IRIDACEjE. 



609 



manica, I. pallida, and I. florentina yield orris root, which lias a pleasant 

 odour like violets, and an acrid taste, depending on the presence of 

 a volatile oil. It is imported from Leghorn, Trieste, and Mogador. 

 Orris-root is used chiefly for giving a pleasant odour to "the breath, 

 and in perfumery and tooth-powder. Orris-root starch is used for 

 hair-powder. Crocus satimts, the 0313 (Karcom) of the Old Testament, 

 furnishes the colouring material called Saffron. It consists of the 

 stigmata, which have a fine ~deep-orange colour. These stigmata are 

 either dried in the loose state, forming Hay Saflfron, or compressed 



Fig. S65. 



Fig. 856. 



Fig. 857. 



into masses, constituting Cake Saffron. The yellow colouring ingre- 

 dient is Polychroit, which possesses the property of being totally 

 destroyed by the action of the solar rays, and of forming blue tints 

 when treated with sulphuric and nitric acid. Saffron contains an active 

 volatile oil, and it has been used in the form of tincture and syrup, as 

 an emmenagogue and antispasmodic. The stigmata of Crocus autumnalis ' 

 and C. odorus also supply saffron. The roasted seeds of Iris pseuda- 

 corus have been used as a substitute for coffee. 



Figs. 865-857. Organs of fructifleation of Iris germanica, to illustrate the natural order 

 Iridacese, Fig. 855. Diagram of the flower, showing six divisions of the perianth in two 

 verticils, three extrorse stamens, and the 3-oelled capsule with numerous ovules, a. Posi- 

 tion of the axis of inflorescence. Fig. 856. Vertical section of the flower, ce. Outer divi- 

 sions of the coloured perianth, ei. Inner divisions of the perianth, t, Tube of the perianth 

 attached to the ovary, o, Inferior 3-oelled ovary, g. Numerous anatropal ovules, e e, 

 Stamens, s s, Petaloid stigmas. Fig. 857. Seed separated and cut longitudinally. (, 

 Integuments (spermoderin). j), Perisperm. e, Embryo enclosed in the perisperm. m, 

 Micropyle (foramen). 



2k 



