124 
The Regelia Section 
They like a warm, well-drained position and a period of rest in summer. If the climate is such that 
this latter requirement is not obtainable in the natural course of events, it must be obtained artificially 
either by lifting the plants in July and storing them in sand in a warm and dry position until the 
planting season arrives about the first week of October, or by covering the plants after flowering with 
a glass roof, which will throw off all moisture. This latter method is, of course, only successful where 
the soil is naturally well drained and where the subsoil becomes quite dry in the latter part of the 
summer. In Holland, the lifting method is invariably practised because in the bulb gardens there water 
is always to be found a short distance below the surface and is therefore always within reach of the root 
fibres. The plants would accordingly continue to grow even when protected by glass from overhead 
moisture. 
The soil for these Irises should be a fairly strong loam, with the surface so arranged that water 
cannot lie stagnant and rot the rhizomes. Fresh farmyard manure should not be used, though occasional 
light dressings of a complete artificial manure tend to promote stronger growth in the plants. 
The members of the section may be separated as follows : 
J Rhizome comparatively compact i. 
(Rhizome wide-spreading by means of slender stolons; segments waved. I. stolonifera (p. 125). 
| Leaves ensiform. 2. 
I Leaves linear, very narrow. I. falcifolia (p. 127). 
2 j Blade of falls narrowing suddenly to an oblong haft I. Korolkowi (p. 124). 
( Blade of falls tapering to a point above and narrowing gradually into the haft I. darwasica (p. 1 26). 
t /. Korolkowi » 
(Plate XXVIII) 
Regel, Enum. PI. nov. Turkest in Act. Hort. Petr. II. p. 432 (32) (1873). 
•Gartcnflora, XXII. p. 225, t 766 (1873). 
t. 1358 (1891). 
Baker in J. L. S. xvi. p. 145 (1877). 
in *Bot. Mag. t. 7025 (1888). 
Hdk. Irid. p. 21 (1892). 
•Foster in Gard. Chron. 1888, II. p. 36, fig. 3. 
•Lynch, Book of Iris, p. 1 17 (1906). 
Distribution. Turkestan. 
[N.B. In dealing with herbarium material, it is extremely difficult, unless the actual segments of the flowers 
are pressed and laid out separately, to differentiate the various members of this section. I am there- 
fore unable to say with certainty that I have seen any herbarium specimens of I. Korolkowi .] 
Diagnosis. 
/. Korolkowi Regelia ; rkizoma satis compactum ; folia ensiformia, glauca, cauli simplici subaequalia ; 
sfathae herbaceae, apice tantum membranaceae, 2 — 3 florae ; segmenta omnia venosa, exteriorum lamina 
in unguem oblongum contracta ; interiora oblanceolata, obtusa. 
Description. 
Rootstock , a 
Fig. 13. Capsule of / 
Korolkowi, showing 
how it dehisces below 
the apex. 
red-skinned rhizome with crowded growths, seldom inclined to produce stolons. The 
basal sheathes of the leaves and stem are membranous and surrounded by a few 
fibrous remains of older growths. 
Leaves, narrow, ensiform, of a pale grey glaucous green, often dark at the base. 
Stem, about a foot in height, bearing 2 — 3 reduced leaves which wrap it closely, 
and a single head of 2 — 3 flowers. 
Spatke valves, 2 — 3 in. long, keeled, acuminate, green more or less flushed with 
purple. 
Pedicel, practically none. 
Ovary, an inch long, trigonal. 
Tube, an inch long, striped and mottled with dark purple. 
Falls. Obovate cuneate, of a general pale olive-green colour, caused by olive- 
green or brown veins and a like coloured signal patch on creamy white ground, which 
has a greenish tinge. The haft narrows very suddenly at the base forming flanges 
which cover the base of the standards. 
Standards, obovate unguiculate, with brownish veins on a whitish ground. 
Styles, keeled, very dark reddish purple. 
Crests, triangular, erect, not reflexed. 
Stigma, entire. 
Named after General Korolkow, by whom plants were first sent from Turkestan to St Petersburg. 
