io6 Tall Bearded Iris 



to be native to Germany — not even any of the varieties 

 of the species botanically called "germanica". Of 

 late there has been a growing inclination to substitute 

 some other name for this group. "Germanica" will 

 probably be retained as the name of the species so 

 established by Linnaeus, for it is strictly a botanical 

 name, and such names are not changed lightly — 

 rarely, if ever, for merely sentimental reasons; but 

 for the retention of "German", as applied to the 

 group, there seems to be little reason, especially in 

 view of the number of species included in the group 

 and the name being inaccurate and misleading as to 

 each of them. "French Irises" has been suggested 

 as a substitute, but there are so very few species 

 native to France that "French" seems to be but little 

 more appropriate than "German". "Liberty Irises" 

 has been suggested, but the Iris for centuries was the 

 emblem of imperial France. "Victory Irises" has 

 been proposed, but Louis VII, who is supposed by 

 some to have adopted the Iris as his emblem in the 

 expedition of the Crusaders (see page 74) did not 

 therein achieve victory, and in Europe the "Lilies of 

 France" sometimes went down in defeat. "Flag 

 Irises" and "Bearded Flag Irises" also have been 

 proposed, but not only is "Flag Irises" now generally 

 understood to include both tall and dwarf bearded 

 species and some beardless species, but "Flags" has 

 come to be the common name for the marsh loving 

 species (see pages 81-84), ^^^ it is also given indis- 

 criminately to plants of similar foliage, calamus 

 (Acorus) and the cat-tail reed (Typha). 



