124 



THE AQUAEIUM, JULY, 1894. 



especially in early spring ; and, also, to 

 induce new buds or shoots to break out 

 at the side of the old rhizome, and form 

 a large clump or cluster, but which, in 

 time, separates into distinct plants. 

 These, like the stock of a hardy shrub, 

 remain dormant through the winter, 

 or, in the language of botany, are per- 

 ennial, and are usually seen in short, 

 knotty sections, representing its period 

 of growth. 



The leaves of the Iris are very 

 little understood, except by botanists, 

 for in place of one surface facing up 

 (towards the sky) and the other down 

 (towards the ground) as is usual, or one 

 surface facing the right and the other 

 the left, -as in some of the Acacias, etc. ; 

 in the Iris the leaf is linear, or sword- 

 shaped, and erect; but "each leaf is 

 formed and folded together lengthwise, 

 so that what would be the upper sur- 

 face is within, and all grown together 

 except next the bottom, where each leaf 

 covers the next younger one. It was 

 from their straddling over each other, 

 like a man on horseback, that Linna?us, 

 with his lively fancy, called these equi- 

 tant leaves." — Gray's Lessons. 



The flowers are erect, usually from a 

 spathaceous bract of two or more leaves, 

 produced, usually, singly in succession, 

 each one opening but once. They are 

 fertilized by the aid of insects. 



The L-is, although not contributing 

 directly to the support of the human 

 family, except in a limited sense, has 

 added its mite towards the comforts and 

 luxuries, usually of semi-civilized people 

 in different portions of the world. The 

 tuberous or bulbous rhizomas contain, 

 in addition to the saccharine matter, a 

 small portion of a fatty and acrid mat- 

 ter, together with a peculiar volatile oil 

 which gives them stimulating proper- 

 ties. Some species lose their acridity 



by drying or boiling, and are then used 

 as food, especially by the Hottentots, of 

 South Africa, where it is called oenkjes, 

 and has nearly the same taste as our 

 potato. In its growing state, no ani- 

 mal will eat the leaves except goats, but 

 when cut and dried like hay, cattle will 

 quite readily eat it. The roots, how- 

 ever, are quite extensively utilized in 

 different jjortions of the world. The 



Yellow Flag— (Iris pseudacorus. ) 



old and well known violet perfume, 

 ''Orris Eoot," is the product of the 

 beautiful white-flowered species, Iris 

 florentitia, which was also at one time 

 quite extensively used in flavoring or 

 toning liquors. The blue perinth of Iris 

 Germamca, crushed and mixed with 

 lime, yields the ''Iris Green" of paint- 

 ers. Finally the seed of Iris psned- 

 acorus are a well known substitute for 



