INULA IRIS. 



149 



striped, downy, branching at the top. 

 Europe, Caucasus, Japan. This in- 

 mate of the kitchen-garden is worth 

 a place among perennials, grown for 

 the sake of the effect of their foliage, 

 in ordinary soil. Division. 



Inula Oculus Christ! (Hoary /.) A 

 hardy herbaceous perennial, 14 to 2 ft. 

 high. Flowers, in summer ; orange, 

 3| in. across ; petals very narrow ; di- 

 visions of the involucrum covered with 

 a thick, soft, dark - brown down. 

 Leaves, broadly lance-shaped, obtuse, 

 almost entire, or with a few small and 

 distant teeth, and covered, as is the 

 stem, with a feeble whitish down. 



Austria. Borders, or naturalization, 



in warm sandy soil. Division or 

 seed. 



Iris amo&na (Pleasing /.) A deli- 

 cately tinted and elegant species, 1^ 

 to 2 ft. high. Flowers, in summer; 

 whitish at the base, rayed and veined 

 with pale violet outside ; the upper 

 part and internal divisions white, 

 tinged with blue, and veined with 

 violet ; yellowish at the base inside, 

 dotted and rayed with violet ; lamina 

 of the stigma white. Central and 



South Europe. Borders, or beds of 



Irises and other fine perennials that 

 flower in early summer, in light, deep, 

 sandy soil. Division. 



Iris cristata (Crested Iris}. A 

 charming and very dwarf kind, 6 in. 

 high, somewhat like /. pumila, but 

 easily recognised by its rhizome creep- 

 ing well above the ground, looking as 

 if it had grown too far out of it. 

 Flowers, in May; generally solitary, 

 eict, pale purplish -blue ; external divi- 

 sions drooping, obtuse, blue, with 

 deeper blue spots, and three elevated 

 wavy ribs, variegated with orange and 

 yellow ; internal divisions narrower, 

 pointed, erect, uniform in colour. Leaves 

 numerous, short, equitant, sword- 

 shaped, curved at the top, with a pale 

 membranaceous margin; stem very 



slender, small at the base, and gradually 

 thickening as it ascends. N. America. 



On margins of borders, edges of 



beds of mixed flowers, or flat, low 

 parts of the rock-garden, always in 

 light, rich, sandy soil. Division. 



Iris flavescens ( Yellowish I.} This 

 plant resembles /. germanica in its 

 habit, leaves, and rhizome. Flowers, 

 early in summer ; external divisions 

 yellow, reticulated with purplish-red 

 on the lower half, spathulate-oboval, 

 with a beard of bright yellow ; internal 

 divisions deep yellow, wedge-shaped, 

 obovate, very obtuse, having the claw 

 furnished with yellow hairs ; limb of 

 the stigma yellow, spathulate-oblong. 



Native country uncertain. Borders, 



beds, or naturalization, in any soil. 

 Division. 



Iris florentina (Florentine /.) A de- 

 licately-coloured and very desirable 

 kind, very like /. germanica in its rhi- 

 zome, stem, and leaves; 1^ to 3ft. 

 high. Flowers, in spring; very fra- 

 grant, white slightly tinged with blue, 

 with a bright yellow beard ; exterior 

 divisions wedge-shaped-spathulate, in- 

 dented, covered with yellow hairs ; in- 

 ternal divisions oboval, indented at the 

 top, wavy at the edges, a little wider 

 than the exterior divisions. Native 



of Italy and S. Europe. Mixed 



borders, margins of shrubberies, or na- 

 turalization, in almost any kind of 

 soil. Division. 



Iris fcetidissima (Gladdon},k well- 

 known but undeservedly neglected 

 British plant ; 1 to 2 ft. high. Flowers, 

 in summer; lead-coloured or bluish, 

 rarely yellow ; exterior divisions 

 marbled with violet on the claw, and 

 having an oval wavy limb veined with 

 the same colour; interior divisions 

 streaked with faint blue. Leaves, lance - 

 shaped, stiff, dark -green, when bruised 

 emitting an odour somewhat like that 

 of cold roast beef. Britain and most 

 parts of Europe, in damp woods and 



