Interest in arils and arilbreds grew as the years passed. In 1955 The Aril Society International was born and the arilbred class was formally defined. The initial definition was twofold:

The most common way of recording a cultivar with ASI was simply sending the ASI Recorder a copy of the Registration data that had been submitted to the American Iris Society. Registration with AIS was not, however, a prerequisite and many cultivars were recorded and distributed as arilbreds during this period without being registered with the AIS. The Recorder maintained the official Checklist, which formed the basis for determination of eligibility for awards.

By this definition, an iris could qualify as an arilbred by virtue of either its pedigree or its appearance. The result was a number of arilbreds with aril pedigrees but no aril characteristics, or with aril characteristics (such as broad falls) but no aril ancestry. This led to the adoption of more stringent standards in 1964. As reported in the ASI Yearbook:

After review by an anonymous committee, the hybridizer was notified of acceptance or rejection. The approval process proved cumbersome, however, and was dropped in 1968. The adoption of the quantum requirement rendered some previously award-winning arilbreds obsolete, but it did solve the problem of "arilbreds" with no aril ancestry so it was retained when the Aril Society again redefined arilbreds.

Two separate separate arilbred categories were created and a new arilbred award was added in 1969. Eligibility for the C.G. White Award was limited to irises that were of at least one-half aril blood, showing two distinct aril traits; duly recorded with ASI; and having received the AIS Honorable Mention Award (but no higher award). Eligibility for the newly-created William Mohr Award was restricted to irises of at least ¼ aril blood which did not meet the revised requirements for the C.G. White Award.

For all of its convenience, however, this system had a number of drawbacks. For example:

Most of the hybridizing being done when this system was devised relied on crosses within and between the fertile families. There were certainly some important exceptions, but they were rare. By the late eighties, enough work had been done in exploring wide crosses that a much larger proportion of the cultivars that were being registered were challenging to classify under this system.

Products of aril x arilbred crosses, in particular, brought both challenges and opportunities. The triploids that result from crossing a diploid aril with an amphidiploid arilbred often exhibit just enough fertility to produce a few seedlings if they are crossed back to halfbred lines. These offspring were registered as OGB+, because of their more-than-½-aril pedigree, but sometimes proved to be fully fertile oncogeliabreds. When one of these was crossed with other halfbreds, any progeny would also be registered as OGB+, even those that might be both genetically and phenotypically more like an OGB than an OGB+. This led to a number of cultivars that were registered as near-arils even though there were fully functional halfbreds. Crosses between ¼-breds and ½-breds posed a similar problem. Their offspring had to be registered as less than one-half aril, even if they proved to be fully functional halfbreds.

ASI solved this problem by adopting a new Classification System effective in 1990, redefining arilbred terminology. The codes themselves were not changed, but in some cases their definitions were changed:

Depending on its chromosome complement: the offspring of a cross between a triploid and a halfbred can be registered as either ½-bred or ¾-bred, and offspring of cross between a ¼-bred and a ½-bred can be registered as either ¼-bred or ½-bred. The appropriate ASI classification code of an iris can no longer be readily computed based on its pedigree, but must be determined from pedigree, plant characteristics, breeding behavior, and perhaps even its chromosome count. Registering an iris is more complicated, but the resultant codes are expected to more accurately depict the true nature of the iris.

The ASI Checklists

One of the early goals of the Aril Society was a published Checklist, but the project did not come to fruition until 1976 – the 20^th anniversary of its founding. The official Checklist that had been maintained by the Recorder was supplemented with additional material compiled from AIS registrations and old catalogs. It was a major advance in terms of published reference material because, not only did it gather all of the then-recognized arils and arilbreds into a single convenient volume, but it also provided modern classification codes for every cultivar in the list. This was possible because under the the classification devised for the project, the code of an aril or arilbred was completely determined by its pedigree. These codes could be readily computed and just as easily checked.

