IRIS FAMILY. 



129 



1. I. longipetala Herbert. Leaves 10 to 22 in. long, 4 to 6 lines 

 broad, equaling or rather exceeding the flower-peduncles; pedicels 

 f to If in. long; bracts scarious at apex, 1\ to 4 in. long, f to If in. 

 broad (when spread out); sepals white, veined with violet or violet 

 above, 3 in. long, \\ to \\ in. broad, narrowed to a short claw, the 

 claw with a very prominent ventral ridge which disappears in the 

 middle of the blade; petals light violet, 2f in. long, 6 or 7 lines wide; 

 anthers 8 lines long; lobes above the stigma broader and more obtuse 

 than in no. 3, more evidently overlapping; capsule narrowed at each 

 end, 2 in. long. 



Point Isabel (Contra Costa Co.) and about San Francisco, where it 

 is very common; thence southward to Monterey. 



2. I. Douglasiana Herbert. Stem 1} to 2 ft. high, much exceeded 

 by the (4 to 6£ lines wide) radical leaves; bracts broader and less 

 acuminate than in the next; flowers 2 or 3 in a pair of bracts, 

 mostly cream-color or azure; the pedicels 1 in. long; perianth-tube 

 6 to 12 lines long; sepals 2 in. long or more; capsule narrowly 

 oblong, If to 2 in. long. 



Common in the Coast Ranges from the Vaca Mountains and 

 Howell Mountain southward to San Mateo Co. May-June. The 

 color of the flowers is exceedingly variable, but the species may be 

 known from the next by its long pedicels, shorter perianth-tube and 

 stouter habit. 



3. I. macrosiphon Torr. Ground Iris. Stems low and slender, 

 much shorter than the leaves which are 5 to 10 in. long and 2 lines 

 broad; bracts lanceolate, long acuminate, 1\ to 3£ in. long; flowers 

 1 or 2, very shortly pediceled, with slender tube \\ to 2^ in. long; 

 perianth violet-purple; sepals oblong-obovate, their lower or middle 

 portion blotched or veined with white, the margin above often 

 undulate, about If in. long; petals oblanceolate, of a uniform color; 

 anthers 6 lines long; capsule about 1 in. long. 



San Mateo and Marin Cos. northward. Apr. 



2. SISYRINCHIUM L. Blue-eyed Grass. 

 Glabrous plants. Stems slender, 2-edged or -winged, often genicu- 

 late, from fibrous roots, with grass-like or lanceolate leaves and 

 fugacious, relatively small flowers in umbels enclosed by 2 sheathing 

 herbaceous bracts, with scarious bractlet subtending each pedicel. 

 Perianth 6-parted, the divisions alike, spreading. Stamens mona- 

 delphous, their anthers alternate with the branches of the style; 

 stigmas thread-like. (Name of Theophrastus for a bulbous plant 

 allied to Iris.) 



Flowers purplish-blue; filaments united to the top \. S. bellum. 



Flowers yellow; h laments unitt-d only at base 2. S. Calif or nicum. 



1. S. bellum Wats. Blue-eyed Grass. Nigger-babies. Erect. 

 10 to 15 in. high, the stems somewhat branching; leaves shorter than 

 the stem, 1 to 2\ lines wide; bracts 1 in. long, enclosing about 7 

 flowers; perianth purplish-blue, segments oblong-obovate. conspicu- 



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