2U 



POPULAR FLORA. 



101. IRIS FAMILY. Order IRIDACEiE. 

 Herbs -vvitli perennial roots, commonly with rootstoeks, bulbs, or corms, and \rith cquitant 

 leaves (151, Fig. G4) ; the flowers perfect, regular or irregular; tube of the corolla-like 



perianth below coherent 

 with the surface of the 

 ovarj', and so aitpearing 

 to crow from its summit ; 

 stamens only 3, one before 

 each of the outer divis- 

 ions of the perianth; their 

 anthers turned outwards, 

 i. e. lookinc towards the 

 perianth and opening on 

 that side. Ovary 3-celled, 

 making a many-seeded 

 pod : style one : stigmas 

 3, often flat or jietal-like. 

 Herbage, rootstocks, &c. 

 generally acrid or sharp- 

 tasted. Flowers generally 

 showy, and from a spathe 

 of one or more leat-like 

 bracts, or from tlie axils of 

 the ujopermost leaves, each 

 one generally opening but 



514. Plant of Crested Dwarf Iris 513. Top of the style and tlie 3 petal like stUnias. also 

 2 of the stamens. 515. Magnified pistil and lower |iarl of the nihe of the perianth, divided OUCe. 

 lengthwise; the foliage cm away. 517. Luwer part of a pod, divided crosswise. 518. Weed. 

 519. Magnified section of the same, showing the embryo. 



Filaments monadelphous in a tube which encloses the style as in a sheath: stigmas 

 thread-shaped: perianth 6-parted nearly to the ovary, widely spread- 

 ing, opening in sunshine and for only one day. 

 Flowers small, blue or purple, with 6 equal obovate divisions: stigmas simple: stems 

 or scapes flat or 2-winged, from fibrous roots; leaves narrow and 

 grass-like, {Sisyrinchium) Blue-eyed-Grass. 



Flowers very large, orange and spotted with crimson and purple; the 3 inner divisions 

 much smaller and narrowed in the middle: stigmas each 2-cleft: 

 scape terete, from a coated bulb; leaves plaited, ( Tic/ridia) *Tiger-flower. 



Filaments separate : stigmas flattened, or petal-like. 



Perianth 6-parted down to the ovary, regular and wheel-shaped, the divisions obovate- 

 oblong, all alike, yellow, with darker spots: seeds remaining after the 

 valves of the pod' fall, berry-like and black, the whole looking like a 

 blackberry (whence the common name). Stems leafy below, from a 

 rootstock: leaves sword-shaped, {Parddnihus) *Blackberry-Lily. 



