viii PREFACE 



tion which they have not received. True, the Xiphiums of 

 the bulbous section have established for themselves rightly a 

 popular position, but hardly so the Reticulatas nor yet the 

 Junos ; and what is there more beautiful than a " bush " two 

 feet high such it is even in the inclement climate of South- 

 east Scotland of that gem of the Junos, 7. bucharica f Can 

 we say of the Evansias that those unfailingly responsive and 

 dainty forms, /. gracilipes and /. cristata, are known as they 

 deserve ? or that free-growing Apogons like the Californian 

 /. Douglasiana and /. Purdyi are sufficiently known ? No 

 more need be said. By the publication of this book the 

 conditions will be changed. Mr. Dykes supplies in it just 

 the assistance that has been hitherto wanting, opening wide 

 the avenue of Iris-culture, and the outcome of his effort will 

 be a wider interest in the cultivation of Irises and a more 

 general introduction of forms as yet unusual in gardens. 



Beginning with a short but adequate account of the 

 structure of the Iris plant and of the groups into which the 

 genus may be conveniently divided, Mr. Dykes continues 

 with an easy and reliable description of the leading character- 

 istics and requirements of the several cultivated species in 

 their respective groups. In this part of the book the 

 gardener will gather with peculiar joy the suggestion of those 

 easily grasped marks tips from the man who knows which 

 will enable him to recognise his species with certainty and 

 to tell one species from another. He will find differential 

 garden puzzles, such as that of /. pumila and /. chamceiris, 

 of /. Icevigata and /. Kcempferi, of /. ruthenica and 7. 

 humilis, and many others, dealt with succinctly and a key 

 supplied, and problems of hybridisation and other problems 

 touched upon suggestively with a stimulus to investigation. 



