The Oncocyclus Section I 1 3 
Crests, quadrate, marked with thin, broken, brown-purple lines. 
Stigma, oblong, entire. 
Filaments, short, brown-purple. 
Anthers, large, cream. 
Pollen, dingy greenish yellow. 
Capsule, cylindrical, with six low ridges, tapering at either end. 
Seeds, small, of the usual Oncocyclus character. 
Observations. 
This Iris comes near to /. aeuliloba and /. meda, but it is distinguished by its lanceolate outer 
segments, which are extended horizontally and show no tendency to be recurved, as is conspicuously 
the case in the two above mentioned species. The small sharply defined signal is also a marked 
character. 
The figure in the Gardeners' Chronicle (l.c.) is somewhat misleading, for the plants that I have 
grown and seen growing 1 had stems not more than 4 in. high, and this is confirmed by Foster's note, 
“scape exclusive of flower 2| — 3 in.” (MS.). 
It seems best to class with this Iris both I. Sprengeri and /. Elisabethae, which by Siehe’s own 
admission are very closely allied. As garden plants it may be possible to distinguish them, but from 
the botanical point of view they must surely be included under one species. 
The variety (t) Sprengeri, which is said to grow in the Lycaonian Taurus at a height of 6500 ft. 
(Siehe in Gard. Chron. l.c.), is of the same size as /. Ewbankiatta, but the colouring is slightly different, 
being produced by purple-red veining on a clear yellow ground. 
The variety (t) Elisabethae, from volcanic sandy districts in Central Cappadocia (Siehe in letter), 
is in cultivation somewhat larger perhaps, and is said to have a groundwork of paler yellow, with 
purple-brown veins. 
My own experience of these plants has been that the groundwork is apt to vary slightly in 
colour and that the yellow shade is seldom conspicuous. The usual colour is a grey white, which 
looks perhaps somewhat yellow from the juxtaposition of the crowded red-brown veins. None of them 
grow rigorously, and all are apt to collapse after flowering unless special precautions are taken to keep 
the ground dry and warm. 
t/. ACUTILOBA 
C. A. Meyer in Verz. Pfl. Cauc. p. 32 (1831). 
Trautvetter in Act. Hort. Petrop. I. p. 24 (1870). 
•Regel, Gartenflora, 1874, p. 323, t. 812. 
Baker in J. L. S. XVI. p. 142 (1877). 
Hdk. Irid. p. 20 (1892). 
Boiss. FI. Or. V. p. 132 (1884). 
•Act. Hort. Tiflis, VI. 3, p. 42 (1904). 
Synonyms. 
Oncocyclus acutilobus, Siemss. in BZ. 1846, p. 709. 
[N.B. /. acutifolia, Meyer in the Index Kewensis is presumably a misquotation for I. acutiloba, 
for no such name occurs in the reference given, Gartenflora, 1874, p. 323.] 
I. Polakii, Stapf in Denkschr. Acad. Wien (Bot. Ergeb. Polak. Exped. Pers.), L. p. 20 (1885). 
[N.B. The dark purplish beard, the dark violet or black purple signal spot and the reflexed 
falls all combine to make it impossible to separate this Iris from /. acutiloba .] 
Distribution. Transcaucasia. 
Transcaucasia, 18 — , Kolenat (V). 
Caucasus, 18 — , Radde (K). 
Iberia, 18 — , Hb. Besser (K). 
Elizabethpol, 1834, Hohenacker (K) (C) (V) (E). 
Karabagh (Schachbulagh), 18 — , Fischer (K). 
Bailowo, 1900, Sintenis (V). 
Diagnosis. 
/. acutiloba Oncocyclus ; /. Ewbankianae haud dissimilis, sed segment a exteriora revoluta. 
Description. 
Rootstock, a short compact rhizome, with crowded tufts. 
Leaves, ^ — £ in. broad by 3 — 4 in. long at flowering time, linear, more or less falcate. 
Stem, 1 -headed, short, i£ — 4 in. 
Spat he valves , lanceolate, pointed, green, 2 in. long, 1 -flowered. 
Pedicel, very short. 
Ovary, trigonal. 
1 The rhizomes came from Foster’s garden at Shelford and were part of the original importation. 
