54 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



expected them to be delicate. Of one species, indeed, /. 

 Douglasiana, from the neighbourhood of San Francisco, the 

 foliage is at its best in winter, and a broad clump of the 

 evergreen leaves is a striking sight at the time when most 

 other Irises are looking their worst, or have hidden their 

 heads entirely beneath the surface. 



The beauty of the flowers of these Irises is, however, well 

 worth the few elementary precautions that must be taken in 

 order to establish the plants. /. Douglasiana has the most 

 bewilderingly variable colour forms, from the deepest violet, 

 through rosy-lilac, to a pale yellowish-fawn colour. The 

 stems produce several heads, each bearing several flowers, 

 so that the display lasts for some weeks. 



Another almost equally variable species, both in stature 

 and in colour, is /. macrosiphon, which, as its name implies, 

 has a long perianth tube. The stem may be very short or 

 as much as 6 inches in length, and the colour seems to 

 vary from a deep purple to pale lavender and even white. 

 This Iris is rarely seen in cultivation, owing to the difficulty 

 in establishing the plant to which allusion has already been 

 made. 



A closely allied pair of Californian species consists of 7. 

 bracteata and /. Purdyi. In both the flowers are yellow, the 

 shade being somewhat deeper in /. bracteata, and the falls 

 have the same curious network of brown-crimson veins. 

 The difference between the plants lies in the fact that 7. 

 bracteata has a very short perianth tube, while that of 7. 

 Purdyi is about 2 inches in length. The leaves of the 

 former are scanty in number and very tough, about ^-j 

 inch broad, while those of the latter are more numerous 

 and only about half the width. 



