AN ALPHABETICAL LIST OF 



planted in clumps among evergreens. They are also remarkable 

 as being one of the very few excellent hardy flowers that success- 

 fully resist the dust and smoke of even the largest cities. 



The division of the tribe comm.only known as the Spanish Iris, 

 with its crisply formed flowers, quaint in form as Gothic carvings, 

 and at the same time the dazzling rich mixture of colouring of the 

 hundred varieties, render it a charming feature in a June garden. 



The varieties of the Japanese species are most valuable. They 

 have handsome, green, lanceolate leaves, spreading in a pleasing 

 fan-like outline. Their large Clematis-like flowers are perfectly 

 distinct from all others. They are very freely produced in the 

 brightest and most pleasing arrangement of colours. Tlie following 

 dainty kinds are all exquisitely scented : — 



/. Balceriana, strongly perfumed. /. Barnumce^jeWow^ an ex- 

 ceedingly charming variety, with a deliciously fragrant odour, not 

 unlike the Lily of the Valley. /. Florentina, white, blue, and yellow, 

 violet-scented ; the Orris root of commerce is produced by this 

 plant, and is extensively cultivated in Italy ; it exhales when dry a 

 delightful fragrance, rendering it very useful for scenting toilet 

 and tooth powders. /. gramincEa, I. pallida, pale, blue, and yellow, 

 with the odour of Orange-blossoms. /. Persica, the Persian Iris, 

 a jumble of delicate colours, and sweetly perfumed. /, stylosa, a 

 delicately beautiful and fragrant variety, flowering in winter. 

 I. Buthenisa, I. virescens, I. Histrie, I. Monnieri, and /. verncb an 

 American variety. /. reticulata, a very pretty type, rich in colour, 

 and as fragrant as a bunch of Violets ; a few clumps will pervade' 

 the whole garden with a rich odour. 

 Ismene. — A bulbous class of beautiful flowering plants from South 

 America. In the way of Eucharis Amazonica, many of them are 

 quite equal to that queenly flower, in the size, purity, and substance 

 of their blossoms, of the most elegant form, occasionally marked with 

 delicate emerald-green stripes, and delightfully scented. These 

 fine plants are a source of ornament to our stoves, their pure 

 white fragrant flowers being a delight to every one. Man}^ kinds 

 are to be found in the borders at Kew ; those having the opportunity 

 of visiting these public gardens can, in the season, feast their vision 

 with the beauty thus distributed. They are, for the most part, 

 evergreen bulbs, and the great majority of them have pure 

 white flowers, yielding a most grateful perfume. They have long 

 slender tubes, and one or two flowers arranged with fern in a small 

 glass afl'ords a chaste and graceful adjunct to a sitting room or sick 

 chamber, the fragrance yielded by them being strong, but most 

 pleasurable and desirable. /. Amancaes, rich yellow, striped green, 



