17 



I. Winkleri, also from Turkestan, described by Regel, I have 

 never seen ; though allied to the above, it appears to diverge 

 still more from the Eeticulata group, for the coats are mem- 

 branous, not netted. 



The Xiphium Group. 



We must now pass to another group of bulbous Irises, which 

 is as markedly western and European in geographical distribution 

 as the Eeticulata group is eastern and Asian, and which we may 



FIG. 13. IRIS XIPHIUM, or SPANISH IBIS. (From the Garden.) 



regard as a development in a direction different from that of the 

 Eeticulata group from a common ancestor, now represented, as 1 

 have suggested, by J. Sisyrinchium, found alike in Europe and in 

 Asia. This group I will venture to call, after its best known member, 

 the Xiphium group, in spite of the allied term " Xiphion " being 

 applied, unfortunately, I think, to the entire bulbous division of 

 Irises. Naturally enough, several members of this group have 



B 2 



