NAT. ORDER. 
Iridece. 
IRIS PUMILA. DWARF IRIS. 
Class III. Triandria. Order I. Monogynia. 
Gen. Char. Corolla, six-parted, incomplete. Segments, three, re- 
flexed, the others erect or connivent. Style, short. Stigmas, 
three, petaloid, covering the stamens. Capsules, three-celled, 
many-seeded. 
Spe. Char. Flowers, beardless. Stem, terete, more or less flexu- 
ous. Germen, somewhat triangular. Leaves, ensiform. 
This genus is distinguished by having a six-parted flower, 
every other division of which is reflected, or rolled backward ; 
the root is somewhat bulbous, fleshy, of a dark purple or chestnut 
color, and from which proceed several succulent fibrous branches ; 
the stem rises from two and a half to four feet in height, and ter- 
minates with a single flower; the leaves are sword-shaped, radicle, 
inserted in each other, pointed, somewhat shorter than the stem, 
and of a dark, dull green color ; the flowers are large, upright, of 
a beautiful purple-scarlet color, and lower petals striped with a 
bluish tinge ; the calyx is a spathe of two valves ; the corolla di- 
vides into six segments, or petals, three of which stand erect ; the 
other three., which are of an irregular oval shape, turn back and 
downward ; the filaments are three, and crowned with long yellow 
anthers ; the style is short and simple ; the stigma separates into 
three expanded segments, resembling petals, which arch over the 
stamens ; the germen is rather long, of an obtusely triangular 
shape, and placed below the corolla; the capsule has three cavi- 
ties, and contains a large number of flat brown seeds. 
Vol. iii.— 44. 
