33 
The Apogon Section 
Neubeckia tenuifolia, Alefeld in BZ. XXI. p. 297 (1863). 
loniris tenuifolia, Klatt in BZ. XXX. p. 502 (1872). 
Maximowicz's var. thianschanica (Bull. Acad. Pet. I.c.) had broader leaves and a slightly longer stem 
than usual but does not seem to be of any great importance. It merely represents one of the 
variations that are bound to occur of so widely distributed an Iris (cf. infra Regel’s specimens 
from near Kuldscha). 
Distribution. From the neighbourhood of Sarepta on the lower Volga to Central China. 
The Volga district. The lower Volga, 1898, Becker (B) (V). 
Sarepta, 1829, Ehrenberg (B). 
18 — , Wunderlich (B) (K) (V). 
1841, Fischer (B). 
1887, Becker (V). 
1879, Becker (BM). 
The Ural district. The southern ridges, 1834, Lessing (B). 
Lower part of Ural River, 1833, Lessing (B). 
Deserts near the Caspian, 1838, Ledebour (K). 
.. 1, „ 1 77-, Pallas (BM). 
Turkestan. Between Aulia Ata and Utsch Bulak, 1896, Brotherus (B). 
Source of the Dschirgalan, 1879. Regel (B) (K) (V) (BM). 
Kuiankus (Kujannkusk). north of Hi River, 1877, Rcgel (B) (K) (V) (BM) (SP) (= Maximo- 
wicz’s I. Rcgeli). 
Near the Ili River, 1879, Regel (B) (K). 
1886, Krassnow (B) (V). 
River Irtysch between Koriakowo and Semipalatinsk, 1840, Karelin and Kiriloff (K) (V) (BM). 
Almatythal near Kuldscha, 1878, Regel (V) (B) (K) (BM) = var. thianschanica. 
Songaria, 18 — , Schrenk (K). 
Tibet and Afghanistan. N.E. Tibet, 1904, Filchner (B). 
Khamba Jong, 1903, Younghusband (B) (E) (K) iBM). 
Khojak Pass, 1888. Duthic (K) (BM). 
18 — , Griffith, no. 5902 (K). 
Quetta, 1911, Keyes (HortI)). 
Chitral, 1895, Harriss (K) (BM). 
China. Dahuria (Torei-nor), 17 — , Pallas (Linn. Soc. Lond.). 
W. Kansu, 1885, Potanin (K) (B) (V). 
N. Shensi, 1901, Clemente and Giraldi, no. 6682 (B). 
Western China, 1880, Przewalski (K). 
Western Mongolia, 1885, Przewalski (K). 
Diagnosis. 
I. tenuifolia Apogon ; rhizoma dense caespitosum, basibus foliorum vetustorum alte obvallatum, 
radicibus contortis rigidis ; folia rigida, angusta, linearia ; cau/is brevis, monocephalus ; spathae lineares, 
tripollicares, biflorae ; tubus spathis aequalis vel etiam longior ; segmentorum exteriorum lamina ab 
ungue vix distincta. 
Description. 
Rootstock , a thin rhizome, not unlike that of I. ensata, usually growing in crowded tufts but 
occasionally sending out stolons (cf. Becker’s specimen from the Volga). The root fibres are hard and 
wiry and grow out from the rhizome at different angles, not vertically downwards as in other Irises. 
Leaves, narrow linear, rigid, acuminate, 1 2 in. by less than ^ in. 
Stem, usually very short but sometimes as much as 6 in. long, sheathed in reduced leaves. 
Spathes, narrow, membranous, closely wrapping the long tube, 3 — 4 in. long, 2-flowered. 
Pedicel, very short. 
Ovary, 
Tube , very slender, 3 — 4 in. long, reaching above the top of the spathes. 
Falls. The comparatively short blade is not separated by any constriction from the broad wedge 
shaped haft. The colour is a blue-purple. 
Standards , oblanceolate, about as long as the falls. 
Styles, narrow. 
Crests, long and narrow. 
Stigma, apparently bilobed. 
Filaments, 
Anthers, 
Pollen, 
Capsule, ovate or globular, about an inch long. 
Seeds, cubical, dark-brown, with coarsely wrinkled coat. 
D. 
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