(IRIS FAMILY.) 51.') 



roughened perianth ; the dehiscence, seeds, etc., nearly as in Lophiola. Pe- 

 rennial and smooth stemless herbs, very bitter, with fibrous roots, and a spread- 

 ing cluster of thin and flat lanceolate leaves; the small flowers in a wand-like 

 spiked raceme, terminating a naked slender scape (2-3 high). Bracts awl- 

 shaped, minute. ('A\erp(s, a female slave who grinds corn ; the name applied 

 to these plants in allusion to the apparent mealiness dusted over the blossoms.) 



1. A. farindsa, L. Flowers oblong-tubular, white; lobes lanceolate- 

 oblong. Grassy or sandy woods, Mass, to Fla., 111., and Minn. July, Aug. 



2. A. aiirea, Walt. Flowers bell-shaped, yellow (fewer and shorter) ; 

 lobes short-ovate. Barrens, N. J. to Fla. July. 



ORDER 113. IRIDACE^E. (!RIS FAMILY.) 



Herbs, with equitaut '2-ranked leaves, and regular or irregular perfect 

 flowers ; the divisions of the G-cleft petal-like perianth convolute in the bud 

 in 2 sets, the tube coherent with the 3-celled ovary, and 3 distinct or mona- 

 delphous stamens, alternate with the inner divisions of the perianth, with 

 extrorse anthers. Flowers from a spathe of 2 or more leaves or bracts, 

 usually showy. Style single, usually 3-cleft ; stigmas 3, opposite the 

 cells of the ovary, or 6 by the parting of the style-branches. Capsule 

 3-celled, loculicidal, many-seeded. Seeds anatropous ; embryo straight 

 in fleshy albumen. Rootstocks, tubers, or corras mostly acrid. 



* Branches of the style (or stigmas) opposite the anthers. 



1. Iris. Outer divisions of the perianth recurved, the inner erect ; stigmas petal-like. 



* * Branches of the style alternate with the anthers. Perianth regular. 



2. Nemastylis. Stem from a coated bulb. Filaments united. Style-branches 2-cleft. 



3. Belamcaiida. Stems from a creeping rhizome. Filaments distinct. Stigmas dilated. 



4. Sisyrinchium. Root fibrous. Filaments united. Stigmas thread-like. 



1. IRIS, Touru. FLOWER-DE-LUCE. 



Perianth 6-cleft ; the tube more or less prolonged beyond the ovary ; the 3 

 outer divisions spreading or reflexeil, the 3 inner smaller, erect. Stamens 

 distinct ; the oblong or linear anthers sheltered under the overarching petal- 

 like stigmas (or rather branches of the style, bearing the true stigma in the 

 form of a thin lip or plate under the apex) ; most of the style connate with 

 the tube of the perianth. Capsule 3 - 6-angled, coriaceous. Seeds depressed- 

 flattened, usually in 2 rows in each cell. Perennials, with sword-shaped or 

 grassy leaves, and large showy flowers ; ours with creeping and more or less 

 tuberous rootstocks. C^P' S > the rainbow, anciently applied to this genus on 

 account of its bright and varied colors.) 



* Stems leafy and rather tall (1-3 high), from thickened rootstocks, often 

 branching ; tube of the perianth shorter than the divisions, which are beardless 

 and crestless, the erect inner ones (petals) much smaller than the outer. 



H- Flowers violet-blue, variegated with green, yellow or white, and purple-veined. 



1. I. versicolor, L. (LARGER BLUE FLAG.) Stem stout, angled on 

 one side ; leaves sword-shaped (f wide) ; ovary obtusely triangular with the 

 sides flat ; flowers (2 - 3' long) short-peduncled, the funnel-form tube shorter 



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