22 HANDBOOK OF IRIDEi!;. 



Subgenus V, Evansea (Salisb.). 



C7. I. GRACiLiPEs A. Gray Bot. Jap. 412. — Rhizome slender, 

 wide-creeping, brauched ; tufts crowded ; sheaths membranous. 

 Leaves thin, green, hnear, finally a foot long, ^ in. broad at the 

 middle, with a few strong veins. Stems very slender, about as 

 long as the leaves, 1-3-headed. Spathe 1-flowered, ^ in. long ; 

 oiiter valve lanceolate, brown, membranous ; pedicel none. Peri- 

 anth-tube ^ in. long ; limb lilac, very fugitive, an inch long ; falls 

 obovate, ^— | in. broad, with a yellow crest down the haft ; 

 standards oblanceolate. Style-branches ^ in. long ; crests deltoid. 

 Capsule small, oblong. 



Hab. Northern Japan. First collected by the American Exploring 

 Expedition in 1853 — 56. 



68. I. NEPALENsis D. Don Prodr. Nep. 54 ; Sweet Brit. Flow. 

 Gard. ser. 2, 1. 11, non Wallich. I. decora Wall. PI. Asiat. Rar. t. 86. 

 7. sulcata Wall. Neubeckia sulcata and decora Klatt. — Rootstock 

 short-creeping ; root-fibres fleshy ; sheaths splitting into a dense 

 mass of fine fibres. Leaves thin, linear, ^ ft. long at the flowering 

 time, finally graminoid, 1^-2 ft. long, ^ in. broad. Peduncle 

 slender, ^-1 ft. long, 1-2-headed. Spathes 1-3-flowered, 1^-2 in. 

 long ; outer valves thin, green, lanceolate, persistent ; pedicels very 

 short. Perianth-tube slender, 1^ in. long ; limb fugitive, pale lilac, 

 1-1|^ in. long ; falls with an oblong blade-| in. broad, as long as the 

 liaft, furnished with a narrow yellow crest ; standards erect, 

 oblong-unguiculate, ^ in. broad. Style-branches under an inch 

 long ; crests large, toothed. Capsules oblong-trigonous, charta- 

 ceous, 1-1^ in. long, clasped by the persistent spathe-valves. 



Var. KHAsiANA Baker. — Flowers smaller. Angles of tlie capsule 

 more acute. — Khasia. 



Hab. Temperate region of the Himalayas, from Simla eastward to Assam. 

 A plant collected by Griffith in Bhotan has a much stouter compressed sulcate 

 stem, 2 ft. long, with 6 long-stalked heads, with firmer green spathe-valves. 



69. I. sPEcuLATRix Hance in Journ. Bot. 1875, 196 ; Baker in 

 Bot. Mag. t. 6306. — Rhizome tortuous, as thick as a goose-quill; 

 sheaths splitting into fibres. Leaves linear, moderately firm, 

 finally 1-1^ ft. long, ^ in. broad, strongly ribbed. Stems slender, 

 1-headed, under a foot long, bearing 2-3 small firm bract-leaves. 

 Spathes 1-2-flowered ; valves green, lanceolate, moderately firm, 

 1^-2 in. long; pedicels long. Perianth-tube | in. long; limb 

 lilac, 1-li in. long ; falls with an obovate blade half as long as the 

 haft, with a white blotch at the throat and a yellow crest; standards 

 rather shorter, oblauceolate-unguiculate. Style-branches ^ in. 

 long ; crests deltoid ; valves of capsule lanceolate-acuminate, an 

 inch loug. 



Hab. Mountains of Hong-kong. Described from a plant that flowered at 

 Kew in April, 1877, sent by Mr. C. Ford. 



70. I. LAcusTRis Nutt. Gen. Amer. i. 23. — Rhizome, stolons and 

 leaves of /. crista ta. Stem scarcely any, 1-headed. Spathe 1- 

 tlowered, 1^-2 in. long ; valves linear, green, membranous ; 



