59 



is not marked with veins except on the claw, and occasionally on the 

 blade of the fall. 



Time. February ; succeeds Histrio, and precedes var. Krelagei. 



Hab. Asia Minor, nearKharput, and near Mardin. 



I. RETICULATA var. HUMILIS (lowly). 



Charact. Flower appearing while the leaves are a few inches 

 in height. Tube rarely longer than the green spathe-valves, the flower 

 being about two inches high, and more compact than in the other 

 forms. The narrow claw passes, with a 

 slight constriction, into the much broader, 

 ovate-lanceolate blade. The blade of the 

 fall bears a bright orange low ridge, con- 

 tinued along the claw as an orange or yellow 

 streak. Around the ridge on the blade and 

 the streak on the claw is a zone of opaque 

 ereamy- white broken up by dots, and by 

 broken veins of dark purple. The rest of 

 the blade is of a full, rich, red-purple colour, 

 on which the veins are hardly visible, con- 

 trasting strongly with the creamy-white zone ; 

 at the margin of the claw the veins fuse into 

 a like rich red-purple ground colour. The 

 flower in some respects resembles that of 

 I. Bakeriana. 



The variety cultivated under the name I. reticulata var. cyanea 

 agrees with the above, save that the colour is a rich cyanic blue and 

 the dots give place to veins ; of this again a pale blue form exists. 



Time. March, between var. sophenensis and var. Krelagei. 



Hab. Asia Minor, near Van. 



I. RETICULATA var. HISTRIOIDES. (Like Histrio.) 



Fig. Garden, vol. xlii. (1892), p. 364. 



Charact. The flower appears before the leaves, which are even- 

 tually stouter and longer than in any other form of reticulata. Flower 

 larger, four or even five inches across, with a tube variable in length, but 

 always longer than the spathe-valves, which are short,' broad, blunt, and 

 colourless, or nearly so, being marked by a few green veins. Claw 

 of fall not strap-shaped, but triangular, gradually expanding, a 

 slight constriction, however, marking the transition, into a broad ovate 

 blade as long as or even longer than itself. The falls spread hori- 

 zontally, so that the whole flower is less funnel-shaped than is the 

 type. Style triangular, short, with large, more or less quadrangular 

 crests. The narrow orange median ridge on the blade is continued 

 along the claw as a ridge, with an uneven tuberculate surface. The 

 prevailing colour is a bright blue, assuming in some specimens a light 



FIG. 36. IRIS BETICULATA 

 var. HUMILIS. 



