IRIS. 



tliat the po\rcr of dirccrniiig things is the L-fs injured, inaf- 

 much as the pupil, which was in the beginning of the dif- 

 eafc narrow and oblong, becomes afterwards more capaci- 

 ous. This faft is Hkcwife confirmed by Richtcr in his Obf. 

 Chir. fafcicul. i. p. So. 



Scarpa has found the preceding treatment more fuccefsful 

 than any other, not excepting tlie method of cutting off 

 tlie protruded part of the iris with a pair of fciffors. This 

 lall plan, he thinks, is only advantageous when the iris is 

 ilrongly adherent to the internal lips of the wound or ulcer 

 of the cornea, or when the prolapfus has exided a long 

 while, and the projcfting portion of the iris has become in- 

 durated and callous, while its bafe, conftrided by the edges 

 of the wound, or ulcer of the cornea, not only adheres to 

 them, but has put on the appeanince of a kind of pedicle. 

 Scarpa, indeed, has fecn one inllance, where the little tu- 

 ' mour fell off of itfelf in confequence of the comprefhou made 

 upon its neck by the edges of the ulcer of the cornea. 

 Inis, Imp;rforate. See Pupil, Clofun of. 

 Ibis, in Botany, ipi,- of the ancient Greeks, fo named 

 from the various, and fomewhat concentric, hues of the 

 flower, which give an idea of the rainbow. Tlie modern 

 Greeks call it x,-iior, and the Txxr'ks fufsn, both which words 

 are fynonymous with our Illy, and the French lis, or J!.'ur-de- 

 lis— Linn. Gen. 27. Schreb. 36. WiUd. Sp. PI. v. i. 224. 

 Mart. Mill. Diet. V. 2. Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. 2. v. i. 1 15. 

 Sm. Fl. Brit. 41. .Tuff. 57. Lamarck. lUullr. t. 33. G.rrtn. 

 t. IJ. — Clafs and order, Trlandria Monogyn'ta. Nat. Ord. 

 Enfate, Linn. Irides, Jufl". 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Spathas of two valves, feparating the 

 flowers, permanent. Cor. in fix deep fegments, united into 

 a tube by their narrow bafes ; each oblong, obtufe ; the 

 three outermoft reflefted, three inner erect and moft acute. 

 Slam. Filaments three, awl-fliaped, lying on the reflexed 

 fegments of the corolla, and not half fo long ; anthers 

 vertical, oblong, ftraight, deprefTed. Fj/l. Germen inferior, 

 obljvg ; ftyle fimple, clofely enfolded by the tube of the 

 corc4ia ; ftigmas three, each with a petal-like, dilated, ob- 

 long appendage, keeled on the infide, furrowed at the outer, 

 lying over each ftamen, two-lipped, the lower lip fmall and 

 notched, upper larger, cloven, flightly reflexed. PerU. 

 Capfule oblong, angular, of three cells and three valves. 

 Scetls fevcral, large, more or lefs comprefied and angular. 



EfT. Ch. Corolla in fix deep fegments, alternately re- 

 flexed, fuperior. Stigmas with a petal-like two-lipped ap- 

 pendage. 



Obf. Botanifls have differed about the really efficient part 

 of the ftigmas of the Iris. The whole pctal-hke expanlion 

 was fuppofed by Linnxus and his followers to be the adlual 

 ftigma, or at leaft they had no precife idea of the exclulive 

 action of any particular part. The late Abbe Cavanilles 

 conceived the pollen to be received into a tubular opening 

 between the bafe of each ilamen and the extremity of the 

 ilyle, and there to perform its office. Kolreuter and 

 Sprengel, with much more probability, believe the upper or 

 inner furfacs of the fn.all lower lip of the petal-hke expan- 

 fion, which is glandular in that part, to be the real fligma, 

 and the latter has curioufly explained the mode in which bees 

 convey the pollen to this fpot. See Sims and Konig's An- 

 nals of Botany, v. 1.412. The ilignia of feveral fpecies 

 of Moraa comes very near that of Iris, and there has al- 

 ways been fome ambiguity between thefe two genera, which 

 we fhall endeavour to remove vv'hon we come to Mi)n.T;.\. 



Iris is a large and very natural genus. Tournefort fub- 

 divided it into feveral by the roots, which in fome fpecies 

 are tuberous^ in others bulbous. Some moreover have tlie 



upper furface of the reflexed fegments of the corolla fmooth, 

 wliilll in others tint part is beautifully bearded. 



