102 THE BOOK OF THE IRIS 



marked with thin dark purple 

 veins and dots on nearly white 

 ground .... 64. I. SOFARANA. 

 Falls ash grey with darker veins and 

 dark spot at base, orbicular ; 

 standards sky blue with 

 blackish veins . . . 65. I. BISMARKIANA. 



49. I. paradoxa, Stev. ; Regel, Gartenflora, t. 386, 

 fig. 3 ; Garden, xxxii. 584 ; figured from Cambridge 

 Bot. Mag., t. 7081. Of distinct and desirable Irises this 

 is one of the most strange. It is grotesquely beautiful, 

 and clearly impresses itself in all hybrids made with 

 it. The rhizome is short. The leaves are linear, 3 to 

 6 in. long at flowering time, glaucous, very falcate, \ in. 

 broad. The stem is 2 to 6 in. or more in length ; spathe 

 2 to 3 in. long ; valves green, membranous, and lanceo- 

 late ; pedicel very short. The perianth-tube is cylin- 

 drical, under an inch long ; falls tongue-shaped, dark 

 brown in the type, I to ij in. long, with a very small 

 dark purple orbicular blade | in. broad, and a claw with 

 dense velvety beard, and ground colour of crimson or 

 deep pink. The standards are erect, white in the 

 type, l| to 2 in. broad, 2 to 3 in. long, orbicular with 

 short claw ; style branches an inch long, with small 

 deltoid crests. This species, by its comparatively 

 small and tongue-shaped falls, is always unmistakable. 

 It is a native of Persia, Georgia, and the Caucasus. 

 There are several varieties. 



Standards dark violet ; falls tinged with var. violacea, 

 violet. Baker. 



Standards white, distinctly and deli- 

 cately veined with lilac violet. 

 (Figured in Garden, April 6th, 

 1901, p. 248, and in Gard. Chron., 

 Feb. 1 6th, 1901, p. 104.) var. choschab. 



