64 THE BOOK OF THE IRIS 



from J to in. broad. The style arms are narrow, and 

 the crests deltoid. Colour, bright lilac. Does well 

 on an ordinary border or bed. Is native of the Caucasus 

 and Georgia, and thence to Hungary and Transylvania. 



4. I. ruthenica, Dryand. Bot. Mag., t. 1123 and 

 T 393' This is the last of the so-called stemless species 

 known to be in cultivation. A short stem may develop, 

 but in the Cambridge Botanic Garden, where there is 

 a good mass, the stemless character is preserved. The 

 rhizomes are slender ; sheaths short, splitting into fibres ; 

 leaves thin, 3 to 12 in. long at flowering time, to \ in. 

 broad. The perianth-tube is twice as long at the ovary ; 

 limb lilac, l to I \ in. long ; falls with an oblong blade \ 

 in. broad, rather shorter than the haft ; standards as long, 

 oblanceolate, \ in. broad. The style branches are an 

 inch long and crests deltoid. The variety uniflora (/. 

 untflora of Pallas) has rather broader leaves and the 

 perianth tube is very short. Native of North China, 

 Mongolia, and Manchuria, through Siberia and Central 

 Asia to Transylvania. This does perfectly well on the 

 open bed, but does not flower apparently unless the 

 position is sufficiently dry and sunny. In the Cam- 

 bridge Botanic Garden it flowers every year. It is a 

 pleasing plant and worth growing. The flowers have 

 the perfume of violets. An illustration will be found 

 in The Garden, Sept. 5, 1896, p. 187. 



5. I. macrosiphon, Torrey. Bot. Whipple 144. 

 (N.B. The Iris illustrated under this name in The 

 Garden, August 14, 1897, is /. Purdyi according to Mr 

 Purdy himself.) This and the next, with stems 3 to 6 

 in. long, are Californian, the present differing from the 

 next by its lilac flowers. The leaves are a foot long 

 and | in. broad, firm in texture, greenish and finely 

 ribbed. The stem is slender and one-headed ; bract- 

 leaves large and linear ; spotless one to two flowered ; 

 outer valves lanceolate, green, 2 to 3 in. long. The 



