YELLOW mis 165 



iris, so far at least as its foliage is concerned, looks like 

 the sweet sedge, but still it is not the sweet sedge after 

 all, and any one who so calls it names it falsely. As this 

 acorus was so-called from two Greek words signifying an 

 ailment of the eye, for which this plant was held to be 

 a remedy, it was distinctly important that those needing 

 optical relief should not be putting their faith in the 

 wrong plant, and thus the iris has had tacked on to its 

 poetic title this very prosaic after-note of warning. 



A good old English popular name for this yellow iris, 

 and for any other iris, wild or cultivated, is the flag, and 

 this name it derives from the gaily-coloured outer members 

 of its perianth floating in the air, like banners on some 

 great day of festival, our ancestors delighting in pageantry, 

 and suspending, in token of rejoicing, rich hangings from 

 their balconies and casements, and seeing in these iris 

 flowers a suggestion of these suspended flags. Any one, 

 by the way, who hung out a noble yellow flag to-day 

 would be regarded by his fellow-townsmen with grave 

 suspicion, as it is the quarantine signal, and implies that 

 within the building or ship so distinguished some infectious 

 and deadly visitant has found a home. 



The yellow iris may be found abundantly all over 

 Britain at the edges of streams, in marsh land, and in 

 ditches, attaining to a height of some two feet. Curiously 

 enough, it bears transplantation excellently well from these 

 distinctly watery conditions, and will flourish, if one 

 so pleases, with our choice pelargoniums, phloxes, wall- 

 flowers, and many other things that would certainly not 

 repay the visit, or settle happily down in the natural 

 habitat of the yellow iris. 



