68 THE BOOK OF THE IRIS 



length of I ft. by ^ in. broad ; the sheaths are short, 

 splitting into copious fibres. The stems are slender, 

 one-headed, | to I ft. long, with one to two leaves much 

 reduced. The spathes are one-flowered, valves green and 

 lanceolate, ij to 2 in. long; pedicles produced. The 

 perianth-tube is very short ; limb bright lilac, 2 in. 

 long ; falls obovate-cuneate with a spreading blade as 

 long as the claw ; standards oblanceolate, nearly as long 

 as the falls. The style arms are an inch long with 

 narrow obtuse crests. The capsule is obtusely trigon- 

 ous, an inch long. It is native of Fort Vancouver, British 

 Columbia, and Oregon. 



Mr Perry writes me that this Iris does well planted in 

 sandy peat, the top covered with splagnum kept very 

 moist, and partially shaded. 



10. I. ensata, Thunb. Trans. Linn. Soc., ii. 328; 

 Regel, Gartenflora, t. loll. /. biglumis, Vahl ; Sweet, 

 Brit. FL Garden, ser. ii. t. 187; / oxypetala, Bunge ; 

 /. fragrans, Lindl. Bot. Reg*, xxvi. t. I ; I. longispatha, 

 Fisch. Bot. Mag., t. 2528. This well-known plant is not 

 one of great merit, but is often found in collections. The 

 rhizome is stout and the leaves split up into fibres. The 

 leaves are rigid, glaucescent and strongly veined, I to l| 

 ft. long, | to J in. broad. Stem I ft. Jong, one-headed. 

 The spathes are 3 to 4 in. long, one to three flowered ; 

 valves lanceolate, green. The pedicles are long ; perianth- 

 tube scarcely any ; limb lilac, about 2 in. long ; falls with 

 an oblong or obovate blade \ to f in. broad, rather 

 shorter than the haft ; standards as long, oblanceolate, 

 \ in. broad. The style branches are an inch long with 

 large deltoid crests. The capsule is ij to 2 in. long, 

 six ribbed, narrowed to a distinct beak. Native of 

 temperate Asia, from Japan, the Western Himalayas, 

 and the Caucasus. The culture is easy on bed or 

 border. /. Smithii from Kew in 1 88 1 is but a slight 

 form of this. /. pabularia is a name under which some- 



