220 LETTER XVIII. 



alike that vou can hardly distinguish them ; below a 

 kind of cup, formed by the union of these parts, is a 

 long ribbed ovary {^fig- 1. a-), which contains three 

 cells and many seeds {fig. 6.). The three stamens are 

 in this genus grown into a column {fig. 2.) like the 

 column of a Passion-flower ; but in other genera they 

 are distinct ; each at its point curves away from the 

 stigma as if to convey its anther {fig- 2. d.) as much 

 as possible out of the reach of it, averting from it 

 its face {fig. 2. d.^. The style is a small cylinder, 

 divided at its end into three broad lobes {fig. 2. e.), 

 each of which is separated into two parts {fig. 3.) cut 

 cut up into five hair-like segments : these lobes are 

 the stigmas. 



In Iris, the genus from which the tribe takes its Latin 

 name {Iridacece), the structure is more curious than in 

 Ferraria ; the three sepals are broad and spreading, 

 and often ornamented with a beautiful feathered crest ; 

 the three petals stand erect, and curve over the 

 centre of the flower ; while the stigmas are broad 

 richly coloured parts, resembling petals, and curve 

 away from the centre, as in the Ferraria. At first 

 sight you would suppose the Iris was altogether des- 

 titute of stamens ; but if you lift up the stigma you 

 will find the runaways snugly hidden beneath their 

 broad lobes, and lying close to a humid lip through 

 which the influence of the pollen is conveyed to the 

 ovules. This widening of the stigma is a very com- 

 mon event in the Cornflag tribe ; even in the Crocus 

 it occurs, only the stigmas are so rolled up that you 

 do not discover it until you unroll them ; they are. 



