236 



Variegated Iris; 7- I- Germanica, German Iris; 8. I. sambuciiia, El- 

 der-scented Iris; 9- I- squalens, Brown-flowered Iris; 10. I. cristata, 

 Cresledlris; 11. I. tricuspis, Trifid-petalled Iris; 12. J. Xiphium, 

 Bulbous-rooted Iris; 13. I. Pseudacorus, Common Yellow or Water 

 Iris; 14. Lfaetidissima, Stinking Iris; 15. I. Virginica, Virginian Iris; 

 16. I. versicolor, Various-coloured Iris ; .17- /. ochroletica, Pale-yellow 

 Iris; 18. /. verna, Spring Iris; 19- I- Persica, Persian Iris; 20. /. gra- 

 minca, Grass-leaved Iris; 21. /. spuria, Spurious Iris; 22. /. Sibirica, 

 Siberian Iris; 23. /. Martinicemis, Martinico Iris; 24. /. Pavonia, 

 Peacock Iris; 25. /. tuberosa, Snake's-head Iris. 



The first has the root brownish on the outside, white within, 

 knobbed, with pale fibrils: the leaves acute, sometimes shorter, some- 

 times longer than the flower: the stem or scape very short, ofien 

 scarcely an inch in length: germ oblong, bluntly and obscurely three- 

 cornered, an inch long, enclosed within two spathes, ending in the 

 tube of the corolla, which is slender, and from two to three inches 

 in length: all the petals are almost entire, blue or purple, varying 

 much in colour, insomuch that the same flower changes, and from 

 blue becomes more and more red: outer beards blue, inner white, 

 with yellow tips. It is a native of Austria, flowering in April. 



There are varieties with white flowers, with straw-coloured flow- 

 ers, with pale blue flowers, with blush-coloured flowers, with yellow 

 variable flowers, with blue variable flowers. 



The second species has the scape simple, round, grooved, a span 

 high: the leaves alternate, sheathing, upright, very finely striated, 

 obscurely waved: the corolla the largest of all the species, very thin: 

 the claws of the larger petals purple on the outside, dotted and 

 streaked with purple within; border suborbiculate, waved, bent in at 

 top, upright: border of the smaller petals ovate, bent down, with 

 the edge frequently bent back, blunt, of the same colour with the 

 larger ones, but shorter and narrower; the claws bearded within 

 from the flexure to the base with brownish-yellow cilias. It flowers 

 at the end of May or beginning of June, and is a native of the 

 Levant. 



The third has the scape round, striated, simple, upright, a foot 



