THE IRIS FAMILY 109' 



Iridaceae. 



The Iris Family. 



Distribution.— A large family, chiefly natives of warm and temperate 

 regions. Saffron is obtained from Crocus satimis, and orris root is the fragrant 

 rhizome of Iris florentina. The Flag, the Gladiolus, the Ixia, and the Crocus 

 are well-known garden plants. This family is represented in New Zealand by 

 the one genus Libertia. 



Gemiti Libertia. 



Herbs, with umbellate panicles of white flowers. Stamens with miited 

 filaments. Capsule rounded, leathery or membranous. Seeds angular, deeply 

 pitted in the New Zealand species. (Named after Madame Libert, a French 

 botanist). 3 sp. 



Libertia Ixioides. {The Ixia-Uke Libertia). 



Stem 6in.-2ft. in height. Leaves narrow, hard, pointed, Jin.-|in. broad. 

 Flower-stalk panicled. Branches enclosed in spathes, bearing umbels of fronr 

 2-10 white flowers. Perianth |in.-lin. across ; petals larger than the sepals. 

 Capsule brown or yellow, Jin. -Jin. long. Both Islands : common. Fl. Oct. -Jan. 



Libertia gi^andiflopa. (The Larye-flowered Libertia). 



Stem 2ft. -3ft. high. Leaves Jin. broad. Capsule Jin. -fin. long, turgid,, 

 obovoid. Both islands. Fl. Nov. -Dec. 



Orchidaceae. 



The Orchid Family. 



Perennial herbs, terrestrial or epiphytic, with remarkably irregular flowers. 

 Leaves entire, usually sheathing at the base. Perianth of 6 parts ; sepals 3 ; 

 petals 3, the lower of these called the lahellum or lip, usually large, spurred, and 

 differing in form from the other two. Stamens united with the style to form a 

 column, containing from 2-8 masses of pollen. Fruit a capsule ; seeds nmnerous. 



Distribution. — One of the largest orders of plants, consisting of nearly 5,000 

 species, and represented in alnrost every part of the globe, except where the 

 climate is excessively cold. The beauty and strange irregular shape of the- 

 flowers of this order are due to the variation in size, shape, and colour of the six 

 parts of the perianth. 



