The Pseudoregelia Section 131 
the end of the beard, but becoming almost a uniform blue-purple at the extremity-. The beard is of 
close-set, silky, white hairs, sometimes slightly tipped with orange or brownish-yellow. 
Standards , shorter than the falls, the blade being oblong and distinctly and widely emarginate, 
usually of a paler shade of purple and more uniform in colour than the falls. The base, however, 
bears similar mottlings to those of the falls. 
Styles, with a deep purple central ridge and paler sides, short. 
Crests, triangular, with crenate edges, small. 
Stigma, entire, with crenate edge. 
Filaments , bluish. 
Anthers , lavender. 
Pollen, white. 
Capsule, small, f — i in. long, almost circular in section, tapering to a point and dehiscing below 
the apex. 
Seeds, red-brown, pyriform, with distinct but flat creamy aril. 
Observations. 
This Iris appears from herbarium specimens to be less abundant than I. Hookeriana in the valleys 
of the N.W. Himalaya and possibly to be confined to Kumaon and Garhwal. It was first collected 
apparently by Wallich and may be at once distinguished by the very short or entirely undeveloped 
stem and by the long perianth tube. The plants flower when the leaves are very short, but these 
eventually develop to about 18 in. in length. The capsule is short and spherical, distinctly rounder 
and shorter than the gradually tapering form of that of I. Hookeriana. 
The nomenclature of these plants has been confused by the fact that Foster in 1887 described 
two forms under the names of I. Kingiana and /. Duthieii without any reference to the /. kumaonensis 
of Wallich, whose specimens are now at the Linnaean Society in London. His descriptions, as they 
were published, do not distinguish between I. Kingiana and /. Duthieii, but in his MSS. there is the 
following note. “ Duthiei distinguished from Kingiana by beard, no sign of crest." There are sketches 
and also very full notes of the two plants, but they seem identical except in this single point, which 
is an unreliable character as is explained in the introductory notes on the Pseudoregelia section. 
There does not seem to be any very great difficulty about the cultivation of this Iris in a rich 
well-drained soil and sunny position, where it will not be too wet in winter. Moisture must be 
provided in abundance during the growing season and care must be taken to prevent the destruction 
of the fleshy roots by wireworms which seem to be especially fond of them. 
Increase by division of the rootstocks is slow and seeds are apt to lie dormant for years without 
germinating. 
Herbarium specimens of I. kumaonensis differ greatly in appearance according to the time of year 
at which they are collected. For instance, a plant gathered in flower will have leaves that are only 
a few inches in length, not reaching even to the top of the flower, while, at the end of the season, 
when the capsule is ripe, the narrow leaves will have attained a length of a foot or eighteen inches, 
cf. Duthie no. 3426 and Clarke no. 23914 A (K). Even at this stage of the growth the stem is 
usually only an inch or two in length, although instances occur in which it develops to as much as 
four inches. Plate XXX illustrates the different appearance of the plant at different stages of its 
growth. 
t /. Hookeriana 1 
Foster in Gard. Chron. 1887, I. p. 61 1. 
Baker, Hdk. Irid. p. 25 (1892). 
in *Bot. Mag. t. 7276 (1893). 
Hooker, f. FI. Brit. Ind. vol. VI. p. 275 (1894). 
Synonyms. 
/. kumaonensis caulescens, Baker, Hdk. Irid. p. 25 (1892). 
I. gilgitensis , Baker, Hdk. Irid. p. 24 (1892). 
Distribution. From Western Tibet through Kashmir, where it is apparently very abundant to Chitral. 
Western Tibet. No locality, 18 — , Thomson (B) (V). 
Totu-la, 1905, Meebold, no. 3222 (B). 
Tibet and Ladakh, 1896, Cordeaux (BM). 
Garhwal. No locality, 1884, Duthie (K). 
18 — , Royle (K). 
Kashmir. Lahul, 1865, Jaeschhe (K). 
1882, Moravian Mission (Foster's type) (K). 
1856, Schlagintweit, no. 4116 (B) (E). 
Chamba, 1880, Ellis (K). 
Little Tibet; Burzil Pass, 1848, Winterbotham (K). 
* Named in honour of Sir Joseph D. Hooker. 
17—2 
