338 



THE KINDS OF PLANTS 



496. Iris germanica. 



1. IRIS. Fleur-de-lis. Flag. 



Mostly strong plants, with rhizomes or tubers: flowers mostly large and 

 showy, the 3 outer segments recurving and the 3 inner ones usually smaller 

 and more erect or sometimes incurving; the 3 long divisions of the style 

 petal-like and often more or less hairy, covering the stamens ; stigma on 

 the under side of the style: leaves long and sword- 

 shaped. Several wild and many cultivated species. 

 The following species have rhizomes: 



a. Flowers yellow. 



I. Pseudacorus, Linn. Common yellow flag. One 

 to 3 ft., with several-flowered, often branching stems; 

 outer divisions of the perianth with no hairs or crests; 

 flowers bright yellow. Europe. 



aa. Flowers in shades of blue (sometimes varying to white). 



I. versicolor, Linn. Common wild blue flag. Two 

 to 3 ft., stout: leaves ?£in. wide, flat: flowers about 3 

 in. long, short-stalked violet-blue, the tube shorter 

 than the ovary, the inner petals small and the outer 

 ones with no hairs. Swamps. 

 I. laevigata, Fisch. & Mey. (/. Kacmpferi, Sieb.). Japanese iris. Two to 

 3 feet, the stem much overtopping the thin, broad leaves: flowers large 

 (sometimes several inches across), flat, the inner lobes spreading, the 

 outer ones very large and rounded, with no hairs or crests: color mostly in 

 shades of blue and purple. Japan; now one of the choicest of garden irises. 

 I. germanica, Linn. Common blue flag of gardens (sometimes runs wild). 

 Fig. 496. Two to 3 ft, with long sword-shaped leaves: flowers few or several 

 to each stem, about 3-4 in. across, the drooping outer segments with 

 yellow hairs, the inner segments erect and arching inward. Europe. 



2. CROCUS. Crocus. 



Small, stemless plants, the long-tubed flowers and the 

 grass-like leaves arising directly from the coated corm: 

 flowers with the 6 obovate divisions all alike and erect- 

 spreading or the inner ones a little the smaller, opening 

 only in sunshine. The following, from Europe, blooms in 

 earliest spring: 



C. vernus, Linn. Common crocus. Fig. 497. Leaves ._, 

 2-4 to each flower, glaucous on the under side: flower 

 rising little above the ground; color in shades of lilac and variously striped, 

 sometimes white. 



3. SISYRINCHIUM. Blue-eyed Grass. 



Low, slender, perennial herbs with grass-like, linear, or lanceolate 

 leaves and fibrous roots: scapes or stems erect, compressed, 2-edged or 



