40 



greenish-blue veins and dots. It does not possess very striking 

 beauty, and yet is graceful ; it has the merit of being distinctly 

 fragrant, the odour reminding one of vanilla. 



Like I. caucasica, it does not usually " spear " until the winter 

 frosts are over, flowering in March or April. So far as my 

 brief experience goes, it may be considered hardy, and appears 

 to need much the same treatment as I. caucasica. 



Very closely allied to the above, differing chiefly in that it 

 bears several (eight or ten) flowers, and that these are of a 



smoky yellowish colour, is the 

 I. fumosa growing in North 

 Syria, in the neighbourhood of 

 Aleppo and elsewhere. I can 

 say little about this, since I have 

 not yet flowered it, but imagine 

 that it is of no great value from 

 a gardening point of view. 



As in the west /. caucasica 

 and I.persica give way in Pales- 

 tine to I. Pales tina, so in the 

 east, in South Persia, Beloochi- 

 stan, and Afghanistan, they are 

 replaced by other Juno Irises, 

 more especially by I. Stocksii, 

 which in several respects seems 

 analogous to I. Pales tina, but on 

 which, since it is both difficult 

 of cultivation and not strikingly 

 handsome, I need not dwell. Nor 

 need I detain you with the details of I. drepanophylla, growing in 

 Afghanistan, or of I. Aitchisoni, growing in the Punjauft, though 

 the yellow form (var. chrysantha) of the latter, should it prove 

 amenable to cultivation in this country, since it appears to be a 

 handsome plant, would be a useful addition to our gardens. It 

 has a botanical interest in being the last straggler of the Juno 

 group of Irises to the south-east. Probably, however, between 

 this on the east and I. sindjarensis on the west, in the zone 

 of South Persia and Beloochistan, there are other, as yet unknown, 

 Juno Irises besides the I. Stocksii which we know ; and, indeed, 

 it is possible that /. Stocksii itself, which has hitherto been 



FIG. 24. IRIS SINDJARENSIS 

 (reduced one half). 



