DiOSCOREACEAE ; Iridaceae 315 



the staminate flowers sessile, the tepals membranous, yellowish Var. sititoana (Honda & Jotani) Ohwi. D. sititoana 



green, spreading; capsules obovate-orbicular, about 20 mm. Honda & Jotani Shima-uchiwadokoro. With larger 



long. June-Aug. Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu. obovate-clliptic capsules 18-28 mm. long. Izu Isls. 



Fam. 55. IRIDACEAE Ayame Ka Iris Family 



Usually perennial rhizomatous or cormose herbs; leaves narrow, often 2-ranked, frequently laterally flattened; stems simple or 

 branched, flowers 2-bracteate, bisexual, actinomorphic or zygomorphic, usually large and showy; tepals 6, often connate at base, 

 2-seriate, ephemeral, petaloid, the tube adnate at base to the ovary; stamens 3, alternate with the inner tepals, the filaments fili- 

 form, free or connate, the anthers 2-locular, extrorse; ovary inferior, usually 3-locular, the ovules usually many in each locule, 

 anatropous; style 3-fid, the lobes sometimes lobulate; capsules loculicidal; seeds many, in 1 or 2 rows in each locule, the endo- 

 sperm fleshy or horny, the embryo small, straight. About 57 genera, with about 1,500 species, cosmopolitan. 



lA. Style-branches petaloid, broad, spreading and covering the anthers; tepals dimorphic 1. Iris 



IB. Style-branches slender, filiform, alternate with and not covering the anthers; tepals monomorphic 2. Belamcanda 



1. nUS L. Ayame Zoku 



Perennial herbs from stout branching rhizomes or corms; leaves mostly radical, 2 ranked, usually ensiform and laterally 

 flattened, parallel-nerved; stems or scapes erect, simple or sparingly short-branched, 1- to many-flowered; flowers large and 

 showy, ephemeral, 2 to several in the axil of a bract, the pedicels short or longer than the bract; perianth-segments in 2 

 series, usually dimorphic, mbular-connate below, the outer tepals clawed below, the limb (fall) spreading to reflexed, the 

 inner whorl usually erect, narrowed below; style-branches 3, spreading, covering the stamens, the style crests petaloid, bifid 



or fimbriate; capsules oblong to globose, 3- or 6-angled, often subterete; seeds many. About 150 species, in the temperate 



regions of the N. Hemisphere. 



lA. Plants relarively low and slender, the scapes less than 30 cm. high. 



2A. Leaves 2-5 mm. wide, the nerves not prominent, the sheath persistent, fibrous; bracteoles absent; perianth-tube about twice as long 



as the segments, the outer segments without a raised ridge inside 1. /. rossii 



2B. Leaves 5-15 mm. wide, 5- to 7-nerved, the sheath not fibrous; inflorescence sparsely branched, few-flowered; bracteoles brownish, 

 scarious, about 2 cm. long; perianth-tube shorter than the segments, the outer segments with a crested ridge on the middle inside. 



2. /. gracilipes 

 IB. Plants relatively tall, the scapes 40-70 cm. long. 

 3A. Outer perianth-segments (falls) with a median crested ridge inside; leaves 2-3 cm. wide; inflorescence more or less branched. 



4A. Pedicels as long as to slightly longer than the bract; leaves pale beneath; flowers rather numerous on each branch; bracteoles 



about 15 mm. long; inflorescence multibranched 3. I. japonica 



4B. Pedicels nearly absent; leaves concolorous; flowers 2-3 on each branch; bracteoles about 4 cm. long; inflorescence usually with 



a single branch 4. /. tectorum 



3B. Outer perianth-segments (falls) without a crested ridge. 

 5A. Stems solid. 



6A. Inner perianth-segments ver)' small, not more than 2 cm. long, lanceolate, acuminate-setose; flowers blue-purple; leaves without 



a prominent midrib 5. /. setosa 



6B. Inner perianth-segments larger, petaloid, usually more than half as long as the outer segments. 



7A. Leaves flat without a prominent midrib; flowers blue-purple in wild form; inner perianth-segments oblanceolate; ovary 



3-angled toward the base; capsules not beaked 6. /. laevigata 



7B. Leaves with a prominent raised midrib; flowers reddish-purple in wild form; ovary 6-anglcd; capsules beaked. . . 7. /. ensata 

 53. Stems hollow; leaves 5-12 mm. wide; claw of the outer perianth-segments yellow, suffused with blue 8. /. sanguinea 



1. Iris rossii Bak. Ehime-ayame, Tare-yue-s6. Rhi- short, branching, scarcely fibrous; leaves pale green, somewhat 

 zomes short, somewhat tufted, branching, ascending, brown glaucous beneath, 20-40 cm. long, 5-15 mm. wide, thin, sev- 

 fibrous; leaves elongating after anthesis, to 30 cm. long, 2-5 eral-nerved, slightly papillose on upper margin; scapes 15-30 

 mm. wide, as long as the scape in anthesis, thin, glaucous be- cm. long, 2- to 3-flowered, the green bracts 2-3, 5-10 cm. long, 

 neath, midrib not prominent, minutely papillose on upper ensiform, tlie branches 3-7 cm. long, the bracteoles connate at 

 margin; scapes 5-15 cm. long, 3- to 4-bracteate, 1-flowered, the base, 1.5-2 cm. long, the pedicels 1-2 mm. long, much shorter 

 bracts linear, green, long-acuminate, 4-6 cm. long, tire pedicels than the ovary; flowers 4-5 cm. across, pale purple, die peri- 

 about 8 mm. long; flowers blue-purple, 3.5-4 cm. across, the anth-tube about 12 mm. long, the outer segments obovate, very 

 perianth-tube slender, 4-6 cm. long, die outer segments nar- shortly clawed, with a median crest toward the lower half, the 

 rowly obovate, without a crested ridge in the center, clawed, inner segments ascending, spathulate-oblong; stigma appcnd- 

 the inner segments erect, slightly shorter than the outer ones; ages bifid, fringed; fruit globose; seeds obovate, about 3 mm. 



andiers yellow, about 4 mm. long, shorter than the filaments, long, keeled. May-June. Mountains; Hokkaido (sw. 



the stigma-appendage deeply bifid; capsules globose. Apr.- distr.), Honshu (Kinki Distr. and east^v.), Kyushu. 



May. Honshu (Chugoku Distr.), Shikoku, Kyushu. 3. Iris japonica Thunb. Shaga. Plants long-stolon- 



Korea, Manchuria, and n. China. iferous die rhizomes creeping; leaves evergreen, 30-60 cm. 



2. Iris gracilipes A. Gray. Hime-shaga. Rhizomes long, 2.5-3 cm. wide, green above, somewhat paler beneath. 



