162 The Pogoniris Section 
Leaves , ensiform, glaucous, somewhat wider than in /. germanica , thicker and more rigid ; often 
twisted when full grown. 
Stem, about 15 — 18 inches high; the inflorescence resembles that of /. germanica (see Fig. 21, 
p. 163) but the lateral flowers are more closely set on shorter branches, which are almost entirely 
concealed in broad, green bracts. The terminal head sometimes contains three flowers. 
Spathc valves , navicular, broad, green, hardly scarious at all, or only in the upper third, when the 
first flowers open. in. long. 
Pedicel, very short. 
Ovary, trigonal, with a slight groove on each face, f in. long. 
Tube, equal to, or slightly longer than, the ovary. 
Falls. Blade obovate, haft wedge-shaped ; the latter bears faint greenish yellow veins on a white 
ground, which do not extend on to the pure white blade. The beard consists in front of white hairs 
tipped with yellow and at the back of deep yellow hairs. 
Standards. The pure white blade of a rounded oblong shape narrows suddenly to a short canaliculate 
haft, which bears no hairs and which is faintly veined with yellow. 
Styles, almost oval, white, keeled. 
Crests, narrow, pointed, with a serrated outer edge. 
Stigma, entire. 
Filaments, white, about equal in length to the anthers. 
Anthers , cream. 
Pollen, cream. 
Capsule , 
Seeds, 
[N.B. The variety Madonna only differs from /. albicans in its blue colour and in the purple- 
flushed spathes. See Plate XXXV.] 
Observations. 
If the explanation be correct that I have put forward (see p. 155) as to the origin of this Iris 
and as to the cause of its wide distribution, then it is one of the few cases in which the albino form 
of an Iris has been described and named before the coloured form. In spite of this it seems best to 
classify /. Madonna under the same heading as /. albicans in order to avoid the multiplication of specific 
names. 
I. albicans is fairly common in cultivation but often misnamed either /. florentina or I. germanica 
alba. Both the latter are, I have no doubt, albino forms of varieties of /. germanica and 1 . albicans 
can easily be distinguished from them by the following characteristics : 
(i) The inflorescence of I. albicans is much more compact and the branches much shorter. (Contrast 
Plate XXXV with Plate XXXVI and Fig. 21, p. 163.) 
(ii) The foliage is stifler, broader and usually slightly twisted, when full grown. 
(iii) The absence of any hairs on the inner side of the base of the standards. 
(iv) The shape of the segments and especially of the falls, which in /. albicans appear pointed, 
though they are not really so when flattened out. 
The variety Madonna is perhaps not yet quite acclimatised in England and still needs a warm 
sunny position to do well. 
+ /. GERMANICA 
Linn. Spec. PI. ed. 1. p. 38 0753 ). 
•Plenck, leones t. 34 (1788). 
•Bot. Mag. t. 670 (1803). 
Baker in J. L. S. XVI. p. 146 (18 77). 
Hdk. Irid. p. 37 (1892). 
Synonyms. 
I. spectabilis, Salisb. Prod. p. 43 (1796). 
I. vulgaris, Pohl, Tent FI. Boh. I. p. 46 (1810). 
I. violacca, Savi, Bot. Etrusc. II. p. 9 (1815). 
I. nepalensis, Wallich, Cat. no. 5050 in *Lindl. Bot Reg. t. 818 (1824) non Don. 
DISTRIBUTION. All the known forms of this Iris have been found growing either in semi-cultivated conditions 
or in such positions that they might easily have escaped from cultivation. No undoubtedly wild 
specimens are known. The behaviour of the plants in winter seems to show that the species is native 
to regions with mild winters, for all the known species that are natives of localities, where there is 
much frost or snow in winter, die down completely in autumn and their leaves do not grow again 
until the winter is over. Moreover, late frosts in March and April are capable of killing the rudimentary 
stems of I. germanica, when they are only an inch or two in length and entirely concealed in the 
wrapping leaves. At the same time and under the same conditions, buds of the Central European species 
such as I. pumila, /. aphylla and I. pallida are entirely unharmed. 
