Tas. 6110. 
IRIS o.siensts. 
Native of Northern Italy and Southern France. 
Nat. Ord. Intpacem.—Tribe Iripe4. 
Genus Iris, Linn. ; (Endl. Gen. Plant., p. 266). 
Irs olbiensis ; rhizomate crasso, caule brevi, foliis brevibus (2-6 poll.) lati- 
usculis acutis sensim acuminatis scapo brevioribus, floribus breviter 
pedicellatis magnis, spathe valvis membranaceis laxis abrupte acuminatis 
ovarium velantibus, perianthii tubo pollicari, limbi 3 poll. lati segmentis 
obovato-spathulatis decurvis apice rotundatis ungue barbato, interiori- 
| bus iis subequalibus erecto-incurvis conniventibus elliptico-oblongis 
| stipitatis, stigmatibus segmentis perianthii dimidio brevioribus bifidis 
lobis triangularibus acutis margine exteriore dentatis. 
Ints olbiensis, Hénon in Ann. Soc. Agric. Lyons; Gren. e Godr. Fl. de 
France, vol. iii. pt. i. p. 240; Parlatore Flor. Ital., vol. iii. p. 289. 
This belongs to a small group of dwarf Iris, which inhabit 
for the most part Southern Europe, and of which the I. 
pumila, L. (Tab. nost. 9, 1209 and 1261) may be taken as the 
type. It is a native of the South of France and North Italy, 
from Nismes eastwards, but apparently not advancing beyond 
Tuscany. It varies much in the colour of the flowers, which 
= are sometimes white. It is distinguished from J. pumila by the 
much larger flowers, which are pedicelled and less fugacious, 
as also by the shorter perianth-tube. The J. étalica of Par- 
latore appears to be only a variety of it; and it is represented 
by I. pseudo-pumila in Sicily. It is very closely allied to, if 
not a mere variety of the Z. Chamaciris, Bertoloni, which has a 
wider range in France and Italy. The specimen here figured 
flowered in the Royal Gardens in April of the present year. 
Descr. Rootstock prostrate, very thick and fleshy, as big 
as the thumb. Leaves three to six inches long by one-third 
to two-thirds inch in diameter, erecto-patent, straight or some- 
what falcate, usually narrowed almost from the base to the 
acuminate tip, glaucous green. Scape rather larger than the 
JULY Ist, 1874, 
a ee 
’ 
