48 LARGE BLUE FLAG. 



sharper and stiffer, stand erect and conceal the stamens and petal- 

 like stigmas, which lie behind them: an arrangement so suitable for 

 the preservation of the fructifying organs of the flower, that we 

 cannot fail to behold in it the wisdom of the great Creator. The 

 structure of the cellular tissue in most water plants, and the smooth 

 oily surface of their leaves, has also been provided as a means of 

 throwing ofl' the moisture to which their place of growth must neces- 

 sarily expose them; but for this wise provision, which keeps the 

 surface dry though surrounded with water, the plants would become 

 overcharged with moisture and rot and decay too rapidly to perfect 

 the ripening of their seeds— a process often carried on at the bottom 

 of streams and lakes, as in the case of the Pond-lily and other 

 aquatics. Our blue Lis, jow^ever, does not follow^ this rule, bemg 

 only partly an aquatic, but stands erect and ripens the large bony, 

 three-sided seeds in a three-sided membraneous pod. The hard 

 seeds of the Iris versicolor have been roasted and used as a substitute 

 for coffee. The root, wiiich is creeping, fleshy and tuberous, is 

 possessed of medicinal qualities. 



At present we know of only two varieties of i\\Q Iris. Iris 

 versicolor, and a tall slender variety with paler blue flowers and 

 rounder scapes. The former is the handsomer flower, being beau- 

 tifully varied with lighter and darker shades of blue, purple and 

 yellow— the latter shade being at the b?se of the flower leaves. 

 These are again veined with delicate lines and veiuings of darker 

 purple. 



The name Iris, as applied to this genus, was bestowed upon it 

 by the ancient Greeks, ever remarkable for their appreciation of 

 the beautiful, on account of the rainbow tinted hues displayed in the 



