226 IRIDE^ 



stigmas 3, resembling petals, and covering the stamens. Name from Iris, 

 "the rainbow," from the bright hues of the flowers. 



2. Corn-Flag (Gladiolus). — Perianth almost 2-lipped, with a short, curved 

 tube ; ovary short, 3-angled ; style thread-like ; stigmas broad ; capsule 

 leathery, seeds winged. Name from the Latin, gladiolus, a little sword, in 

 allusion to the shape of the leaves. 



3. Trichonema (Tridionema). — Perianth of equal spreading divisions; 

 tube shorter than the limb ; stigma deeply 3-cleft, its lobes 2-cleft, slender. 

 Name from the Greek thrix, a hair, and nema, a filament. 



4. Blue-eyed Grass {Sisyrinchiain). — Perianth of equal divisions, spread- 

 ing or half-erect; tube short; ovary short, 3-angled; style short, stigmas 

 thread-like; capsule leathery, seeds sub-globose, hard. Name of doubtful origin. 



5. Crocus (Crocus).- — Perianth of equal, nearly erect, divisions ; tube very 

 long ; stigma 3-cleft, its lobes inversely wedge-shaped. Name from the Greek 

 krokos, saffron, and that from kroy, a thi'ead. 



1. Flag (Iris). 



1. Yellow Iris, or Flag (I. pseud-dcorus). — Leaves sword-shaped, sheath- 

 ing ; flower-stem round ; perianth beardk s ;, its inner segments shorter and 

 more slender than the stigmas ; rootstock thick, creeping. The Yellow Flag 

 waves its delicate but showy flowers over many a stream, or rears them by 

 its margin. It is among our most beautiful marsh plants, growing on a 

 stem sometimes three feet high, amid the leaves which stand vip around it 

 like sharp green sword-blades. It is either of a full or pale yellow, flower- 

 ing from May to August, amid the floral companions that Clare describes as 

 attracting the country rambler : 



"Some went searching by the wood, 



Peeping 'neath the weaving thorn, 

 Where the pouch-lipp'd cuckoo-bud 



From its snug retreat was torn ; 

 Where the ragged-robin stood 



With its jiijicd stem streak'd with jet, 

 And the crow-flowers, golden hued, 



Careless plenty easier met. 



" Some with many an anxious pain, 



Childish wishes to pursue, 

 From the pond-head gazed in vain, 



On the Flag-flower's yellow hue ; 

 Smiling in its safety there, 



Sleeping o'er its shadow'd bloom, 

 While the flood's triumphing care 



Crimpled round its guarded home." 



During the autumnal months, the stout stems of this plant are made 

 remarkable among the sedges, reed-mosses, and other water-plants, by the 

 long bright-green 3-celled capsules, which droop down among the membranous 

 withered sheaths that once surrounded the blossom. As two, three, or more 

 of the Flag-flowers grow on one stem, so there are several of these seed- 

 vessels crowded with large seeds, placed in regular rows ; and the capsules 

 are so heavy that they would break a less sturdy stem. They may be found 

 growing three together, and more than three inches long. The capsule 

 finally dries into a parchment-like substance ; and the hard, flattened seeds, 



