6o 



IRIDACEAE 



Xerine 



(Gr. nereis, a sea-nymph) 



1. Flowers scarlet; stamens straight 



2. Flowers pale pink ; stamens curved 



3. Flowers bright pink (hybrid of 1. and 2.) 



A', curvifolia 

 N. flexuosa 

 N. Manselli 



Iridaceae — Iris Family 



Herbaceous plants with bulbs, corms, or rootstocks, from which come the solitary flowers, 

 scapes, or leafy stems; sepals 3, petals 3, stamens 3, pistil 1, ovary 3-celled, inferior, style with three 

 branches; flower syncarpous, sympetalous or apopetalous, epigynous, regular or somewhat irregular; 

 sepals petal-like, but sometimes differing considerably from the petals. 



1. Style branches petal-like, concealing the stamens 



a. Perianth-tube present; plants with bulbs or creeping rootstocks Iris 



b. Sepals and petals separate to the base ; plants with corms Moraea 



2. Style branches not petal-like ; stamens obvious 



a. Stemless ; flowers rising directly from the corm Crocus 



b. Leafy stemmed ; flowers in spikes or racemes 



(1) Style branches cleft into 2 thread-like subdivisions Freesia 



(2) Style branches not cleft 



(a) Flowers regular, salver-shaped Ixia 



(b) Flowers somewhat irregular, funnel-shaped 



x. Bracts leafy ; flowers decidedly irregular Gladiolus 



y. Bracts papery; flowers slightly irregular Tritonia 



Iris — Iris 

 (Gr. iris, rainbow) 



1. Garden plants with creeping rootstocks, blooming in early summer, often 



with a few autumn flowers 



a. Flowers lavender; leaves about 2 dm. long /. cengidlti 



b. Flowers dark purple ; leaves 3-4 dm. long /. germdnica 



2. Bulbous spring-blooming plants, sometimes forced into winter blooming 



a. Stemless, blue, flowering in the greenhouse in early winter /. aldta 



b. Long stemmed, variously colored, flowering in late winter /. xipkium 



Moraea — Peacock Iris 



(Named for Moraeas, father-in-law of Linn§) 

 Slender plant with white and blue iris-like flowers 



Crocus — Crocus 



(The Greek name) 

 Spring flowering plants often forced into winter blooming 



1. Flowers yellow 



a. Anthers orange ; sepals brownish on outside 



b. Anthers pale ; sepals clear yellow 



2. Flowers violet to white 



M. pavonia 



C. susidnus 

 C. moesidcus 



C. vera us 



Freesia 



Greenhouse bulbous plants with fragrant flowers in irregular racemes 



1. Flowers whitish-green and purple 



2. Flowers pure white 



3. Flowers yellow and orange 



Ixia 



(Gr. ixos, birdlime, from the sticky sap) 

 Greenhouse bulbous plants with flowers in spikes 



1. Flowers white or yellow with a dark eye 



2. Flowers purplish with a dark eye 



Gladiolus 



(Lat. gladiolus, small sword, from the shape of the leaf) 

 Various garden hybrids of G. cardinalis, G. psiit acinus, and other species. 



F. refrdcla 



F . rcjrdcta dlba 



F. Leichtlini 



I. maculdia 

 I. columelldris 



