Tris Reichenbachii is a native of the Balkan countries 
from Bosnia, southern Hungary and Serbia, to eastern 
Rumelia and southern Macedonia. The species was 
originally described by Heuffel from specimens found in 
the Hungarian Banat, growing on rocks by the Danube, 
and from others gathered near Herkulesbad. It may be 
regarded as the Balkan representative of the more 
western species J. Chamavciris, Bert., a native of Italy 
and southern France, from which J. Reichenbachii is 
easily distinguished in the living state by the very 
acutely keeled herbaceous spathes. While in reality an 
extremely natural species, J. Reichenbachii is at the same 
time characterised by extraordinary variability in size 
of plant and colour of flowers. Owing to this variability 
the plant has at times been misunderstood, hence the 
unusually long list of synonyms. How pardonable this 
misunderstanding is will be readily appreciated from an 
examination of our figure. J. Reichenbachii has been 
in cultivation in the Ivis collection at Kew since 1904, 
when a supply of plants was acquired from Messrs. Haage 
and Schmidt, Erfurt. Additional plants were presented 
to Kew by the Hon. N. C. Rothschild in July, 1915; 
these had been collected on the mountains near Conrova, 
in Bulgaria. Yet other plants were presented to the 
national collection by Lady Muriel Herbert in May, 1919 ; 
these had come from Salonika. The plate now published 
has been based, however, on other material; the form 
with red-purple flowers was received from Miss D. 
Blanchard, who had flowered it in her garden at Park- 
stone, Dorset, in May, 1919—her plants having originally 
been received from Macedonia; the form with greenish- 
yellow flowers was sent by Lady Muriel Herbert in May, 
1917—it was one of her plants from Salonika. At Kew, 
1. Reichenbachii is quite hardy, and has flowered in an 
open border. It prefers, however, a warm position 
against a wall. Seeds are only sparingly produced, but it 
is easily propagated by division of the rootstock, as in 
most other species of the section to which it belongs. 
Description.—Herb, with a rootstock 2in. thick. Leaves densely clustered, 
ensate, more or less falcate, those of the sterile clumps at length usually 5-6 in. 
long and {2 in. wide, but at times much longer and wider, those of the flowering | 
stem shorter, glaucous-green, smooth, Stem 4-6 in., occasionally as much as 
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