B-UKIVEESITY 



IRIS GERMANICA-FLEUR DE LIS 



CLASS, TRIANDRIA ; ORDER, MONOGYNIA. 

 NATURAL ORDEH, IRlDACEjE. 



GEN. CHAR. Corol, six petalled, unequal. Petals alternate, 

 jointed and spreading. Stigmas, petal-form, cowled, two lipped. 

 SPEC. CHAR. Stem, with long leaves, many flowered ; the inferior 

 flowers peduncled. 



The Ancients named this plant after the attendant of Juno, 

 because its colors are the same as those which the poets and 

 mythological writers have bestowed on the messenger of that 

 Goddess. Iris is generally depicted as descending from the rainbow; 

 and her arch is said not to vary more in its colors, than the flower 

 that has been honored by her name. Milton distinguishes these 

 flowers as " Iris all hues." Every qua;*' >r of the world possesses 

 the Iris, and excepting the Rose, no ll > ver has been more cele- 

 brated by the historian and the poet, wao have sung the praises of. 

 this genus of plants, which so greatly embellishes both the land and 

 the waters, and has at various periods, contributed so much to the 

 sustenance,* and added to the medicines of man. 



Lindley observes that in this genus, the type of the natural order 

 that bears its name, the structure is very curious. It has three 

 broad and spreading sepals, or calyx leaves, often ornamented with 

 a beautiful feathered cfest; three petals which sland erect, and 

 curve over the centre of the flower ; while the stigmas are broad, 



