A SHORT PAPER ON IRIS. 



33 



honour upon their sceptres, they did it rightly and with good 

 sense of appreciation, and in a country where there was no lack 

 of material to compare with in other flowers. 



There is still remaining the small group of Crested Iris, of 

 ahout half-a-dozen species, the largest of which, I. tectorum, 

 Milesii, and japonica, or fimbriata, may be to the majority of 

 us considered greenhouse plants, will not stand hard frost, and 

 like their own treatment. I. tectorum, which is planted on the 

 top of thatch in Chinese houses, requires a wet spring growing 

 time, a hot summer, and a quite dry winter under glass. 

 I. japonica requires wet or damp perhaps all the year through, 

 also under glass for success. Such, at least, is my experience. 



I. cristata and I. lacustris are charming dwarf plants, the 

 first from the hills of Kentucky and Carolina, the second 

 from the shores of Lake Huron. Finally there is the group 

 of Beardless Iris, having, as we saw before, the most extensive 

 range of any. Though limited in number of species it has great 

 variety in form and size of plant and flower, from the quite 

 dwarf I. ruthenica and curious I. humilis to the Ochreoleuca 

 gigantea, six feet high, and, needless to say, treatment varies 

 with them. A light and well- drained soil suits some species — 

 notably the smaller ones — while the taller ones require a strong 

 soil, with here and there the chance of getting their feet in 

 water, as in the case of Iris Kamipferi, which the Japanese have 

 done so much with from I. lavigata as a garden flower. 



Irises are, I believe, on the whole averse to manure, but like 

 rich soil, with frequent division and replanting, that is, every 

 three or four years : this gives their rhizomes full chance for 

 sturdy growth and maturation. The moving, too, is best done, 

 at any rate for all beardless Irises, immediately after flowering, 

 as the plant then begins to send out its new roots, which build 

 up the flower of the next year, and if these roots then go down 

 to their right soil, there is no fear of check at transplanting or 

 loss of time in getting established. 



c 



