176 The Garden of pleafant Flowers. 



The Time. 



Thefe doe flower vfually in the end of May, or beginning of June, and 

 their" feede is ripe in the end of luly or Auguft. 



The Names. 



Lobel calleth the firft Englifh blew Flowerdeluce, Hyacinthus Poctarum 

 flore Iridis, & propter Hyacinthinum color em, id eft I'iolaceum diSlus: but I know 

 not any great good ground for it, more then the very colour ; for it is nei- 

 ther of the forme of a Lilly, neither hath it thofe mourning markes imprin- 

 ted in it, which the Poet faineth to bee in his Hyacinth. It is moft truely 

 called an Iris, or Flowerdeluce (and there is great difference betweene a 

 Lilly and a Flowerdeluce, for the formes of their flowers) becaufe it anfwe- 

 reth thereunto very exactly, for the flower, and is therefore called vfually by 

 moft, either Iris bulbofa Anglica, or Iris bulbofa motor fine latifolia, for a diffe- 

 rence betweene it, and the leffer with narrow leaues: In Englifh, eyther 

 The great Englifh bulbous Flowerdeluce, or the great broad leafed bul- 

 bous Flowerdeluce, which you will, adding the other name, according to 

 the colour. 



And thus much for thefe broad leafed bulbous Flowerdeluces, fo much as hath 

 come to our knowledge. Now to the feuerall varieties of the narrow leafed bulbous 

 Flowerdeluces, fo much likewife as we haue been acquainted with. 



Iris bulbofa minor flue anguftifolia alba. 

 The fmaller white or narrow leafed bulbous Flowerdeluce. 



This firft Flowerdeluce, which beareth the fmaller flower of the two white ones, 

 that are here to bee defcribed, fpringeth out of the ground alwaies before Winter, 

 which after breaketh forth into foure or fiue fmall and narrow leaues, a foote long or 

 more, of a whitifh greene on the infide, which is hollow and chanalled, and of a 

 blewifh greene colour on the outfide, and round withall : the ftalke of this kinde is 

 longer and flenderer then the former, with fome fhorter leaues vpon it, at the toppe 

 whereof, out of fhort skinny leaues, ftand one or two flowers, fmaller, fhorter, and 

 rounder then the flowers of the former broad leafed Flowerdeluces, but made after 

 the fame proportion with nine leaues, three falling downewards, with a yellow fpot 

 in the middle, other three are made like a long arch, which couer the lower part next 

 the ftalke of thofe falling leaues, and turne vp at the ends of them, where they are di- 

 uided into two parts : the other three ftand vpright, betweene each of the three falling 

 leaues, being fomewhat long and narrow: the flower is wholly (fauing the yellow 

 fpot) of a pure white colour, yet in fome hauing a fhew of fome blew throughout, and 

 in others towards the bottome of the three vpright leaues : after the flowers are paft, 

 there rife vp fo many long cods or feede veflels, as there were flowers, which are 

 longer and fmaller then in the former, and a little bending like a Corner, with three 

 round fquares, and round pointed alfo, which diuiding it felfe when the feede is ripe 

 into three parts, doe fhew fix feuerall cells or places, wherein is contained fuch like 

 round reddifh yellow feedes, but fmaller then the former : the roote is fmaller and 

 fhorter then the former, and without any haires or threeds, couered with browne thin 

 skinnes, and more plentifull in giuing encreafe. 



Iris bulbofa angujlifolia alba JJore maiore. 

 The greater white narrow leafed bulbous Flowerdeluce. 



I fhall not neede to make a feuerall defcription to euery one of thefe Flowerdeluces 

 that follow, for that were but to make often repetition of one thing, which being once 

 done, as it is, may well ferue to expreffe all the reft, and but onely to adde the efpe- 



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