138 
The Pogoniris Section 
Diagnosis. 
/. Jlavissima Pogoniris; rhizoma stoloniferum ; caulis simplex, 2 — 3 florus : spathae angustae, virides 
/lores flavi, barba aurantiaca ; capsula infra apicem dehiscet ; semina arillo parvo albo. 
Description. 
Rootstock, a slender, much branched, wide-creeping rhizome. 
Leaves, linear-ensiform, somewhat blunt, 3 — 4 in a tuft, 3 — 4 in. long by 
^ — £ in. broad, at flowering time, of a pale glaucous green. 
Stem, i — 3 in. in length, bearing a terminal head of 2 — 3 flowers. 
Spathe valves. The outer valve is acutely lanceolate and scarious in the 
upper part, 1 — if in. long; the inner is usually blunter. 
Pedicel , f in. 
Ovary , £ in. long, rounded trigonal, with a ridge on either face, so that 
the section is almost hexagonal. 
Tube, f in., funnel shaped. 
Buds , green, veined and tipped with bronze. 
Falls. The oblong, bright yellow blade is slightly shorter than the wedge- 
shaped haft, which is faintly veined with brown purple. The beard is orange, 
the club-shaped hairs being tipped with brown along the haft. 
Standards. Oblong unguiculate, the blade being yellow and the haft yellow, 
veined at the edge with brown purple. 
Styles, short and narrow. 
Crests, relatively large, triangular with acute tips. 
Stigma, entire. 
Filaments , colourless, about equal to the anthers. 
Anthers, cream, with green-black edges. 
Pollen, greenish. 
Capsule, if in. long, tapering to the upper end, on which the tube and 
withered flower persist. The shape is that of the capsule of /. Korolkowi, 
namely, rounded trigonal. It dehisces below the apex (cf. Figs. 13, p. 124, 
and 15). 
Seeds, brown, pyriform, with a long neck and a creamy white, flat aril. 
Observations. 
I can see no good reason for separating the Hungarian /. arenaria from 
Fig. 15. Inflorescence of I. this Altai species. Other plants, among them /. ruthenica and apparently 
and ^one^ withered humilis, are found in Hungary and then not again until the Altai region is 
flower that failed to set reached. The variation of I. arenaria in cultivation according to the soil 
seed. and conditions under which it is grown is sufficient to justify us in ignoring 
the supposed difference in size of the two plants, which is mentioned by 
Waldstein and Kitaibel. 
Even Maximowicz, whose practice it was to magnify minute differences into specific characters, 
admits (B. A. P. xxvi. p. 530 (1880)) that /. Jlavissima and I. arenaria are only two forms of the same 
species, the former being slightly larger because it grows in moister, richer soil than the Hungarian 
plant. 
This Iris shows a distinct affinity to the Regelia group, in the character of its stoloniferous rhizome, 
in the capsule, which tapers at either end and dehisces below the apex and in the seeds with their 
less developed, but noticeable, aril. 
To do well, this Iris should be grown in a sunny, well-drained position in the rock-garden, the 
slender rhizomes being planted in a layer of very sandy soil about two inches deep, overlying soil 
which has been enriched with old leaf soil. When the rhizomes become too crowded, or show by their 
weak growth that the soil is becoming exhausted, they should be lifted and replanted soon after the 
flowers have withered. The plants require moisture when growth is active in spring. 
Seeds are easily obtained by artificial pollination. They germinate fairly readily and the young 
plants grow rapidly, spreading in all directions, so that in the second year from the germination of the 
seed a plant will often produce as many as 6 — 8 flower-stems. Consequently the seedlings, when planted 
out, should be placed further apart than their small size would at first sight suggest. 
+ /. Bloudowip 
Bunge in Ledeb. FI. Alt. IV. p. 331 (1833). 
•Ledebour, leones FI. ross. 11. p. 5, t. 101 (1830). 
•Regel, Gartenflora, 1880, p. 228, t. 1020, Fig. 2. 
Baker in Gard. Chron. 1876, II. p. 710. 
1 Regel, Gartenfl. xxvn. p. 326, says that the plant was named in honour of Herr von Bloudow, a former President of the 
St Petersburg Academy of Science. 
