108 
The Oncocyclus Section 
II. The unbranched, one-flowered stem, surmounted by a long, tubular, unkeeled, green spathe 
which reaches above the top of the perianth tube. 
III. A broad diffuse beard of scattered hairs, not set in a line as in the Pogoniris, and beyond 
this a so-called signal patch of a deeper colour than the rest of the flower. 
The foliage is very variable and its shape probably depends to a very large extent on the conditions 
in which the plant grows. I have seen a remarkable instance of this in a bed of seedlings of /. iberica, 
raised and growing in the south of France. These had upright leaves nearly as wide as those of 
/. susiana and had almost entirely lost that extremely falcate character which is so marked in the leaves 
of wild and collected plants. Moreover, Foster noticed years ago that seedlings of /. iberica, which he 
raised at Shelford, had such erect, narrow leaves that “ they might almost be mistaken for young 
seedlings of I. sibirica .” In subsequent years the foliage became more falcate, and it may be that this 
will eventually happen to my French friend's plants. In any case, it is obvious that no great reliance 
can be placed on the more or less falcate nature of the foliage as a mark of specific difference. 
This must accordingly be sought in the flowers alone and chiefly in the shape of the segments. 
If we subject the Oncocyclus Irises to the same criteria as those to which we have submitted the 
members of the other groups, we shall have to admit that colour alone is no true specific difference. 
Consequently, we must refuse to look upon many of the so-called species of Oncocyclus Irises as such 
and merely regard them as sub-species or local varieties. This view is supported by the fact that many 
of them are apparently very local in their distribution. 
In order to avoid confusion, however, the usual names will be kept, but always with the reservation 
that in speaking of an Oncocyclus Iris the word ‘‘species” is used with special signification. Plants like 
/. paradoxa with the extraordinary, narrow, velvety falls, /. iberica with its concave falls, or /. acutiloba 
with its pointed segments have obviously more valid claims to specific rank than /. Gatesii and I. Lortetii, 
/. Dismarckiana and /. alro/usca, which only differ from one another and from I. susiana in their 
colouring. 
The distribution of the various species and their relative affinity to one another are both curious. 
We may divide the whole group into two sets, one occurring in Central and Eastern Asia Minor, 
Transcaucasia and the mountainous districts of Northern and Western Persia, and comprising the 
smaller and more easily distinguished species, and the other confined to Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia 
and containing the taller, less hardy and more closely allied species. There is one plant, /. Mariae, 
from the borders of Palestine and Egypt, which does not fit into this arrangement, unless, as seems 
not improbable, it is a mere stray colony of /. Bamumae from the neighbourhood of Kharput. 
Roughly speaking, the species comprised in the first of these two sets are, as we might expect 
of plants from mountainous regions, slightly more hardy than the second set from hotter situations on 
Lebanon, the Hauran and further east in Mesopotamia. 
No one has yet been able to lay claim to permanent success in cultivating these difficult Irises, 
although the fascination of their colouring and the whole appearance of the striking flowers is a constant 
appeal to renewed efforts. The chief difficulty undoubtedly lies in providing a sufficiently long period 
of rest or rather of retarding the growth without injury to the plant until such time as the plants need 
no longer fear the disastrous effects of the alternations of frost and muggy moisture that we experience 
in an English winter. In ordinary circumstances Oncocyclus plants in the open ground begin to grow 
strongly in September and October and have thus almost reached in midwinter that stage of their 
development at which the flower stems should be produced. The foliage, however, is so buffeted and 
damaged by the weather that the vitality of the plants is impaired with the result that, when the 
warmer days of spring at last arrive, the plants have no longer sufficient vigour to send up their flowers. 
The following suggestions may be of use to those who wish to make another effort to cultivate 
these baffling plants. 
Position. A dry sheltered site for the beds is essential, and some means must be contrived for 
throwing off rain in late summer and early autumn. Either narrow raised beds can be thrown up and 
portable lights arranged over them, when necessary, always remembering that these must be so 
constructed as to allow a free circulation of air : or, preferably, a bed can be raised against a south wall 
with the surface sloping sharply towards the south, so that excessive moisture at any time drains off 
before much has time to penetrate into the soil. In such a position, too, it is easy to arrange a glass 
roof over the plants and so obtain the dry warm soil that is necessary to ripen the rhizomes. 
Soil. Almost the only soil in which Oncocyclus Irises have been known to live on from year to 
year is the red loam from limestone formations so familiar on the Mediterranean coast of France. 
Failing this we must fall back on some fairly heavy soil, not deficient in lime, and mix with it some 
grit either in the form of limestone chips or mortar rubble. Organic manure must be avoided, for it 
seems probable, though it is not proved, that this either directly engenders disease or leads to gross 
growth which does not ripen satisfactorily. Old leaf soil in moderate quantity and small doses of a 
complete chemical manure may be given with advantage. 
Planting. If plants can be obtained with their thick fleshy root-fibres not too much damaged, they 
may be planted in the first week in October with some hope that a fair proportion will survive the 
