IRIS 



THE BULB BOOK 



IKIS 



narrow leaves 6 to 9 ins. long. 

 Flowers in May ; with dark lilac falls, 

 mottled with paler lilac and having 

 a white and yellow beard ; standards 

 paler in colour. (Bot. Mag. t. 6957.) 

 The variety caulescens has stems 

 about 6 ins. high and mauve-lilac 

 standards, and deep purple-lilac falls 

 with deeper coloured mottlings. 



FIG. 204. Iris Korolko 



I. lacustris. A free-growing North 

 American Iris, with creeping root- 

 stocks and charming sky-blue flowers 

 with a yellow crest produced in early 

 spring, and often again in autumn. 



I. laevigata (/. Kcempferi), Jap- 

 anese Iris. This remarkable species, 

 native of Siberia and Japan, has 

 the largest flowers in the genus, 

 and is better known under the name 

 of /. Koempferi. It grows about 2 

 ft. high, and has pale green, weakish, 

 sword -shaped leaves. The blooms, 

 which appear in June and July, are 

 very variable in size and colour, 

 sometimes measuring 8 to 10 ins. 



In the wild type the large 

 roundish falls are violet-blue, with 

 a bright yellow blotch at the base, 

 and the much smaller oblong-obovate 

 standards are usually of a much 

 paler blue. There are, however, a 

 great number of varieties with pure 



305 



Fio. 205. Iris Icevigata. (}.) 



white, lilac, magenta, purple, and 

 other shades of colour, all more or 

 less constant in the yellow blotch 

 at the base of the falls. There are 

 varieties in which the colour becomes 

 streaked or blotched ; and also double- 

 flowered forms. (Bot. Mag. t. 6132.) 

 /. Icevigata and its varieties 

 flourish in a moist, peaty loam, and 

 in warm, sunny, or not too shady 

 positions by the banks of streams, 

 lakes, ponds, etc. The plants may 

 be increased by careful division of 

 the root-stocks in autumn. Seeds 

 may also be saved and sown in early 

 spring, in pots or pans in cold frames. 

 Every spring a large number of root- 



