79 



J. caucasica var. oculata of Maximowicz (op. tit.) and Regel 

 (op. tit.), with yellow flowers, the fall being marked with blue blotches, 

 is probably a variety of this. 



I. caucasica var. linifolia, Regel (op. tit), with yellow flowers and 

 linear leaves only 3 mm. broad, is also probably a variety of this. 



Hab. Both the type and the above varieties are found in 

 Western Turkestan and in Bokhara. 



NOTE. Having cultivated plants kindly sent to me by the late Dr. 

 v. Regel as J. caucasica c&rulea, I can speak with certainty as to these 

 having the characters of /. orchioides ; but not having grown the var. 

 oculata or linifolia, I cannot be sure whether these hold a like position 

 or no. Maximowicz seems (op. tit.) to state that even the type may 

 vary in colour and have a var. cxndea (this I have never seen) ; he 

 also insists that all the characters attributed to the several forms are 

 so mingled in different plants that all must be regarded as belonging 

 to one species. 



20. I. PALESTINA. Baker, Journ, of Bot. 1871, p. 108, as 

 Xiphion Palsestinum. (From Palestine, habitat.) 



Lit. Boiss. Fl. Orient, v. p. 122. 



Charact. Bulb small. Leaves four, six, or eight, in a distichous 

 tuft, smaller and narrower than in J. 

 caucasica, striated on the outside, with a 

 finely toothed, horny margin, less con- 

 spicuous than in J. caucasica. Flowers 

 one to three, apparently sessile that is 

 to say, borne on a short stem, wholly 

 hidden among the leaves. Flower 1 to 

 2 inches across, like that of I. caucasica, 

 but with a much longer tube, narrow 

 (not swollen) spathe-valves, and a nar- 

 rower blade to the fall ; the minute 

 standards are toothed, and the rectangu- 

 lar crests of the style very large and con- 

 spicuous. Colour usually greenish yellow, 

 the blade of the fall being marked with 

 green, or with blue or violet veins, the 

 amount of blue being variable and some- 

 times prominent, as in the form named 

 var. cxrulea by Post. The median ridge of the fall, which is orange 

 in front, bears behind on the claw a number of black or deep violet 

 tubercles, each carrying a tuft of short black or dark purple hairs ; 

 a few longer dark hairs are scattered over the claw ; the wings of the 

 claw are not transparent. The flower is fragrant. 



Time. December and January. 



Hab. Palestine : Mount Hebron, Mount Carmel, Valley of the 

 Jordan, Sinai Peninsula. 



FIG. 54.- I. PALESTINA. 



