134 THE BOOK OF THE IRIS 



stout ; the leaves are variable, from 6 in. to a foot long 

 and up to ij in. broad, falcate, narrowed to an acute 

 point and slightly glaucous. The stems are from 6 to 

 12 in. long, usually one-headed, but occasionally with a 

 side flower below ; valves oblong, lanceolate, 2 J to 3 in. 

 long, green, but scariose towards the top, the upper 

 sometimes spreading so as to expose the ovary. The 

 perianth-tube is greenish, an inch long ; limb 3 in. long ; 

 the falls obovate, with a bright yellow beard, the blade 

 veined with pale, inconspicuous purple below and upwards 

 stroked with the same colour ; the standards are as long, 

 but broader, narrowed to the claw ; the style arms are over 

 an inch long, f in. broad, ovate, the stigmatic lip rounded. 



I. erratica, Tod., may be recognised as a variety and 

 not identical by the leaves which cut three to the stem 

 instead of one, and by the stigmatic lip which, for a 

 portion, is straight across and not rounded as in the type. 

 The flower is of paler colour than the type, and is 

 without purple strokes on the blade of fall. It is not a 

 wild plant, but appeared as a seedling in the Palermo 

 Botanic Garden. 



Var. Statellae, Tod., Baker in Bat. Mag., t. 6894, 

 may be recognised by its pale yellow, almost white 

 colour, by its flowering rather earlier than the type, and 

 by the stigmatic lip, which is distinctly straight across. 

 The style arms further are narrower than in the type. 

 The late flowers at least are smaller than those of the 

 type, and the tube may be under an inch long. I learn 

 on very good authority that this variety, like the last, 

 appeared in the Palermo Botanic Garden as a seedling. 

 Both may be of hybrid origin. 



All these are easily grown, and particularly I recom- 

 mend the type and the var. Statellae. The three seem to 

 form a gradation. 



87. I. obtusifolia, Baker in Bot. Mag., 1900, t. 7701. 

 A number of Irises are strongly marked by a single 



