768 IRIDE^. (IIUS F^UIILY.) 



t Neither outer nor inner divisions of perifjonium learded. 

 X Stemless. Flowers lilac-imrple. 

 5 I. Cretcnsis. 



\ \ Stemmed. Capsule triquetrous. Floioers yellow. 

 G I. pseudoacorus. 



XXX Stemmed. Gapsule hexagonal. Floioers yelloioish-iohite. 



7 I. ochroleuca. 



I I Inner face of lower imrt of outer division of yerigonium hairy, hut not 



regularly learded along the median line. 



8 I. Sari, 9 Lorteti, 10 Helena?. 



I I I Inner face of loicer part of outer divisions of perigonium learded 



along the middle line. 

 11 I. pallida. 



1. I. Sisyriiicliiuiii, L. % Zamhaq. Wnseil, Khaitah. .3 to 

 .4; bulb ovate; stem slender, wavy. Leaves usually 2, longer than 

 iiowers, linear-sickle-sliaped, leathery, rounded at lacJc. Raceme 2-4- 

 flowered; spathe scariozis, inflated, acuminate; flower .03 to .04 long ; 

 ovary nearly sessile; tube of perigonium slender, longer than ovary; 

 limb blue ; outer divisions obovate-spathulate, lamina reflex^^d, yelloic- 

 or lohite-spotted at Mse, claw marked with a pubescent line: inner 

 divisions erect, lanceolate, obtuse; stigmas deeply bi-lobed — Early 

 spring — Plains, and lower mountain regions ; common even in the Tih. 



Var. HioiioplBylla, Held. Leaf one, very narrow. Stem lower. 

 Perio-onium dirty-yellowish — Southern Palestine, and southward to 

 Egypt. 



2. I. liistrio, Pwchb. 21 .15 to .2; bulb ovate, the longitudinal 

 fibres connected by oblique ones. Leaves 1-2, linear-tetragonal, grooved 

 at face, longer than flowers. Spathe 1-flowered, linear, acute; tube of 

 perigonium exserted, three to four times as long as short-pedicelled 

 ovary; limb blue; lamina of outer divisions reflexecl, oblong, some- 

 what shorter than the claw, with a golden disl and oWique veins ending 

 near the margin in. deep violet spots ; inner divisions oblanceolate, erect; 

 lobes of stigma lanceolate, the outer margin often crenate-- January to 

 March — Lower to middle mountain zones and interior plateaus. 



3. I. Palsestiiia, Baker. 2^ .2 to .3; coats of bulb membranous, 

 produced beyond the neck ; stem very short or 0, 1-3-flowered. Leaves 

 5-G, in two rows, lanceolate to lanceolate-linear, falcate-recurved, 

 acuminate, folded, margin cartilaginous, ciliate. Spathes 1-flowered, 

 lanceolate, long-tapering-cuspidate; tube of perigonium four to five 

 times as long as sessile ovary, somewhat exserted ; limb whitish-yellow 

 loith pale lilac tinge, .04 long, two-thirds as long as tube, the outer 

 divisions oblong, the tipper fourth recurved, the inner divisions small, 

 lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, deflexed; stigmas as long as outer lobes, 

 bifid near tip into oblong-triangular, acute lobes — January to April — 

 Common throughout. Flowers sweet-smelling. 



Var. cseriilca, Post. Flowers more or less deep-l^lue or purple 

 — Syrian Desert. 



