* RYJ' 



.^^y 



The Plant World 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL OF POPULAR BOTANY. 



Vol. 111. DECEMBER, 1900. No. 12. 



A WRITER in one of the niagazi: 

 / \ moment when he caught sight, 

 "* of blue flags [Iris versicolor')^ \ 



IRISES. 



By F. H. Knowlton. 



WRITER in one of the magazines recently said that from the 



for the first time, of a meadow 

 he became a devoted admirer of 

 ail irises My own experience was similar, and I well recall the day in 

 a New England meadow when my eyes were first opened to the curious 

 structure and beauty of an iris flower. As a thoughtless boy I had 

 gathered them or trampled them under foot, and they were simply 

 Jidgs^ but now I was astonished that there could be such beauty and 

 delicacy of coloring in a flower so common and well known. Since 

 that day 1 have studied and collected irises in many parts of this coun- 

 try, and have cultivated numerous others from distant countries, and 

 they are still, to my mind, among the most beautiful of our flowers. 



Iris is a large and widely distributed genus, comprising about 160 

 species, mainly of the north temperate zone, being found in Europe, 

 north Africa and temperate Asia and North America. We have in 

 this country some 22 native species, of which number 12 are found in 

 the northeastern states, and the remainder in the southern and western 

 states, 5 or 6 being on the Pacific coast. Apparently the only species 

 of the Great Ba«in is IrtK mlssouriensh^ where in many localities it is 

 very abundant. It is a plant with tall naked stems and pale blue 

 flowers with the sepals and ))etals two inches or more in length. 



The dissection and study of the various parts of an iris flower 

 will well repay a few minutes spent on it. The floral envelope is 

 briffhtlv colored and consists of six clawed segments united below into 

 a tul)e. The three outer segments, often called sepals, are usually 



