Books

In less than 200 years, iris have evolved from their natural ancestral species to the artificial species of our modern hybrids – with the aid of the human eye in selecting superior cultivars and the human hand in making crosses. Work with arils and arilbreds began only a little over 100 years ago, and our modern, fully fertile arilbreds have been available for less than 50 years. This topic could fill a book in itself, but will probably be easier to master if you start with the simpler topics.
	The Photo Gallery contains illustrated histories of both the Onco Species and the Regelia Species, including the sequence of their discovery and the contributions each has made to our present gene pool. The number of photos make both of these slow to download, but the material is quite suitable for beginners.
	The list of Reference Books includes widely-available publications that include material on this topic.
	The various Aril and Arilbred Classification Systems are an intermediate level. Unless you enter them in shows, it is quite possible to grow and enjoy these iris without learning anything about codes. If you are interested in their history, however, understanding the evolution of the various systems will help you to correctly interpret historical material. If you're interested in hybridizing, this topic is a must.
	The article on Descendant Analysis not only provides the key to various reference lists but also shows you how to trace species origin yourself.
	The Gene Pool presents a master list of all species and named cultivars that had had offspring introduced through 1975, the period covered by the first ASI Checklist. In many cases, it leads to descendant lists. If you are already familiar with this tool, use this as the gateway to my reference lists.
	The Amphidiploid Conversion concentrates on the foundation stock that contributed the most to our modern gene pool, each of which covers the descendants of one breakthrough breeder. This is rather advanced. If you aren't already familiar with the development of the C.G. White amphidiploidlike hybrids, you may feel like I dumped a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle on the table and then hid the picture.
	The Bypassed Breeders list covers the fertile halfbreds that were underutilized in the rush to capitalize on the advent of the C.G. White hybrids. Mostly of interest to historians, but with some lessons for hybridizers as well.