37 
The Apogon Section 
Santa Clara Co., Los Gatos, 1904, Heller (B). 
Monterey Co., Monterey, 18 — , Herbert (BM). 
1902, Elmer (K). 
Pacific Grove, 1903, Heller (B). 
Diagnosis. 
I. Douglasiana ; imberbis ; rhizoma gracile, late repens; folia ensiformia, basi rosea, per hiemem 
persistentia ; caulis foliosus plerumque ramosus ; spathae biflorae vel triflorae, valvis viridibus ; ovarium 
pedicello paullo brevius, tubo paullo longius ; segmenta exteriora oblanceolato-cuneata, interiora paullo 
breviora, lanceolato-unguiculata ; capsula trigona. 
Description. 
Rootstock , a slender, wiry rhizome of a dark red-brown colour. 
Leaves, 12 — 18 in. long, § — £ wide, sometimes very stiff and dark, but usually pale green and 
narrow, bending over in the upper third, pink near the base. 
Stem bearing a terminal head of 3 flowers and 1 — 2 lateral 1 — 2-flowered branches. 
Spathe valves, dark green, pointed, stout, rigid, 3-flowered, 3 in. long. 
Pedicel, 1 — 1 £ in. 
Ovary, i£ in., tapering at either end, acutely trigonal. 
Tube, £ — 1 in., varying in colour, green in the light-flowered forms and purple when the flowers 
are of a deep shade. 
Falls. It is almost impossible to give a detailed description of the falls of this Iris, so infinite 
is the variety of colour forms that it may assume. However the shape remains fairly constant. 
The haft is broad and passes without any constriction into the broadly oblanceolate blade. Along 
the centre runs a slightly raised ridge flanked by about four parallel dark lines on a light, usually 
creamy ground. On either side of this similar lines branch out obliquely, and this veining extends 
some way on to the blade, the rest of which is uniform in colour with slight inconspicuous veinings 
of some darker shade than the rest of the surface. 
Standards, slightly shorter than the falls, lanceolate with a canaliculate haft. The colour is the 
same as that of the main colour of the falls. 
Styles, narrow, keeled, of the same colour as the standards. 
Crests, coarsely dentate, triangular or quadrangular. 
Stigma, a projecting, triangular tongue. 
Filaments, pale violet. 
Anthers, purple. 
Pollen, cream. 
Capsule, trigonal, with sharp angles — 2 in. long, tapering equally at either end. 
Seeds, small, spherical, with finely wrinkled coats. 
Observations. 
This is apparently a very variable Iris, and Plate VIII illustrates two extreme forms. That with 
the dark flower has very dark green, short, thick leaves that grow in distinctly fan-shaped tufts, while 
the other has narrower and less rigid leaves of a paler green. My experience of many seedlings 
of I. Douglasiana has been that no two are precisely alike, though all of them are easily distinguishable 
from any other Iris. The leaves remain green throughout the winter and at once attract notice at 
that time of year in any Iris garden. The ovary is sharply trigonal and tapers at either end to 
the pedicel below and above to the linear tube of variable length. The ripe capsules of all the 
other Californian Irises are rounded in outline or section, and quite distinct from the sharply-angled 
fruit of I. Douglasiana. Moreover it is the only member of the group that has practically spherical 
and not thick Q-shaped or cubical seeds. 
The endless variety of colour forms of this Iris is perfectly amazing. One of those illustrated 
is one of the palest and largest, but other pale forms are a nearer approach to yellow or even 
pale mauve. From this latter a whole series of forms can be traced to the deepest coloured form 
which is also illustrated. The amount of veining is also liable to considerable variation. In some 
cases it is practically non-existent, but in others the white-veined patch on the blade of the falls is 
very striking. 
In some strong growing specimens the stem branches once or twice, and each lateral stem bears 
a head of two or three flowers. When the plant is well grown, three flowers are more common 
than two in a spathe — a feature in which it differs from the other members of the group. 
For cultivation, see the introductory remarks on the Californian group. 
I. TENUIS 
S. Watson in Proc. Amer. Acad. XVII. p. 380 (1882). 
•in Garden and Forest, I. p. 6 (1888). 
Distribution. This rare Iris is apparently confined to the north-western corner of Oregon, where it was first 
discovered by Henderson in 1881 near the Eaglecreek branch of the Clackamas River, growing in broad 
mats in the fir forests. 
Oregon, Washington Co., 1884, Henderson (K). 
