926 



PRACTICAL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS 



IHIS 



their permanent positions about Sept- 

 ember, and wUl flower the following year. 

 Prom seeds most of the fine forms in 

 cultivation have been derived. After 

 flowering the stems should be cut down 

 immediately (unless seeds are required) 

 so as to throw all the vigour to the 

 plants for next season. Every spring a 

 large number of rootstocks of this species 

 are imported direct from Japan, and find 

 a more or less ready sale. 



I. Leichtlini {I. vaga) . — A pretty species, 

 native of Turkestan, with creeping root- 

 stocks and erect slender sharp-pointed 

 narrow sword-like leaves. Flowers yel- 

 lowish, purple and brownish-red, with 

 broadly lance-shaped standards, and obo- 

 vate spoon-shaped falls having a bluish- 

 white beard. 



Culture dc. as above for ' Bearded 

 Irises,' p. 917. Ordinary garden soU. 

 Increased by division. 



I. longipetala. — A Californian species 

 2-3 ft. high, with narrow sword-like leaves 

 12-18 in. long. Flowers in Jime and 

 July, 2-3 in. deep, bright lilac, with obo- 

 vate falls, having a bright yellow keel and 

 violet veins on a white ground. 



Culture do. as above for ' Bearded 

 Irises,' p. 917. 



I. Lorteti. — A very handsome Onco- 

 cyclus Iris, native of S. Lebanon, resem- 

 bling I. Sari, I. Gatesi, and I. susiana, 

 with sword-shaped leaves and very large 

 flowers, very variable in colour. The 

 standards are pale pink or dehcate rose 

 veined with purple, the falls being pale 

 blue or lavender covered with crimson 

 spots, and a deep crimson or blackish- 

 purple blotch at the base. Other forms 

 may have creamy - yellow falls heavily 

 spotted with purple, and almost pure 

 white or pale violet standards distinctly 

 but very thinly veined with violet. 



Culture Sc. as above for ' Oncocyclus 

 Irises,' p. 918. When well grown this is 

 a most attractive Iris, and its inclination 

 to vary a good deal in colour is a great 

 point in its favour from a garden point of 

 view. 



I. lupina (Wolfs Ear Iris). — k very 

 distinct and handsome Oncocyclus Iris, 

 native of Armenia and Central Asia 

 Minor, intermediate between I. iberica 

 and I. srtsiana. It has compact rhizomes 

 and somewhat variable sickle-like leaves 

 about 9 in. long. Flowers in May and 



June, borne singly on stems 2-6 in. high, 

 with a very distinct colour, the result of 

 brownish-red veins on a creamy-yellow 

 or greenish-yellow ground, the red of the 

 veins often merging into deep dark purple, 

 the broad lance-shaped falls having a 

 triangular blotch of very dark, almost 

 blackish-purple in front of a diffuse 

 yellow beard at the base. The broad ellip- 

 tic standards are usually much deeper in 

 colour than the falls, and there is a good 

 deal of variation in the ground colour, 

 it being sometimes nearly a pure bright 

 yeUow. 



Culture dc. as above for ' Oncocyclus 

 Irises,' p. 918. 



I. lutescens. — A South European Iris 

 with slightly glaucous sword-like leaves, 

 and large handsome flowers produced in 

 May on round glaucous unbrauched stems. 

 Palls pale yeUow, tinged and veined with 

 purple-brown, and having a bright yellow 

 beard ; standards broader, primrose-yellow, 

 suddenly narrowed to a claw. The variety 

 Statellm is a handsome plant about 1 ft. 

 high, with pale yellowish flowers veined 

 with green, and bearded with bright 

 yellow. 



Culture dc. as above for ' Bearded 

 Irises,' p. 917. Ordinary garden soU. 

 Increased by division. 



I. Marise. — A pretty Oncocyclus Iris 

 about 6 inches high, from Egypt and 

 Palestine, having rather slender com- 

 pact rhizomes and foliage like that of 

 /. iberica but narrower and less distinctly 

 sickle-shaped. The flowers are smaller 

 than those of I, iberica, and of a uniform 

 lUac colour, marked with deeper coloured 

 veins and having a deep, dark purple 

 blotch at the base of the fall, the claw of 

 which is beset with deep purple hairs 

 crowded in the middle. This species was 

 first called Helenee, but that name had 

 been previously given to another plant 

 from the Caucasus referred to above. 



Culture dc. as above for ' Oncocyclus 

 Irises,' p. 918. 



I. Meda. — A handsome Persian Iris of 

 the Oncocyclus group with small slender 

 compact rhizomes, and very narrow erect 

 — not sickle-shaped — leaves. The flowers 

 in the typical species have pale lilac, 

 narrow pointed falls with a dense yellow 

 beard and a deep purple blotch at the base, 

 while the standards are of a paler lilac 

 colour. The colour in cultivated speci- 

 mens varies somewhat, and it is not 



