Iridacece Pardanthus. 477 



a leafy stem and numerous orange-red spotted flowers nearly 2 

 inches in diameter. A native of China, blooming in Summer. 



11. IXIA. 



Usually dwarf bulbous plants with slender wiry steins bearing 

 simple or branched spikes of gaily coloured flowers. Perianth 

 with a long slender tube and a regular salver-shaped limb. 

 Stamens in the throat free or connate ; stigmas narrow, linear, 

 recurved. Species numerous, all South African, and very beau- 

 tiful, but better suited for pot culture than in the open ground. 

 The name is from ixia, birdlime, in reference to the nature of 

 the juice. Almost every colour is represented in this genus, 

 including one of the most beautiful greens. The following are 

 some of the handsomest : /. tricolor, yellow in the centre and 

 red in the circumference, the two colours separated by a band 

 of black ; /. bulMfera, yellow ; /. liliago, white within, lilac 

 without ; /. grandiflora, large dark purple flowers bordered 

 with a narrow band of yellow ; /. viridiflora, a very beautiful 

 plant with a slender stem about a yard high, bearing a long 

 cluster of green flowers witli a blue centre ; /. maculata, white 

 with violet and rose centre ; /. conica, orange with black 

 centre; /. patens, bright rosy carmine striped with deep 

 purple ; and numerous other equally beautiful species and 

 garden varieties. 



12. SPARAX1S. 



Similar to Ixia, but with a short perianth-tube widening 

 into a funnel-shaped limb, and scarious lacerated or rarely 

 entire bracts. Species numerous and beautiful, all from South 

 Africa. Leaves ensiform ; flowers on flexuous or zigzag scapes, 

 large, distant and brilliantly coloured. S. tricolor is one of the 

 handsomest and most widely spread species, and many very 

 distinct and beautiful varieties have been raised from it. The 

 name is derived from (nrapdaaw, to lacerate, referring to the 

 torn bracts. 



13. MONTBBETIA. 



South African tuberous or rhizomatous herbs with ensiform 

 leaves and spicate flowers arising from spathaceous bracts. 

 Perianth with a narrow often very long tube, gradually widening 

 into a bell-shaped or salver-shaped limb. Stamens ascending. 

 Bracts scarious, toothed, not jagged as in Spardxis. Several 

 species of this genus are in cultivation, and better known under 

 the name Tritonia. M. aurea with splendid orange-coloured 