An important distinction has been made in all ASI Checklists, however, between current standards and older ones. Until 1969, there had been no quantum requirement for aril content and an iris with any aril ancestor, no matter how many generations back, was often considered an arilbred. After 1969, an iris had to be at least one-fourth aril to be recorded as an arilbred. Many cultivars legitimately registered or recorded as arilbreds before 1969, but which no longer qualified as arilbreds by later standards, were therefore omitted from the 1976 Checklist. Subsequent ASI Checklists have continued to follow this policy, including only those cultivars that would qualify as arils or arilbreds if registered at the time of publication. As a result, more and more cultivars that were once legitimately recognized as arils and arilbreds have disappeared from reference books.

Aril Codes were developed during preparation of the 1976 Checklist, based on the ASI species classification system in effect at the time, but in 1981 aril iris were redefined (by a resolution adopted by the Aril Society) as

In other words, an iris could be classified as an aril only if both of its parents are arils. The codes themselves remained unchanged from those in the 1976 Checklist:.

ONCOCYCLUS SPECIES O

Members of the oncocyclus sub-section of bearded irises, which are normally characterized by one bloom to the stem. Includes both the species themselves (e.g. I. susiana) and selected clones that have been registered as named varieties (e.g. Real Ebony, a selected clone of I. nigricans).

REGELIA SPECIES R

Members of the regelia group of the hexapogon sub-section of bearded irises; characterized by normally producing two or more blooms to the stalk. Includes both species and selected clones that have been registered as named varieties: e.g. I. korolkowii, and Decorated Giant (selected clone of I. stolonifera).

PSEUDOREGELIA SPECIES PsR

There are sufficient characteristics to separate the pseudoregelias from the regelias. The pseudoregelias are dwarf, alpine species which are found in Northern India, Western China and Middle Asia of the U.S.S.R.

ONCOCYCLUS HYBRID OH

A hybrid resulting from a cross involving oncocyclus species and or oncocyclus hybrids.

REGELIA HYBRID RH

A hybrid resulting from a cross involving regelia species and/or regelia hybrids.

REGELIOCYCLUS RC

A hybrid resulting from a cross between:

ONCOGELIA OG

A hybrid resulting from a cross between:

Both the regeliocyclus and oncogelia classifications apply to inter-sectional hybrids but the term regeliocyclus groups together those hybrids that are predominantly regelia both phenotypically and genotypically while the term oncogelia groups together those that are predominantly oncocyclus.

In 1995, the Aril Society passed a resolution adopting the classification system described by Brian Mathew in The Iris, which was published in 1981 and revised in 1989. This resolution defines aril species as those in the Oncocyclus and Regelia Sections of the Subgenus Iris, Genus Iris. Aril iris are defined as including not only these individual species and their hybrids, but also any advanced-generation descendant having only aril ancestry.

In other words, an iris can be classified as an aril if, and only if, both of its parents are arils. The code indicates what type of aril ancestry is involved.

Members of the Oncocyclus Section of bearded irises, which are normally characterized by one bloom to the stem. Includes selected clones that have been registered and/or introduced as named varieties; e.g. I. susiana, I. gatesii, I. paradoxa, and Real Ebony (selected clone of I. nigricans).

ONCOCYCLUS HYBRID OH

A hybrid involving only oncocyclus, which may result from a cross involving oncocyclus species, oncocyclus hybrids, or both: e.g. Bareket and Charming Chick.

REGELIA SPECIES R

Members of the Regelia Section of bearded irises; characterized by normally producing two or more blooms to the stalk. Includes selected clones that have been registered and/or introduced as named varieties; e.g. I. korolkowii, I. stolonifera, I. hoogiana, and Decorated Giant (selected clone of I. stolonifera).

REGELIA HYBRID RH

A hybrid involving only regelia, which may result from a cross involving regelia species, regelia hybrids, or both. (None registered in this period.)

REGELIOCYCLUS RC

A hybrid involving regelia and oncocyclus, predominately regelia in phenotype, typically resulting from a cross between:

Example: Ballalaika Music.

