74 
The Apogon Section 
Pollen, creamy white. 
Capsule , 2 in. long, oblong, much-rounded trigonal, with blunt ends (see Fig. 8). 
Seeds, semi-circular, compressed, encased in thick, loose, smooth, glossy, pale brown coats. The 
effect of this loose coat is that the seeds float in water. 
Observations. 
The differences between this species and /. Kaempferi will be found described 
in the Observations on the latter. The typical plant is still very rare in cultiva- 
tion, at any rate in Europe, although garden forms from Japan have been known 
for some years under the name of /. albopurpurea. This came originally to 
Kew by chance, mixed up with plants of I. Kaempferi and was described by 
Baker as a species. A few years ago I obtained from Japan a plant or 
two of the blue-flowered type under the name of /. albopurpurea and, when 
these flowered, it was at once obvious that this was the plant of which a/bo- 
purpurea is a quasi-albino garden form. The latter breeds true from seed as 
regards colour, for all the seedlings of the original Kew plants that have so 
far flowered with me have borne white flowers mottled and spotted with blue 
purple (see Plate XVIII). From this plate the type may be pictured by imagining 
the deep blue colour to obscure the white throughout. It was intended to have 
a plate of the typical plant, but unfortunately my two plants were both flowerless, 
having been allowed to seed freely in the previous year, and a specimen of albo- 
purpurea had therefore reluctantly to be substituted. In all botanical details 
the variety is identical with the type, and it is only the colour that is 
different 
Little evidence is available as to doubling in Iris flowers, but it may be 
worth while to record here that among seedlings raised from the original Kew 
plants of albopurfntrea several double-flowered plants have appeared, similar in 
every way to the ugly monstrosities that are often sent from Japan under the 
name of 1. albopurpurea. 
The cultivation of this species presents no special difficulty provided that 
the soil is fairly rich in humus, not charged with lime nor allowed to become 
too dry in summer. 
By the kindness of Dr B. Fedtschenko I have recently been allowed to see the unique specimen 
on which Maximowicz founded his I. Maacki. This was found by Maack on the left bank of the 
Ussuri opposite the mouth of the Ima, and consists merely of a few leaves and the upper part of 
a branched stem bearing mature capsules of ripe seeds. The oblong capsules vary in size, but the 
largest is nearly 3^ in. long, and all have the characteristic short broad beak of the species. The 
seeds too are dark brown, with smooth skins (cf. Plate XLVIII, fig. 1). Mme Olga Fedtschenko has 
recently sent me a copy of a note printed in Kneucker’s Allgemeine Botanische Zeitschrift no. 6, 1906, 
in which she also comes to the conclusion that /. Maacki is nothing but a synonym of /. laevigata \ 
The plant was originally identified by Regel as 1. pseudacorus (Tent. FI. Ussur. 490), which does 
not, however, extend into Eastern Asia. 
Fig. 8. Capsules of I. laevi- 
gata (| actual size). 
t+ 7 . Kaempferi 
(Plate XIX) 
•Siebold ex Lemaire, Illustr. Hort v. (1858), t. 157. 
(It is probable that this plate represents a garden form of I. Kaempferi obtained from Japan by 
Siebold and flowering for the first time in Europe in 1857, in Verschaflelt’s garden in Ghent. 
The plant represented is, however, practically identical with the wild species except possibly in 
colour and in this respect the plate may have changed.) 
•Flore des Serres, t. 2073, 2074 (1874), 2431-2436 (1880). 
•Gard. Chron. 1874, II. p. 47 (Garden variety). 
•Ecden, Album, L 87 (Garden varieties). 
•Somoku Zusetsu, II. no. 3. 
N.B. Owing to the fact that I. Kaempferi and I. laevigata have been looked upon as synonymous, 
the literature is very confused. 
Synonyms. 
•/. laevigata, Regel, Gartenflora, 1864, p. 198, t. 442. 
1880, p. 65, t. 1003. 
•Bot. Mag. t. 6132 (1874). 
Miquel, Prol. FI. Jap. p. 306 (1867). 
1 I cannot understand Mme Fedtschenko's remark (l.c.) that both on Maack’s specimen and in living plants of /. laevigata 
the capsules and ovary are covered with short, close-set hairs. I have failed to find any trace of them. 
