128 



IRIDACEJE. 



Along stream banks in the outer Coast Eange woods: San Mateo 

 Co., northward to Ross Valley; Olema; Big River and Long Valley 

 (Mendocino Co.). Mar.-Apr. 



23. ASPARAGUS L. 



Stems from rootstocks, very much branched and with filiform 

 branchlets clustered in the axils of the scaly leaves. Flowers small, 

 solitary or in umbels or racemes. Perianth-segments alike, distinct 

 or slightly united, the stamens inserted on "their bases. Ovary 

 3-celled, with 2 ovules in each cell; style short, stigmas 3, recurved. 

 Fruit a globose berry. (Ancient Greek name.) 



1. A. officinalis L. Asparagus. Rootstock much branched; 

 stems tall and branching, 3 to 5 ft. high, when young stout, succulent 

 and edible; clustered branchlets 4 to 8 lines long; flowers green, 

 pendulous on jointed peduncles; perianth campanulate, 3 lines long, 

 with included stamens; berry red, 4 lines in diameter. 



An escape from, the gardens. Abundant in low lands about 

 Alameda and Bay Farm Island. 



12. IRIDACE>E. Iris Family. 



Perennial herbs, ours low, with stout stems and 2-ranked sword- 

 like and sheathing leaves. Inflorescence terminal. Flowers perfect, 

 with petal-like perianth of 6 divisions in 2 whorls. Stamens on the 

 base of the outer whorl, with extrorse anthers. Ovary 3-lobed, 

 becoming a 3-celled capsule. 



Stems terete; divisions of the perianth in two unlike whorls. . 1. Iris. 



Stems 2-edged or - winged; divisions of the perianth alike. . . 2. Sisyrinchium. 



1. IRIS L. Flag. 

 Stems terete, from creeping stout rootstocks. Flowers in the axils 

 of spathaceous bracts. Perianth- tube prolonged beyond the ovary; 

 outer segments or sepals obovate above the claw, spreading or 

 recurved; inner segments or petals narrower, erect. Style divided 

 into 3 petal-like branches, each branch with 2 lobes or appendages at 

 summit; stigma a small projecting shelf (stigmatic only on the upper 

 surface) situated on the lower surface of the branch just below the 

 lobes or appendages. Stamens with linear anthers tying close beneath 

 the branches of the style, i. e., opposite them. Capsule oblong, 

 3-angled. Seeds flattened or turgid, in 2 rows in each cell. (Greek 

 iris, the rainbow, the Greek species of the genus being celebrated for 

 its brilliant colors. I. Hartwegi Baker, of the Sierras in the Sugar 

 Pine belt, may be known by its separate often distinct bracts, leafy 

 stems and India-yellow flowers; the following species have the bracts 

 of the spathe closely approximate.) 



Flowers 3 to 5 in a cluster, pale violet or the sepals white, veined with purple; 



perianth tube 3 lines long 1. J. longipetala. 



Flowers 2 or 3 in a cluster, cream-color or azure; perianth-tube 6 to 12 lines 



long 2. I. Douglasiana. 



Flowers 1 or 2 in a cluster, violet; perianth-tube 1% to 2% in. long 



3. I. macrosiphon. 



