14:8 JOURNAL OF THE EOTAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



plants it ages ago found its way into the New World, but was 

 nearly driven out again by the glacial descent from the North, 

 and now is only represented by such starved and altered forms 

 as the I. cristaia and I. verna of the Eastern coast, and the 

 strange little I. Jacustris of the shores of Lake Huron. In its 

 westward progress it has been more happy. I. Milesii, from the 

 Kulu valley, is singularly intermediate between I. tectorum and 

 I. nmbriaia, though its home is far away from that of both of them. 

 I. Kingiana and Dutheii, for our acquaintance with which we 

 are indebted to Mr. Duthie, are also members of this group, as 

 is also an Iris from Lahul, which I have ventured to name after 

 Sir J. Hooker, since the Canadian Iris which has been called 

 after him does not, in my opinion, want a specific name. And 

 in all probability many Irises exist in West China, and to the 

 north of the Himalayas, belonging to this group. Now, without 

 going into particulars, I may say that this group Evansia, 

 especially in the case of I. Kingiana and the other members of 

 the group stretching eastward, exhibits many affinities with the 

 Oncocyclus and SegeUa group. Thus, the great striking Central 

 Asia group joins hands with the European forms on the west, 

 and with the Japanese-Himalayan group on the east. I may 

 add that the Evansia group shows its affinity with the Oncocyclus 

 group in its cultural requirements. Though I. fimbriate is 

 practically an evergreen Iris, and the American representatives 

 have long ago accommodated themselves to an American climate, 

 the other members of the group, and especially the western 

 members, but no less I. tectorum, in order that they may bloom 

 freely, seem to need a period of rest. But that period my 

 experience leads me to place later in the year than suits the 

 Oncocyclus Irises. I let I. tectorum and Kingiana grow freely 

 in the early su mm er, and do not dry off until autumn. 



And now, Alt. Chairman, it is, I think, time that I came to 

 an end. I have touched only on a few Irises. The groups of 

 which I have spoken contain, perhaps, the most beautiful forms 

 in the genus, but there are several other groups, some of the 

 members of which are exceedingly handsome, notably the 

 cultivated Japanese Iris known as I. Kaempferi. These groups 

 differ in their features in many ways from those on which I have 

 dwelt, and many lessons may be learnt from them of quite 

 another kind from those upon which I have insisted to-day • 



