]40 IRIDACE.E. Iris. 



1. TENAX, Dousl. (Bot. R.'-. t. 1-218 ; Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 3343 ; Baker, 1. c. 323), ranging 

 from Oregon to liritish CoUnnbia, may perliaps be found in N. California. It is a similar sjucies, 

 but taller and l-tlowered ; ilowers larger, on short jiedicels, bright lilac-jpurple, the segments 2 to 

 2^ inches long and broader : seeds scarcely flattened, somewhat angled obtusely. 



-•- -^ Bracts confifjiious or rarely separated : stents nahed or nearly so, vsually 

 tall : root stock stout. 



4. I. longipetala, Herbert. Stems stout, 1 to U feet liigli, 3 - 5-flowereil ; 

 leaves about us liigh, 3 to 5 lines broad : bracts foliaceous, large and acuminate, 3 

 or 4 incbes long : flowers very large, bright lilac, on stout pedicels an inch or two 

 long; tube funnelshaijed, 3 lines long; sejjals 2J, to 3 inches long and 1 to 1| 

 broad, narrowed to a short claw, Avhite below and veined witli violet, tlie niidveiu 

 yellow ; petals oblanceolate, 2 inches long : anthers shorter than the stigmas : styles 

 broadly crested : capsule oblong, narrowed at each end, 2 inches long : seeds llat- 

 teiied, nearly 3 lines long. — Hook & Arn. J>ot. lieechcy, 3G'J ; Hook. lUtt. Mag. 

 t. r)2<J8; IJaker, 1. c. G15. 



In nicndows about San Francisco Bay and to Monterey ; May. 



5. I. Missouriensis, Nutt. Stem ratlier slender, terete, naked or with 1 or 2 

 leaves, i to 2 I'cet liigh, (1 -3-) usually 2-llowered : leaves 2 or 3 lines broad, mostly 

 shorter than the stem : bracts dilated and scarious, 1 to H incbes long, acute or 

 acuminate : flowers pale blue, on pedicels i to nearly 2 inches long ; tube 3 or 4 

 lines long, narrowed below ; sepals 2 to 2i inches long, the i)etals a little shorter, all 

 with narrow claws : antliers not exceeding the filaments, ecjualling or exceeding the 

 stigmas : capsule olilong, triangular or subterete, 1 to 1 ^ (rarely 2) inches long, acute 

 at each end : seeds obovate, acute at base, 2 lines long. — Journ. Acad. Philad. 

 vii. 58. /. Toinueana, Herbert in Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beechey, 396 ; Watson, Bot. 

 King Exp. 342 ; Baker, 1. c. 226. 



On the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada from Inyo to Siskiyou County (Yreka, Greene) and the 

 Columbia, common in the mountains of the inteiior eastward to Colorado and Montana, and 

 south to Arizona ; apjiarently the only species of tlie Great Basin. What appears to be the same 

 is also found near Fort Tejon, Kennedy. It was erroneously described by Nuttall, from dried 

 specimens, as having the outer segments yellow. Very variable in size, but well marked by its 

 scarious bracts ; llowering June and July. 



2. SISYRINCHIUM, Linn. Blue-eyed Grass. 

 Perianth 6-parted, the segments equal and similar, spreading. Stamens more or 

 less monadelphous ; anthers oblong or lanceolate. Style short : stigmas filiform 

 and involute, alternate with the stamens. Capsule membranaceous, subglobose. 

 Seeds several, rounded. — Stems simple or branched, usually geniculate and winged, 

 from fibrous roots, with linear-lanceolate or grassdike radical leaves, and fugacious 

 flowers on slender pedicels, clustered within 2 sheathing herbaceous bracts, with a 

 scarious bractlet subtending each pedicel. 



About 40 species, all American, mostly Mexican and South American (one species also found 

 in the Bermudas and perhaps native to Europe). Three species or more are found in the Atlantic 

 and Gulf States. 



* Filaments united to the top: antliers short-sagittate: stigmas short : flowers 

 blue: stems ancipital, usually branched. 



1. S. bellum, Watson. Stems J to 2 feet high or more, smooth or scabrous on 

 the margin, with a single or often 2 or 3 nodes : leaves a line or two wide, shorter 

 than the stem : ])eduncles 1 to 4 (usually 2) at each node, 2 to 4 inches long and 

 about equalling the bract : spathes of 2 mostly nearly equal bracts, a half to an 

 inch long, scabrous on the keel, 4-7-flowered: flowers 6 to 12 lines broad, some- 



