158 
The Pogoniris Section 
Diagnosis. 
I. aphylla Pogoniris; folia ensiformia, plerumque falcata ; caulis foliis subaequalis, infra medium v 1 
etiam basi ramosus ; spathae herbaceae, purpureo plerumque suffusae ; segmenta exteriora pilis an ,v 
coerulescentibus, basi luteis barbata. v p,ce 
Description. 
Rootstock , a compact rhizome. 
Leaves, ensiform, more or less glaucous, the outermost of each tuft being usually falcate ; the non- 
flowering tufts are usually as long as or longer than the stem ; withering entirely away in autumn anrl 
not shooting again until the spring. 
Stem ' 8-1 5 in ches high, branched below the centre. The point of attachment of the lower lateral 
to the main stem is often at the ground line so that two stems appear to rise 
side by side. In some weak plants the lateral branch from the base does not 
develop. 
Spat lies, green or flushed with purple, usually somewhat inflated and mem- 
branous and only slightly scarious in the upper part, 1—2 -flowered. 
Pedicels, very short. 
Chary, short, oblong. 
Tube, |— 1 in. long, green, more or less flushed with purple. 
Falls. The obovate blade passes without any marked constriction into the 
tapering wedge-shaped haft. The colour is purple, either of a blue or red shade 
and the beard, which is often very straggling, is in front white more or less 
distinctly tipped with blue. In the centre the blue tips are absent and at the 
base the hairs become yellow. 2 — 2^ in. by 1 — 1£ in. 
Standards, the obovate or suborbicular blade narrows abruptly to the narrow 
channelled, brown veined haft. The colour is nearly the same as that of the falls 
but sometimes of a slightly paler shade. 2— 2$ in. by i£— 1£ in. 
Styles, keeled, oval or triangular. 
Crests, triangular, usually with serrate edge. 
Stigma, entire. 
Filaments, colourless or flushed with blue purple. 
Anthers, cream or cream edged with blue purple. 
Pollen, white or bluish. 
Capsule, rounded trigonal, tapering, with more or less distinctly marked 
showing a lateral stem g rooves at the an gles and on the sides. 
arising at the ground line. Seeds, globose or slightly pyriform, dark brown or red brown, wrinkled. 
Observations. 
An examination of Linnaeus’ account of two of his species, namely I. aphylla and I. biflora, and 
of the authorities on which his statements are based seems to show that he did not clearly distinguish 
two widely separated plants. 
/. aphylla is described by Linnaeus as a bearded Iris, having a many-flowered bare stem of the 
same length as the leaves 1 . This description is quoted from Royen’s Florae Leydensis Prodromus p 17 
(1740). which in turn quotes C. Bauhins Pinax, p. 32 (1623). The latter refers to Clusius’ History of 
Pannonian Plants (1583) Iris VII caulifera purpurea 1 and 2*. Clusius as usual makes it quite clear to 
what plant he is referring by the statement that it is leafless in winter 1 . That this Central European 
plant was known to Linnaeus is proved by the specimen in the Linnaean Herbarium at the Linnaean 
Society, although it is there named /. biflora and not I. aphylla. No locality is given either with this 
specimen or in the literature. 
Linnaeus' name, /. biflora, is based on plants in the Hortus Upsaliensis, p. 17 (1748), Hortus 
Chffortianus, p. 19 (1737), and in C. Bauhins Pinax, p. 33 (1623). In all three descriptions there occurs 
the phrase "on rocks near the sea in Portugal*" and in the first two the name is explained as meaning 
that the plant flowered twice in the year. The source of this information is to be found in Clusius, 
Hist. Hisp. p. 221 (1576), where Clusius describes a plant which he found flowering in November on 
the rocks near Coimbra and named somewhat inappropriately I. biflora for the reason just given. No 
direct citation of this passage of Clusius can be traced but there can be little doubt that this is the 
origin of the descriptions in pre-Linnaean literature. 
This I ortuguese plant is the /. subbiflora of Brotero and it is obvious that Linnaeus confused it 
with the Central European I. aphylla, for not only did he name his herbarium specimen of the latter 
/. biflora, but he also quotes in his description of /. biflora C. Bauhin, Pinax, p. 33, who refers to 
1 Iris corollis barbacis, scapo nudo longitudine foliorum multifloro, Linn. l.c. 
* Not Iris VII et caulifera, which is a misquotation. 
’ Peculiar <-‘m habet notam ut nulla folia per hiemem retineat, sed omnia flaccescant et exsiccentur, Clusius l.c. p. 249. 
* In rupibus maritimis Lusitaniae. 
