SWEET-SMELLING PLANTS 



57 



flowers are sweetly honey-scented. In cultivation it requires but 

 little care, although the perfume from its bloom is more powerful 

 when the plant is grown in a poor light soil than when produced in 

 rich ground. 



Icica altissima. — A Central American tree, with odorous wood and 

 foliage. /. Tieptaphylla, another scented kind, yields a material 

 used as incense. 



Idesia polycarpa. — A Japanese shrub of compact growth, bearing 

 strongly- scented flowers. 



Illicium anisatum (Aniseed Tree of China). — With scented fruit, 

 largely used in Chinese cookery, and for medicinal purposes. /. 

 religosum, a sacred Japanese variety, used in funeral decorations 

 and for burning as incense. /. jioridanum, from Texas, bears red 

 scented flowers. The leaves when bruised exhale a powerful aro- 

 matic odour. 



I matophyllum. — A sx^ecies of Amaryllis. 



Indigofera fragrans. — A variety of Indian shrubs, bearing scented 

 purple flowers. 



Inula odora (Ploughman^ s S2nhenard). — A hardy herbaceous perennial, 

 one of an extensive family ; native of the South of Europe, with a 

 pleasing aromatic smell in both leaves and flowers. 



Ipomcea (Morning Glory). — A tropical climber of the Convolvulus 

 family, bearing beautiful trumpet-shaped blooms of the most bril- 

 liant colours imaginable. In their native habitat the plant is of 

 rapid growth, and covers large spaces in a short time ; the foliage 

 also is attractive. Many varieties are sweetly scented, others have 

 no trace of this favour. I. Bona Nox is an Eastern species that 

 produces white fragrant flowers which open at sunset and droop at 

 sunrise. 



Iris. — Most of the Iris are natives of Europe, China, Japan, the Nortli 

 of India, and the temperate regions of Asia and Africa. Several 

 are quite hardy, and not a few hail from Siberia, while Russia, 

 Germany, Hungary, Turkey, Spain, and Persia have all contributed 

 to our rich collections which have been in process of enlargement 

 for over three hundred years. 



No hardy border flowers are more showy, or have a more pleasing 

 appearance than the many fine varieties of bulbous Iris that possess 

 a dainty perfume. To compare them to a mass of Orchids hardly 

 does them justice, for, excepting the Lcelias and Cattleyas which we 

 see exhibited, none of the Orchids can approach them in the gor- 

 geousness of their colours ; while the quaint form and rich per- 

 fume render many of them equal in interest and beauty. They 

 are suitable for beds, and form a striking combination when 



