SISYRINCHIUM.] IRIDE^. 397 



DISTRIB. Arctic and temp. N. America. Mr. Wynn assures me that 

 this plant is truly wild in Kerry. It differs entirely from the Bermudiau 

 plant. 



2*. CRO'CUS, L. 



Corm with sheathing fibrous coats. Stem 0. Leaves radical, sur- 

 rounded by scarious sheaths, narrow- linear, channelled, white beneath, 

 margins recurved. Flowers solitary or fascicled, subsessile, honeyed. 

 Perianth large, tube very long ; segments equal, narrow-oblong, concave. 

 Stamens on the bases of the outer segments, filaments free ; anthers basi- 

 fixed. Ovary subterranean, hidden amongst the leaf-bases, ovoid ; style 

 filiform, stigmas 3 cuneate dilated or laciniate. Capsule on a long slender 

 pedicel, fusiform. Seeds globose, testa thick. DISTRIB. Europe, N. 

 Africa, N. and W. Asia ; species 70. ETYM. The old Greek name. 



C. NUDIFLO'RUS, Sm. ; flowers solitary autumnal, stigmas multifid. 

 C. specio'sus, Hook. 



Meadows, Midland counties, local, Salop and Warwick to York and Lanca- 

 shire ; (native ? Wats.) ; fl. Sept.-Oct. Corm subglobose, clothed with rich 

 brown coats of parallel fibres. Leaves vernal. Perianth-lobes 2 in., bright 

 purple. Anthers pale orange-yellow. Stigmas orange, their segments 

 truncate and crenate. Seeds as in C. ver'nus. DISTRIB. S. France, Spain. 



C. VER'NTTS, AIL ; flowers few vernal, stigmas toothed. Purple Crocus. 

 Naturalized in meadows, Nottingham, Suffolk, Middlesex ; fl. March-April. 

 Corm broad, depressed ; sheaths of reticulate fibres, much torn, dirty brown. 

 Perianth-lobes 1-2 in., purple or white. Anthers pale bright-yellow. Stigmas 

 deep orange. Capsule \-\ in. Seeds reddish, small. DISTRIB. Mid. and 

 S. Europe. 



3. I'RIS, L. 



Rootstock tuberous or creeping. Leaves chiefly radical, equitant, ensi- 

 form. Scape compressed ; spathes terminal with scarious borders. Peri- 

 anth-tube short, rarely long ; sepals large, stipitate, reflexed, stipes 

 channelled ; petals smaller, suberect, stipitate, margins of stipes involute. 

 Stamens inserted on the base of the sepals, filaments free ; anthers 

 basifixed. Ovary 3-gonous ; style stout, stigmas 3 very broad petaloid 

 arching over the stamens 2- fid and with a transverse lamella, stigmatic 

 surface a point below the lamella. Capsule coriaceous, 3-gonou., 3-ribbed. 

 Seeds many, flat or globose, testa coriaceous hard or thick and fleshy. 

 DISTRIB. N, temp, regions ; species 100. ETYM. The Greek name, 

 from the hues of the flower. 



1. I. Pseud-a'corus, L. ; flowers yellow, petals j shorter than the 



sepals. Yellow Flag. 



River-banks, ditches, &c., N. to Shetland ; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. May- 

 Aug -Rootstock creeping, stout. Leaves 2-4 ft., f-1 in. broad. Scape 2-4 

 ft., leafy, often branched at the top ; pedicel about as long as the ovary ; 



