IRISES 



INTRODUCTION 



It is not the object of this book to provide a scientific 

 account of the Iris genus, nor is it proposed to enter into 

 questions of classification and affinity, however interesting 

 these may be. Indeed, it would hardly be possible within 

 the limits of this series to give detailed descriptions of 

 all the individual species, or to unravel the entanglements 

 that have arisen in their nomenclature. 



To accomplish the latter, it is in many cases necessary 

 to start with the account given in Linnaeus' Species Plan- 

 tarum, of which the first edition was published in 1753, 

 and to try to discover to what Linnaeus was really alluding 

 when he wrote his description. It is a fascinating inquiry, 

 for, with the help of a good botanical library, such as that 

 of the Kew Herbarium, it is possible to trace back Linnaeus' 

 species through the earlier writers until we come to the first 

 description of each species, from which the plant can usually 

 be recognised. For instance, in early days the Spanish and 

 the English Irises were hardly separated, and in trying to 

 discover what Linnaeus meant by /. xiphium we get back 

 at length to Carolus Clusius, the latinised version of the 

 name of one Charles de 1'Escluse, a botanist who travelled 



A 



