IRIS FAMILY. Iridaceae. 



meadows, at the foot of El Capitan, and is delicately 

 beautiful, but would be more effective if the coloring were 

 a little stronger. 



Douglas Iris ^ beautiful kind, very common in the 



Iris Douglasi&na Coast Ranges. It grows in patches, or 

 Purple, lilac, singly, and has rather dark green leaves, 



* ream longer than the flower-stalks, and lovely 



Spring, summer _ , . , ... , . , 



Cal., Oreg. flowers, which vary exceedingly in color. 



Near the coast they are usually bluish-pur- 

 ple, but in mountain woods they run from violet and mauve 

 to pink, yellow, and white. They are often striped with 

 white and yellow, delicately veined with purple, and measure 

 three or four inches across. In the redwood forests, in north- 

 ern California, they are peculiarly large and beautiful, their 

 delicate tints of cream and straw-color, tinged with mauve 

 and marked with reddish-purple, and wonderfully set off by 

 their dark forest background. This kind often blooms 

 throughout the rainy season, but chiefly in early spring. 



This odd and pretty little Iris grows in] 



Hartweg's Ins 



Iris Hartwegi half-dry, open forests, in the Sierra Nevada 



Yellow and violet Mountains. The many flower-stems ,1 

 Summer from six to twelve inches tall, are over-] 



topped by some of the long, narrow leaves] 

 and the flowers are from one and a half to two inches long, 

 either yellow, veined with violet, or pale-violet, veined! 

 with purple. The two color forms often grow together] 

 and attract much attention from tourists. They look , 

 very pretty, springing from a carpet of fallen pine-needles,J 

 in the forests along the Wawona road near Yosemite. 



A beautiful kind, forming low clumps) 

 Ground Ins . 



7m macroslphon of man y> ver y narrow leaves, from five toj 

 Blue, purple twenty inches long and much taller than j 



Spring, winter the flower-stalks. The handsome flowers! 

 are over three inches across, bright pur- 

 plish-blue, the sepals veined with darker color and marked 

 with a white stripe. This is common on grassy hills near 

 the coast and farther inland becomes taller and paler in 

 color. The flowers are slightly sweet-scented and begin 

 to bloom in January. The Hupa Indians used the leaves 

 for making twine and rope for their nets and snares. 

 There are many other beautiful western Irises. 



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