IRIS VIRGINICA. BOSTON IRIS. I9I 



Some commentators think that Shakespeare merely classed the 

 Iris with the lilies, but a contemporary of the poet refers to the 

 " Flower de luce " in a manner which makes it unmistakable that 

 the white lily was meant, describing it as having " six leaves 

 whiter than snow, and in the middle the pretty little golden 



hammers." 



Like so many others of the earliest known oi our native flow- 

 ers, our present species came to the botanists of Europe from 

 Virginia, and was therefore named /r/j Virgi?iica by Linnaeus. 

 Pursh also found the plant during his wanderings, and, suppos- 

 ing- it to be different from that described by Linnaeus, named it 

 Iris prismatica, in allusion to the prismatic shape of the ovary 

 (Fig. 4). The Linnaean name, however, prevails, as /. Virginica 

 and /. prismatica are now believed to be identical, although Mr. 

 Baker, author of a monograph on L-idacece, and the most recent 

 authority on these plants, maintains that the /. Virginica of 

 Linnaeus has nothing to do with our plant, being, in his opinion, 

 only a variety of /. versicolor, and that, therefore, our Boston Ins 

 should be called by Pursh's name, /. prismatica. But however 

 this may be, it certainly cannot be denied that the generally 

 accepted botanical name of our plant gives no idea of its geo- 

 graphical range, as the species is northern rather than southern. 

 Dr. Chapman embraces it in his " Flora of the Southern 

 United States," and locates it in "swamps, North Carolina, 

 Tennessee, and northward." Prof. Wood says it is found from 

 "Massachusetts to New Jersey." It is also found in Maine, and 

 extends west to Lake Michigan. It might be looked for in the 

 northern parts of Ohio and Indiana, but it is not in any collec- 

 tor's lists from these states that we know of. The jDopular 

 name of the plant is the " Boston Iris," and this is much more 

 appropriate, in reference to its geographical centre, than " Vir- 

 ginian Iris," which name it also sometimes receives. 



The place of growth of the Boston Iris is generally in swamps. 

 In New Jersey and Delaware it is often found blooming in very 

 dry places, but the nature of these places makes it evident that 



