and upon completion of his studies he moved to Palestine to open a medical facility in Nazareth. In the 1860s, Nazareth was home to approximately 5,000 citizens, but the nearest doctor or hospital was in Damascus or Beirut; ultimately, the only care was provided by charity.
In those foothills surrounding Nazareth, Vartan discovers a delicate little greyish lilac-white Iris. Its beauty accented by the stark light buff limestone which surrounds it. He collects it and sends it to Sir Michael Foster, an Iris expert, of the Royal Society in the U.K. for identification. Foster describes this precious specimen as Iris vartanii, after Dr. Vartan, in 1885 in Gardener’s Chronicles.
This rare species exists only in sixty-six locations in Israel’s Mediterranean ecosystem. A late fall/early winter bloom, it can currently be seen blooming in the Jerusalem Botanic Gardens in one of the rare beds in the Mediterranean section. Light lilac petals with dark purple veins and a yellow central ridge. It is truly spectacular.
References:
Beck, Julianne (10 Jan. 2015). Between a Rock and a Future. Undercover Science. http://my.chicagobotanic.org/science_conservation/between-a-rock-and-a-future. Foster, Prof. Michael (3 May 1892). “Bulbous Irises”. http://www.archive.org (A Lecturedelivered May 3, 1892 to the Royal Horticultural Society). Dykes, William Rickatson. Iris Families You Ought To Know. Historic Iris Preservation Society. https://www.historiciris.org/iris-families-you-ought-to-know/ Spiegel, Frances. Vartan of Nazareth: Missionary and Medical Pioneer in the Nineteenth-century Middle East – a review. http://www.esra-magazine.com/blog/post/-vartan-of-nazareth. Advertisements Share this:
