CXXV. IRIDE^. 871 



flesliy or horny albumen. — Herbs with equitant leaves and 

 brilliant flowers, rising from spathe-like bracts. Very nume- 

 rous in South Africa; several of the adopted genera have 

 very trivial characters, but are mostly natural groups of spe- 

 cies. 



1. Flowers either capitate, corymbose, or in thyrsi; each flower subtended 

 by more than 2 bracts, or several flowers successively issuing from the 

 sheath. Ovary generally pedicellate, rarely subsessile or sessile. 



Stigmas expanded, petaloid. 

 Lobes of the stigma 2-fid. 



Filaments distinct ; inner perianth-segments nar- 

 row 1. MOE^A. 



Filaments connate ; inner perianth-segments very 



narrow 2. Vieusseuxia. 



Lobes of stigma pencil-raultifid ; filaments connate 3. Fereakia. 

 Stigmas not petaloid. 



Perianth rotate, 6-parted 4. Aeistea. 



Perianth tubular ; limb 6-parted, spreading or erect 5. Witsenia. 



2. Flowers in simple or branching spikes or solitary ; each flower sub- 

 tended by 2 distichous bracts. Ovary always sessile. 



a. Flowers in few- or many-flowered spikes. 

 Stigmas 3, 2-fid or 2-pai'ted. 



Stigmas 2-fid ; perianth-tube long and slender ; 

 limb spreading, subequal, one segment witli 



a deep-coloured spot 7. Anomatheca. 



Stigmas 2 -parted, with long slender lobes. 



Flowers in loose, sometimes corymbose spikes, 



often secund 6. OviEDA. 



Flowers in dense spikes, 2-ranked, the bracts 



imbricating 11. Watsonia. 



Stigmas 3, cuneate or linear, but not 2-fid. 



Stigmas more or less cuneate, expanded or folded. 

 Bracts herbaceous, brown-tipped ; leaves 



plaited 8. Babiana. 



Bracts herbaceous, taper-pointed ; leaves rib- 

 striate. 

 Perianth-tube gradually expanding into a 



ringent or subequal limb 9. Gladiolus, 



Perianth- tube suddenly expanding into a 



wide throat and ringent limb . . . .10. Antholyza. 

 Bracts membranous, either torn or subentire . 12. Sparaxis. 

 Stigmas slender, filiform, often very long. 



Perianth 6-parted, the segments taper-pointed. 15. Diasia. 

 Perianth with a long or short tube ; segments 

 obtuse or acute, but not tapering. 

 Bracts scarious. 



Bracts tootlied ; limb of perianth often 



unequal 13. Montbketia. 



Bracts truncate, entire or subentire . .14. IxiA. 

 Bracts herbaceous. 



Perianth with a longish tube and spread- 

 ing limb. 



2 B 2 



