OTHER APOGON IRISES 67 



Moreover, it is spiteful even when gently handled, for the 

 rhizome is covered with long and very sharp spines, which 

 enter the flesh and then break off and make their presence 

 known in the most unmistakable way. The flowers are of 

 a greenish-yellow, and, as catalogues have it, it is a plant 

 " of botanical interest." I. Aschersonii is somewhat similar 

 in appearance ; but it flowers more easily and its spines are 

 less vicious. /. masia is a purple-flowered plant of the 

 same structure as the other two, but though the late Max 

 Leichtlin once had it in cultivation and sent it to Foster, 

 with whom it flowered, it is apparently not to be obtained 

 at present. 



The remaining Apogon Irises hardly seem to fall into 

 any group. For instance, we have in England a very 

 peculiar Iris, namely /. fcetidissima ; its habit is peculiar to 

 itself, and so too are its orange-red seeds, which cling fast 

 through the winter to the open capsules. Its usual form 

 has dingy purple flowers of but little beauty, but there 

 is to be found a yellow-flowered variety which is some 

 improvement in this respect on the type. It is worth 

 growing in half-shady places for the decorative value of 

 the seed capsules in winter. Its leaves should be carefully 

 handled, for they requite rough treatment by emitting a 

 curious half-foetid odour. 



The small Japanese species /. minuta seems to stand 

 by itself except for another species from China, not in 

 cultivation, which, as far as can be seen by herbarium 

 specimens, is closely allied to it. It produces about the 

 middle of April small yellow flowers tinged with brown, 

 and the plant is peculiar in that nodules form on its roots 

 as on those of leguminous plants. It is not yet certain 



