516 ieidacejE. (iris family.) 



opposite the stigmas, with extrorse anthers. — Flowers from a spathe of 2 

 or more leaves or bracts, usually showy. Style single : stigmas 3, opposite 

 the cells of the ovary. Pod 3-celled, loculicidal, many-seeded. Seeds 

 anatropous : embryo straight in fleshy albumen. Rootstooks, tubers, or 

 corms mostly acrid. — Represented in gardens by Crocus, Gladiolus, 

 TiGRiDiA or Tiger-flower, and by three genera in the wild state. 



1. Iris. Outer divisions of the perianth recurved ; the inner erect : stigmas petal-like. 



2. Pardantlius. Perianth equally spreading : filaments nearly distinct : stigmas dilated. 

 3- SLsyriiicliium. Perianth regular and equally spreading : filaments monadelphous to 



the top : stigmas thread-like. 



1 . IRIS, L. Flo WEE-DE-LucE. 



Perianth 6-cleft ; the tube more or less prolonged beyond the ovary ; the 3 

 outer divisions spreading or reflexed ; the 3 inner smaller and erect. Stamens 

 distinct ; the oblong or linear anthers sheltered under the overarching petal-like 

 stigmas (or rather branches of the style, bearing the true stigma in the form of 

 a thin lip or plate under their apex) : most of the style connate with the tube 

 of the perianth. Pod 3 - 6-angled, coriaceous. Seeds depressed-flattened. — 

 Perennials, with sword-shaped or grassy leaves, and large showy flowers ; ours 

 fill with creeping and more or less tuberous rootstocks. {'ipif, the rainbow 

 deified, anciently applied to this genus on account of the bright and varied 

 colors of the blossoms. ) 



« Stems leafy and rather tall {1° - 3° high) , from thickened rootstocks, often branching : 

 tube of the perianth shorter than the divisions, which are beardless and crestless, 

 the erect inner ones (petals) much smaller than the outer. 



■^ Floioers violet-blue, variegated with greenish, yellowish or white, and purple-veined. 



1. I. versicolor, L. (Lakgee Blue Flag.) Stem stout, angled on 

 one side ; leaves sword-shaped (|' wide) ; ovary obtusely triangular with the sides 

 flat; flowers (2^'- 3' long) short-peduncled, the funnel-form tube shorter than 

 the ovary ; pod oblong, turgid, with rounded angles. — Wet places : common. 

 May, June. 



2. I. Virginlca, L. (Slendee Blue Flag.) Stem t'en/ s/enc^tr, terete ; 

 leaves narrowly linear (2" -3" wide); flowers slender-peduncled (li'-2' long), 

 the tube extremely short; ovary 3-angled, each side 2-grooved ; pod sharply 

 triangular. (I. prismatica, Pursh. I. gracilis, Bigel.) — Marshes, Maine to 

 Virginia and southward, near the coast. June. 



■<- -t- Mowei'S yellowish or dull reddish-brown. 



3. I. ctiprea, Pursh. Stem and leaves as No. 1 ; tube of the perianth 

 cylindrical, as long as the 6-angled ovary; petal-like branches of the style 

 narrow. — Swamps near Cairo, S. Illinois (Dr. Vasey), and southward. May. 



* * Stems loiv (3' -6' high), from tufted and creeping slender (or here and there tuber- 

 ous-thickened) rootstoclcs, I - 3-floivered : tube of the perianth long and slender; 

 the violet-blue divisions nearly equal, 

 i. I. v6rna, L. (Dwaef Iris.) Leaves linear, grass-like, rather glau- 

 cous ; the threaddike tube of the perianth about the length of the divisions, which 



