eompreffed, dark-green, rigid and fomewhat Woody down- 

 wards, fmooth, furnilhcd at the joints with many alternate, 

 remote, itiflifh, adprefl'edly convolute, fpathe-li'ke, fterh- 

 embracing Braftes, fome of which are fterile, while from others 

 ifiue an adpreffed branch, and thefe are either fimple or pani- 

 culately fubdivided, lower ones longeft and wand-like, all 

 fimilar to the item, but left flattened. Leaves many, per- 

 ennial, from upright dillichly diverging, linear-enfiform, 

 acuminate, Itiffifh, dark-green, very fmooth, nervelefs, equi- 

 tantly imbricate, and very rigid downwards. Involucres her- 

 baceous, convolute, ft iff, 2 — 4-flowered, flowers fupported by 

 a (lender pedicle equal to the involucre and each feparated 

 from the other by a membranous fpathe or valve. Corolla 

 white, regularly patent, fegments equal in length, conneQed 

 at the bafe, outer ones twice the broadeft, oblong-obovate, 

 narrowed downwards into ftraight patent ungues nearly the 

 length of their laminae, with a longitudinal tomentofe ridge on 

 the infide, outwards furrowed down the middle, fides inflecled; 

 inner fegments lanceolate-obovate, rather acute, with fhorter, 

 more patent, and lefs definite ungues : ftigmas petaloid, bila- 

 biate, about equal to the outer ungues, erecl-patent, oblon<* 

 with a blue longitudinal keeled ridge ; inner lip bipartite^ 

 fegments acuminate ; ftyle triquetral, fhort ; filaments flat- 

 fubulate, Handing on the bafes of the fegments, contiguous, 

 but in general not connate, though they often are fo. Capfule 

 largifh, cartilagineo-coriaceous, oblong, obfoletely triquetral, 

 corrugately lineate, feeds very many, clofe, comprefledly an- 

 gular, their outermoft fide rounded to the valves. It has fruit 

 nearly ripe and blowing flowers at the fame time. 



Found by Thunberg in the interior of the Cape country 

 in Hottentot's Holland, in a wood not far from Sea-Cow 

 River, near a houfe called Kock's-Farm. Cultivated by 

 Miller in 1758, who received the feeds from the Cape 

 under the title of « White Water-Lily ;" it is of the eafieft 

 culture, and will grow many years together (without parting or 

 removing) in the fame pot; requires plenty of water; blooms 

 feveral weeks in fucceffion during the Summer months ; pro- 

 duces feed in abundance ; owing to which and its long Handing 

 in the country it is now one of the commoner! of its tribe in 

 our collections ; has no fmell. 



Our drawing was taken at the Botanic Garden, Brompton. 

 We are rather lurpnf'ed it has not before been difcovered to 

 be the fame with Tmunberg's Iris comtreffa ; his defec- 

 tion is full and correft. G. 



