IRIS FAMILY 



Early in June, just as the bloom of the German Irises is waning, 

 the beauty and brilliancy of the genus passes on to another great 

 garden group known as the Spanish Irises. Their color range is 

 of marvellous beauty: white, blue, yellow, and brown in bewilder- 

 ing combinations. Three forms are in general cultivation; the 



most common that with nar- 

 row falls spreading laterally; 

 the Portuguese, Iris lusitan- 

 ica, with relatively broad falls 

 which rise slantingly; and 

 the old form known as the 

 Thunderbolt, Iris spectabilis, 

 of bronzy flowers which are 

 larger in all their parts than 

 the type. The gardeners say 

 that these Irises need a full 

 supply of water in order to 

 do well. The English Irises, 

 Iris xiphibides, closely follow the Spanish kinds and keep up a 

 succession of attractive flowers. As is well known, they are not 

 English at all, but Spanish, yet having come into Holland by way 

 of England they received the name of their foster-land. The 

 leaves are wider and the flowers larger than those of the Spanish 

 types. This group has been cultivated for at least two hundred 

 and fifty years. 



Spanish Iris. Iris xifhium 



JAPANESE IRIS 



Iris larvighta. Iris Kmmferi. 



Native to eastern Siberia and Japan. Long cuhivated by the 

 Japanese in many varieties. June. 



5oo/.— Rhizomous. 



Leaves.— Thin, sword-shaped, one to two feet high. 



5tew.--Taller than the leaves, obscurely angled, spathe two to three 



flowered. 



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