516 IRIDACE^E. (IRIS FAMILY.) 



opposite the stigmas, with extrorse anthers. — Flowers from a spathe of 2 

 or more leaves or bracts, usually showy. Style single : stigmas 3, opposite 

 the cells of the ovary. Pod 3-celled, loculicidal, many-seeded. Seeds 

 anatropous : embryo straight in fleshy albumen. Rootstocks, tubers, or 

 corms mostly acrid. — Represented in gardens by Crocus, Gladiolus, 

 Tigridia or Tiger-flower, and by three genera in the wild state. 



1. Iris. Outer divisions of the perianth recurved ; the inner erect : stigmas petal-like. 



2. Pardaiithus. Perianth equally spreading : filaments nearly distinct: stigmas dilated 

 S. Sisyrincliium. Perianth regular and equally spreading : filaments monadelphous t« 



the top : stigmas thread-like. 



1 . IRIS, L. Flo*ver-de-Luce. 



Perianth 6-cleft ; the tube more or less prolonged beyond the ovary ; the 3 

 outer divisions spreading or reflexed ; the 3 inner smaller and erect. Stamens 

 distinct ; the oblong or linear anthers sheltered under the overarching petal-like 

 stigmas (or rather branches of the style* bearing the true stigma in the form of 

 a thin lip or plate under their apex) : most of the style connate with the tube 

 of the perianth. Pod 3 - 6-angled, coriaceous. Seeds depressed-flattened. — 

 Perennials, with sword-shaped or grassy leaves, and large showy flowers; ours 

 all with creeping and more or less tuberous rootstocks. ('IptSi the rainbow 

 deified, anciently applied to this genus on account of the bright and varied 

 colors of the blossoms.) 



* Stems leafy and rather tall (1° - 3° high), from thickened roof stocks, often branching : 



tube- of the perianth shoHer than the divisions, which are beardless and crestless, 

 the erect inner ones (petals) much smaller than the outer. 

 -t- Flowers violet-blue, variegated ivith greenish, yellowish or white, and purple-veined. 



1. I., versicolor, L. (Larger Blue Flag.) Stem stout, angled on 

 one side ; leaves sword-shaped (%' wide) ; ovary obtusely triangular with the sides 

 flat; flowers (-2^' -3' long) short-peduncled," the funnel-form tube shorter than 

 the ovary; pod oblong, turgid, with rounded angles. — Wet places: common. 

 May, June. ' . 4 



2. I. Virginica, L. (Slender Blue Flag.) Stem very slender, terete ; 

 leaves narrowly linear (2" -3" wide); flowers slender-peduncled (H'-2' long), 

 the tube extremely short; ovary 3-angled, each side 2-grooved ; pod sharply 

 triangular. (I. prismatica, Pursh. I. gracilis, Bigel.) — Marshes, Maine to 

 Virginia and southward, near the coast. June. 



■*- •*- Flowers yellowish or dull reddish-brown. 



3. I. Cliprea, Pursh. Stem and leaves as No. 1 ; tube of the perianth 

 cylindrical, as long as the 6-angled ovary; petal-like branches of the style 

 narrow. — Swamps near Cairo, S. Illinois (Dr. Vasey), and southward. May. 



* * Stems low (3' -6' high), from tufted and creeping slender (or here and there tuber- 



ous-thickened) rootstocks, 1 - 3-ftowered : tube of the perianth long and slender ; 

 the violet-blue divisions nearly equal. 



4. I. verna, L. (Dwarf Iris.) Leaves linear, grass-like, rather glau- 

 cous ; the thread-like tube of the perianth about the length of the divisions, which 



