AMERICAN IRISES 77 



which we only know as dried herbarium specimens. It 

 is doubtful whether living plants of some of these could 

 stand the long journey, unless they came by post through 

 Siberia, but seeds would soon give us a stock of plants, 

 probably more vigorous and better acclimatised than any 

 transplanted roots. 



I. ruthenica is a very widely distributed plant in the 

 wild state, but it has suffered from neglect in our gardens, 

 owing to the fact that some of its varieties live on from year 

 to year without flowering. To what cause this is due 

 it is impossible to say, for other forms growing in similar 

 conditions a few feet away throw up many flowers, and 

 very pleasing they are, with their pink-edged spathes and 

 blue falls veined with white. It does not seem fastidious 

 as to the soil in which it grows, but it does object to being 

 moved, except while growth is active. The grassy leaves 

 are arranged in spreading, fan-shaped tufts, which soon 

 spread into great mats. 



For half-shady spots, low down, when the soil is kept 

 cool and somewhat moist, two small American Irises, 

 /. cristata and I. lacustris, are eminently suited. The 

 latter is nothing but a dwarf, deep-coloured relative of 

 the former, but it has the additional merit of flowering in 

 September and October, as well as in the spring. They 

 both require well-rotted vegetable mould, to which the 

 addition of small, gravelly stones will prove beneficial by 

 helping to retain moisture. The delicate lavender or lilac- 

 coloured flowers are spreading in outline and set off by an 

 irregular, yellow-dappled crest, recalling the well-known /. 

 japonica, to which indeed these species are distantly related. 



America also supplies us with a group of most beautiful 



