PLATE XXX. 



1. IRIS GERMANICA. 



GERMAN IRIS. 



2. IRIS VERSICOLOR. 



VARIOUS-COLOURED IRIS. 



3. IRIS VARIEGATA. 



VARIEGATED IRIS. 



THIS genus contains plants of the fibrous, tuberous, and bulbous- 

 rooted flowery herbaceous perennial kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Triandria Monogynia, and ranks 

 in the natural order of Ensatce. 



The characters are: that the calyx has bivalve spathes, separating 

 the flowers, permanent: the corolla six-parted: petals oblong, ob- 

 tuse; the three exterior ones reflex, the three interior upright and 

 sharper; all connected at the claws into a tube, of different lengths 

 in the different species: the stamina have three awl-shaped filaments, 

 incumbent on the reflex petals: anthers oblong, straight, depressed: 

 the pistillum is an inferior oblong germ: style simple, very short: 

 stigmas three, petal-form, oblong, carinated within, furrowed with- 

 out, incumbent on the stamens, two-lipped : outer lip smaller, emar- 

 ginate: inner larger, bifid, subinflected: the pericarpium is an ob- 

 long, cornered capsule, three-celled, three-valved : the seeds several 

 and large. 



The species cultivated are: 1. J. pumila, Dwarf Iris ; 2. I. su- 

 siana, Chalcedonian Iris; 3. I. Florentia, Florentine Iris; 4. 1. biftora, 

 Twice-flowering Iris; 5. I. aphylla, Leafless Iris; 6. I.variegata, 



