214 



POPULAR FLORA. 



101. IRIS FAMILY. Order IRIDACEiE. 

 Herbs witli perennial roots, commonly with rootstocks, bulb?, or corms, and witli eqiiltcvnt 

 leaves (151, Fig. 64); the flowers perfect, regular or irregular; tube of the corolla-like 



perianth below coherent 

 with the surface of the 

 ovary, and so appearing 

 to grow from its summit ; 

 stamens only 3, one before 

 each of the outer divis- 

 ions of the perianth ; their 

 anthers turned outwards, 

 i. e. lookinsc towards the 

 perianth and opening on 

 that side. Ovary 3-celled, 

 making a many-seeded 

 pod : style one : stigmas 

 3, often flat or petal-like. 

 Herbage, rootstocks, &c. 

 generally acrid or sharp- 

 tasted. Flowers generally 

 showy, and from a spathe 

 of one or more leat-like 

 bracts, or from the axils of 

 the uppermost leaves, each 

 one generally opening but 



514. Plant rf Cresled Dwarf Iris. 515. Top of the style nnd tlie 3 petaMlke etismas, also 

 2 of the slaiiieiis. 5lj. Mauiiifk-il iiisiil and lower )i.irl of the lulie of the iitriuui li, divideil OUCC. 

 Iciiglliwise : (lie fohige cm luvay. 517 Lower |.iut of a pod, divided Cicsswise. 61S. tited. 

 S19. Mugiiified seciiou of llie fame, iliowiii^ ilie eiiibiyo. 



Filaments monadelphous in a tube which encloses the style as in a sheath: stfgmas 

 thread-shaped: perianth 6-parted nearly to the ovary, widely spread- 

 ing, opening in sunshine and for only one day. 



Flowers small, blue or purple, with G equal obovate divisions: stigmas simple: stems 

 or scapes fiat or 2-winged, from fibi'ous roots; leaves narrow and 

 grass-like, {Sisijrinchium) Bluk-eyed-Grass. 



Flowers very large, orange and spotted with crimson and purple; the 3 inner divisions 

 much smaller and narrowed in the middle: stigmas each 2-cleft: 

 scape terete, from a coated bulb; leaves plaited, ( Tif/ridia) *Tiger-flower. 



Filaments separate: stigmas flattened, or petal-like. 



Perianth 6-parted down to the ovary, regular and wheel-shaped, the divisions obovate- 

 oblong, all alike, yellow, Avith darker spots: seeds remaining after the 

 valves of the pod fall, berry-like and black, the whole looking like a 

 blackberry (whence the common name). Stems leafy below, from a 

 rootstock: leaves sword-shaped, {ParduntJnis) *Blackbeury-Lily. 



