28 UANLtBUUK OF IIUDE/E. 



Var. I. oLBiENSis Henou in Ann. Soc. Agric. Lyon, viii. 462, 

 with figure ; Hook. fil. in Bot. Mag. t. 6110. — More robust, with 

 broader leaves, dark violet flower's and stem sometimes 6-9 in. 

 long. 



Hab. North Italy and the South of France to Dalmatia and the Banat. 

 Was included under pumila by Linnaeus and many of the older authors. It 

 flowers with us late in April. 



88. I. TiGRiDiA Bunge in Led. Fl, Alt. i. 60 ; Led. Ic. t. 342.— 

 Rhizome short-creeping ; tufts crowded; root-fibres long, cylin- 

 drical ; sheaths splitting into copious fibres. Leaves firm, narrow, 

 linear, erect, strongly ribbed, 3-4 in. long. Stem nearly obsolete, 

 1-headed. Spathe 1-flowered, 1-1^ in. long; valves lanceolate, 

 greenish or subscariose ; pedicel short. Perianth-tube slender, an 

 inch long ; limb bright lilac, 1^ in. long ; falls oblong-unguiculate, 

 i in. broad, densely bearded, reflexing from halfway down ; 

 standards as long, oblong-unguiculate. Style-branches lilac, ^ in. 

 long ; crests lanceolate-deltoid, acuminate. 



Hab. Altai, Eastern Siberia and Mongolia. 



89. I. GRACILIS Maxim in Bull. Acad. Peters, x. 720. — Rhizome 

 oblique ; tufts caespitose ; root-fibres slender ; sheaths short, 

 fibrelose. Leaves narrow linear, grass-like, shorter than the stem. 

 Stem 1-headed, a foot long. Spathe short, 1-flowered ; valves 

 oblong-lanceolate, acute, green ; pedicel obsolete. Perianth-tube 

 shorter than the ovary ; limb pale blue ; falls obovate-oblong, with 

 a yellow beard ; standards oblong with a short claw, shorter than 

 the falls, emarginate. Style-crests half-deltoid. 



Hab. Western China, in the province of Kansui. Collected by Przewalski 

 in 1873. Habit and leaves of /. nepalensis. 



90. I. Meda Stapf Bot. Polak. 20 ; Baker in Bot. Mag. t. 7040. 

 — Rhizome more slender than in 7. jnimUa ; sheaths splitting up 

 into fibres. Leaves linear, glaucous, not rigid, 4-5 inches long jit 

 the flowering time, ^ in. broad. Stem 1-headed, 4-5 in. long. 

 Spathe 1-flowered, 2-2^ in. long; valves green, lanceolate, acutely 

 keeled ; pedicel short. Perianth-tube cylindrical, green, under an 

 inch long; falls obovate-cuneate, 2 in. long, above -| in. broad, 

 reflexing from halfway down, greenish yellow, with a brown centre, 

 with copious brown veins and a dense yellow beard ; standards as 

 long and nearly as broad, oblong-unguiculate. Style-branches an 

 inch long ; crests small, deltoid. 



Hab. Persia. Discovered by Polak in 1882 and brought to Vienna. Intro- 

 duced into Kngland by Dr. Foster in 1888. 



91. I. PoLAKii Stapf in Bot. Polak, 20. — Rhizome very short. 

 Leaves narrow, linear, as long as the stem. Stem 1-headed, 

 3-4 in. long. Spathe 1-flowered, 2 in. long ; valves pale, lanceo- 

 late ; pedicel short. Perianth-tube ^ in. long ; falls obovate- 

 cuneate, 2 in. long, an inch broad, deflexed from below the middle, 

 with a dark violet beard and dark violet spot above it ; falls oblong- 

 unguiculate, rather shorter than the standards, lilac veined with 

 violet. Style-branches an inch long ; crests deltoid. 



