IRIS TRIBE 229 



antiquity at Dendera, in the heart of Egypt. M. Sonnini remarks : " Hero- 

 dotus and Strabo relate that the kings of Babylon formerly bore the fleur- 

 de-lis at the extremity of their scei^tre." Montfau^on also speaks of that 

 of David, found in the miniature of an engraved manuscript of the tenth 

 century, which is surmounted by a fleur-de-lis. It is evident that the 

 ornament called the "lis " was not a symbol peculiar to the crown of France; 

 and it is not surprising that it composed a part of those which were employed 

 in the mysterious representations of antique Egypt, since it was in former 

 times the mark of power with some sovereigns of the country, or of some 

 adjacent sovereignties. The Iris was placed on the brow of the Sphinx ; and 

 the ancients regarded the flower as the emblem of eloquence. 



The stigma of the Iris flower is not only at some distance from the 

 anther, but being separated from it by a membrane, the pollen could not 

 reach its destination but for the aid of insects. The humble-bee seems the 

 chief operator in eftecting this ; and in order to get at the nectary, the insect 

 pushes itself in close to the stigma and deposits pollen it may have brought 

 from another Flag, then rubs against the anther, brushes off the pollen with 

 its hairy back, and proceeds to enjoy the nectar in the lower part of the 

 flower. Afterwards it crawls out at the side of the flower below the anther, 

 and so takes pollen away to the next flower. There is one form of flower 

 in which the stigma is nuich closer to the sepal, and this seems an adaptation 

 to the smaller size of a long-tongued fly {L'hingia) that is very assiduous in 

 its attentions to these blossoms. 



The seeds of this Iris are very beautiful in winter, when their capsule 

 shrivels and displays them in all the lustre of brilliant scarlet. The seeds 

 are numerous, round, and most powerfully acrid. 



2. Corn-Flag (Gladiolus). 



Common Corn-Flag (G. communis). — Leaves sword-shaped, about half 

 an inch broad and eight inches long, glaucous ; scape two or three feet long 

 bearing spike of from 4 to 8 flowers, which are arranged all on one side 

 (secund), in lance-shaped spathes ; flowers somewhat bell-shaped, crimson- 

 purple, the three lower segments paler, strongly veined with red-purple ; 

 rootstock a small corm ; seeds with a narrow wing. This rare species occurs 

 in Britain only in open spaces in the New Forest and in the Isle of Wight, 

 flowering in June and July. 



3. Trichonema {Trichonima). 



Columna's Trichonema {T. columnce). — Stalk single-flowered, slightly 

 drooping ; leaves thread-like, flattened, furrowed, and bending backwards ; 

 spathe longer than the tube of the corolla ; stigmas 2-cleft ; rootstock a 

 corm. This is a rare plant, growing only on a sandy pasture called the 

 Warren, at Dawlish, and on the grassy hillocks of Jersey and Guernsey. 

 Its flower scapes are about four inches high, and the flowers expand in March 

 and April. These flowers are greenish externally, but within they are whitish 

 veined with purple, and yellow at the base. It is in some respects similar 

 to the iris, in some rather resembling the crocus ; and Dawlish is thought to 

 be probably its most northern locality, as it is common as near as Western 



