— 
=a Wf BAA 
——— - WY} = EEE“, Fs pes WE Mp sg we =e 
a Au Nae an by <A) Lp us Sa 
Ha Bees = 
a =i. On isan ie ener iia, 
= es SINGLY ‘I Gi ; 
Rr > .—— SS = = 
Ripy a sae —=—=_— «ss > ul 
SS 2 = win SS hes Ss 
LUT AD eG 3 “AND 
BG &S = ia, = ee EL FLAG of 
Se Ses ¥ i fans ee = es TS 
cE SFP GL S ‘ ‘ =e 
SEY my Mi 
INSSSZE | KW members of this family of 
NH ) A: 
Nc ; i flowers honour Britain with 
INBESC their presence as wildings, and 
iz Z 
~— 
of these only the Yellow Flag 
(Iris pseudacorus) is at all 
common. ‘They are all per- 
ennial plants, and their rootstocks take the forms 
of tubers, corms, or bulbs, or in some eases are thick 
creeping rhizomes. The leaves are sword-shaped, 
usually so folded at the base that a section gives 
the form of a saddle (equitant). The flower consists 
of a six-parted perianth without distinction between 
petals and sepals, all being coloured alike. There 
are only three stamens, and the ovary is three-celled 
to match, the simple style also ending in three stigmas. 
The ovary develops into a relatively large leathery 
capsule splitting into three valves and disclosing the 
numerous seeds. 
For one of the rarest of these plants we must go to 
the bogs of Galway and Kerry, where in July and 
August we may see the beautiful little Blue-eyed 
311 
