166 MY GARDEN 



before my eyes. Soon, however, the great flowers 

 laughed out of their withered wrappings, and I learned 

 what " scarious " meant. The foliage of this iris is 

 magnificent, and of a fine glaucous green. At home 

 it climbs the Atlas Mountains to the height of 7000 

 feet. There are many fine hybrids, of which I have 

 two" Queen of May " and " Celeste." The first is 

 nearer true pink than any iris I have seen ; the second 

 is a large and splendid flower of loveliest lavender. 

 With me this beautiful race does not blossom so 

 freely as many of their bearded kinsmen ; but when 

 once a flower-spike appears, it gives a most generous 

 display. 



There remains plicata to mention. Mr. Lynch tells 

 us that this wonderful iris is only known in cultiva- 

 tion, and Sir Michael Foster suspects that it is a cross 

 between Iris sambucina and the last named. The 

 varieties are very beautiful, and " Madame Chereau " 

 is the best of them. She is white, with a regular 

 pattern of little parallel purple veins along the petal 

 edge of standard and fall. Sometimes these do not 

 go all round. " Gazelle " is another fine thing, and 

 very free-flowering. The markings are of a darker 

 shade of purple, and not arranged with the great 

 distinction of " Madame." The beards of these irises 

 are slightly touched with yellow, and the pollen is 

 white. I have one beautiful pale form, merely tinted 

 with colour, of which I do not know the name. 



We may now devote a moment to the group known 

 as Variegatae. It embraces Cengialti, aphylla, lurida 



