SOME GARDEN IRISES. 



Those whose gardens are sufficiently warm and sheltered to be 

 able to flower /. tingitana might use this to obtain an even finer series, 

 for the few known hybrids of this magnificent Iris with /. Xiphium 

 have the size and brilliance of /. tingitana and almost the hardiness 

 of the other parent. It is interesting to note, too, that the long 

 perianth-tube of /. tingitana is neither dominant nor recessive, in 

 Mendelian phraseology, for the resultant hybrids have a short linear 

 tube and so stand half-way in this respect between /. tingitana and 

 /. Xiphium. At the same time the flowers closely resemble those of 

 I. tingitana while the plants are as early as that species, hardier and 

 more floriferous. 



In conclusion, may I ask your pardon for leading you into much 

 dry detail ? My only excuse is that to me, at any rate, my flowers 

 have become the more interesting the more closely I have examined 

 them, and the more searching the inquiry I have tried to make into 

 their origin and history. 



