134 
The Pseudoregelia Section 
had not seen any specimens of Baker's /. goniocarpa. He notes the resemblance of the descriptions 
of the two plants, but says that /. gracilis has not got leaves “ half a dozen or more to a tuft,” 
which was the expression used in Baker’s original description. This, however, is misleading, for 
Baker’s type in the Kew Herbarium has three fascicules, each of 2 — 3 leaves, coalescing to form one 
tuft. Maximowicz also lays stress on the fact that the leaves of /. goniocarpa were said by Baker to 
be longer than the stem and a foot or more in length. This is quite true, but it is equally true that 
one of Przewalski's specimens (K) exactly corresponds to this description, while in another the stem 
and leaves are both shorter. 
/. goniocarpa appears to be distinct from I. Hooker iana in its slender foliage and stem, and in 
the small 1 -flowered spathe. It is possible, however, that experience of the behaviour of the plants in 
cultivation would show that the smaller plant must be regarded merely as a form of the larger. 
t /. SIKK I MEN SIS 
(Plate XXXI) 
Synonym. 
I. kumaonensis caulescens , Dykes in Gard. Chron. XLIII. p. 396 (1908). 
DISTRIBUTION. Probably from Sikkim, but the origin is somewhat uncertain. 
Diagnosis. 
I. sikkimcnsis Pseudoregelia ; inter /. kumaomnsem et /. Hookcrianam ; ab ilia cattle producto, 
foliis brevioribus et laxioribus, ab hac lubo duplo vel triplo longiore, segmentis interioribus oblique 
extensis differt. 
Description. 
Rootstock, a somewhat slender gnarled rhizome, with remains of old leaves splitting into fibres. 
Leaves, 4 to 8 in. long at flowering time, eventually becoming 12 — 18 by £ — £, pale green, ensiform. 
Stem, 4 — 6 in. long, bearing a terminal head of 2 — 3 flowers, and a sheathing leaf, attached near 
the base ; the stem springs from a tuft of 4 reduced leaves. 
Spathes, pale green, lanceolate, 2 — 3 in. long, the outer valve being keeled ; both valves are 
scarious in the upper third, and along the edge at flowering time. 
Pedicel, £ — £ in. long. 
Ovary, trigonal, £ in. long, green, mottled and striped with faint purple. 
Tube, — 2 in. long, trigonal, deep purple. 
Falls. The obovate blade is of a dark purple lilac, mottled with a deeper shade, especially round 
the end of the beard ; the wedge-shaped haft is blotched with purple on a whitish ground. The beard 
is of white club-shaped hairs, tipped with orange. 2^ in. long by 1 in. or more broad. 
Standards, sloping outwards at an angle of about 45 0 , with an oblong deeply and widely emarginate 
blade, narrowing suddenly to a canaliculate haft. The colour is a pale mauve lilac, faintly mottled at 
the base with a deeper shade. 2 in. by £ in. 
Styles, narrow, keeled, 1 in. long, of a deep purplish blue in the centre, becoming much paler at 
the edges. 
Crests, triangular, £ in. long, revolute. 
Stigtna, obscurely bilobed, with irregularly indented edge. 
Filaments, pale violet, equal in length to the anthers. 
Anthers, creamy white. 
Pollen, cream. 
Capsule, 
Seeds, 
Observations. 
It is with some hesitation that I publish the account of this Iris, because, although after cultivating 
it for at least four years side by side with /. kumaonensis and I. Hookeriana, 1 have no doubt that 
it is distinct from both of these, I am not yet satisfied that it may not be merely a hybrid between 
the two. This however can hardly be possible, if, as I was led to understand, the plant was wild in 
Sikkim, for I. Hookeriana does not seem to extend as far east as that. 
The history of the plant is somewhat obscure, for all that is certain is that it was very kindly 
sent to me by Messrs Barr and Sons, with the intimation that it came from an unknown locality in 
Sikkim. The rootstock might well have been either /. kumaonensis or I. Hookeriana, but the growth 
of the plant is quite different from either. The foliage is not nearly so broad as that of /. Hookeriana, 
nor does it grow after the flowering time to the same extent as that of /. kumaonensis. Moreover, 
the spathes are largely scarious, and the tube intermediate in length between those of the two above- 
mentioned species. In one unfortunate respect it differs markedly from either, namely in its obstinate 
refusal to set any seed, even though the flowers were carefully pollinated both with its own pollen 
