HYACINTH OR IRIS? 63 



England. The Dutch growers had it, in the first 

 instance, from English sailors or merchants, and 

 either mistook its place of origin or named it 

 after the nation from whom they received it. 

 The flowers, with the extraordinary variety they 

 show, their somewhat stiff method of growth and 

 great development, are decidedly more typical of 

 the nation of gardeners than of the nation whose 

 name they bear. 



Among the irises, both bulbous and tuberous, 

 now grown in Holland I regret to say I have not 

 been able to identify the iris of Clusius — " Clusius 

 his first great Flowerdeluce." "This Flowerdeluce 

 hath divers long and broad leaves, not stiff like all 

 the others, but soft and greenish on the upper side, 

 and whitish underneath." The flower was "of a 

 fair blue, a pale sky colour in most," and showed 

 in the six lower petals a tendency to turn up at 

 the edges, the three smaller and upper of these 

 parting at the lip and standing up " like unto two 

 small ears." The description of the flower reads a 

 little like a Spanish Iris, and the native place was 

 clearly Spain ; but the leaves sound quite different 

 to those of the Spanish as we know it, also the 

 time of blooming is placed too early. The flower 

 is described as very sweet of scent, and "the root 



