﻿( 82 .) 



IRIS* *. 



Linnean Class and Order. TRiA'NDRiA-f, Monogy'nia. 



Natural Order. Iri'jdEjE, Dr. R. Brown. — Lindl. Syn. p. 



254. ; Introd. to Nat. Syst. p. 260. — Rich, by Macgilliv. p. 408. — 

 Loud. Hort. Brit. p. 137 . — Irides, Juss. Gen. PI. p. 57. — Sin. Gr. 

 of Bot. p. 76 . — EnsatvE, Ker in Annals of Bot. v. i. p. 219. 



Gen. Char. Calyx an inferior spatha or sheath of 2 leafy 

 valves. Corolla (Perianthium^J superior, in 6 segments; the 3 

 outer (sepals of Lindl.) largest, rounded, reflexed, opposite to, and 

 applied underneath the stigmas; sometimes hairy above; the 3 in- 

 ner segments (petals of Lindl.) upright, narrow ; all united by a 

 firm thick base, (see fig. 1.). Filaments 3, awl-shaped, opposite 

 the larger segments. Anthers oblong, straight, depressed. Germen 

 (fig. 2.) inferior, oblong, 3-furrowed. Style (fig. 2.) simple, very short. 

 Stigmas 3, equal, very large, and resembling petals (see fig. 2.) ; 

 keeled on the upper, furrowed on the under side, leaning on the 

 stamens, 2-lipped, upper lip cloven, upright, lower lip very small 

 notched at the end. Capsule angular (fig. 3.), of 3 cells, and 3 

 valves. Seeds (fig. 4.) numerous, 2-ranked, globular, or angular 

 from pressure. 



The Corolla of 6 deep unequal segments, alternately reflexed ; 

 and the 2-lipped, petal-like stigmas, will distinguish this from other 

 genera, with a superior corolla, in the same class and order. 



Two species British. 



IRIS PSEUD- ACORUS. Yellow Water-Iris. Corn-Flag; or 

 Fleur-de-Luce. 



Spec. Char. Leaves sword-shaped. Corolla beardless ; its inner 

 segments smaller than the stigmas. Seeds angular. 



Eng. Bot. t. 578. — Curt. F). Lond. t. 197. — Linn. Sp. PI. p. 56. — Huds. FI. 

 Angl. (2nd edit.) p. 14.— VVoodv. Med. Bot. v. i. p. 114. t. 40. — Sm. FI. Brit, 

 v. i. p. 41. — Engl. FI. v. i. p. 48. — With. (7th ed.) v. ii. p. 96. — Lindl. Syn. p. 



255. — Hook. Br. FI. p. 18. — Light. FI. Scot. v. i. p. 86. — Sibth. FI. Oxon. p.21. — 

 Abbot’s FI. Bedf. p. 9. — Purt. Midi. FI. v. i. p. 60. N v. iii. p. 337. — Relh. FI. 

 Cant. (3rd ed.) p. 19. — Hook. FI. Scot. p. 16. — Grev. FI. Edit), p. 9. — FI. Devon, 

 pp. 6 &c 130. — Johnston’s FI. of Berwick, v. i. p. 14. — Mack. Catal. of PI. of 

 lrel. p. 10. — Walk. FI. of Oxf. p. 11. — Babington’s FI. Bath. p. 50. — Iris pa- 

 lustris, Gray’s Nat. Arr. v. ii. p. 196. — Iris palustris lutea, Ray’s Syn. p.374. 

 — Johnson’s Gerarde, p. 50. 



Localities. — In wet meadows and ditches, and on the margins of pools and 

 rivers; frequent. 



Perennial. — Flowers in June and July. 



Root large, horizontal, brown on the outside, reddish within, very 

 astringent, sending down from the lower part many long whitish 

 fibres. Stems from 2 to 4 feet ‘high, upright, somewhat zig-zag, 

 round, and smooth. Leaves upright, in two opposite rows, clasp- 



Fig. 1. The 3 inner Petals, the 3 Stamens, and the upper part of the Germen. 

 — Fig. 2. The Germen, Style, and 3 large, petal-like Stigmas. — Fig. 3. The 

 Capsule. — Fig. 4. A Seed. 



* From the brilliancy of its colours, and the graceful curve of its petals emu- 

 lating the arch of Iris, or the rainbow. Dr. Withering. 



-f- See pp. 45 & 56, note t- 



t From sphathe, Gr. a sheath, a species of membranous calyx, which bursts 

 longitudinally, and is remote from the flower. 



$ See p. 33, note $. 



