io8 Tall Bearded Iris 



1777 Linnaeus was quite incapable of mental or physical 

 exertion, and therefore that specimen cannot be taken 

 as the type of the species. It seems that, owing to 

 the absence of more definite information, modern 

 monographers have taken the common blue form as 

 a type, as that is the prevailing character of the 

 species;* but, as a name for that variety, for the reason 

 just mentioned either "Vulgaris" or "Common Blue 

 Flag" is preferable to "Germanica" or "Typica". 



SPECIES. Some of the forms of the section Po- 

 goniris, Tall Bearded Irises, which have long been 

 treated as species probably are not distinct species. 

 In the opinion of some modern Iris-authorities, f based 

 on characteristics of plants from seeds, most of these 

 forms, not including a few lately introduced from 

 Syria and Asia Minor, originated (either from cross- 

 fertilization or as sports) from two or, at most, three? 

 wild forms: Iris pallida, Iris variegata, and, possibly? 

 Iris sambucina. For instance, it is now thought that 

 Iris germanica probably originated in southern Europe, 

 from one parent from central Europe and another 

 from a warmer country. { They are all, however, of 

 such ancient origin some of them have been described 

 as species since even before the time Linnaeus published 

 his " Species Plantarum" that for convenience of 

 description of types they will be herein referred to 

 under their old and familiar species-names, with this 



*Information received through courtesy of Professor L. H. Bailey, of Cornell 

 University. 



fSir Michael Foster, and Dr. W. R. Dykes. 

 ^Information received through courtesy of Dr. W. R. Dykes. 



