ON IRISES 223 



in June. The flowers are bluish purple, a little over two 

 inches across, and the stem rises from a foot to two feet 

 high. It is not particularly attractive when in bloom, 

 and the odour is so disagreeable that one's first impulse 

 is to uproot it ; but the scarlet berries that follow the 

 flowers are ornamental, and come in useful for Christmas 

 decoration. 



The Snake s-head Iris, with its greenish and blue-black 

 flowers, is not recognised as a native, and botanical 

 records tell us that it was introduced from the Levant 

 in 1597. This date makes it a tolerably old plant, and it 

 has been found wild near Penzance and Cork. It blooms 

 in March, and the flowers are about two inches across. 

 The plant grows nine inches high, and has only one 

 flower on a stem. It is illustrated in the Botanical 

 Magazine, t. 531. And here the numerous coloured 

 plates of Irises in the great plant publication may be 

 pointed to as evidence of the interest which has always 

 been taken in the Iris genus by both botanists and 

 gardeners. A large number of the best species are 

 illustrated in the work. It is expensive, and I may not 

 assume that it is in the possession of many amateurs ; 

 nevertheless, I will give the references to the coloured 

 plates in cases where the various species which I propose 

 to name have been illustrated, as flower-lovers may like 

 to refer to the Botanical Magazine in some of the large 

 libraries to which they have access. 



The best Species of Iris. There are many extremely 

 beautiful species of Iris, and from some of them we have 

 obtained our modern varieties of Flags, also of English 

 and Spanish. I will pass the principal members of the 

 genus in review, for the benefit of those readers who may 

 like to form a collection. The winged Iris (alata) is a 

 bulbous species, which produces blue flowers in June, 



