GENUS i. 



IRIS FAMILY. 



537 



i. Iris versicolor L. Larger Blue-flag. Poison- or Water-flag. Fig. 1328. 



Iris versicolor L. Sp. PL 39. 1753. 

 Iris virgin ica L. Sp. PI. 39. 1753. 



Rootstock horizontal, thick, fleshy, covered with 

 the fibrous roots. Stems terete or nearly so, straight 

 or flexuous, 2-3 tall, often branched above, leafy; 

 leaves erect, shorter than the stem, somewhat glau- 

 cous, 6"-i2" wide; bracts commonly longer than the 

 pedicels, the lower one sometimes foliaceous; flowers 

 several, violet-blue, variegated with yellow, green 

 and white; perianth-segments glabrous, crestless, 

 the outer ones spatulate, 2'-$' long, longer and wider 

 than the inner; perianth-tube dilated -upward, shorter 

 than the ovary ; capsule oblong, obscurely 3-lobed, 

 about i long and 8" in diameter; seeds 2 "-3" broad, 

 in 2 rows in each cell, the raphe indistinct. 



In marshes, thickets and wet meadows, Newfoundland 

 to Manitoba, south to Florida and Arkansas. Snake-, 

 Liver- or Flag-lily. May-July. 



,M 



2. Iris hexagona Walt. Southern Blue-flag. 

 Fig. 1329. 



Iris hexagona Walt. Fl. Car. 66. 1788. 



Rootstock stout, thick. Stems terete, usually simple, 

 straight or flexuous, leafy, i-3 tall; leaves i'-ii' 

 wide, green, not glaucous, the lower often 2-3 long; 

 flowers solitary in the upper axils, sessile, similar to 

 those of /. versicolor, but larger, the broader outer 

 crestless perianth segments often 4' long and over i' 

 wide, much wider than the erect inner ones ; perianth- 

 tube rather longer than the ovary, a little dilated up- 

 ward; capsule oblong-cylindric, 6-angled, about 2' long; 

 seeds in 2 rows in each cavity. 



In swamps. South Carolina to Florida, Kentuckyf ?) and 

 Texas. Not certainly known within our area. April-May. 



3. Iris georgiana Britton. Carolina Blue-flag. 



Fig. 1330. 



Iris caroliniana S. Wats, in A. Gray, Man. Ed. 6, 514. 1890. 

 Not /. Carolina Radius, 1822. 



Rootstock stout, fleshy. Stem rather stout, simple 

 or branched 2-3 tall, equalled or exceeded by the 

 bright green leaves which are 8"-ii' wide; flowers 

 solitary or 2 or 3 together, lilac, variegated with yel- 

 low, purple and brown, pedicelled; pedicels somewhat 

 shorter than the bracts; outer perianth-segments 

 broadly spatulate, 2i'-3' long, with narrow claws, the 

 inner narrower and nearly erect ; perianth-tube about 

 long above the ovary; capsule oblong, obtusely 

 3-angled, i-2 r long; seeds in I row in each cavity, 

 4"-S" broad. 



In swamps, southern Virginia and eastern North Caro- 

 lina to Georgia and Louisiana. May-June. 



