1 36 THE BOOK OF THE IRIS 



Flowers dark violet, valves 



tinged with purple ; beard 



yellow white ; haft of falls 



veined with brown violet ; 



capsule cylindrical. Flowers 



in April and May . . 92. I. BENACENCIS 

 Flowers dark violet, outer 



valves only green ; beard 



yellow $ haft of falls veined 



with brown ; capsule trig- 

 onous . . . . 93. I. KOCHI 



88. I. Cengialti, Ambrosi, Fl. Tyrol., i. 643 ; Foster 

 in Gard. Chron., 1 886, May I, p. 554. A very charming 

 Iris, an ally of /. pallida, but dwarf, with deep sky blue 

 flowers, flushed with purple ; the falls long, and, I 

 think, prettily swayed by slight breezes. The rhizome 

 is stout and short creeping. The leaves are ensiform, 

 yellowish green, glaucous, \ ft. long or more at flowering 

 time, and \ in. broad, completely dying down during 

 winter. The stems rather exceed the leaves, and are 

 one to three headed ; the spathes two-flowered, about 

 an inch long, scariose while the flowers are still in bud ; 

 pedicels obsolete or very short. The perianth-tube is 

 \ to \ in. long, limb 2 in. long ; falls obovate-cuneate, 

 I to \\ in. broad; beard thick with stunted orange- 

 tipped hairs ; standards as long and as broad ; style 

 branches an inch long, of blue, like the falls and 

 standards, but paler ; crests deltoid, denticulate. 

 Gathered on Monte Cengialto. 



Var. Loppio, Foster in Gard. Chron., 1 886, May I, 

 p. 554. This variety was gathered by Sir Michael 

 Foster on the northern slopes of Monte Baldo, over- 

 looking the lake of Loppio. It is quite distinct from 

 the above, and, though good, has not the same choice 

 appearance. In the Cambridge Botanic Garden the 



