io8 THE BOOK OF THE IRIS 



the progeny being more or less intermediate between the 

 parents ; paradoxa X iberica very handsome and more 

 robust than either of the parents, the falls strikingly 

 intermediate ; iberica X paradoxa ; /. lupina X iberica ; /. 

 iberica X lupina; Chamaeiris X iberica, the flower pleasing 

 in the boldness of the veining and richness of the purple 

 colour ; /. italica X iberica, similar to the preceding ; 

 and balkana x iberica, charming flower with rich yellow fall 

 heavily veined with purple, the standard light purple. 

 The crosses with Chamaeiris and italica are not vigorous, 

 but need no special culture. 



56. I. lupina, Foster in Gard. Chron., 1887, i. 738; 

 Garden, Feb. 18, 1893, r - ^97 > ^ot. Mag., 1903, t. 

 7904, " Wolf's Ear." A very distinct Iris, in some re- 

 spects intermediate between /. susiana and /. iberica. 

 The rhizome is short and compact. The leaves though 

 variable resemble those of /. iberica ; they are light green, 

 slightly glaucous, from 3 in. to I ft. in length and are 

 about \ in. wide, very falcate when very short. The 

 stem varies from I or 2 in. to 6 in. in length ; the spathe 

 is 3 to 3! in. long, the valves lanceolate, ventricose, per- 

 sistent and pale green ; the pedicel short. The perianth- 

 tube is cylindrical, 2 in. long \ limb 3 in. long ; the falls 

 obovate-cuneate, described otherwise as lance-shaped, 

 narrowing to a blunt but still pointed tip, ij in. broad; 

 of a peculiar sombre colour brought about by irregular 

 brownish veins on a yellow or greenish-yellow ground, 

 the red of the veins often merging into purple. The 

 more or less triangular " signal " patch is of dark almost 

 black purple ; the beard is of yellow hairs sometimes 

 tipped with purple. The standards are oval, not orbi- 

 cular, darker than the falls in colour, 1 and the claw is 



1 This is not in accordance with figure in the Botanical Magazine 

 quoted above. A hybrid has been named between this and paradoxa. 

 Messrs Barr & Sons offer a var. Shadach, described as robust, 15 in. 

 high with flowers varying in shades of bronzy-yellow and brown, and 

 bronzy-purple and sulphur. 



