IRIS FAMILY 



Scape. — Cylindrical, bearing two or more flowers at the summit. 



Flowers. — About four inches across, borne from a long spathe. 



Perianth. — Segments in two sets; dissimilar but grown together in a 

 cup at the base, spreading at the top. Outer segments obovate, brill- 

 iantly colored and spotted; inner segments fiddle-shaped, smaller than 

 the outer, also brilliantly colored and spotted. 



Stamens. — Three, the filaments united into a long cylindrical tube 

 which encloses the style. 



Ovary. — Three-celled; style long, with three two-parted branches. 



Tigridia pavonia has been in cultivation in the gardens of 

 Europe for more than three hundred years. It is one of the ten- 

 der bulbous plants 

 of Mexico which in 

 order to flourish at 

 the North require 

 the same treatment 

 that we give to gladi- 

 olus. Although a 

 most unique and in- 

 teresting plant, it 

 cannot compare with 

 gladiolus either in 

 beauty or effective- 

 ness, for its flowers 

 are both solitary and 

 fugitive. The color 

 range of this fantas- 

 tic flower is splendid, 

 reaching the extreme 

 hues of red, orange, 

 and yellow in combi- 

 nations so barbaric 

 that the tiger and the peacock may well stand sponsors for its 

 name. A child of the tropics, it rejoices and thrives under the 

 heat of our summer sun. 



In the genus there are some eight or ten species whose habitat 

 ranges from Mexico to Peru and Chili; only one is found within 



94 



Tigridia. Tigridia favbnia 