In the Specii's Plaiitanim of Linnjeus are 22 fpecies ; in 

 Syft. V"eg. ed. 14. twice that number, Thunberg, who 

 wrote a diifertation on this genus, having greatly augmented 

 it. Pallas difcovered many new fpecies in his Siberian tra- 

 vels. Willdenov.' has 54 in ail. Mr. Ker diilers from thj 

 latter in the arrangement of many of them, eveii Lir.niean 

 ones, which he removes to Morxa, and he is fuliowtd i:;;. 

 plicitly by Mr. Dryander in the new edition of the Horlus 

 Ketvenfis. The whole are divided into four fettions. 



* Root iLick, /'Aid, horizontal. Fh-zu rs bcmdicfi. 



Of this the common Englifh /. Pjaidacorus, Engl. Lot. 



t. 57.S, lefs accurately figured in Curt. Lond. fafc. 3. t. 4, 



is an example. It grows in watery places, flowering iii July, 



and like every known Iris is perennial. The_y?a':y«- is bright 



. yellow, ilreaked with darker lines. 



* * Root thicJ:, foUd, horizontal. Flo'wers leardnl. 



To this feftion belong many of our garden kinds, as /. 

 fiifiana. Curt. Mag. t. 91, or Cha'cedonian Iris, fo remark- 

 able for its large flower, elegantly pencilled with black : /. 

 cri/lijta, Sm. Spicil. t. 13, found in America : as well as the 

 well-known Isjariegcifa, famhucina, jlorcntma, and gcrmanica, 

 natives of the Ibuth of Europe. 



* * * Root hiobby. Flowers beardkfs. 



This contains only /. tuherofa, V.. Grxc. Sibth. t. 41, 

 Curt. Mag. t. 531, known by its quadrangular leaves a:-id 

 Angularly dark flower. 



* « * * Root bulbous. Flowers beardkfs. 



Here are found the pretty /. Xiphium, Curt. Lond. 

 t. 6S6, which decorates many a cottage garden with its fwcec 

 blue and yellow bloffoms : /. p.vfica. Curt. Mag. t. i, more 

 delicately coloured : and, to fome perfons, exquifitely 

 fcented, though to others it is fcentlefs ; and /. Sifyrinchium, 

 Fl. Grac. Sibth. t. 42. Redout. Liliac. t. 29. The laft is 

 referred by Mr. Ker to l^Ionca. 



Iri.s, in Gardening, contains plants of the fibrous, tuberofc, 

 and bulbous.rooted, flowery, herbaceous, ;;eicir.i.!l kiicls ; 

 of which the fpecies cultivated are very r ■■':(•. 



following are fome of the principal ; tl 1. 1- 



mila) ; the Chalcedonian iris (I.fufiana) ; ^f,-; 



(I. florentina) ; the twi'ce-flowering iris . 1. I.-.(!-)r,.j ; tiv: 

 leaflefs iris (I. aphylla) ; the variegated iris (I. variegatal ; 

 the German iris (I. germanica) ; the clder-fcented iris (J. 

 fambucina) ; the brown-flowered iris (I. fqnalons) ; the 

 crefled iris (I. criilata) ; the trilid-petalled iris (,1. trieuf- 

 pis) ; the bulbous-rooted iris (I. xiphiumi ; the common 

 yellow, or water-iris (I. pfeud-acorus) ; tlie flinking iris (I. 

 fcetidiffima) ; the Virginian iris (I. virginica) ; tlie various- 

 coloured iris (I. verficolor) ; the pale-yellow iris (I. ochro- 

 linea) ; the fpring iris (I. verna) ; the Perfian iris (I. per- 

 lica) ; the grafs-leaved iris ( I. graminea) ; the fpurious iris 

 (I. fpuria) ; the Siberian iris (I.fibirica); the Martiiiico 

 iris (I. marlinicenfis) ; the peacock iris (I. puvonia) ; and 

 the fnake's-head ii-is (l. tuberofa ). 



The firll of thefe forts has varieties with white flo^vrs ; 

 with flraw-coloured flowers ; with pale-blue flowers ; wi;!j 

 blulh-coloured flowers ; with yellow variable flowers ; and 

 with blue variable flowers. 



The ninth fort has likewife varieties with bhie ftaadan's 

 and purple falls ; with pale-purple flandards ; with whi>c 

 ftandards ; and with a fmaller flower. 



The eleventh fpecies alfo varies greatly in the fhapc of the 

 larger petals, a,=! well as in the colours, as blue, purp4e, yel- 

 low, white, and fpotted. 



And the twelfth fort furnifhcs varieties with blue flowers ; 

 with violet-coloured flowers ; with white flowers ; with pur- • 

 5H2 pic 



