If any of you are in to "old' iris books....."Tall Bearded Iris (Fleur-De-Lis) A Flower Of Song", by Walter Stager, is a wonderful collection of references to iris in poetry, song, and literature, with lots of culture tips, varietal descriptions, etc. that was written in the 1920's. Among the *supposed'* uses fore the rhizome (orris root) are:
perfumery
a *chewing* aid for teething infants(just let 'em chew on a rhizome !)
removing 'freckles"
cure for:
dropsy
piles
stones (?)
convulsions
King's evil (?)
shortness of breath
coughs
I think the book is still available on places like Amazon, for about $20, and, as I said ,if you like READING about iris, or enjoy poetry, or, want to try "culture" the way it USED to be....check it out !
