iridace^e. (iris family.) 517 



are oblong-obovatc and on slender claws, the outer ones slightly hairy down 

 the orange-yellow base, crestless; pod obtusely triangular. — Wooded hillsides, 

 Virginia, Kentucky, and southward. April. 



• r ). I. crist&ta, Ait. (Crested Dwarf Iris.) Leaves lanceolate (3' -5' 

 long when grown) ; those of the spathe ovate-lanceolate, shorter than the thread- 

 like tube of the perianth; which is 2' long and much longer than the light blue 

 obovate short-clawed divisions, the outer ones crested but beardless ; pod sharply 

 triangular. — Mountains of Virginia, Kentucky, and southward. May. — 

 Creeping rootstocks pungently acrid. 



6. I. laciistris, Nutt. (Lake Dwarf Iris.) Tube of the perianth rathe?- 

 shorter than the divisions (yellowish, ^' -\' long), dilated upwards, not exceeding 

 the spathe : otherwise as in the last, and too near it. — Gravelly shores of Lakes 

 Huron and Michigan. May. 



2. PAEDANTHUS, Ker. Blackberry-Lily. 



Perianth 6-partcd almost to the ovary ; the divisions widely and equally 

 spreading, all nearly alike, oblong with a narrowed base, naked. Stamens mona- 

 delphous only at the base : anthers oblong. Style club-shaped, 3-cleft, the nar- 

 row divisions tipped with a small dilated stigma. Pod pear-shaped ; the valves 

 at length falling away, leaving the central column covered with the globose 

 black and fleshy-coated seeds, imitating a blackberry (whence the popular name). 



— Perennial, with rootstocks, foliage, &c. of an Iris ; the branching stems 

 (3° -4° high) loosely many-flowered ; the orange-yellow perianth mottled above 

 with crimson purple spots (whence the name from nap8os, a leopard, and avdos, 

 a flower). 



1. P. Chinensis, Ker. (Ixia Chinensis, L.) — Sparingly escaped from 

 gardens into waste places. July -Sept. (Adv. from China, &c.) 



3. SISYRINCHIUM, L. Blue-eyed Grass. 



Perianth 6-parted ; the divisions alike, spreading. Stamens monadelphous to 

 the top. Stigmas thread-like. Pod globular, 3-angled. Seeds globular. — Low 

 slender perennials, with fibrous roots, grassy or lanceolate leaves, mostly branch- 

 ing 2-edged or winged stems, and fugacious umbelled-clustered small flowers 

 from a 2-leaved spathe. (Name composed of <ri>s, a hog, and pvy^os, snout, from 

 a fancy that the hogs are fond of rooting it up) 



1. S. Bermudiana, L. Stem winged, naked, or 1 -2-leaved; leaves nar- 

 row and grass-like ; divisions of the perianth obovate, more or less notched at 

 the end, and bristle-pointed from the notch. (Leaves of the spathe almost equal, 

 shorter than the flowers.) — Var. Anceps (S. anceps, Cav.) has a broadly winged 

 scape, and the outer leaf of the very unequal spathe longer than the flowers. — 

 Var. MUCRONAtum (S. mucronatum, i[ichx.) has a slender and narrowly winged 

 scape, very narrow leaves, those of the spathe sharp-pointed and unequal, one of 

 them usually lonper than the flowers. But there are various intermediate forms. 



— Moist meadows, &c, among grass; common everywhere. June -Aug. — 

 Flowers small, delicate blue, changing to purplish, rarely whitish ; or, in var. 

 Albidum (S. albidum, Raf) pure white: Illinois, Kentucky, and westward. 



