ii 4 THE BOOK OF THE IRIS 



reticulate blotched veins of dark purple colour on a 

 creamy-white ground, very little of which is visible ; the 

 beard is straggling, of scattered long dark purple hairs, and 

 in front of these the netted veins are fused into a distinct 

 "signal." The standards are almost orbicular with 

 ground work nearly white, marked with thin dark purple 

 veins, most conspicuous near the margin, interspersed all 

 over with dark purple dots ; about a dozen dark purple, 

 almost black, long hairs are scattered over the claw. 

 The style-arms are horizontal, broad, dark purple, 

 almost black, with large quadrate crenated crests, marked 

 with branching blotched purple veins on a yellow ground. 

 A variety supposed to be finer than the type has been 

 distributed during the last year or two under the name 

 magnifica. 



65. I. Bismarkiana, Hort; Dammann, Wein Gartenzeit, 

 -892, 355, fig- 72. This is a little known plant from 

 the Lebanon introduced by Messrs Dammann & Co., the 

 well-known enterprising nurserymen of San Giovanni a 

 Teduccio, near Naples. Mr Baker says of it as follows: 

 Habit of /. susiana ; leaves ensiform, glaucous-green, 8 in. 

 long. Stem above a foot long. Flowers as large as in 

 susiana, falls orbicular, ash grey with darker veins and a 

 dark spot at the base, standards sky-blue with blackish 

 veins. 



It is believed by Sir Michael Foster that a plant 

 which seems fairly common in Palestine, called by him 

 /. Sari var. nazarena (Garden, Feb. 18, 1893, P- T 33)> * s 

 the same as this. Mr Baker's description may therefore 

 be extended by drawing on Sir Michael's as follows : 

 Rhizome creeping to a marked extent sending out long 

 thin stolon-like shoots many inches in length. Falls 

 obovate with blade convex from side to side, ground 

 straw-colour, marked with an irregular network of dark 

 reddish purple, brown veins, formed of rows of spots or 

 blotches running into each other ; in front of the end of 



