IRIS 



THE BULB BOOK 



IRIS 



Iris of the Juno group, from the 

 mountains of Palestine. It has 

 sickle-shaped pointed leaves 3 to 6 

 ins. long, and produces its pale 

 yellow flowers tinged with lilac during 

 the winter months. The variety 

 ccerulea has blue flowers. 



I. pallida. A splendid Iris of the 

 germanica type, native of the Medi- 

 terranean region, having tufts of 

 sword-shaped leaves 12 to 18 ins. 

 long. Flowers in June, on stems 2 

 to 3 ft. high, scented like orange- 

 blossom, and varying in colour from 

 bright slaty lilac to deep lilac-purple, 

 the falls having a bright yellow beard 

 towards the base, which is veined 

 with bright lilac on a white ground. 

 There are several forms of this species, 

 among the best being australis, 

 ccelestis, Cypriana, dalmatica, and 

 Queen of May. (Bot. Mag. t. 685 ; 

 Red. Lil. t. 366.) 



I. paradoxa. A singular Cushion 

 Iris from Western Persia and the 

 Caucasus, having slender, compact 

 rhizomes and few narrow, short, 

 more or less sickle-shaped leaves. 

 The name paradoxa alludes to the 

 great disproportion between the 

 small strap-shaped, stout, and almost 

 leathery fall, half an inch or less 

 wide, spreading horizontally and end- 

 ing in a rounded apex, while the 

 standard is large, roundish, and erect, 

 and delicate and flimsy in texture. 

 In the typical species the standard 

 is veined with deep violet or bluish- 

 violet, the intervening spaces being 

 of a paler tint. Over the claw of 

 the standard and along a median 

 streak the colour is creamy-white, 

 densely dotted with violet. The 

 style is brownish-yellow with lines 

 of dark purple spots. Some varieties 

 have white or red-purple standards. 

 (Bot. Mag. t. 7081.) This species 

 and /. samlucina have produced a 

 hybrid called /. paracina or /. 



parsamb (Flora and Sylva, March 

 1905). 



309 



Fio. 209. Iris paradoxa. (J.) 



I. persica (/. bulbosa persica ; 

 Xiphium persicum). A charming 

 little bulbous Iris, native of Persia 

 and the more southern parts of 

 Eastern and Central Asia Minor, 

 sometimes with ovoid bulbs as large 

 as a hen's egg, and linear lance- 

 shaped, tapering, sickle - shaped 

 leaves. Flowers in February and 

 March, 2 to 3 ins. across, violet- 

 scented, usually borne singly on the 

 scarcely visible stem. The wavy 

 falls are of a pale bluish-green or 

 whitish colour with a conspicuous 

 and beardless bright-yellow keel, in 

 front of which are blotches and spots 

 of deep almost black violet. (Bot. 

 Mag. t. 1 ; Red. Lil. t. 189.) 



The variety purpurea is almost 

 entirely of a dark reddish - purple 

 colour with an orange ridge on the 

 fall, and a deeper tint in front. 

 Other varieties are light purple, 



