147 
The Pogoniris Section 
Distribution. Sicily and Southern Italy. 
Sicily. Palermo, 18 — , Tineo (V). 
1904, Ross (E). 
Monreale (Palermo), 1827, Todaro (C) (B). 
San Martino, 1855, Huet du Pavilion (C) (V). 
Floridia to Palazzolo, 1840, Gussone (B). 
Syracuse to Lentini, 1869, Gansauge (B). 
Apulia. Gargano, 1875, Porta et Rigo (B) (K). 
Le Murgie di Ruvo, 18 — , Iatta (stems 1 in. only) (Hb. Terracciano). 
Diagnosis , 
/. pseudopumila ; Pogoniris ; inter I. pumilam et I. chamaeirim ; caulis simplex, 3 — 8 pollicaris, foliis 
obtectus ; spathae plerumque uniflorae, valvis rotundatis ; tubus ovario plus quam duplo longior. 
Description . 
Rootstock , a compact rhizome with crowded growths, of a somewhat greenish brown colour. 
Leaves , 4 — 6 to a tuft, 6 — 8 in. long, narrowing abruptly to an incurved tip, greyish green, 
glaucescent. 
Stem, 4 — 7 in. long, raising the single flower just above the leaves and almost entirely, if not quite, 
concealed in reduced clasping leaves. 
Spathes , 1 -flowered, valves pale green, rounded, slightly inflated, 2 — 3 in. long, reaching to or above 
the top of the tube. 
Pedicel, under ^ in. 
Ovary , rounded trigonal, slightly more than \ in. long. 
Tube , 2 — 3 in. 
Falls , with an obovate blade and wedgeshaped haft, slightly shorter than the standards. The 
colour may be either blue or red purple, yellow or white. The beard is usually of whitish hairs tipped 
with yellow. 
Standards , rounded oblong with short canaliculate haft, rather paler in colour than the falls. 
Styles, broad, keeled. 
Crests , triangular, revolute. 
Stigma, entire. 
Filaments, 
Anthers, 
Pollen , 
Capsule, 
Seeds, 
Observations. 
This Iris is unfortunately scarcely hardy in England and, although it has been introduced from Sicily 
on several occasions, it always seems to die out after a few seasons. This difficulty has made it impossible 
to decide whether there is any real difference between the larger specimens of I. chamaeiris from the 
Ligurian coast and examples of I. pseudopumila from Apulia and Sicily. In any case the difference 
is small and lies chiefly in the narrower spathes and in increased length of the tube and of the leaves, 
relatively to the length of the stem. Another feature that is nearly, if not always, constant, is that the 
spathes of I. chamaeiris, especially in Italy, bear usually two flowers, whereas /. pseudopumila rarely 
produces more than one flower. The fact, too, that no connecting links are apparently to be found 
between the neighbourhood of Pisa and Livorno (Leghorn) and Apulia in the south, points to the 
existence of two species. 
/. pseudopumila differs on the other hand from /. pumila by the presence of a stem of greater 
length than the tube. In this connection mention must be made of two specimens from Le Murgie di 
Ruvo in Apulia among a collection lent to me by Professor Terracciano, in which the stems are reduced 
to a bare inch in length, so that the plants are practically indistinguishable from the true I. pumila. There 
is no means of knowing whether these specimens are abnormalities produced by some accident to the 
individual 1 , but unless this is the case /. pumila and /. pseudopumila must be much more closely related 
than appears to be the case at first sight. 
For the relation between this Iris and /. subbiflora see p. 141. 
Little is known of this Iris in cultivation but it is probable that a well-drained limestone soil in 
a sunny, warm position or the pot cultivation recommended for I. subbiflora would suit it best. 
1 All rhizomatous Irises are apt at times to produce stemless flowers, low down at the base of the leaves. 
19 — 2 
