1 68 THE BOOK OF THE IRIS 



iipE, I. reticulata var. sophenensis, Foster, Gard. 

 Chron., 1885, i. 470; and in Bulbous Irises, p. 58, fig. 35. 

 This variety was introduced by Sir Michael Foster 

 some years ago through the kindness of Mrs Barnum of 

 Kharput. It is characterised, he says, by the narrowness 

 of the segments and the metallic sheen of the coloration, 

 as well as by the fact that the flowers expand as soon as, 

 or even before, the leaves pierce the soil. It occurs in 

 several shades of colour, from red-purple to a lightish 

 blue. The tube is variable in length, but always longer 

 than the spathe-valves ; the narrow claw of the fall 

 expands into a blade, which is only half as long as itself, 

 but nearly as broad again. The orange ridge of the 

 blade is continued as a yellow, uneven ridge along the 

 whole length of claw. The whole flower is more 

 spreading and less funnel-shaped than in the type ; it 

 is marked with veins only on the claw, and sometimes 

 on the blade of fall. Flowers in February after Histrio 

 and before Krelagei. It is fairly abundant in Central 

 Asia Minor. 



upp. I. reticulata var. histrioides, Foster in 

 Bulbous Irises, p. 9, fig. 7 ; pp. 59, 60, fig. 37 ; Garden, 

 vol. xlii. (1892), p. 42 (drawing by Miss Agnes Barr). 

 This is intermediate between the type and the var. 

 Histrio, which it resembles in coloration, being marked 

 in the same way with bright blue spots and blotches, and 

 therefore called histrioides. It differs in the exact tint of 

 colour and in form, especially also in the fact that it 

 expands while the leaves are hardly above ground. The 

 flowers are very beautiful, often larger than those of 

 any other variety of this species, and measure four or 

 even five inches across ; the tube is variable in length, 

 but always longer than the spathe-valves, which are 

 short, broad, colourless, or nearly so, and marked by 

 few green veins. The claw of fall gradually widens 

 to the roundish blade, at the commencement of which, 



