IRIS FAMILY 45 
1. H. hirsuta Coville. Star Grass. Leaves longer than the scape, 
both sparsely set with long, soft hairs. Scape 3-8 in. high. Flowers 
1-4, about } in. across, yellow. Common in meadows and dry woods. 
12. IRIDACEAE. Iris Famity * 
Perennial herbs from bulbs, corms, or rootstocks. Leaves 
Zranked, equitant. Flowers bisexual, often actinomorphic, 
each subtended by two bracts. Perianth 6-parted, the seg- 
ments epigynous in 2 series of 3 each, equal, or the inner 
ones smaller. Stamens 3, distinct or united, opposite the 
outer segments. Ovary forming a 3-celled, 3-angled, 3-valved, 
many-seeded, dehiscent capsule.* 
I. CROCUS L. 
Leaves springing from the corm. Flowers sessile on the 
corm. Tube of the perianth very long and slender, its divi- 
sions all alike or nearly so. Stigmas 3-cleft. 
1. C. vernus All. Spring Crocus. Leaves linear. Stigmas short. 
Flowers white, blue, or purple. Our earliest garden flower. Culti- 
vated from Europe. 
I. IRIS L. 
Rootstock thick, creeping, branching, horizontal, sometimes 
tuberous. Stems erect, simple or branched. Leaves linear or 
sword-shaped. Flowers showy, the outer perianth segments 
spreading or recurved, often bearded within, the inner seg- 
ments usually smaller and erect. Stamens inserted in the base 
of the outer segments. Style deeply 3-parted (Fig. 8), the 
divisions broad and petal-like, covering the stamens. Fruit an 
oblong or oval, 3- or 6-angled, many-seeded capsule (Fig. 9).* 
1. I. versicolor L. Large Biurz Frage. Rootstock thick, horizon- 
tal. Stem cylindrical, smooth, simple or branched, leafy, 2-3 ft. high. 
Leaves linear, sword-shaped, finely nerved, with a bloom, the lower 
13-2 ft. long, the upper shorter. Bracts longer than the pedicels. 
Flowers terminal, single or few together, blue variegated with white, 
yellow, and purple; perianth segments not bearded, the inner ones 
smaller. Ovary 3-angled, longer than the inflated perianth tube. Cap- 
sule oblong, slightly lobed; seeds 2 rows in each cell. In wet places.* 
