Tas. 6174. 
DIETES Horton1. 
Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
Nat. Ord. Intpacem.—Tribe IRIDEz. 
Genus Dieres, Salisb. ; (Klatt in Linnea, vol. xxxiv. p. 583). 
Dietes Huttoni ; rhizomatosa, vaginis basalibus brunneis scariosis, foliis ad 
caulem solitariis ensiformibus firmis glabris viridibus facie canaliculatis 
acuminatis sesquipedalibus vel bipedalibus, caule pedali sepissime bifloro 
bracteis pluribus navicularibus acutis cincto, spathe valvis lanceolatis 
acutis, pedicello bracteas superante, ovario cylindraceo, tubo supra 
ovarium nullo, perianthii limbo luteo, segmentis 3 exterioribus 
obovato-oblongis obtusis supra medium reflexis supra unguer purpureo 
lineatis, segmentis interioribus angustioribus brevioribus oblanceolatis 
erectis, stigmatibus late petaloideis, lamina perianthio duplo breviore, 
appendicibus apicalibus deltoideis denticulatis. 
Sent by Mr. Hutton from the eastern province of the Cape 
Colony to the Kew collection, where it flowered in the 
month of March of the present year. This genus Dietes is 
scarcely distinct from ris by any botanical character. One 
belongs to the Cape, and the other to the north temperate 
zone.  Dietes catenulata, Klatt. (Morea catenulata, Ker., 
Bot. Reg., tab. 1074), a plant of our cool stoves, has white 
perianth-segments which spread from the very base when 
they expand. Our present plant is nearer D. bicolor, Sweet. 
(Iris bicolor, Lindl., Bot. Reg., tab. 1404), but is still more 
like an Jris than either of them, and completely connects 
together the two genera; and the only appreciable character 
in which Diefes differs from Morea, which is abundantly 
represented in the Cape flora, both as regards individuals 
and species, is that the former is rhizomatose and the latter 
bulbiferous. 
Descr. Shortly rhizomatose, with copious wiry root-fibres. 
Undeveloped leaves numerous, scarious, dark brown, sheathing 
the outside of the tufts of the stem and proper leaves. Deve- 
loped leaves not more than one to a stem, firm in texture, 
green, ensiform, one and a half or two feet long, three- 
quarters of an inch broad, deeply channelled down the face, 
JULY Ist, 1875. 
