94 
The Apogon Section 
comes practically true from seed. The variations are in stature, in the green or purple base to the 
leaves, in the green or purple flushed spathes and ovary, in the foliage and in the shape of the segments 
The various forms, when grown side by side, are obviously distinct and yet equally obviously unworthy 
each of a specific name. The features that are common to all are the minute, bristle-like standards from 
which the species obtained its name, the large heart-shaped falls, the curious way in which the topmost 
lateral branch rises as high as the main stem, the inflated capsules with thin membranous walls and the 
characteristic seeds (see Plate XLVIII, Fig. 15), which are totally unlike those of any other species. 
Until seeds have been obtained from the various localities and plants raised and grown under 
identical conditions, it seems unwise to attempt to separate the various forms, for the differences that 
are apparent in the living plants are usually quite invisible in the ordinary herbarium specimens. I have 
at last succeeded in obtaining seeds both from the east coast of America and from Eastern Asia but 
the plants raised from them show no difference except in colour and size. The Asiatic examples are of a 
reddish purple and the stems 18 — 24 in. high, while those from the coast of Maine have a 10 — 12 in. 
stem and blue-purple flowers. 
/. setosa varies in height from about a foot to slightly over two feet. By some curious confusion, 
there is now in cultivation a dwarf form under the name of I. Douglasiana pygmaca. It is very floriferous 
and a desirable garden plant. It is possible, and indeed probable, that this may be the Labrador or 
Alaskan form 1 , for all the Labrador specimens that I have seen were of this size and appearance and 
so too apparently were the Alaskan plants described by Miss Eastwood as /. arctica. On the other 
hand, the tallest form that I possess was sent to me from Russia and said to be from Kamchatka. 
I am afraid, however, that especially in the case of this Iris, I am very unwilling to accept as 
authentic any supposed local form that does not come to me direct from the locality in question. The 
reason is that /. setosa with its pointed tongue-like stigma is certainly self-fertile. Every flower produces 
a capsule of seed, which when ripe is very easily scattered broadcast. The seeds germinate as readily 
and may thus oust the original occupants of the spot on which they fall. Probably some such cause as 
this accounts for the name of I. Douglasiana pygmaca attached to what is undoubtedly a form of 
/. setosa. 
Cultivation presents no difficulty in any soil not too strongly impregnated with lime. The plants 
enjoy abundant moisture during the growing season but flower well, though with smaller blooms, even 
in poor, dry sand. The species is very easily raised from seed and the young plants can generally be 
relied upon to flower before they are fifteen months old. No white-flowered form appears to be in cultiva- 
tion, but a specimen was found by Dr Takeda in 1909 on the Tomoshiri Promontory, near Nemuro, Yezo. 
/. TRIPE TALA 
Walt. FI. Carol, p. 66 (1788), non Linn. fil. Suppl. Plant, p. 97 (1781) = Moraea tripetala. 
*G 4 el, Sert. Bot vol. 1. (1830). 
Baker in J. L. S. XVI. (1877) 138. 
S. Watson in Bot. Gaz. XII. p. 99 (1887). 
Synonyms. 
/. tridentata , Pursh, FI. Am. Sept. I. p. 30 (1814). 
•Sweet, Brit. Flow. Gard. vol. III. t. 274 (1828). 
Distribution. The South Eastern United States. 
North Carolina, 1885, McCarthy (C) (W). 
Robeson Co., between Pates and Red Banks, 1905, Harper (W). 
Columbus Co., 1884, McCarthy (W). 
Wilmington, 1885, McCarthy (W). 
South Carolina, Nuttall (C). 
Tennessee, Tullahoma, 1875, Patrius (W). 
Florida, Apalachicola, in swamps amid pine barrens, 18 — , Hb. Chapman, no. 4041 (V) (W) (K). 
Diagnosis. 
I. tripetala imberbis ; caulis simplex vel ramosus, foliis linearibus subaequalis ; spatharum valvae 
valde inaequales, herbaceae ; segmenta interiora minuta, tridentata, denticulo medio acuminato ; semina 
compressa, orbicularia. 
Description (taken partly from herbarium specimens and partly from Foster's notes on a specimen which 
he had in cultivation). 
Rootstock , a somewhat slender rhizome of wide-creeping, almost stoloniferous character. 
Leaves , linear, finely ribbed, green with a red edge, 12 — 15 in. by \ — f in. 
Stem, about a foot in height, dark in colour, bearing several reduced leaves and a terminal 1 — 2- 
flowered head. One or two lateral branches are sometimes produced. 
Spathes , narrow, pointed, quite herbaceous, rigid, unequal, the outer being usually less than half the 
length of the inner valve. 
1 It turns out, also, to be indistinguishable from the Maine plant. 
