MONOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS 45 



12. IRIDACEJE. IRIS FAMILY. 



Perennial herbs from bulbs, corms, or rootstocks. Leaves 

 2-ranked, equitant. Flowers perfect, regular or irregular, each 

 subtended by two bracts. Perianth 6-parted, the tube adher- 

 ent to the ovary, the segments in 2 series of 3 each, equal, or 

 the inner ones smaller. Stamens 3, distinct or united, oppo- 

 site the outer segments. Ovary forming a 3-celled, 3-angled, 

 3-valved, many-seeded, dehiscent capsule.* 



I. CROCUS, L. Crocus. 



Leaves radical. Flowers sessile on the corm. Tube of the 

 perianth very long and slender, its divisions all alike or 

 nearly so. Stigmas 3-cleft. 



1. C. vernus. SPRING CROCUS. Leaves linear. Stigmas short. 

 Flowers white, blue, or purple. Our earliest garden flower. Culti- 

 vated from Europe. 



H. IRIS, Tourn. 



Rootstock thick, creeping, branching, horizontal, sometimes 

 tuberous. Stems erect, simple, or branched. Leaves linear or 

 sword-shaped. Flowers showy, epigynous, the outer perianth 

 segments spreading or recurved, often bearded within, the 

 inner segments usually smaller and erect. Stamens inserted 

 in the base of the outer segments. Style deeply 3-parted, the 

 divisions broad and petal-like, covering the stamens. Fruit 

 an oblong or oval, 3 or 6 angled, many-seeded capsule.* 



1. I. versicolor, L. LARGE BLUE FLAG. Rootstock thick, hori- 

 zontal. Stem cylindrical, smooth, simple or branched, leafy, 2-3 ft. 

 high. Leaves linear, sword-shaped, finely nerved, with a bloom, the 

 lower l-2 ft. long, the upper snorter. Bracts longer than the 

 pedicels. Flowers terminal, single, or few together, blue variegated 

 with white, yellow, and purple, perianth segments not bearded, 

 the inner ones smaller. Ovary 3-angled, longer than the inflated 

 perianth tube. Capsule oblong, slightly lobed, seeds 2 rows in each 

 cell. In wet places.* 



2. I. germanica, L. FLEUR-DE-LIS. Rootstock thick, matted. 

 Stem stout, branched, leafy, 2-3 ft. high. Leaves strap-shaped, 



