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carried from Bordeaux to Bristol, and so to Holland ; hence the 

 name. I need not dwell at length on the characters of these two 

 forms, so well known to all. 



The differences between the two are many and striking. The 

 foliage in the English Iris is much broader than in the Spanish 

 Iris, and while the latter often " spears," and with me always 

 does so, in late autumn, the shoot appearing as an awl-like 

 spike, the latter does not spear until spring, and the shoot 

 on its first appearance has more the form of a nipple. The 

 parts of the flower of the Spanish Iris are narrow, rigid, formal, 

 the fall is extended more or less horizontally, and the style lies 

 close down upon the fall, so that the tunnel leading to the 

 nectar is very complete ; by reason of these features the flower 

 has a striking resemblance to that of the " spuria " group of 

 rhizomatous Irises. The parts of the English Iris are much 

 larger and broader, especially the blade of the fall, are lax, 

 with a more graceful sweep, and the edge of the fall is gene- 

 rally very wavy ; the style is often raised high above the fall, so 

 that the tunnel is a very open one. The colour of the Spanish 

 Iris, taking in all its varieties, is limited to blue, blue-purple, 

 yellow, and white, with a variable admixture of brown, a dis- 

 tinctly red-purple or red never occurring. The colour of the 

 English Iris is limited to blue, to purple of all tints from a nearly 

 pure blue to a nearly pure red, and to white, yellow being con- 

 spicuous by its absence. The bulb of the English Iris is larger 

 than that of the Spanish, and the outer coats are apt to fray out 

 into fibres, especially in their upper parts, so that the bulb becomes 

 shaggy ; the coats of the Spanish Iris are always much smoother. 

 The ripe capsule of the Spanish Iris is long and narrow, generally 

 more or less club-shaped, broader above than below, and the three 

 sides are deeply grooved ; the sides of the young ovary already 

 possess these grooves. The ripe capsule of the English Iris 

 is larger, broader, pointed above and below, more distinctly 

 triangular, with flat even sides. Lastly, while the seeds of the 

 Spanish Iris are small, and cubical or wedge-shaped, those of 

 the English Iris are larger, and oval or pyriform ; they are, 

 moreover, less numerous in the pod, and, as old Parkinson 

 observes, " rattle in the dry husk." 



The wild forms of the English Iris, I. xiphioides, which have 

 come into my hands have always been of a deep rich blue, and, 



