76 



I. PERSICA var. ISAACSONI. Var. nov. (After Mr. 

 Isaacson.) 



Charact. Bulb having the ordinary characters of a Juno Iris, 

 somewhat elongate, with brown outer tunics. Leaves four to a tuft, 

 each with a colourless sheath, about five inches long and a quarter inch 

 broad at flowering time, but subsequently becoming longer ; very 

 pointed ; extremely falcate, forming almost a semicircle ; extremely 

 channelled and marked, not only with a conspicuous horny margin, 

 but on the outer surface with horny ridges over the parallel veins, 

 giving it a very ribbed and, at the same time, glaucous appearance. 

 Flowers one, two, or possibly more, sessile, among the leaves, each 

 about two inches across ; very fragrant. Spathe- valves an inch or 

 more long, very pointed, not ventricose, not keeled, colourless and 

 transparent, except for a few green veins. Tube rather shorter than 

 the spathe-valves, cylindrical, marked with violet longitudinal stripes. 

 Fall having a rhomboidal claw, with conspicuous wings, which, opaque 

 at first, become membranous later ; and an ovate-lanceolate-emar- 

 ginate blade, which is sharply reflexed on the claw. The blade 

 bears at its hinder part a very low, inconspicuous yellow median ridge, 

 hardly deserving the name, continued on the claw as a yellow streak 

 marked with violet dots. The rest of the fall is a creamy white tinged 

 with green, and broken by thick violet veins, which, running parallel 

 to the median streak on the claw, form a conspicuous violet zone 

 around the ridge on the blade. Standard minute, horizontal or turning 

 downwards, lanceolate, with conspicuous teeth, creamy white with 

 greenish tinge. Style creamy white, with a greenish tinge in the 

 median region ; much narrower than the fall, somewhat expanded 

 below, with large, quadrate, toothed crests, and a somewhat serrate, 

 horizontal stigma. The three styles are united into a column at some 

 distance above the tube, conspicuous in a side view. Stamen with 

 filament longer than anther, and coarse yellow pollen. Ovary and 

 capsule not seen. 



Time. In its native home in February or March. Cultivated 

 specimens flowered in a greenhouse in October or November. 



Hab. South Persia, Tung-i-Turkan, Kotal Kamarij,^ Seenah 

 Safid, on dry open spots in debris of gypsum ; very local, not found 

 above Shiraz. 



NOTE. This Iris is obviously closely allied to I. persica, but differs 

 from the type and varieties in the following points : In the extremely 

 falcate character of the leaves and the ribbed feature due to the horny 

 ridges ; in the spathe-valves being colourless, transparent, neither 

 ventricose nor keeled ; in the lack of development of the median ridge 

 on the fall ; and in the absence of any deep patch of colour towards 

 the apex of the blade, which is so marked in the type, and is seen in 

 every variety of 1. persica so far known to me. 



I am indebted for bulbs of this plant to John Isaacson, Esq. , of the 



