Tab. 6343. 

 ibis cretensis. 



Native of Greece, Asia Minor, etc 



Nat. Ord. Ikidaceje. — Tribe EuiridejE. 

 Genus Iris, Tourn. (Baker in Journ. Linn. Soc. vol. xvi. p. 136) 



Iris {Pogonirh) eretemis ; acaulis, breviter rhizomatosa, foliis pluribus anguste 

 linearibus 6-fl-pollicaribua acutis subcoriaceis crebre striatis, spatba? anifloria 

 valvis magnis lanceolatis, ovario oblongo sessili, periantbii tubo viridulo 3- 

 4-pollicari, limbi lilncino-purpurei 2i-3-pollicaris segmentis oblanceolatis 

 sequilongis omnibus longe unguiculatia, exterioribus lamina falcata deorsum 

 pallida luteo carinata lineis obliquia lilacmo-purpareifl decorata, interioribus 

 paullo angustioribu8 erectis concoloribus, stigmatorum cristis lanceolatis 

 extro' sum serrulatis, antberis albidis filamento brevioribus. 



I. cretensis, Janka in Ocstcr. Botan. Zdtschrift 1868, p. 382 ; Baker in Gard. 



Chron. 1876, part ii. p. 143 ; Journ. Linn. Soc. vol. xvi. p. 138. 

 I. cretica, Herbert in Herb. Keiv.. inedit. 

 I. stylosa, var. angustifolia, Boiss. Diagh. part xiii. p. 15 ; Tchihat. Asia Minor 



'Bat. vol. ii. p. 516. 

 I. humilis, Sieber, Crete, Basic, non M. B. 



This pretty little Iris has a wide distribution _ round the 

 eastern shores of the Mediterranean, as it occurs in Greece, 

 Asia Minor, Crete (where it ascends the hills to 3 000 feet 

 above sea-level), and the Ionian Islands. It has been con- 

 founded with the South Russian and Transylvanian humilis 

 and the Algerian ungmcularh, but is quite distinct froin both, 

 and the three inhabit different geographical areas. This fact 

 was recognised long ago by Dean Herbert, and he gave it, in 

 the Hookerian herbarium, the manuscript name of Iris cretica 

 but this was never published, so far as I have been able to 

 ascertain. It belongs to the small group of acaulescent 

 beardless Irises, of which the two species just named, and a 

 third (Iris Rossii, Baker in Gard. Chron. 1877, part ii. p. 

 809), recently discovered in the extreme north of China, are 

 the only remaining known members. It has been introduced 



HCBRCARY 1ST, 1878. 



