102 IRIS MISSOURIENSIS. —ROCKY MOUNTAIN IRIS. 
not certainly known. J/77s was a true Copy of her Original; she 
was handsome, and had a noble Air; and somewhat else in her 
Carriage that spoke her Divine Original. 
“According to the good Custom of the Parents who seek noth- 
ing but the Advantage of their children, Thaumantias and Electra 
made it their whole care to advance their Daughter and procure 
her a Station worthy of her birth; and at last, managed the 
Matter so well, that Juno took her for her First Maid of Honour. 
“Ziis indeed had but odd Cards to play, having to live in the 
one House with Jupiter, who, as all the World knows, was a God 
of an Unholy Character. But after all 77s lived there, and 
remained a Model of every Virtue; for she being sprung of such 
Blood as hated every Species of Dishonor, carry'd herself so 
steadily, that even the Sovereign of the Gods respected her. 
“Juno, prepossess’d with an opinion of the Girl’s Discretion, 
bestowed upon her, besides the place she had, the Office of receiv- 
ing the Souls of dying Women, and conveying them to their 
appointed Stations ; but this was not the only Favour she showed 
to /ris,; for, after that /vzs had served her a little while, she 
resolved that she should not only appear in Heaven, but that a 
flower should grow upon the Earth that should bear her Name, 
_ and be deck’d in imitation of her, with divers Colours. 
“Tn pursuance of this Resolution, the Goddess took a certain 
Liquor, in which /rzs blowed three times; then shaking it again 
and again in a little Vessel, she gave it to her Waiting-Maid, 
who, after applying it fora Moment to her Mouth, pour’d it upon 
the Earth, where, as soon as it fell, up started a Flower, that has 
ever since gone by the Name of /77zs.” 
Most /rises of the United States are found at low elevations 
and in damp situations; some few at elevations of one or two 
thousand feet; but the present species, /rzs Alissouriensis, 
grows in places high above the level of the sea and in districts 
where rain seldom falls. The following, from Longfellow’s 
“Evangeline,” exactly describes the location wherein our plant 
is found— 
