IRIS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



625 



distinctly lance-shaped, whilst the colour- 

 ing consists of irregular brownish-red 

 veins on a yellow or greenish-yellow 

 ground, the red of the veins often 

 merging into purple. The claw of the 

 standard is furnished with quite numerous 

 hairs. 



I. Marise, which belongs to the iberica 

 group, was discovered on the confines of 

 Egypt and Palestine. The rhizome is 

 compact, rather slender, the foliage being 

 not unlike that of iberica, but narrower. 

 The flowers, on a stem of about 6 in. high, 

 are somewhat smaller than I. iberica, of a 

 uniform lilac colour, though marked with 

 veins, but the uniformity is broken by a 

 conspicuous "signal " patch of deep purple 

 on the fall. The standard is larger and 

 more rounded than the fall, whilst the claw 

 of the latter is beset by numerous deep 

 purple hairs, which, scattered at the sides, 

 are crowded together along the middle 

 line more after the fashion of the beard of 

 an ordinary bearded Flag. 



I. Meda is a native of Persia, and has 

 a small, slender, and compact rhizome. 

 The leaves are narrower than I. iberica, 

 and for the most part erect, the stem being 

 about 6 in. in length, more or less, but 

 it seems to vary a good deal. The fall, 

 which spreads horizontally, is narrow and 

 pointed, the blade being sharply curled 

 back on itself. The standard is rather 

 larger than the fall, and the style, which 

 lies close down on the claw of the fall, 

 is narrow, ending in two small triangular 

 crests. 



I. missouriensis (Missouri Flag]. 

 This was found in the Rocky Mountains, 

 and is a good kind, gracefulj and with 

 delicate purplish-blue flowers, which are 

 valuable to cut in the month of May. It 

 grows well in a border of good soil, and is 

 not seen as often as one might expect in 

 gardens. 



I. Monnieri. A noble Flag, distinct 

 from any other in cultivation, the leaves 

 being dark-green, and the flower-stem 

 nearly 4ft. high, whilst the outer divisions 

 of the flowers, which are very fragrant, 

 are recurved, and of a rich golden-yellow, 

 margined with white. It is by no 

 means common, and blooms later than 

 most of the other species, in most seasons 

 even after the varieties of Kaempfer's Flag. 

 It is a native of Crete, and succeeds best 

 in rather moist soil, whilst increased easily 

 by division or seed. 



I. Monspur is a seedling, raised by 

 Prof. Foster, between /. Monnieri and /. 

 spuria, and is a very doubtful plant. The 

 variety Notha differs from /. spuria in 

 being altogether larger, considerably more 



rigid both in stem and leaves, and with a 

 much longer spathe valve. When grown 

 well, by no means difficult in ordinary 

 garden soil, it is most effective in full 

 flower. Some of the varieties, such as 

 stenogyna, sub-barbata, &c., have been 



Iris ochroleuca. 



bandied about between 7. spuria and the 

 nearly allied /. Guldenstaedtiana, but 

 the simpler way is to call them all 

 varieties of /. spuria. 



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