36 
The Apogon Section 
Of many of the species of this group, there are undoubtedly some fairly well marked local 
forms, such as the /. Watsoniana Purdy, a variety of /. Douglasiatta with short stiff fan-shaped 
tufts of leaves and dark flowers or I. aniabilis Eastwood, which also I have so far failed to 
distinguish specifically from I. Douglasiana. The extraordinary variations in colour and growth that 
occur among the plants in cultivation have led me to take the view that, if we were to describe 
one or two of these forms under specific or even varietal names, we should have to describe an 
indefinite number, all equally different and yet all agreeing essentially in their structural details. 
The species that form this group may be separated as follows : — 
( Stems branched. i- 
Stems unbranched. 2. 
/. Douglasiana' (see p. 36). 
I. tenuis (see p. 37). 
3 - 
\Perianth tube at least 1 in. long, linear 4. 
Stem clothed in short, bract-like leaves; spathes broad. I. bracteata ( seep. 38). 
Stem bearing only 1 — 2 narrow leaves and spathes with narrow, often distant I. tenax (see p. 39). 
valves. 
(N.B. I. Hartwegii (see p. 40) is probably only a local form or, at most, a subspecies of /. tenax.) 
{ Tube linear, at least £ in. long ; spathes green, 
Tube funnel-shaped, very short; spathes scarious. 
[Perianth tube short, funnel-shaped. 
( Style branches longer than the crests. 
Style branches equal to the crests. 
{ Stem clothed in short, inflated bracts. 
Stem bearing only 1 — 2 narrow, linear leaves. 
5 - 
I. tenuissima (see p. 44). 
I. Purdyi (see p. 42). 
I. macrosiphon (see p. 43). 
t \I. Douglasiana 
(Plate VIII) 
Herbert in Hooker and Amott, Bot. Voy. Beech. 395 (1841), 
non Regel, Gartenflora, t. 1222 (=/. Purdyi). 
•Bot Mag. 6083 (1874). 
•Baker, J. L. S. XVI. 138 (1877). 
•The Garden, 1896, t. 1086. 
Purdy in The Garden, 1898, Jan. 1. 
Synonyms. 
I Beccheyana , Herbert, l.c. 
[N.B. Herbert’s type is preserved (K).] 
/. humilis, Beechey, MS. (K), cf. Hooker and Amott, Voy. Beech, p. 160 (1833). 
I. Watsoniana, Purdy in Erythrea, v. 128. 
[The plants that Purdy obtained from the neighbourhood of Bodega Bay appear to be only a 
form of Douglasiana and not to deserve specific rank, cf. supra.] 
/. amabilis, Eastwood in Bull Torrey Club, XXX. p. 484 (1903). 
Described from specimens collected by C. W. Kitts near Nevada City, California, as being very 
near to /. Douglasiana but with leaves narrower and of a paler green, very sharply attenuate. 
The tube is said to be longer and more slender and the flowers to be delicately scented. 
The standards were pale cream or lilac white, marked with lilac dots or veins, and the lanceolate 
falls a pale lilac. 
Copeland’s specimen (K), named I. Hartwegii by Greene, from the Big Basin of Pescadero Creek, 
San Mateo Co., 1903, seems to me very similar. I was able to show this specimen to Miss 
Eastwood and she at once recognised the similarity. 
I incline to think that we have here only a slender growing form of I. Douglasiana, such as is 
depicted in the pale coloured form on Plate VIII. The chief difficulty in the way of this 
identification is the fact that Nevada City is further from the sea than any other known 
station for /. Douglasiana. If, however, the Pescadero specimen is identical, this difficulty is 
largely removed. 
See also the Observations. 
Distribution. This Iris appears to be confined to the coastal region of California. 
California, 1833, Douglas (BM) (K). 
Humboldt Co., Trinidad, 1792, Menzies (BM). 
Mendocino Co., Ukiah, 1864, Bolander (K). 
Sonoma Co., Bodega Bay, 1902, Heller and Brown (B) (V). 
Marin Co., Corte Madera, 1904, Heller (B). 
Sausalito, 1868, Kellog and Harford (BM). 
San Mateo Co., San Francisco, 1851-4, Behr (V). 
Crystal Springs Lake, 1902, Baker (B) (V). 
Portola, 1903, Elmer (B) (V). 
San Bruno Hills, 1900, Elmer (V). 
1 It is important to remember that weak specimens of I. Douglasiana may have an unbranched stem. 