ONCOGELIA OG

A hybrid involving oncocyclus and regelia, predominately oncocyclus in phenotype, typically resulting from a cross between:

Example: Purple Sequin

Arilbred Codes were developed during preparation of the 1976 Checklist, based on the ASI species classification system in effect at the time. This definition of arilbred iris was changed in 1981, with the change in definition of arils, but the codes themselves remained unchanged.

Arilbred iris were defined as hybrid irises combining genetic characteristics of the Aril Irises and the eupogon irises:

The Quantum System, sometimes called the Blood System, was used to determine aril content for eligibility purposes: determining the aril content of each of the new iris' parents, adding these numbers together and dividing the sum by two. The answer was the aril content of the new iris.

For arilbreds, the classification code indicated not only what type of ancestry is involved but also the approximate amount. Arilbreds were divided into three sub-classes: Oncobred, Regeliabred, and Oncogeliabred (as defined below). Irises in each of these sub-classes were divided by aril content or complement as indicated by parentage, or by appropriate plant analyses where results of such are known.

ONCOBRED OB

A hybrid containing both and only oncocyclus and eupogon irises.

REGELIABRED RB

A hybrid containing both and only regelia and eupogon irises.

ONCOGELIABRED OGB

A hybrid containing any combination of oncocyclus and regelia and eupogon irises.

The designations OB-, RB-, and OGB-, are used to identify Oncobreds, Regeliabreds, and Oncogeliabreds respectively with less than one-half aril chromosome complement.

The designations OB, RB, and OGB are used to indicate one-half aril chromosome complement.

The designations OB+, RB+, and OGB+, are used to indicate more than one-half aril chromosome complement.

Because of the limited interest in and use of pseudoregelias in hybridizing, no provisions for classifications were provided for pseudoregeliabreds.

Arilbred iris were redefined as hybrid irises that combine genetic characteristics of the aril irises and the eupogon irises, which contained one-quarter or more aril complement as determined according to the Chromosome Set system. The Classification Codes themselves were unchanged, but instead of just indicating what type of ancestry was involved they also was expected to more accurately describe the amount. In other words: 1.) the codes themselves were still as described on page C-9; and 2) their definition and interpretation changed, as described on page C-5.

Arilbred iris are defined by the resolution adopted in 1995 as hybrid irises combining genetic characteristics of the aril irises, as defined by a the companion resolution, and the eupogon irises. To be recognized as an arilbred and be eligible for awards by the Aril Society International, an iris must satisfy special criteria for both ancestry and appearance.

3. Conspicuous veining.

4. A prominent V-shaped spot in contrasting color.

Onco Type

5. Broadly domed and reflexed standards as in I. gatesii.

6. Ruffled and reflexed standards as in I. lortetii.

7. Accentuated globular form as in I. susiana.

8. Extremely broad falls.

9. Well recurved falls.

10. Thick, heavy or broadly diffuse beards as in I. susiana or I. gatesii.

11. Exaggerated styles as in I. bismarkiana and I. iberica.

12. A definable signal spot at the end of the beard.

13. Flaring and lanceolate falls as in I. actutiloba.

14. Narrow and flaring falls as in I. paradoxa.

Arilbreds are divided into three sub-classes: Oncobred, Regeliabred, and Oncogeliabred. Irises in each of these sub-classes are further divided by aril chromosome complement as indicated by parentages, breeding behavior, or appropriate plant analyses where results of such are known.

ONCOBRED OB

A hybrid containing both, and only, oncocyclus and eupogon irises; e.g. Pearls on Onyx and Prairie Thunder.

REGELIABRED RB

A hybrid containing both, and only, regelia and eupogon irises. (None registered in this period.)

ONCOGELIABRED OGB

A hybrid containing any combination of oncocyclus and regelia and eupogon irises. The majority of today's arilbreds fall in this group.

The designations OB-, RB-, and OGB-, are used to identify Oncobreds, Regeliabreds, and Oncogeliabreds, respectively, with less than one-half aril chromosome complement.

The designations OB, RB, and OGB are used to indicate one-half aril chromosome complement.

The designations OB+, RB+, and OGB+, are used to indicate more than one-half aril chromosome complement.

© 1998-2002 by Sharon McAllister