228 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS 



two to three feet high, and bears purplish flowers, 

 bearded yellow, in early summer. It is elder-scented. 

 See the Botanical Magazine, t. 787. There are several 

 fine varieties of it. 



One of the most remarkable of all Irises is the 

 Cushion species, Susiana, which is called the Mourning 

 Iris, in allusion to the swarthy hue of its flowers. 

 Although a very old plant in British gardens, it is still 

 grown with interest. The flowers are brownish black, 

 dotted with lilac. See the Botanical Magazine, t. 91. 

 Tubergeniana, a Cushion species, is a pretty modern 

 Iris, with green and blue flowers. Unguicularis, also 

 grown under the name of stylosa, is a winter bloomer, 

 growing about two feet high, and bearing lilac flowers. 

 It is an oldish plant, and has many varieties. Urmiensis 

 is a Cushion, growing from six to twelve inches high, and 

 with fragrant yellow flowers. Variegata is a very old 

 species, growing about eighteen inches high, and having 

 brownish flowers with a yellow beard. See the Botanical 

 Magazine, t. 16. There are several varieties of it. 

 Vartani is bulbous, and bears lilac, yellow-crested 

 flowers in autumn or winter. It was introduced from 

 Palestine in 1885. Versicolor, an old claret-coloured 

 species, growing about a foot high, flowers in May and 

 June. See the Botanical Magazine, t. 21. Virescens, 

 growing a foot high, bears greenish flowers in May. 



Two famous Irises are hidden away, so far as 

 unversed amateurs are concerned, in the names 

 Xiphioides and Xiphium. The former is the popular 

 English Iris, and the latter the equally popular Spanish. 

 Both are bulbous. Growing about two feet high, thriv- 

 ing in most soils, very cheap, and having a great number 

 of beautiful varieties, which bloom in early summer, 

 they are invaluable plants. The English Iris is figured 



