La colección de lirios (Iris L. Iridaceae) de la Estación Biológica de Torretes – Jardín Botánico de la Universidad de Alicante: Iridario “Christine Lomer”

Abstract

Irises have been one of the most appreciated symbolic flowers since ancient history and appear irreversibly linked to Western culture. Within the genus Iris s.l., the so-called Bulbous and Beardeds, are the ones that have undergone the greatest cultivation and selection from the beginning of the 16th century to the present day. The latter are the ones that make up the majority of the collection of the Biological Research Station of Torretes – Botanical Garden of the University of Alicante. Probably Clusio and John Gerard were the real pioneers in the cultivation of Iris. From the 16th century until the end of the 18th century, domestication was based on the intrinsic variability and hybridisations of the eastern Mediterranean species such as Iris pallida and I. variegata, with the participation of I. germanica and I. florentina. This is how the first cultivars emerged, which increased their variability, range of colors, size and rigidity of the tepals, velvety touch, aromas, etc. with the introduction of Asian tetraploid species. All this multiplied the number of varieties exponentially to more than 70,000 varietal registers today. It was at Torretes that the idea of establishing a monographic collection of Irises arose in 2016, after receiving a donation from Christine Lomer and Nick Brown of a replica of the so-called “Jardín de los Lirios” that they ran in Jalón (Alicante). To this initial donation had to be added several hundred cultivars from “Iris of Laymont” offered by Roland Deyoux, president of the Société de Iris et plantes bulboses de France. To this we add species obtained by exchange between botanical gardens, which are the origin of the so-called “Iridario Christine Lomer” of Torretes in honour of our first donor, which we maintain for the enjoyment of our visitors.