May, 1914.] The Iridales of Ohio. 329 



Iridaceae. Iris Family. 



Perennial geophilous herbs with narrow two ranked leaves. 

 Flowers mostly clustered, subtended by bracts, regular or ir- 

 regular, bisporangiate epigynous, tetracyclic by reduction, tri- 

 merous. Ovulary trilocular and dehiscent. 



Key. 



1. Style branches very broad and petal-like, opposite the stamens; 

 petals recurved. Iris. 



1. Style branches not petal-like, slender or filiform; sepals widely spread- 

 ing or erect. 2. 



2. Flowers solitary; leaves with revolute margins. Crocus. 



2. Flowers several on a long scape or leafy stem. 3. 



3. Flowers crimson mottled; leaves sword-shaped. Gemmingia. 

 3. Flowers blue or white; leaves grass-like. Sisyrinchium . 



Iris. (Tourn.) L. 



Perennial herbs with horizontal, often woody or sometimes 

 tuber-bearing rootstocks and erect stems with sword-shaped leaves. 

 Flowers large, borne singly or panicled; sepals dilated or reflexed, 

 st^de branches petal-like, arching over the stamens. Ovulary 

 trilocular. 



Key. 



1. Stems tall; leaves glaucous; none of the perianth segments crested. 



I. versicolor. 

 1. Stems low; leaves not glaucous; outer perianth segments crested; 

 perianth tube very slender. /. cristata. 



1. Iris versicolor L. Large Blue-flag. Stems straight, 2 to 

 3 feet tall, often branched, leafy. Leaves erect, somewhat glau- 

 cous, 17 to 30 inches long, }4 to 1 inch wide. Flowers several, 

 violet blue, varigated with yellow, green and white; perianth 

 segments glabrous and crestless. Capsule obscurely three-lobed. 

 General. 



2. Iris cristata Ait. Crested Dwarf Iris. vStems 1 to 3 inch 

 high, leaves -1 to 12 inches long and ^ to 1 inch wide. Flowers 

 blue, sepals crested; perianth 1 to 1>^ inches long. Capsule 

 sharply triangular. Lawrence, Adams, Scioto, Pil:e, Ross, Jack- 

 son, Vinton, Hocking, Cuyahoga, TrmnbuU. 



Gemmingia Fabr. 



Erect perennial herbs with stout rootstocks and Iris-hke leaves. 

 Flowers in terminal clusters, purple mottled. Capsule figshaped. 



1. Gemmingia chinensis (L.) Ktz. Blackberry-hly. Stem 

 iy2 to 4 feet tall, leafy; leaves erect, sword-shaped, S to 14 inches 

 long and >^ to 1 inch wide. Flowers several, IJ^ to 2 inches long, 

 perianth segments mottled with crimson and purple on the upper 

 side, obtuse at the apex and narrow at the base, persistent and 

 coiled together on the ovulary after flowering. From Asia. 

 Escaped in Franklin county. 



