The Oncocyclus Section 
121 
Pollen , creamy. 
Capsule , 2 — 4 in. long, ellipsoid, tapering at either end, dehiscing below the apex. 
Seeds, globose or pyriform, dark red-brown with a conspicuous creamy aril (cf. Plate XLVIII, Fig. 8). 
Observations. 
This Iris has been in cultivation in Europe for more than three centuries, for it was brought from 
Constantinople to Vienna in 1573, and a very fair picture of it was published by Clusius in 1601 
(cf. Clusius, Rar. Plant. Hist., pp. 217, 218 (1601)). It was moreover the first Iris to be described 
by Linnaeus in his list of the species. 
I. susiana can hardly be described as beautiful, though its flowers are undoubtedly striking. Owing 
to the fact that this Iris has long been cultivated in the South of France, it has become more nearly 
acclimatised to the conditions of existence in English gardens than any other Oncocyclus species. Instances 
are not unknown where plants have spread into large clumps and flowered well year after year. The 
best conditions would probably include heavy limestone soil and certainly a warm and sunny position, 
where the soil was usually rather dry. These conditions might possibly be obtained in the requisite soil 
under a conifer, whose branches overhung the Irises and yet did not allow water to drip upon them to 
any extent nor shade them from the sun. 
/. SOFARANA 
•Foster in Gard. Chron. XXVI. p. 391, fig. 125 (1899). 
•Siehe in Gard. Chron. 1904, II. pp. 162, 163. 
•Lynch, Bk of Iris, p. 113 (1906). 
Observations. 
This is another of the many local colour forms that cannot be distinguished from I. Bismarckiana 
or I. susiana by anything but the colour. It was collected for Mr C. G. Van Tubergen of Haarlem 
at Ain Sofar on Lebanon. Siehe states that his variety magnifica was found in 1901 near Kartaba on 
Lebanon. (MS. on specimen (E).) 
Description. 
Falls. Thick blotchy veins of a very dark purple almost entirely obscure the creamy white ground. 
The diffuse beard is of long dark purple hairs. 
Standards. Much lighter than the falls, with thin dark purple veins and spots on a nearly white 
ground. 
Styles , dark purple, almost black. 
+ /. ATROFUSCA 
Baker in Gard. Chron. 1893, I. p. 384, non *Bot. Mag. t. 7379 (1894); see Observations. 
•Gartenflora, 1 893, p. 486, t. 1 394 A. 
•Bull. Soc. Tosc. Ort. 1893, t. 7. 
Synonym. 
*/. Haynei, Mallett in Gard. Chron. XXXV. p. 266 (1904). 
Distribution. Palestine. 
Diagnosis. See the remarks on p. 107. 
Description. 
I. atrofusca does not differ from /. Bismarckiana (see Description, p. 119) except in the colour of 
the following parts. 
Spathes, yellowish green, not flushed with purple. 
Falls. Very closely veined and dotted with red black so that the yellowish groundwork is nearly 
entirely obscured. The circular signal patch is velvety black and the diffuse beard consists of dingy 
yellow hairs tipped with dark brown on a greenish yellow ground. 
Standards. Less thickly veined and dotted than the falls with the same red black colour on a grey 
ground. The haft bears a few scattered hairs. 
Styles, closely and finely dotted with red purple on a yellowish ground. 
Observations. See those on I. atropurpurea. 
