HERMODACTYLUS. 47 



^ in. broad low down, firm in texture, with a distinct white margin. 

 Stem short, 1-2-headed. Spathes 1-flowered, 1^-2 in. long ; 

 valves pale green, lanceolate. Perianth-tube shortly exserted from 

 the spathe; falls pale yellow, H-2 in. long, with an orbicular 

 blade above ^ in. broad, a third as long as the non-auricled haft ; 

 standards bright purple, an inch long, with an obovate blade 

 sometimes ^ in. broad. Slyle-branches an inch long ; crests large, 

 subquadrate. 



Hab. Afghan and Eussian boundary ; flowering in March. Discovered by 

 Dr. Aitchison in 1885. 



160. I. siNDjAKENsis Boiss. et Haussk. Fl. Orient, v. 123; Baker 

 in Bot. Mag. t. 7145. — Bulb oblong. Leaves about 8, crowded, 

 lanceolate, distichous, firm, bright green, 5-6 in. long at the 

 flowering time, an inch broad. Stem very short, bearing 1-2 

 clusters of flowers; spathe 2 in. long; valves lanceolate, pale 

 green. Perianth slaty lilac ; tube an inch longer than the spatbe ; 

 falls oblong-cuneate, 2 in. long, slaty lilac, with radiating lines of 

 darker lilac and an inconspicuous yellow crest down the lower two- 

 thirds ; standards oblong- anguiculate, deflexed, an inch long. 

 Style-branches above an inch long ; crests large, deltoid. 



Hab. Mesopotamia ; discovered in 1865 by Dr. Haussknecht. Introduced 

 into cultivation lately by Leichtlin. 



161. I. FUMosA Boiss. & Haussk, Fl. Orient, v. 123. Xiphioyi 

 Aucherl Baker. — Bulb ovoid, 1-1^ in. diam. ; tunics brown, mem- 

 branous. Leaves about 10, lanceolate, falcate, moderately firm, 

 4-6 in. long, an inch broad. Stem i-ft. long, 4-5-headed. Spathes 

 1-flowered ; valves greenish, lanceolate, 3-4 in. long. Perianth-tube 

 2-2^ in. long ; limb 1^ in. long, pale yellow, tinged with grey-lilac ; 

 falls with a suborbicular limb \ in. broad, much shorter than the 

 auricled haft ; standards spreading, unguiculate, an inch long. Style- 

 branches an inch long ; crests large, deltoid. Capsule cylindrical- 

 trigonous, 3 in. long. 



Hab. Mountains over Aleppo ; first gathered by Aucher Eloy. Hauss- 

 knecht's 907, from the desert near Koluh-hassar, has leaves half as long and 

 twice as broad as the Aleppo plant, and as long a stem with only a single 

 terminal flower. 



2. Hermodactylus (Tourn.) Adans. 



Perianth-tnhe short, cylindrical ; limb funnel-shaped ; outer 

 segments obovate-cuneate, reflexing in the upper third ; inner 

 segments small, ascending, lanceolate, with a long cusp. Stamens 

 and sti/les as in Iris, but the ovary 1 -celled, with 3 parietal 

 placentas. Seeds subglobose. 



1. H. TUBEROsus Salisb. in Trans. Hort. Soc. i. 304. Iris 

 tuhcrosa Linn.; Bot. Mag. t. 531; Red. Lil. t. 48; Sibth. & Sm. 

 Fl. Grsec. t. 41 ; Eng. Bot. 3rd ed. t. 1496 ; Fl. des Serres, t. 1083; 

 Reich. Ic. Fl. Germ. tab. 348. — Rootstock of 2-4 cylindrical digitate 

 tubers an inch long. Stem 1 -headed, a foot or more long. Produced 

 leaves 2-3, glaucous, tetrngonal, 1-2 ft. long. Spathe 1-flowered, 

 with usually only 1 large lanceolate valve ; pedicel 1-2 in. long. 



