ORDER 143. IRIDACE^E. 697 



woolly outside and inside ; petals narrower than the sepals, somewhat 

 interior ; stamens 6, filaments naked, anthers erect ; style conical, 3- 

 partible ; stigma simple ; capsule opening at the summit, 3-celled, 

 3-valved, many-seeded. An herb with a creeping root, flexuous stem, 

 woolly abov 7 c, and a loose cormyb, densely clothed with soft, white 

 wool. 



Ii. Americana. Sandy swamps, pine barrens, N. J. St. 1 to 2f high, erect 

 hoary-tomentous when young. Lvs. glaucous, narrowly linear, equitant, glab- 

 rous, the lower and radical long, cauline 2 or 3, shorter. Corymb finally much 

 expanded, many flowered. Corolla woolly and yellow within, segments reflexed, 

 about as long as the stamens. Capsule ovate, dissepiments arising from the center 

 of each valve. Seeds white. JL, Aug. (L. aurea Ker. Couostylis, Ph.) 



3. ALE V TRIS, L. STAR-GRASS. COLIC-ROOT. (Gr. aAerp/'f, a mil- 

 ler's wife ; because of the mealy-looking flowers.) Perianth 6-cleft, 

 tubular, rugous as if scurfy or mealy, persistent ; stamens issuing at the 

 top of the tube, style 3-sided, 3-partible ; ovary adherent at base only ; 

 capsule opening at top, many-seeded. Smooth herbs, very bitter, Ivs. 

 radical, rosulate, and scape many-flowered. 



1 A. farinosa L. Lvs. broad-lanceolate; fls. white> oblong-tubular, pediceled; 

 perianth in fruit rugous or mealy in appearance. Grows in low grounds, in most 

 of the States. Root premorse. Scape 20 30' high, with remote scales or bracts, 

 and surrounded at base with a circle of lanceolate, sessile leaves. These are 3 4' 

 long, \ as wide, and lie flat, upon the ground. Flowers in a long, thin raceme. 

 Perianth white, J' long, on very short pedicels, rugous without, when old. Me- 

 dicinal. July. 



2 A. aurea Walt. Lvs. lanceolate ; fls. yellow, subsessile ; perianth short, tubular- 

 campanulate, finally rugous and very scabrous. In the pine barrens of N. J. to 

 Fla., abundant. Scarcely different from the preceding except in color. Scapo 

 2 3f high, with rather distant yellow flowers in the spicate raceme. Lvs. all 

 radical, 2 to 3' by 3 i". Jl., Aug. 



ORDER CXLIII. IRIDACE^E. IRIDS. 



Herbs with conns, bulbs or rhizomes, equitant, 2-ranked leaves and spathaceoua 

 bracts. Perianth tube adherent to the ovary, segments in 2 sets, often unequal and 

 convolute in bud. Stamens 3, alternate with the petals, anthers extrorse. Style I f 

 stigmas 3, often petaloid. Capsule 3-valved, 3-celled, loculicidal. Seeds many, with 

 hard, fleshy albumen. Figs. 76, 151, 425. 



Genera 52, species 550, chiefly natives of the Cape of Good Hope, or of the middle of Europe 

 or N. America. 



Properties More remarkable for beauty than utility. Some of them are cathartic, as Iris 

 tuberosa. The aromatic orris root is the dried rhizome of Irisftorentina of S. Europe. Saffron 

 consists of the dried orange-colored stigmas of Crocus sativus. 



GENERA. 



Flowers irregular, somewhat bilabiate, nodding GLADIOLUS. 1 



Flowers regular and equilateral, mostly erect. (*) 



* Sepals similar to the petals in form, size and position, (a) 



a Stamens distinct. Tube very long, partly under ground CKOCTTS. 6 



a Stamens distinct. Tube short or none above the ovary IXIA. 5 



a Stamens monadelphous. Flowers small, blue. Plant grass-like... SISYKINCHIUM. 4 



* Sepals larger than the petals and otherwise dissimilar, (b) 



b Stamens monadelphous. Petals spreading, panduriform TIGRIDIA. 3 



b Stamens distinct, stigmas slender, on a slender style NEMASTYUS. 2 



stigmas petaloid, on a very short style IBIS. 1 



1. IRIS, L. FLOWER-DE-LUCE. (Name from the Greek, signifying 

 rainbow ; on account of the varied color of the flowers.) Sepals 3, 



