272 CLI. IRIDE.E. (J. D. Hooker.) [Iris. 



The Himalayan species of Iris are very imperfectly known ; good specimens and 

 drawings are much wanted, with descriptions from the living plants. The common 

 I. Xiphion of Europe and the East advances into Affgbanistan, but has not been 

 collected in British India, and Prof. Poster informs me that he suspects that the 

 European and Eastern I. Sisgrinchium, L., a species with the filaments united be- 

 low, occurs in the Punjab. It is a native of Affghanistan. The character of bearded 

 and crested sepals is artificial and inconstant in this genus. 



* Rootstock a coated bulb or corm (Xiphion). 



1. I. Aitchisoni, Boiss. Fl. Orient, v. 123; leaves slender sub terete, 

 spathes 1-tid., sepals shortly clawed obovate, petals linear spreading, 

 stamens adherent to the style-arms. Xiphion Aitchisoni, Baker in Gard. 

 Ckron. 1876, i. 723 ; in Trim. Journ. Bot. xiii. (1873) 108; in Journ. Linn. 

 Soc. xvi, 124. 



The PANJAB; Salt range, alt. 3000 ft., Vicary, AitcUson. DISTRIB. Aff- 

 ghanistan. 



Corm 2 in. long, ovoid ; coats brown, shining. Stem -! ft., slender, l-3<fld. 

 Leaves as long, % in. broad. Spathes 2-2| in., lanceolate, green. Perianth lilac or 

 yellow; tube 11^ in.; blade ^ in.; petals much shorter, spreading, limb small 

 3-cuspidate. I. Stocksii, Boiss. Fl. Orient, v. 123, of Beluchistan, is closely allied 

 to /. Aitchisoni, but is a dwarf species with lanceolate plicate leaves. 



Yar. chrysantha, Baker, has the stem 2 ft., and much stouter and flowers 

 yellow. 



** Rootstock stont, prostrate and creeping. 

 Sepals neither crested nor bearded. 



2. X. ens at a,, Tkunb. in Trans. Linn. Soc. ii. 328; leaves linear rigid 

 grooved glaucous, sheaths shorter than the fusiform ovary, flowers lilac, 

 perianth-tube 0, blade of sepals rhomboidly ovate obtuse entire shorter than 

 the claw, petals oblanceolate erect, style-arms linear tip acutely 2-fid. 

 Boiss. Fl. Orient, v. 129 ; Baker in Journ. Linn. Soc. xvi. 139 ; in Gard. 

 Chron. 1876, ii. 323; Regel Gartenft. t. 1011. I. biglumis, Vahl Enum. ii. 

 149; Sweet Brit. Fl. Gard. Ser. ii. t. 187. I. triflora, Balbis Misc. Bot. 

 vii. t. 1 ; Redoute Lil. t. 481. I. Doniana, Spach. Hist. Veg. xiii. 34. 

 I. Pallasii, Fisch. ; Reichb. Ic. Fl. Germ. t. 469 ; Bot. Mag. t: 2331. I. fra- 

 grans, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. xxvi. t. 1. I. longispatha, Fisch. in Bot. Mag. t. 

 2528. I. Moorcroftiana, Wall. Cat. 5021 ; Don. in Trans. Linn. Soc. xviii. 

 315. I. pabulina, Naud. in. Rev. Hortic. 1888, 338 (name). Xiphion Doni- 

 anum, Alefeld in Bot. Zeit. (1863) 297. loniris Doniana, fragrans, tri- 

 flora & Pallasii, Klatt in Bot. Zeit. 1872, 502. 



WESTERN HIMALAYA and WESTERN TIBET, alt. 5-9000 ft., Royle, &c. DISTRIB. 

 Temp. Asia. 



Stems tufted, short, or 1^-2 ft., stout or slender, sheaths fibrous. Leaves 1^ ft. 

 by ~ I in. Spathes 3-4 in., 1-3-fld. ; valves lanceolate, green. Floioers pedicelled ; 

 ovary 1 in., cylindric ; blade of sepals l|-2 by ^-f in., claw rather longer; petals 

 ^ in. broad; style-arms 1 in., crests large, deltoid. Capsule 1^-3 in., by - in., 

 6-ribbed, beaked, ribs rounded. 



3. I. spuria, Linn. Sp. PL 58; leaves 1-3 ft. ensiform coriaceous 

 strongly striate, spathes 2-3-fld., flowers lilac, perianth-tube long, blade 

 of sepals orbicular half as long as the claw, petals oblanceolate, style-arcns 

 deflexed. Bot. Mag. t. 58, 1131, 1314-5 ; Jacq. Fl. Austr. t. 4 ; Reic/ib. f. 

 Fl. Germ. ix. t. 345. I. Notha, M. Bieb. Cent. PI. Ross. t. 77 ; Reichb. Ic. 

 crit. x. t. 915. I. halophila, Bot. Mag. t. 875 (not of Pallas') ; Boiss. Fl. 

 Orient, v. 128. Xyridion Nothum and spurium, Klatt in Bot. Zeit. 1872, 

 499. 



