IRIDACEJE. (IRIS FAMILY.) 483 
terete (1°-3P high); haves narraidy linear (£' wide); ovary 3-angled 
and each side deeply 2-grooved ; pod triangular, acute at both ends. 
(I. pnsmdtica, Pursh, I. gracilis, Bigd.) - Marshes near the coast. 
June. rerianth narrower and more yellow than in the last. 
* * L ° W ’ a [ m ost stemless : rootstocks slender , creeping. 
31. laeustris, Nutt. (Dwarf Lake Iris.) Rootstalks tuft- 
e ; leaves lanceolate ; scape very short, from a spathe like the leaves, 
1-tiowered; perianth funnel-form; the oblong-obovate divisions al¬ 
most equal, a little longer than the tube, the outer ones with a naked 
crest; lobes of the stigma shorter than the crest; ovary triangular.— 
Gravelly shores of Lakes Huron and Michigan. May. — Plant 3'-4' 
high in blossom : the flower scarcely exceeding the leaves, paler blue 
than in I. cnstata, the divisions larger in proportion and less pointed : 
crest beardless : tube yellow. 
1. cris-tAta, Ait., a dwarf species, is to be sought in the mountains 
of o. Pennsylvania. I. p&mila, and two or three other exotic spe¬ 
cies, are commonly cultivated in gardens. 
2. SISYRkcHIUM, L. Blue-eyed Grass. 
Perianth 6-parted ; the divisions alike, spreading. Stamens 
monadelphous. Stigmas involute-thread-like. Pod globular-3- 
angled. Seeds globular. — Low slender perennials, with fibrous 
roots, grassy or lanceolate leaves, mostly branching 2-edged or 
winged stems, and fugacious umbelled-clustered small flowers from 
a 2-leaved spathe. (Name composed of o-£y, a hog , and pvy X os, 
snout, from a fancy that the hogs are fond of rooting it up.) 
1* J® e **mudiaiia, L. Scape winged, naked or 1 - 2-leav¬ 
ed ; leaves narrow and grass-like ; spathe umbellately few-flowered • 
divisions of the perianth obovate, more or less notched at the end’ 
and bristle-pointed from the notch. (Leaves of the spathe almost 
equal, shorter than the flowers.) - Var. 1. anceps (S. anceps, Cav.) 
has a broadly winged scape, and the outer leaf of the very unequal 
spathe longer than the flowers. —Var. 2. mucronAtum (S. mucrona- 
tura, Michx.) has a slender and narrowly winged scape, very narrow 
leaves, those of the spathe sharp-pointed, unequal, one of them usu¬ 
ally longer than the flowers. But there are various intermediate 
forms. — Moist meadows, &c., among grass, common. June- Au». 
lowers small, delicate blue, changing to purplish, 4-6 opening 
in succession ; the spathe often purplish. 
,„v p CR6m ’ the Corn-flag (Glad)olus), the Black-berry 
p. ? DANTHUS Chinensis), and the Tiger-flower (Tigridia 
avonia), are common cultivated plants of the family. 
