353 
April ; ; April. 
po AUSTRIAN, DWAR E ERIS. 
Pl. 30 The Jvis’s, Tike other Plants long cultivated in This is the moft natural Diverfity; but it is 
) . Fig. 4: our Gardens, appear a confus’d tho’ elegant Fa- | fometimes white; and the fame Defect of Nou- 
OF GARDENING, 
mily. The Species in Nature are many, the Va- 
rieties rais’d by Art are more; and ’tis not in the 
common Eye to diftinguifh which has the cer- 
tain, which but the cafual Diftinction. 
‘We fhall erideavour to unravel the perplex’ d 
Thread, following Nature and her great Minifter 
Linn&vs, arranging here, and in fome fuc- 
ceeding Chapters, the feveral Varieties under thofe 
. Species to which they belong. 
The Aufirian Chame-Iris is Parent aif a nume- 
rous Family of Gardeners Variations; and has 
been defcrib’d under its various Forms as if many 
Species were found in them. | 
To have denominated the original Plant from | 
the Colour of its Flower, were to have left it un- 
known to the Gardener, becaufe of the many Vari- 
ations under his Care. We have therefore nam’d it 
from that Country where every cragey Hill and 
Sun-burnt Thicket fhews it native ; and where in 
richer and more favourable Soils its Colours ac- 
quire a Luftre hardly equal’d in our Gardens, 
_ The common Writers ‘call it Dis humilis latifa~ 
has Chameiris latifolia, and Chameiris minor. 
To thefe Names they add farther Diftinétions 
- from the Colour of the Flower, of whofe Changes 
we have fpoken; and it is not wonderful, that in 
allowing this as a Character, they have run into 
Confufion, and defcrib’d it many Times over. 
—— C. Bauuine calls it Chameiris minor flore pur- 
pureo, and Chameiris variegata, purple and varie- | 
vated Dwart ‘Tris: 
others, Iris violacea, Violet 
we | 
Linnaeus, taking his Additions from more 
certain Marks, calls it Jris corollis barbatis caulé 
foliis breviore uniflora: Bearded Jvis, with the 
Stalk fhogter than she Leaves, bearing a fingle 
Flower. 
_ The Root is tuberous, irrepular, and whitifh : 
~ it runs juft under the Surface, and not unfre- 
quently above it; and is thick, knotty, and of a 
faint but not unpleafing Smell. 
and naufeous. 
yk Tafte acrid | 
rifhment which denies Colour to the Flowers, re- 
ducing alfo their Subftance, they become papery, 
and, though the White wants Luftre, delicate and 
not unpleafing. 
The laft Variation .feen in the wild Plant, is, 
that the Petals are ftain’d with innumerable 
Veins, of a perfect violet; which, when the 
Body of the Flower has more of the purple, and 
lefs of the blue Tinct, rere a wopasrtatiy pleaf- 
ing Variation. 
Thus far Nature wantons in the Colouring of | 
this Flower ; but in Gardens the Luxuriance and 
Change aré endleis. 
The bearded Part at the Bafe of the Peaghi 
which is flighter in this than many other Species, 
is of a deep blue: the Petals that ftand upright 
will be of a pale, the others of a deep purple; 
both plain, or both vein’d : the upper Petals will 
be Flefh Colour, vein’d with purple, or ftain’d 
with white ; the others blue with yellow. 
-- The whole Flower will be Fleth-colour’d, ftain’d 
with a deep purple, in regular and beautiful Veins; 
and this either throughout or in the upper Petals’ 
only; the others being painted with a great deal 
of yellow. 
The lower Petals will be fometimes perfect 
gold, or vein’d lightly with a flefhy Crimfon: ; the 
upper ones in various Degrees purple. 
Thefe are the univerfal Tinéts; and thefe the — 
more peculiar Manners of their Diftribution: A 
Volume might be etnploy’d to defcribe them in - 
one well cultivated Border, 
We have confider’d hitherto the Colouring of ° 
the Flower, but we are now to lead the Bobtical 
- Student to its ‘Structure; which is not lefs fine 
gular. 
Fe ries feerningly - naked from the Stimmit of 
the Stalk, but at fome Diftance below there is a 
kind of filmy Scabbard, flight and irconfiderable. 
- Six Petals form the Flower, and they are truly 
diftin&, tho’ united by their Bottoms. They are 
oblong, large, wav’d at the Edges, obtufe at the 
. The Leaves: are numerous, and of a pale but } Ends, and vartduly difpos’d ; three are plac’d 
in a Point, they, are three gene in Length, and 
of a firm Subftance. 
In the Midft of thefe rifts a fingle Stalk, firm, 
knotty, flatted, and about two Inches high, bear- 
ing a fingle, but large and very confpicuous 
Flower. ‘The Leaves ee the Stalk in Height, 
but the Flower rifes above them; and the whoie 
Plant has a moft pledfing Afped. 
There is no Smell; but 
Nature has well 
aton’d: for that Defect in: Size and- Colour- | 
ing. Naturally the general Colour is:a blueifh 
Purple; paler and lefe glowing where the Soil 
does not fuit; but in more favourable Ground 
wild, it becomes deep and very rich i in ‘Tind. 
NY 30. 
_this is the Nectarium of the Flower. 
gy: elegant ¢ ercen: they are broad, and they terminate | outward, and thefe droop: three others ftand int 
~ward, and they are erect ; and at the Bafe of ‘each 
of the three outer Petals there is a bearded Line: 
- It is not fo 
corifpicuous in this 2s in fome other Species, but 
| lies in a Manner bury’d inthe Hollow of the Ped. 
emia: 
The Filaments are three, they are Gtuated upon 
the lower Petals, and they have oblong deprefs’d 
Buttons. 
The Style is fingle, and very fhort, ‘but its 
Top or Stigma, is extremely confpicuous, large, 
and divided into three expanded Segtents.. 
The Seeil-veffel is oblong, and pointed, and 
‘contains in three Cells nurnerous large Seeds. | 
4% The 
