iRiDACE^. (iris family.) 517 



are oblong-obovate and on slender claws, the outer ones slightly hairy down 

 the orange-yellow base, cresiless; pod obtusely triangular. — Wooded hillsides, 

 Virginia, Kentueky, and southward. April. 



5. I. cristiltEl, Ait. (Ceested Dwarf Iris.) Leaves lanceolate (3' -5' 

 long when grown) ; those of the spathe ovate-lanceolate, shorter than the thread- 

 like tube of the perianth; which is 2' long and much longer than tlie light blue 

 obovate short-clawed divisions, the outer ones crested but beardless ; pod sharply 

 triangular. — Mountains of Virginia, Kentucky, and southward. May. — 

 Creeping rootstocks pungently acrid. 



6. I. laCTistris, Nutt. (Lake Dwarf Iris.) Tube of the perianth rather 

 shorter than the divisions (yellowish, J' - 1' long), dilated upwards, not exceeding 

 the spathe : otherwise as in the last, and too near it. — Gravelly shores of Lakes 

 Huron and Michigan. May. 



2. PABDANTHUS, Ker. Blackberet-Lilt. 



Perianth 6-parted almost to the ovary; the divisions widely and equally 

 spreading, all nearly alike, oblong with a narrowed base, naked. Stamens mona^ 

 delphous only at the base ; anthers oblong. Style club-shaped, 3-cleft, the nar- 

 row divisions tipped with a small dilated stigma. Pod pear-shaped ; the valves 

 at length falling away, leaving the central column covered with the globose 

 black and fleshy-coated seeds, imitating a blackberry (whence the popular name). 



— Perennial, with rootstocks, foliage, &c. of an Iris; the branching stems. 

 (3° -4° high) loosely many-flowered ; the orange-yellow perianth mottled above 

 with crimson purple spots (whence the name from ndpSos, a leopard, and avOos, 

 a flower). 



1. P. Chikensis, Ker. (Ixia Chinensis, L.) — Sparingly escaped from 

 gardens into waste places. July- Sept. (Adv. from China, &c.) 



3. SISTRINCHIUM, L. Blue-eyed Grass. 



Perianth 6-parted ; the divisions alike, spreading. Stamens monadelphous to 

 the top. Stigmas thread-like. Pod globular, 3-angled. Seeds globular. — Low 

 slender perennials, with fibrous roots, grassy or lanceolate leaves, mostly branch- 

 ing 2-edged or winged stems, and fugacious umbelled-clustered small flowers 

 from a 2-leaved spathe. (Name composed of <tvs, a hog, and pvyxos, snout, from 

 a fancy that the hogs are fond of rooting it up.) 



1. S. Bermudidma, L. Stem winged, naked, or l- 2-leaved; leaves nar- 

 row and grass-like ; divisions of the perianth obovate, more or less notched at 

 the end, and bristle-pointed from the notch. (Leaves of the spathe almost equal, 

 shorter than the flowers.) — Var. Inceps (S.anceps, Cav.) has a broadly winged 

 scape, and the outer leaf of the very unequal spathe longer than the flowers. — 

 Var. MUCEONA.TnM (S. mucronatum, Michx. ) has a slender and narrowly winged 

 scape, very narrow leaves, those of the spathe sharp-pointed and unequal, one of 

 them usually longer than the flowers. But there are various intermediate forms. 



— Moist meadows, &c., among grass; common everywhere. Juno -Aug. — 

 Flowers small, delicate blue, changing to purplish, rarely whitish ; or, in var. 

 Albidc.m (S. albidura, Raf) pure white : Illinois, Kentucky, and westward. 



