Tris. | LXXXII. IRIDEZ. 449 
1. 1. Pseudacorus, Linn. (fig. 1015). Yellow Iris, Yellow Flag.— 
Rootstock thick, horizontal, with numerous fibres. Stem about 2 feet 
high, Lower leaves often much longer, and 1 or 2 inches broad, stiff and 
erect, of a pale glaucous-green ; the upper ones much shorter. Flowers 
2 or 3, each proceeding from a sheathing bract, large, erect, of a bright 
yellow. Outer perianth-segments spreading, broadly ovate, fully 2 inches 
long, contracted at the base into an erect, broad claw; inner segments 
oblong and erect, scarcely longer than the claws of the others, Petal-like 
stigmas rather longer than the inner segments, 2-cleft at the top, with a 
short, scale-like appendage inside at the base of the lobes. Capsule green, 
2 to 3 inches long, with numerous pale-brown seeds, 
In wet meadows, and marshes, and along watercourses throughout Europe 
and Russian Asia, except the extreme north. Abundant in Britain, 
Fl. summer. [A well-marked variety, A. acoriformis, Bor., has darker- 
coloured sepals and shorter stigmas. | 
2. Z.foetidissima, Linn. (fig. 1016). Fetid Iris, Gladdon, Roast- 
beef-plant.—Not so large a plant as J. Pseudacorus, the leaves narrower, 
one or two only overtopping the stem, and the whole plant of a deeper 
green, smelling disagreeably when bruised. Flowers rather smaller, several 
together, of a violet-blue or rarely pale-yellowish white. Outer periantb- 
segments narrow-ovate, the inner ones reaching to about two-thirds their 
length. Petal-like stigmas scarcely so long. Seeds bright orange or 
scarlet, 
In woods and shady places, in western Europe. Abundant in many 
parts of southern England, scarce or local in the north, and only natu- 
ralized in Scotland and Ireland. #7. summer, commencing early. 
Il, GLADIOLUS, GLADIOLUS. 
Rootstock bulbous, the outer coating fibrous and more or less netted. 
Stems leafy, with a terminal, one-sided spike of flowers. Perianth oblique, 
the segments obovate or oblong, narrowed into a claw, and united in a tube 
at the base, the 3 upper ones and the 3 lower ones almost arranged in 2 
lips. Stamens ascending under the uppermost segments. Stigmas 2, 
slightly expanded, and entire. 
- A numerous genus, chiefly South African, with a few species in the 
Mediterranean and Caucasian regions, 
1, G. communis, Linn. (fig. 1017). Common Gladiolus Stem 1% 
to near 2 feet high. Leaves linear-lanceolate, shorter than the stem. 
Spike of 4 to 6 or 8 red flowers, all turned to one side, and sessile between 
2 lanceolate bracts. Perianth about 1} inches long, the expanded part of 
the segments oblong-lanceolate, the uppermost one broader and rather 
longer than the others. Anthers linear, shorter than their filaments. 
Capsule short, depressed at the top, with three prominent angles. 
In meadows, woods, and grassy heaths, in central and southern Europe, 
not reaching nearer us on the Continent than the Loire and the Rhine. 
In Britain, found in the New Forest, near Lyndhurst, among the Brakes, 
and in the Isle of Wight, but possibly introduced. Fl. early summer. 
The true Cornflag (G. segetum), a cornfield weed, is a rather more southern 
species, differing chiefly in its larger flowers, with the anthers longer than 
eg 
