Terminology & Abbreviations
Bloom Season AbbreviationsE – Early
EM – Early to mid
M – Mid
ML – Mid to late
L – Late
TerminologyAmoena – A color pattern characterized by white standards and colored falls.
Beard – A group of hairs originating from the base of each fall.
Beardless – Iris species without beards including: Japanese, Louisiana, Siberian, and Spuria irises.
Bicolor – An iris with standards of one color and falls of another.
Bitone – A color pattern where the standards are a lighter shade, or tone, of the falls.
Blend – A combination of two or more colors that can be mixed smoothly or unevenly.
Border Bearded – A size class of bearded iris measuring 16-27½ inches and blooming at the same time as Tall Beardeds.
Broken – Having color splotches and streaks in random patterns.
Debby Rairdon – A color pattern with colored standards, white falls, and a band of the standard color around the edges of the falls. The color is often yellow, peach or pink.
Emma Cook – A color pattern with a darker ring of color around the falls.
Falls – The lower three petals of an iris bloom.
Flounces – An appendage at the end of a beard that appears as ruffled petals.
Horns – A pointed appendage at the end of a beard that is often pointed upward.
Intermediate Bearded – A size class of bearded iris measuring 16-27½ inches and blooming earlier than Border Beardeds and Tall Beardeds.
Line and Spreckles – A color pattern with colored lines and stipples or dots in the falls.
Luminata – A color pattern with a white or yellow base washed over with color so that it appears to glow from within.
Median – A general term to lump bearded iris of four size classes: Standard Dwarf, Miniature Tall, Intermediate, and Border.
Miniature Dwarf Bearded – A size class of bearded irises with bloom stalks less than 8 inches tall.
Neglecta- Irises with a neglecta pattern have the same blue or purple coloration in both standards and falls but the standards are of a lighter hue.
Plicata – A color pattern with anthocyanin pigment stippled, dotted, or stitched along a bloom’s edges on a light (white, yellow, pink, apricot) ground.
Rebloomer – A variety that will produce blooms stalks more than once per bloom season.
Reverse Amoena – A color pattern characterized by colored standards and white falls.
Self – A color pattern where the standards are the same color as the falls.
Space Age – A group of irises whose beards are elongated and pronounced in one of three shapes: flounce, horn, or spoon.
Spoons – An extra pedal-like structure shaped like a spoon at the end of a beard.
Standard Dwarf Bearded – A size class of bearded irises whose bloom stalks measure between 8 and 16 inches tall.
Standards – The upper three petals of an iris bloom.
Tall Bearded – A size class of bearded irises whose bloom stalks measure 27½ inches or taller.
Variegata – A color pattern of cream-colored or yellow standards with brown, copper, or wine falls.