66 THE BOOK OF THE IRIS 



top, ij or 2 ft. long. The stem is much shorter 

 than the leaves, unbranched and with one or two 

 erect sheathing leaves. The spathe-valves are linear, 

 green, and 3 to 4 in. Jong. The ovary, like the 

 pedicel, is about an inch long, and is cylindrical and 

 rostrate. The tube is very short ; falls oblanceolate, 

 oblong, 3 in. long, furnished with an orange keel, haft 

 veined below the middle with lilac brown ; standards 

 rather shorter than the falls, erect, pale yellow, oblanceo- 

 late. The crests are lanceolate and pale yellow. This 

 plant has grown and flowered for several years without 

 difficulty in the Cambridge Botanic Garden, where it 

 has been planted on a narrow south border, with a wall 

 at the back. The leaves grow up strongly in November 

 and have not been injured, though a very cold winter has 

 not yet been experienced by the plant. It is a native of 

 the West of Palestine. Collectors of the genus are alone 

 likely to think much of this Iris. 



A new ally of /. Grant-Duffii is I. Aschersoni, 

 described as an interesting species from Cilicia, being 

 collected near Adana, with yellow flowers, tinged with 

 green, veined and blotched with purple. It grows l^ ft. 

 high, and is very free flowering. It is effectively illus- 

 trated in the Garden of May 3, 1902, p. 288, and Sir 

 Michael Foster, who writes an accompanying note, says 

 that /. Grant-Duffii is very remarkable for the way in 

 which each bud, shooting off from a woody root-stock, 

 becomes wrapped round with coats, the bases of old 

 leaves, composed of stiff bristles, so that the dormant 

 bud has in autumn the aspect of a bud with bristling 

 coats ; and then, that /. Aschersoni has much the same 

 features except that the coats are netted and flexible ; in 

 /. Grant-Duffii the bristles are so stiff and stout that they 

 readily pierce the finger. The leaves of /. Aschesroni 

 are much narrower than those of /. Grant-Duffii, almost 

 linear. Sir Michael Foster observes that there are, 



