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there is no suggestion of either crest or beard save in color. 1 
have already said that the flower was made up of threes, three 
“falls” as they are called, usually the most conspicuous of the 
petals and often somewhat drooping, then three “standards,” 
typically erect, but in the beardless sometimes held almost on the 
same plane as the falls. Still less noticeable are the style- 
branches which overarch the falls and protect the stamens. Only 
in the double Japanese irises do we find falls and standards and 
style-branches developed almost beyond recognition into great 
broad showy petals, that spread horizontally. 
Before mentioning in greater detail these big brethren, I wish 
to call attention to three of the crested irises from Japan, J. gra- 
cilipes, I. tectorum, and I. japonica. Iris gracilipes, with its neat 
grassy tufts of foliage and small flowers in miniature of the large 
ones, is one of the most dainty of irises. In northern Japan you 
will find it on cool, wooded slopes, but it is thriving on a well- 
drained, slightly shaded bank in my rock garden. The flowers 
carried on slender branching stalks are pink-lilac, with a tracery 
of deeper lilac upon the falls. In outline, in growth, even in the 
markings of the petals, the plant is most decorative and, treated 
as a pot plant, is a picture in itself. J. tectorum, the roof iris, is 
coarser throughout with lush spreading fans of bright yellow- 
green foliage that is often touched by our spring frosts. The 
type is blue-purple and rather dull, even with its prominent crest 
of white, but the variety alba, in purest white, is most charming, 
and both come true from seed. They are well suited to the ordi- 
nary garden though it is desirable to reset the plants every few 
years as the short feeding roots soon exhaust the soil. Still 
larger is J. japonica with its handsome, bold foliage, but frosts 
so injure it that we, in the north, must grow it in a cool house. 
he flowers, though evanescent, are borne in great profusion, and 
the tints of mauve and lilac, white and gold have a great 
fascination. 
These three are of the crested irises, but with J. laevigata, 
which has been much used as a trade name for Kaempferi, we 
come to the Apogons. In Japan, when given rich soil on the 
shores of a pond, this iris bids fair to rival the yellow English 
flag, I. pseudacorus, in growth and stature, and its good-sized 
