214 



POPULAR FLORA. 



101. IKIS FAMILY. Order IRIDACEJi;. 



Herbs tvitli perennial roots, commonly with rootstocks, bulbs, or corms, and with equitant 

 leaves (151, Fig. 64) ; the flowers perfect, regular or irregular; tube of the corolla-like 



perianth below coherent 

 with the surface of the 

 ovary, and so appearing 

 to grot_ from its summit ; 

 stamens only 3, one before 

 each of the outer divis- 

 ions of the perianth ; their 

 anthers turned outwards, 

 i. c. looking towards the 

 perianth and opening on 

 that side. Ovary 3-celled, 

 making a many-seeded 

 pod : style one : stigmas 

 3, often flat or petal-like. 

 Herbage, rootstocks, &c. 

 generally acrid or sharp- 

 tasted. Flowers generally 

 showy, and from a spathe 

 of one or more leaf-like 

 bracts, or from the axils of 

 the uppermost leaves, each 

 one generally opening but 

 once. 



iilecl 



5M. Plant of Creslotl Dwai-f Iris 515. Top of the style and tlie 3 petal-like fill 

 2 nf the stamens. 513. Magiiilietl pistil and lower ]>art of the lijhc of the perhin 

 leiigtliwise : the folngy cut nw.iy. 517 Lower patl of a pod, dividetl c/OBswise. 518. Seed, 

 519. Magnified section of the same, showing the embryo 



Filaments mouadelphous in a tube which encloses the style as in a sheath: stigmas 

 thread-shaped: perianth 6-parted nearly to the ovary, widely spread- 

 ing, opening in sunshine and for only one day. 



Flowers small, blue or purple, with 6 equal obovate divisions: stigmas simple: stems 

 or scapes flat or 2-winged, from fibrous roots; leaves narrow and 

 grass-like, {Slsyrincliium) Blue-eyed-Gkass, 



Flowers very large, oi-ange and spotted with crimson and purple ; the 3 inner divisions 

 much smaller and narrowed in the middle: stigmas each 2-cleft: 

 scape terete, from a coated bulb; leaves plaited, {TiffTidia) *Tiger-flower, 



Filaments separate: stigmas flattened, or petal-like. 



Perianth 6-parted down to the ovary, regular and wheel-shaped, the divisions obovate- 

 oblong, all alike, yellow, with darker spots: seeds remaining after the 

 valves of the pod fall, berry-like and black, the whole looking like a 

 blackberry (whence the common name). Stems leafy below, from a 

 rootstock: leaves sword-shapedt {Parddntlius) *Blackbekry-Lily. 



