161 
The Pogoniris Section 
Filaments , longer than the anthers. 
Anthers , cream. 
Pollen, cream. 
Capsule, i in. long by £ in. broad, with six grooves. 
Seeds, small, greyish-brown, more or less pyriform. 
Observations. 
This Iris is so distinct that it has not been described under any other name and it is probably 
the only Linnaean species of Iris to enjoy this distinction. 
In Pre-Linnaean literature this Iris may be traced back through the Hortus Cliffortianus 1 and 
C. Bauhin’s Pinax to Clusius History of Pannonian plants. Clusius there relates (p. 245, iv. /. varia 
caulifera) that he first found the plant growing near Stampfen, which is not far from Pressburg in 
Western Hungary. 
In its wild state this Iris is distinctly smaller than the common forms of /. germanica and varies 
slightly in colour. My specimen from Kladovo has light red brown veining on the falls and the green 
spathes are slightly flushed with purple. In another plant from Rokovica in Servia, the veining is of 
a dark black red and the spathes are quite green without any purple flush. The pale edge of the falls, 
which is noticeable in some wild specimens, becomes even more pronounced and conspicuous in some 
garden forms. For the numerous hybrids of this species, see p. 234. 
Cultivation is extremely easy and the plants are perfectly hardy as is always the case with those 
species which lose their leaves in autumn and remain dormant until spring. 
+ /. ALBICANS 
(Plate XXXV a) 
Lange in Kjoeb. Vidensk. Meddel. 1860, p. 76. 
Pugillus, I. p. 76 (i860). 
•PI. Nov. Hisp. t. 33 (1864). 
Willk. et Lge. Prodr. fl. hisp. I. p. 143 (1861). 
Synonyms. 
I. florentina, Lam. Encycl. III. p. 293 (1789). 
•Red. Lil. t. 23 (1802). 
•Tratt. Auswahl, no. 85 (1821). 
Kunze in Flora XXXIX. p. 692 (1846). 
Kohler, Mediz.-Pflanz. I. 1887. 
?/. alba, Savi, Fl. pis. I. 32, 1798. 
[N.B. This is probably, but not certainly, I. albicans. It might conceivably be 1 . germanica 
var. florentina or some other albino form of I. germanica.] 
f Var. Madonna. 
Synonym. 
I. Madonna, Hort. Sprenger ex Bull. Soc. Tosc. Ortic. XVII. p. 130, 1892. (Plate XXXV ff.) 
Distribution. The specimen from which the species was first described by Lange was obtained from the 
neighbourhood of Almeria in 1851 and flowered in cultivation at Copenhagen in 1858. The probability 
however is (see p. 155) that the plant is really a native of the Yemen in Arabia and that it has been 
widely distributed by the Mahommedans wherever they have gone. It is used by them as a decoration 
in their graveyards. 
Yemen. Mt Saber, 1837, Botta (P), white and blue forms. 
Spain. Murcia; Sierra de la Fuensanto, 1852, Bourgeau (K) (E). 
Puerto de Santa Maria, 1849, Bourgeau (K) (O). 
Canary Is!.; El Monte, 18 — , Hb. Lowe (K). 
Barrano de la Virgen, 1846, Bourgeau (K). 
Tenerifle, 1910, Perez (HortD). 
France. Les Onglous (H^rault), 1911, Dykes (HortD)’. 
Crete. Souda Bay, Megalon Kastron, 1846, (B). 
Cyprus. Prodromo, 1862, Kotschy, no. 888 (V). 
No locality, 1885, Kenyon (Foster MS.). 
Asia Minor. Smyrna, 1893, Whittall (Foster MS.). 
Diagnosis. 
I. albicans Pogoniris ; /. gemtanicae haud dissimilis sed caulis robustior, ramis brevioribus ; sflathae 
minus scariosae ; segmenta interiora nunquam barbata. 
Description. 
Rootstock, a stout, compact rhizome. 
1 Linnaeus’ caule altitudine caulis multiflori in Spec Plant, ed. 1. is a misquotation for "foliis altitudine caulis multiflori." 
* See p. 155. 
D. 
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