The Iris. 245 



rhododendron, and the blue and violet varieties of Iris where 

 white, yellow, or pink flowers abound. 



Chalcedonian Iris — Iris Susiana, takes its name from 

 Susa, in Persia. This species requires a dryer soil and warmer 

 situation than most other kinds, and has many qualities to re- 

 commend it to our care. Its corolla is the largest of all the 

 species, the upper petals being as broad as a hand, and singular 

 in their colors, being striped with black and white, whilst the 

 fallin^ petals are of so dark a hue as to have given rise to the 

 name of mourning Iris. We learn from Clasius that this superb 

 Iris was first brought from Constantinople to Vienna and Hol- 

 land, in the year 1573. 



The hardy sorts of Iris are easily propagated by parting their 

 roots in the autumn ; and few flowers requiring so little atten- 

 tion produce so fine an effect as these plants, particularly when 

 their clumps are large. The flowers should not be removed 

 oftener than once in three or four years, as they seldom flower 

 so abundantly the year afier having been planted. 



The great Bulbous-rooted — Iris Xipiiioides, and the small 

 Bulbous-rooted — Iris Xiphium, are natives of Spain, and were 

 cultivated in England as long back as the era of Elizabeth, 

 though in their gardens as well as in our own, they are rather 

 rare than plentiful, though no flower which we can bestow our 

 attention upon will be found more ornamental, for they vary so 

 considerably in their corollas that scarcely two plants produced 

 from seed are painted in the same manner; but the approved 

 varieties are increased by offsets which they abundantly produce. 

 This Iris prospers best in a poor, light, sandy loam, where it is 

 exposed to an eastern aspect. The seeds are generally ripe in 

 August, and should be sown in slight drills about six inches from 

 each other. In the following spring the young plants appear 

 above the earth with a resemblance to young onions. In this 

 state they require no other care than weeding. In August 

 or September of the same year after sowing, they should be 

 transplanted into clumps or beds at about eight inches apart 

 each way ; in two or three years from their removal most of 

 them will blossom, and new varieties may be expected. In 

 Africa the roots of the Iris Edulis are esteemed as food after 

 being boiled, and they are eagerly sought for in that quarter of 

 the world by the monkeys. It is the Florentine Iris whose roots, 



