descended. This is Iris Sisyrinchium (figs. 1 and 2), which may 

 be traced from Spain, Portugal, and Morocco on the extreme west 

 of Europe, through Algiers, Sicily, Corsica, South Italy, Greece, 

 Egypt, Palestine, Asia Minor, Persia, and Beloochistan to 

 Afghanistan and the Punjaub in the east. 



The bulb, small and globose that is to say, a flattened sphere 

 may be readily recognised by its shaggy coats, several of which 



may be peeled off from 

 an old bulb. Hence the 

 name ; for the Greek word 

 sisyra (fftarvpa) means a 

 shaggy goat skin. From 

 between two very narrow 

 channelled curving leaves 

 springs a slender stem, 

 half a foot or a foot, or 

 even more in height ; 

 this bears at its summit, 

 and sometimes on late- 

 rals, a tuft of small, 

 purple, but variously 

 marked, often fragrant 

 flowers. Each flower is 

 very fugitive ; it does not 

 last even a day. Open- 

 ing in the late forenoon, 

 it closes and withers in 

 the afternoon, so that the 

 owner who is away all 

 day never sees it ; but, 

 to atone for Aiis, many 

 blooms open in succes- 

 sion. It varies much in stature, and in the colour and marking 

 of the flowers. One of the most distinct varieties is the Iris 

 maricoides of Regel, which I feel unable to sever from the rest 

 as a true species. Another is the I. monophylla of Boissier and 

 Heldreich, which has one leaf only, frequently one flower only, 

 and a stem a few inches high. Considering, however, the wide 

 geographical distribution of the species, it is to be wondered that 

 it does not vary more. 



FIG. 1. IRIS SISYRINCHIUM (reduced 

 one-fourth). 



