IRISES 547 
Flowers with reddish-tipped green sepals, and bluish purple petals ; 
bracts carmine. Introduced from the Peruvian Andes, 1867. 
T. psirractNa (parrot-like). Leaves thin, slender, strap-shaped, in- 
flated and recurved, yellowish. Flowers green-tipped, bracts bright red 
below and deep yellow above; July. Introduced from Rio Janeiro, 1828. 
T. REGINA (queen). Leaves about 4 feet long, broadly sheathing at 
base, and recurved at the points. Flowers white, perfumed like Jasmine ; 
bracts rose-coloured, in a branching panicle; scape about 7 feet high. 
Introduced from South Brazil, 1867. 
T. SPLENDENS (splendid). Leaves strap-shaped, concave at base, 2 
feet long, green above, paler beneath, zoned with dark fuscous irregular 
bands. Flowers yellow; bracts bright red, keeled. Introduced from 
French Guiana. Plate 252. Other genera of BROMELIACE sometimes 
represented in gardens are: Ananas, to which belongs the Pine-apple ; 
Bromelia, Caraguata, Cryptanthus, Dyckia, Piteairnea, and Puya. 
Generally speaking, the cultural directions given for 
Karatas apply to Tillandsias, though the stronger-growing 
species, like 7. regina and T. splendens, require a richer soil than there 
prescribed. For these substitute a compost of fibrous loam, rotted 
manure, and a little peat. 7. carinata, T. Lindeni, and T. psittacina 
do better in loam, peat, and leaf-mould, with the addition of a few 
crushed bones. Plenty of heat and sunlight, good drainage, abundant 
water in the growing period, with syringing twice a day, are main points 
in the successful growing of these plants. In botanical collections—at 
Kew, for instance—the genus is largely represented, and some of the 
species are widely different from those here described, the whole plant 
in some instances being only an inch or two high. The plant known as 
“Spanish Moss,” or “ Old Man’s Beard,” is a Tillandsia, ie. T. usneoides. 
The small species are grown in baskets along with tropical Orchids. 
Description of Tillandsia splendens, reduced to one-eighth of the 
Plate 252. natural size. Fig. 1 is a detached flower and bract; 2, a 
section through the flower; 3, a cross-section of the ovary, showing the 
divisions; 4, a few of the seeds (enlarged) in their natural position in the 
ovary. 
Cultivation. 
IRISES 
Natural Order Irn1pE&. Genus /ris 
Irts (Greek name for the rainbow: in allusion to the diverse colouring). 
A genus of about two hundred species of mostly hardy herbaceous 
