ONCOCYCLUS 113 



4 in. across, while the standards are no less than 5 in. 

 across. The prevailing colour, Sir Michael Foster says, 

 when the flower is seen at a distance, is a soft delicate 

 grey brought about by very thin clear veins and minute 

 dots or points of purple on a creamy white ground ; the 

 dots being prominent on the fall, and the veins on the 

 standard. The spathes are 4 in. or more long, the falls 

 orbicular reflexed. The hairs of the beard are grey or 

 brownish, flecked with dark purple. It bifurcates in 

 front embracing a purple patch of no great size or con- 

 spicuousness, produced by the aggregation of purple 

 dots. The standards are ascending, nearly orbicular, and 

 when fully expanded are concave inwards both from 

 side to side and from top to bottom. The style-arms of 

 yellowish ground colour, sprinkled with purple dots ; 

 the crests quadrate with finely serrated edges. A native 

 of Armenia. 



In the Garden of July 3 1, 1897, there is an illustration 

 of a bed in Mr Van Tubergen's Nursery. There 

 were 400 flowers out, as the result of three seasons 

 cultivation, suggesting that the " taking-up " method of 

 culture is sometimes very successful, especially under 

 the circumstance of Dutch nursery soil. 



64. I. SOfarana, Foster in Gard. Chron., Nov. 25, 

 1899, P- 3^9, fig. 125 ; Garden, Dec. 16, 1899, P- 4^- 

 The author of the name, from whose description the 

 following points are taken, says that this is a handsome 

 Iris, well worth cultivating. It comes nearest to /. Sari 

 It was collected for Messrs Van Tubergen on the 

 Lebanon, at a considerable altitude, near Ain Sofar 

 The rhizome is large and compact, and the leaves re- 

 latively broad, lo in. long by nearly an inch, so broad as 

 to suggest an ordinary bearded Iris. The stem is about 

 lo in. high and the spathe-valves are very long and 

 narrow. The falls are nearly elliptical, of dark purple 

 almost black colour brought about by very thick set 



