A LITTLE-KNOWN SPECIES 51 



called /. ruthenica. It is found wild from Transylvania in 

 Hungary to Peking and Shantung. As is only natural in 

 the case of such a widely distributed species, local forms are 

 numerous, and this is fortunate, for some are by no means 

 floriferous. It is also an Iris that does not accommodate 

 itself to the nurseryman's habit of moving most herbaceous 

 plants in the autumn. In common with other Irises that 

 possess only a very slender rhizome, it must be moved while 

 growth is active, and roots are consequently being formed. 



The flowers appear among the grassy leaves on stems 

 perhaps only an inch or two or as much as 6 inches long. 

 The spathes are usually tinged with pink, and each contains 

 usually only a single flower. The colour is a dark blue, 

 with white veinings about the bend of the falls. This 

 species should form close mats of foliage not more than 

 9 inches or a foot high at most when fully grown, and it 

 might be far more widely planted in rock gardens, where 

 it is, at present, almost unknown. 



Various confusions have occurred with regard to this 

 Iris. One nurseryman in England distributed it at an ex- 

 orbitant price as the American /. Purdyi, though a glance 

 at the description of the latter would have shown 

 that its flowers are always yellow. On the other 

 hand, /. humilis has been sent out from Holland under 

 this name, and the mistake is not likely to be easily 

 discovered, for 7. humilis is distinguished by the fact 

 that it seldom flowers at all. However, the two can be 

 distinguished even in leaf with a little care. The foliage 

 of /. humilis is stiff and rigid and somewhat glaucous, 

 while that of /. ruthenica is of more fan-shaped, drooping 

 growth without the glaucous bloom. 



