44 
The Apogon Section 
Santa Clara Co., Mt Hamilton, 1900, Elmer (V). 
1895, Rutter (W). 
1907, Heller (B) (E). 
Gilroy, 1903, Baker (K) (V) (B) (W). 
Elmer (V) (B). 
Bigelow’s specimen (K) 1853-4 from near the 35th Parallel of latitude points to a southern extension of 
the habitat, if the somewhat loose indication of locality is strictly interpreted. But this specimen is 
probably from the same source as No. 1444 (W) from the Mexican Boundary Survey’s plants collected 
“chiefly in the Valley of the Rio Grande below Donnana,” and some confusion is doubtless involved here. 
Diagnosis. 
I. macrosiphon imberbis ; rhizoma gracile ; folia glaucescentia ; caulis brevis, monocephalus, foliosus ; 
spat hat acuminatae, angustae, 2 — 3 florae ; pedicellus brevissimus ; tubus ovario triplo vel etiam multoties 
longior ; stigma triangulare. 
Description. 
Rootstock, a slender, compact-growing rhizome. 
Leaves, narrow, ensiform, acuminate, more or less glaucous, | ^ by 10 — 12 in. 
Stem, 2 — 4 in. sheathed in 1 — 2 narrow reduced leaves. 
Spathe valves, narrow, 2| — 4 in., green, sharply keeled, very narrow and acuminate, 2 — 3 flowered. 
Pedicel, | in. 
Ovary, green, £ in. 
Tube, — 3 in., varying in colour according to the colour of the flower; purple in the case of the 
purple forms. 
Falls, broadly oblanceolate, tapering gradually to the broad haft. The colour varies from white 
through cream and pale yellow to lavender and purple. The veins are of a deeper colour. 
Standards, lanceolate with waved edges, slightly shorter than, and of a paler shade of the same 
colour as, the falls. 
Styles, narrow, keeled, deeper in colour than the standards. 
Crests, long, narrowly triangular. 
Stigma, tongue-shaped. 
Filaments, ciliate. 
Anthers, yellow. 
Pollen, yellow. 
Capsule, over 1 in. long, trigonal with sharp angles, down each of which runs a groove, the sides 
flat or slightly convex, with a shallow groove down each. A sharp beak is formed at the upper end, 
which narrows more gradually than the somewhat truncated base. 
Seeds, pyriform or oval, some flattened, light reddish brown with coarsely wrinkled coat. 
Observations. 
/. macrosiphon was appropriately named, for it is at once distinguishable from all the other known 
Californian Irises by its short stem and long perianth tube. 
The liability of its flowers to vary in colour has already been mentioned under the heading of 
Distribution and is further illustrated by Plate XII. In the latter it will be noticed that the leaves of 
the two examples are not equally glaucous, a feature which is even more obvious when the plants are 
growing side by side. 
For cultivation, see the general introduction to the Californian group (p. 35). 
/. TENUISS1MA 
Distribution. Shasta County, California. 
Near Pit River Ferry, Shasta Co., 1897, Brown, no. 239 (W). 
Diagnosis. 
/. tenuissima Apogon ; I. Purdyi et /. macrosiphon affinis ; ab hac tamen caule producto, spathis 
navicularibus, segmentis tenuissimis, ab ilia caule manifesto nec omnino bracteis obtecto, segmentis 
tenuissimis differt. 
Description. 
Rootstock, a slender rhizome. 
Leaves, few in number, linear, acuminate, 12 — 14 in. by £ in. 
Stem , 12 in., unbranched, bearing 3 or 4 reduced leaves. 
Spathes, 2-flowered, with navicular, acuminate, rigid valves, about 2 in. long. 
Pedicel, under £ in. 
Ovary, comparatively broad in the middle, but tapering at either end. 
Tube, narrow, a little more than an inch in length. 
Falls, very narrow, probably yellow, about i£ in. long. 
Standards, very narrow, i£ in. long. 
Styles, short and narrow. 
Crests, linear, as long as the styles. 
