协会概况与历史
美国太平洋海岸原生鸢尾协会（SPCNI，Society for Pacific Coast Native Iris）是美国鸢尾协会（AIS）的独立附属机构，致力于太平洋海岸原生鸢尾（太平洋海岸鸢尾，简称 PCI）的栽培、研究与推广。协会由一群专注本土鸢尾分类与育种的爱好者创立，最初只是小型植物兴趣俱乐部，后在 Lewis 与 Adele Lawyer 两位职业科学家的推动下发展为具有国际会员的非营利组织。秘书财务 现任执委会成员负责日常运营，会员遍及美国本土与海外。
使命与活动方向
协会使命聚焦四点：促进太平洋海岸原生鸢尾的生长与栽培兴趣、支持科学与园艺性质的专题研究、鼓励展示花园的开发与维护、依托期刊与公开资料向公众普及知识。每年冬季，协会面向会员举办公开种子交换，所有种子均由会员志愿捐赠，所得款项用于支持协会运作。协会历史野外考察活动曾前往美国俄勒冈州南部、北加州及湾区，观察野生鸢尾原生地与当地苗圃，新一期活动安排尚在筹划中。
学术期刊与历史档案
协会官方半年期期刊《Pacific Iris》刊登太平洋海岸鸢尾栽培、杂交、自然史与新动态方面的专业文章与会员投稿。协会同时维护多份历史文献档案，包括英国鸢尾协会出版的 Victor Cohen《太平洋海岸鸢尾栽培指南》、Lee Lenz《太平洋海岸鸢尾分类修订》以及《太平洋海岸鸢尾的杂交与物种形成》等早期经典专著，会员可申请下载查阅。
奖学金与奖项体系
SPCNI 奖学金基金于 2005 年设立，是为纪念 Lewis 与 Adele Lawyer 两位对协会发展起关键作用的科学家而建立的常年项目，每年向从事太平洋海岸鸢尾相关研究的学生与教师提供资助，申请截止于 3 月，次年 5 月初公布结果。杂交领域最高荣誉 悉尼·米切尔奖章由美国鸢尾协会颁发，用以表彰当年最出色的太平洋海岸鸢尾新品种，获奖品种需先获得 优秀奖提名 与 优秀奖 两级推荐，再经评委连续观察至少 8 年。
太平洋海岸鸢尾的自然史
太平洋海岸鸢尾属鸢尾科 加州系，共 12 个原种，自然分布自华盛顿州奥林匹克山一路向南至加州南部圣贝纳迪诺山脉，是北美西海岸特有的无髯鸢尾种群。该类鸢尾的祖先在更新世冰期通过白令陆桥从亚洲进入北美，经历多次冰期与间冰期隔离分化，最终形成今天形态与生态偏好各异的多个物种；由于种间易于杂交，在分布重叠区常能见到天然杂种群。
About the Society
The Society for Pacific Coast Native Iris (SPCNI) is an independent affiliate of the American Iris Society devoted to the cultivation, research, and promotion of Pacific Coast Iris (PCI, also called Pacificas, PCN, or Pacific Coast Hybrids in the trade). The society grew out of a small plant-interest club into an international nonprofit corporation under the influence of professional scientists Lewis and Adele Lawyer, and is currently led by an executive committee including the President, Vice President, and Secretary-Treasurer along with chairs for seed exchange, outreach, events, and publication.
Mission and Activities
SPCNI’s mission centers on four priorities: fostering interest in the growing and development of Pacific Coast Native Iris, supporting scientific and horticultural research, encouraging the development and maintenance of display gardens for Pacificas, and educating the public through publications and shared data. Each winter the society runs an annual Seed Exchange in which member-donated seeds are shared within the membership to raise operating funds; the 2026 cycle has closed and is expected to reopen next year. In past years the society has also organized group treks to wild iris habitats in southwest Oregon, northern California, and the San Francisco Bay Area, often timed to coincide with American Iris Society national meetings held in the western U.S.
Journal and Historical Archive
Pacific Iris is the society’s official bi-annual journal, featuring expert articles, member contributions, photographs, and updates covering Pacifica iris cultivation, hybridization, natural history, and new developments. Members also gain access to a maintained archive of historic reference works, including Victor Cohen’s A Guide to the Pacific Coast Iris published by the British Iris Society, Lee Lenz’s A Revision of the Pacific Coast Irises, and the classic Hybridization and Speciation in the Pacific Coast Irises.
Scholarship Fund and Sydney B. Mitchell Medal
The SPCNI Scholarship Fund was established in 2005 in memory of Lewis and Adele Lawyer, two professional scientists whose work carried the society from a small club into an international nonprofit. The fund supports researchers—including both students and professors—working on Pacifica iris topics, with applications due in March and decisions announced by early May. The Sydney B. Mitchell Medal, the highest honor the American Iris Society awards for Pacifica iris hybridization, recognizes the year’s single best new PCI variety and is restricted to cultivars that have first earned an Honorable Mention and an Award of Merit after at least eight years of judges’ observation.
Natural History of Pacific Coast Iris
The twelve Pacific Coast Iris species together form the Iris Series Californicae, a group of beardless irises native only to the west coast of North America, ranging from the Olympic Mountains of Washington south to the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California. Their ancestors arrived in North America from Asia via the Bering Land Bridge during Pleistocene glacial maxima; successive cycles of isolation and recontact across interglacial periods drove the divergence of today’s twelve species while leaving them mutually interfertile, which is why natural hybrid swarms are common wherever species’ ranges overlap.
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