The Apogon Section 67 
Stem, flattened, with distinct flanges, clothed in one or two sheathing leaves, attached to the lower 
part and rising in many cases far above the flower, i — 2 flowered. 
Spat be valves, 2—10 in. long, sharply keeled, usually unequal and one very often several times as 
long as the other. (See Fig. 7.) 
Pedicel, i| — 2 in. long, rounded trigonal in section. 
Ovary , short, with six ribs arranged in pairs, tapering to a very short 
point at the upper end. 
Tube , very short, funnel-shaped. 
Falls. The oval haft is separated by a marked but usually gradual 
constriction from the almost orbicular blade. The ground colour is of a 
yellowish white, veined on the haft with red purple and on the blade with 
blue purple, £ by i£ — 2 in. 
Standards, broadly lanceolate, with a short haft, slightly shorter than 
the falls. £ by 1 — 1£ in. 
Styles, keeled, of a pale reddish purple, becoming broader in the 
upper part. 
Crests, more or less broadly triangular. 
Stigma, with two tongue-like points. 
Filaments, mauve. 
Anthers, purple. 
Pollen, orange. 
Capsule, 1 — 2 in. long, narrowing abruptly to a point above, 6-ribbed, 
with 3 broad and 3 narrow sides, dehiscing down the centre of the narrow 
sides. (See Fig. 6.) 
Seeds, pyriform, sometimes compressed, with a buff-coloured, papery 
wrinkled coat. 
Observations. 
It is obvious from the formation of the rhizome, 
ovary and seeds that this Iris is a near relative of 
I. spuria (see Figs. 5, p. 58, and 6), from which, 
however, it is distinguished by two characters, the 
curiously flattened stem and the sweet scent of the 
flowers, which resembles that of a ripe plum or 
greengage. 
As a native of Western and Central Europe, this 
Iris has long been in cultivation and there is pre- 
served in the Cambridge Herbarium a specimen grown 
in the Botanic Garden in 1733 under the name of Iris 
angustifolia prunum rcdolens (the plum-scented narrow- 
leaved Iris). 
As a garden plant, I. graminea can scarcely be 
said to be ornamental, for, although it is very floriferous, the flowers are hidden among the leaves. 
As cut flowers, however, the blooms of this Iris are distinctly acceptable, for each stem bears a long 
leaf that rises above the top of the flower, and the scent is delightful. Curiously enough the quality 
of the scent varies considerably in individual plants. Indeed, in some it is almost entirely absent, while 
in others it is strongly marked. Seedlings are easily raised and only those should be retained whose 
flowers are sweetly scented. 
In several other respects also this Iris is curiously variable. Even on the same plant, stems may 
be found on some of which the spathe valves are equal in length, while on others one valve is twice 
or even as much as four or five times as long as the other. In the latter case, it seems almost as 
though one valve is entirely suppressed and replaced by the sheathing leaf (cf. Fig. 7), which in other 
specimens is attached at some distance below the spathes. 
The width and length of the leaves proper are also very variable. Seeds of a plant with narrow 
(i * n ) grassy leaves will produce some plants with leaves 1 in. at least in width and twice as long as 
those of the seed parent. In some cases, too, the growth is much less dense and the ribs on the leaves 
more marked and prominent. To a plant of this description the name /. pseudocyperus was given by 
Schur (Enum. PI. Transs. 657 (1866), cf. also Borbas in BZ. 1877, p. 473), but the evidence of seed- 
lings of the various forms shows that they cannot be distinguished specifically. 
Like the other members of the spuria group, I. graminea is easily cultivated in any well-worked 
garden soil and is equally easily increased either by division in late summer or early autumn or by 
seeds. Seedlings grow quickly and flower in one or two years from the time the seeds germinate. 
1 These three specimens were taken from one plant growing in my garden. 
Fig. 6. Capsules of 
I. graminea. 
Fig. 7. The unequal spathe valves 
of I. graminea '. 
9—2 
