IKIS FAMILr. 333 



§ 2. Perianth parted almost to Ihe base iidu 6 nearly equal widely spreading divisions .■ 

 stamens separate or nearly so ; style 3 - Q~lobed. 



2. PARDANTHUS. Foliage and aspect of an Iris with leafy branching stem, 



from a rootstock. Divisions of the flower oblong with a narrow base. Fila/- 

 ments slender, much longer than the anthers. Style long, club-shaped, its 

 simple branches tipped with a broad and blunt stigma. Pod pear-shaped ; 

 the valves falling away expose the centre covered with black berry-like 

 seeds. 



3. NEMASTYLIS. Stem simple or sparingly branching above, from a solid bulb' 



like that of a Crocus. Divisions of the flower obovate. Filaments awl- 

 shaped, much shorter than the linear anthers. Style short, its 3 lobes parted 

 each into two, bearing long amd thread-like diverging stigmas. Pod truncate. 

 Seeds dry, angular. 



§ 3. Perianth deeply cleft or parted into 6 widely spreading dimsions ; stamens mon- 

 adelphous to the top ; .style long: stigmas 3 or 6, thread-like : Jiowers opening 

 " in sun^dne-and but oncejbr a few hours. 



-- i. SISYKINCHIUJl. Root mostly fibrous: leaves grass-like. Divisions of the 

 wheel-shaped flower all alike. Stignias 3, simple. 

 6. TIGRIDIA. From a solid bulb with some hard brittle coating. Leaves lance- 

 olate, large, very much plaited. Thrfee outer divisions of the perianth very 

 large and with a concave base; the other 3 very much smaller and fiddle- 

 shaped. Stigmas 3, each 2-cleft. 



§ 4. Perianth tubular at base, the 6 divisions all more or less spreading : stamevs sepa- 

 rate: style long: stigmas 3, more or less dilated: flowers lasting fn- several 

 days. Plants from solid bulbs or corms. (Lessons, p. 45, fig. 71, 72.) 



6. GLADIOLUS. Flowers numerous in a spike, on a rather tall leafy stem 



remaining open, irregular, the short-funnel-shaped tube being somewhat 

 curved, and the divisions more or less unequal, the floAver commonly oblique 

 or as if somewhat 2-lipped. Stamens (inserted on the tube,) and style as- 

 cending. Leaves sword-shaped, strongly nerved. 



7. CROCUS. Flowers and narrow linear leaves rising from the bulb, the ovary 



and pod seldom rais^ above gi-ound : perianth with a long and slender tube ; 

 its oval or roundish'^ijyisions alike, or the 3 inner rather smaller, concave, 

 fidly spreading only in sun|pnfe 'Leaves with revolute margins. 



There are brides many tender pjfflftjiojC the family in choice collections, the 

 greater part confined to the conservatonS^^f mostly belonging to 



Ixia macul&ta, of Cape of Good Hope, and others, once of that genus, 

 now called Spaeaxis, Watsonia, &c. ; also to MoNTBRixiA or Teit6nia, &c. 



Sohiz6stylis OOeoinea, from South Africa, lately introduced : not very 

 tender, with long and keeled linear leaves, and stems 3° high, bearing a spike 

 of bright crimson-red flowers 2' across, the ovate acute lobes all alike and widely 

 spreading from a narrow tube ; the slender style deeply cleft (whence the name) 

 into 3 thread-like branches. 



Morsea iridoldes, of the Cape ; very like an Iris, as the specific name 

 denotes ; but the 6 divisions of the perianth all nearly alike and widely spread- 

 ing, white with a yellow spot on the 3 outer ones. 



1. IRIS, FLOWER-DE-LUCE, BLUE FLAG. (Greek and Latin my- 

 , thological name, and name of the rainbow. ) El. spring and early summer. 



§ 1. Wild species of the conntry, all with creeping rootstocks. 

 * Dwarf, with timple very short stems {or only leafy tufts), 1 -3 flowered in early 

 spring, from creeping and branching slender rootstocks, here and there tuber- 

 ous-thickened: flowers violet-blue, with a long slender tube, and no beard. 

 I. v6rna, Slender Dvtaef-Iris. Wooded hillsides, from Virginia and 

 Kentucky S. ; with linear grassy leaves, tube of flower about the length of its 

 almost equal divisions, which are on slender orange-yellow claws, the outer ones 

 crestless. 



I. cristita, Crested D. Along the Alleghanies, &c., sometimes cult ; 

 with lanceolate leaves, or the upper ovate-lanceolate, tube of flower (2' long) 

 much longer than the scarcely stalked divisions, the outer ones crested; pod 

 sharply triangular. 



