1 42 THE BOOK OF THE IRIS 



rhizome is stout, the leaves ensifbrm, glaucous, 12 to 

 15 in. long at flowering time, about an inch broad. 

 The stem is three or four headed, 2 to 3 ft. long ; the 

 spathes two or three flowered, valves oblong, sub- 

 scariose, imbricated, not more than I to l| in. long ; the 

 pedicels very short. The perianth-tube is under an 

 inch long ; limb bright yellow, i\ in. long ; falls obo- 

 vate-cuneate above an inch broad, the beard deeper 

 yellow ; standards obovate, rather broader than the falls, 

 pale yellow ; style-branches above an inch long, crests 

 deltoid. A native of Bosnia, the Caucasus, and Armenia. 

 Flowers in May and June. Is very easily cultivated. In 

 the Kew List of Herbaceous Plants is a variety leucantha. 



95. I. squalens, Linn. ; Bot. Mag., t. 787 , Reich, Ic. 

 Germ., t. 336, fig. 763. Many of the common so-called 

 German Irises belong to this species. It has a stout 

 rhizome. The leaves are ensiform, glaucous, I to ij ft. 

 long, I to ij in. broad. The stems are 2 to 3 ft. long, 

 three or four headed ; spathes two or three flowered, l| 

 to 2 in. long, valves oblong subscariose ; pedicels short. 

 The perianth-tube is under an inch long ; limb 2 J to 3 

 in. long ; falls obovate-cuneate, the upper part bright 

 lilac-purple, claw veined with lilac-purple on a whitish 

 or yellowish ground ; beard bright yellow ; standards 

 obovate, as long and as broad as the falls, of plain dull 

 lilac and yellow or brownish and yellow ; style branches 

 above an inch long ; the crests deltoid. Is native of 

 Central Europe to the Caucasus and North Persia. 



I have not the plant in flower and the above details 

 are from Baker's description. Klatt describes the falls 

 as lined with white and yellow to the top, and in the 

 Botanical Magazine they have no self-coloured area. The 

 standards in this work are of bluish-yellow colour, but in 

 Redoute they are yellow. The crests are represented 

 as ovate-lanceolate and toothed. /. squalens has a slight 

 scent of elder. 



