228 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



would seem to be very improbable, since such undoubtedly native 

 species as the real /. nepalensis of Don and /. kumaonensis lie entirely 

 dormant for several months in winter and even until late in spring, 

 as indeed the climatic conditions would lead us to expect. 



A consequence of this southern origin of I. germanica is that it is 

 not absolutely hardy here in England. Complaints that ' Purple 

 King ' flowers but shyly are often due to the fact that the late spring 

 frosts destroy the embryo inflorescences before they have emerged 

 from the leaves. The brown decaying remains can be found by 

 dissection enclosed in the tufts of leaves, although it is but poor 

 consolation to have our theory of the origin of the plant confirmed 

 in this negative fashion. 



Still more important for our purpose is the further consequence 

 that it is extremely rare that any form of /. germanica ripens sound 

 seed in England, or, indeed, as far as I can gather, in Germany, or even 

 in the South of France. /. aphylla, I. variegata, and J. pallida, on 

 the other hand, all mature seeds readily, and this fact, together with 

 the results of raising a number of seedlings from them, confirms me 

 in the belief that our common garden hybrids are to be traced, not 

 to I. germanica, but rather to I. variegata, from which they certainly 

 derive their yellow tints, and to /. pallida, with its more complicated 

 inflorescence. 



We may notice in passing that the names ' squalens * and ' sam- 

 hucina,' in all probability, only denote two of the almost innumerable 

 hybrids of /. variegata and /. pallida and have themselves no specific 

 value, although the name squalens may serve as a useful label to 

 denote those plants in which the yellow of variegata and the blue- 

 purple of the other parent struggle for the mastery and produce shades 

 of colour which may well be called muddy or squalid. 



Since these notes were written on a winter evening, when time 

 was a little less scarce than it is at this time of the year, the flowering 

 of some plants which I found last year on the Dalmatian coast has 

 afforded striking confirmation of this theory of the origin of our 

 garden hybrids, misnamed German Irises. 



A few years ago there was discovered on the top of a mountain 

 some 4000 feet high in the Velebit range in Croatia, within a mile 

 or two of the coast as the crow flies, an Iris which I did not recognize 

 when Dr. Degen, of Budapest, was so good as to send me dried speci- 

 mens. It appeared to be either a yellow form of /. aphylla or some 

 new species. By the kindness of the late Herr Dobiasch, of Zengg, 

 who provided me with a native guide and to whose memory I wish to 

 take this opportunity of paying tribute, I was able in April 19 13 to 

 see this Iris in its native home. It was a stiff cHmb up from the coast 

 over the roughest and steepest of Hmestone hills. As I had been 

 travelling all night by somewhat primitive means of conveyance, and 

 as it was pouring with rain, I was beginning to wonder as we neared 

 the top whether it was worth while to persevere, when I was cheered 

 by the sight of a few Iris leaves among the rough Hmestone of the 



