IRIS FAMILY, Jridaceae. 
IRIS FAMILY. Iridaceae. 
A large family, widely distributed and found throughout 
our continent. Perennial herbs, with bracts; the leaves 
long, narrow, toothless, and sheathing; the flowers showy, 
perfect and regular, twisted in the bud, not falling off in 
withering, of three and six parts; the three stamens on the 
base of the sepals, their anthers turning outward; the 
single style with three branches; the ovary inferior, be- 
coming a three-celled, usually three-angled, many-seeded 
capsule. This family is noticeably distinguished from the 
Lily family by the inferior ovary, and from the Amaryllis 
family by the three stamens. 
There are many kinds of Iris. To the casual observer 
the flowers appear to have nine petals of different sizes, 
but in reality there are three sepals, three petals, and three 
petal-like branches of the style. The three outer divisions, 
or sepals, are large and spread or turn down; the three 
inner divisions, or petals, are usually narrower and are 
erect; the style branches arch over and under each is a 
stamen. The sepals and petals have claws, which are 
united below and form a tube; the capsule is large and 
contains many, flat, black seeds, in one or two rows in 
each cell; the large rootstock is usually fleshy. Iris is 
from the Greek for ‘‘rainbow,”’ in allusion to the variegated 
tints, and Flower-de-luce from the French ‘‘fleur-de-lis,”’ or 
‘‘lily-flower.”” Many odd and beautiful kinds are culti- 
vated from the Old World. Orris-root is made from the 
roots of a Florentine species. 
A very handsome and decorative plant, 
Flag growing in large clumps, in damp situa- 
fris Missouriénsis tions, from stout, creeping rootstocks. 
Violet, blue The stiff, sword-shaped leaves, mostly 
Spring, summer shorter than the stems, are smooth and 
the 3 at Soe light bluish-green and the stout stems, 
from one to two feet high, bear usually 
two, pale-violet flowers, about three inches long, emerging 
from thin, papery bracts. The sepals are white, or pale 
blue, delicately veined with violet, with a yellow-veined 
rib down the middle, the petals are pale blue or pale violet, 
veined with purple, and the buds are yellowish, veined 
with brown. This grows in profusion in the Yosemite 
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Western Blue 
