occasionally white; tepals 8-11 mm. long; capsules 4-5 mm. high, drying dark. 

 In wet areas of s.e. Tex., Apr.-May; Fla. to Tex., n. to n. N. S., N. Y., n. O., 

 s. Mich, and Ark. 



10. Sisyrinchium demissutn Greene. Fig. 342. 



Plants 22-72 cm. tall, drying light-green; stems erect, 1-3 mm. wide, the 

 wings about one half the width of stems; leaves 2-3 mm. wide, less than one half 

 the height of plant; peduncles to 17 cm. long; tepals blue, 1 cm. long; capsules 

 6-7 mm. high. S. longipedunculatum Bickn. 



Along streams in wet meadows and grasslands and springy places in Guadalupe 

 Mts. (Culberson Co.) and High Plains (Hemphill Co.) of Tex., w. through N. M. 

 (rather widespread) and Ariz. (Apache and Greenlee cos. to Coconino and 

 Yavapai cos.), June-Sept.; from Tex. to Calif., n. to Ore., Colo.; also n. Mex. 



11. Sisyrinchium biforme Bickn. 



Plants erect, 14-38 cm. tall; roots coarse; stems very narrowly winged; leaves 

 1-3 mm. wide; capsules 6-7 mm. high. 



In sandy, usually wettish, soil of beaches and offshore islands of Tex., Dec- 

 June; also La. ?; Mex. 



12. Sisyrinchium dimorphum R. Oliv. 



Plants 9-32 cm. tall, drying olive-green; roots coarse; stems with or without 

 leafy bracts, the wings less than one half the width of stem; leaves one half to 

 three fourths the height of plant; flowers blue, sometimes white; tepals 5-9 mm. 

 long, 1.5-3 mm. wide; capsules about 5 mm. high. 



Along streams in Edwards Plateau and Trans-Pecos of Tex., Apr.-July; also n. 

 Mex. 



2. Iris L. Iris. Fleur-de-lis 



Perennials from a creeping more or less tuberous rhizome; leaves ensiform or 

 lanceolate, commonly broadly grasslike; flowers large and showy, mostly purplish 

 or bluish (in ours); tube of the perianth commonly extended beyond the ovary; 

 stamens distinct, the linear or oblong anthers sheltered under the over-arching 

 petal-like branches of the style that bear the stigma in the form of a thin lip or 

 plate under the apex; most of the style connate with the perianth segments to 

 form a tube; capsule 3- or 6-angled, usually coriaceous; seeds depressed-flattened 

 or plump, usually in 2 rows in each cell. 



More than 200 species in the Northern Hemisphere, most frequent in Asia. 

 Cultivated Iris tend to maintain themselves about abandoned farms and home- 

 steads, the most common of these are /. pallida Lam., /. tingitana Boiss. & Reut. 

 and /. xiphium L. 



Muskrats and beavers, as well as wildfowl and marsh birds, arc known to eat 

 various parts of some species. 



1. Distribution in mountains of New Mexico and Arizona in our region 



1. /. inissouriensis. 



1. Distribution in eastern Oklahoma and Texas eastward (2) 



2(1). Flowers bright- to golden-yellow throughout or dark-red to reddish-brown 

 (3) 



2. Flowers in shades of blue to purplish-blue or rarely whitish (4) M 



3(2). Flowers bright- to golden-yellow throughout; tepals entire at apex; capsule 

 3-angled; introduced species 2. /. Pseudacorus. 



3. Flowers dark-red to reddish- or coppery-brown; tepals notched at apex; capsule 



6-angled; native species 3. /. julva. 



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