IRIS FAMILY. Iridaceae. 



IRIS FAMILY. Iridaceae. 



A large family, widely distributed and found throughout 

 our continent. Perennial herbs, with bracts; the leaves 

 long, narrow, toothless, and sheathing ; the flowers showy, 

 perfect and regular, twisted in the bud, not falling off in 

 withering, of three and six parts; the three stamens on the 

 base of the sepals, their anthers turning outward; the 

 single style with three branches; the ovary inferior, be- 

 coming a three-celled, usually three-angled, many-seeded 

 capsule. This family is noticeably distinguished from the 

 Lily family by the inferior ovary, and from the Amaryllis 

 family by the three stamens. 



There are many kinds of Iris. To the casual observer 

 the flowers appear to have nine petals of different sizes, 

 but in reality there are three sepals, three petals, and three 

 petal-like branches of the style. The three outer divisions, 

 or sepals, are large and spread or turn down; the three 

 inner divisions, or petals, are usually narrower and are 

 erect; the style branches arch over and under each is a 

 stamen. The sepals and petals have claws, which are 

 united below and form a tube; the capsule is large and 

 contains many, flat, black seeds, in one or two rows in 

 each cell; the large rootstock is usually fleshy. Iris is 

 from the Greek for " rainbow, " in allusion to the variegated 

 tints, and Flower-de-luce from the French "fleur-de-lis," or 

 "lily-flower." Many odd and beautiful kinds are culti- 

 vated from the Old World. Orris-root is made from the 

 roots of a Florentine species. 



A very handsome and decorative plant, 



growing in large clumps, in damp situa- 



Iris Missouriensis tions > from stout, creeping rootstocks. 



Violet, blue The stiff, sword-shaped leaves, mostly 



Spring, summer shorter than the stems, are smooth and 



Wash ^Tnd^re Hght bluisn -g reen and tne stout stems, 



from one to two feet high, bear usually 



two, pale- violet flowers, about three inches long, emerging 



from thin, papery bracts. The sepals are white, or pale 



blue, delicately veined with violet, with a yellow-veined 



rib down the middle, the petals are pale blue or pale violet, 



veined with purple, and the buds are yellowish, veined 



with brown. This grows in profusion in the Yosemite 



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