GENUS i. 



IRIS FAMILY. 



54' 



13. Iris verna L. Dwarf or Spring Iris. 

 Fig. 1340. 



Iris verna L. Sp. PI. 39- J753- 



Rootstock slender. Stems i'-a' high, usually i-flow- 

 ered. Leaves narrowly linear, 3'-8' high, 2 "-5" wide; 

 flowers violet-blue or rarely white, pedicelled; perianth- 

 segments crestless, the outer about ii' long, obovate, 

 narrowed into slightly pubescent slender yellow claws, 

 the inner somewhat smaller, glabrous; capsule obtusely 

 triangular, short. 



On shaded hillsides and in woods, southern Pennsylvania 

 to Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia. Rootstock 

 described as " pungently spicy." Slender Blue-flag. April- 

 May. 



2. NEMASTYLIS Nutt. Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. (II.) 5: 157. 1833-37. 

 [EUSTYLIS Engelm. & Gray, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist. 5: 235. 1845.] 



Bulbous herbs with erect slender terete usually branched stems and elongated linear 

 folded leaves. Flowers rather large, in our species blue or purple, solitary or several 

 together, fugacious, subtended by 2 herbaceous bracts. Perianth of 6 spreading nearly equal 

 obovate segments, distinct nearly or quite to the summit of the ovary. Filaments more or 

 less united ; anthers short ; style short, its branches alternate with the anthers, each slen- 

 derly 2-parted; stigmas small, terminal. Capsule oblong, ovoid or obovoid, loculicidally 

 dehiscent at the summit. [Greek, referring to the thread-like style-branches.] 



About 10 species, natives of America. Besides the following, some 3 others occur in the south- 

 ern United States. Type species : Nemastylis coelestlna Nutt. 



i. Nemastylis acuta (Bart.) Herb, 

 ern Nemastylis. Fig. 1341. 



North- 



Ixia acuta Bart. Fl. N. A. 2 : 89. pi. 66. 1822. 

 Nemastylis gemmiflora Nutt. Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. (II.) 



5: J57. 1833-37. 

 Nemastylis acuta Herb. Bot. Mag. pi. 3779. 1839-40. 



Bulb dark colored, ovoid, scaly, i' or less long. 

 Stem i-2 tall, bearing 3 or 4 leaves, 3'-io' long, 

 ii"-2i" wide; bracts lanceolate, each pair subtend- 

 ing i or 2 flowers; flowers light blue or purple, I '-2' 

 broad ; pedicels slender, rather shorter than the 

 bracts ; perianth-segments oblong-obovate, obtuse ; 

 style-branches exserted between the free parts of the 

 filaments, their filiform divisions 2"-3" long; cap- 

 sule obovoid, s"-6" high, 3"-4" in diameter. 



On prairies, Tennessee to Missouri. Kansas, Arkansas, 

 Louisiana and Texas. April-June. 



Nemastylis coelestina Xutt., ranging from Georgia to Arkansas and Texas, may occur in south- 

 ern Missouri ; it differs from N. acuta in having more broadly obovate perianth-lobes. 



3. GEMMINGIA Fabr. Emim. PI. Hort. Helm. 1759. 



[BELAMCANDA Adans. Fam. PI. 2: 60. 1763.] 

 [PARDANTHUS Ker, in Konig & Sims, Ann. Bot. i: 246. 1805.] 



An erect perennial herb, with short stout rootstocks and /m-like leaves. Flowers in 

 terminal bracted clusters, rather large, orange and purple-mottled. Perianth of 6 oblong 

 spreading nearly equal withering-persistent segments, distinct very nearly to the summit of 

 the ovary. Stamens inserted on the bases of thfe segments; filaments distinct; anthers linear- 



