16 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Such irises as figure in horticultural uses are divided into two 

 classes, those of bulbous nature and those with rhizomes, the latter 

 varying in this character from the conspicuous surface rhizomes 

 of the very familiar German iris to very narrow, inconspicuous, sub- 

 terraneous types of rhizomes in which the roots are the more 

 conspicuous. 



The bulbous irises are most familiarly known by the English 

 and Spanish types, both of which have been very greatly improved 

 by selection. The English iris {Iris xiphwides) , growing to a height 

 of a foot and a half to two feet, bears two to three flowers to a stalk 

 and varies in color from the purest white form of Mont Blanc through 

 shades of lavender, blue, and purple, of which Lord Palmerston 

 with deep rich crimson-purple falls and purple-claret standards 

 is perhaps the best of the darker colored varieties. Many, too, are 

 showily striped, flaked and blotched with shades of richer colors 

 than the general tone of the flowers. The Spanish iris (Iris Xiph- 

 ium) has taller and more conspicuoiis standards than the last and 

 the markings are more clearly defined on the falls than is the case 

 with the English iris; possibly the improvement by selection has 

 covered a longer period with the Spanish iris. In any event such 

 a variety as the Thunderbolt is very noteworthy in its large compara- 

 tive size of flower and grows two feet or more high. The flowers 

 are richly colored in bronze with a remarkably broad signal patch 

 of yellow on each of the falls. The better varieties of this class are 

 Blanche Superba, of purest white; Golden Cup, a very popular 

 yellow; and Cantab of ultramarine blue with orange blotch and 

 dark blue standards. 



Both English and Spanish iris are of easy garden culture, planted 

 in autumn, the English iris requiring the greater moisture of the 

 two, the bulbs being planted at a depth of from three to five inches 

 while a mulch is an advantage. There are a few other species of 

 tall-growing bulbous irises, such as Iris juucea and the rare Boissieri, 

 but they probably are seldom imported and do not compare hor- 

 ticiilturally with the selected varieties of the last two species. 



The dwarf bulbous species are most familiarly represented by 

 the Iris reticulata, a native of Palestine, varying somewhat in type 

 but gorgeous in coloring with its brilliant shadings of purple and 

 gold, and of a delicious violet fragrance. Flowering as it does 



