768 lEIDEiK. (lllIS FAMILY.) 



t Neither outernor inner divisions of pcri'jonliim learded. 

 I Stem! ess. Flowers lilac-2mrple. 

 5 I. Cretensis. 



\ \ Stemmed. CaimiU triquetrous. Floioers yellow. 

 () I. pscudoacorus. 



tit Stemmed. Capsule hexagonal. Floioers yelloioisli'ioldte. 



7 I. ocliroleuca. 



t t Inner face of lower part of outer division of perigonium Itairy^ lut not 

 regularly learded along the median line. 



8 I. Sari, 9 Lorteti, 10 Helenas. 



1 1 1 Inner face of lower part of outer divisions of pterigonium learded 



. ' along the middle line. 



11 I. pallida. 



1. I. Sisyriiicliiiiiii, L. % Zamlaq. Wnseil, Khaitah. .3 to 

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

 flowers, liuear-sickle-sliaped, leathery, rounded at lad. Raceme 2-4- 

 flowered; spathe scarioiis, inflated, acuminate; flower .Oo to .04 long; 

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

 limb blue ; outer divisions obovate-spathulate, lamina reflexed, yellow- 

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

 divisions erect, lanceolate, obtuse; stigmas deej^ly bi-lobed — Early 

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



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

 Perigonium dirty-yellowish — Soutliern Palestine, and southward to 

 Egypt. 



2. I. liistrio, Rchb. % .15 to .2; bulb ovate, the longitudinal 

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

 at face, longer than flowers. S])athe 1-flowered, linear, acute; tube of 

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

 ovary; limb blue; lamince of outer divisions reflexed, oblong, some- 

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

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

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

 March — Lower to middle mountain zones and interior plateaus. 



Jl. 1. Palaesliiia, Baker. 2|! .2 to .:>; coats of bulb membranous, 

 produced beyond the neck ; stem very short or 0, 1-8-flowered, Leaves 

 .5-0, in two rows, lanceolate to lanceolate-linear, falcate-recurved, 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 Common throughout. Flowers sweet-smelling. 



Var. cacriilea, Post. Flowers more or less deep-blue or purple 

 - Syrian Desert. 



