|64 The Pogoniris Section 
t Var. Swas (Nicholson, Diet. Gard. Suppl. H. p. 447 (1900)). This variety was received by Foster 
in 1884 from Northern Asia Minor mixed with I. Biliotti (MS.). It is distinguished by the weak, 
yellow green, narrow leaves and by the distinctly blue flowers. The ground colour of the haft of the 
falls is a faint blue and not white, so that the brown veining is less conspicuous. The beard is only 
slightly tipped with yellow far back on the haft and therefore appears whiter than in the other 
varieties. 
f Var. A mas (syn. macrantha). Rhizomes of this form were sent to Foster in 1885 from Amasia in 
Northern Asia Minor. It is the sturdiest, though not the tallest, of all the gertnanica forms and one 
of the most distinct, for its leaves remain quite short in winter, behaving in fact more like those of 
/. pallida. The tube is 1 in. long and thickly covered with broken purple streaks ; the spathe valves 
become very nearly wholly scarious by the time the flowers expand. The standards are almost orbicular 
of a very light blue purple and bear a few scattered yellow tipped hairs on the deeply channelled haft. 
The falls are of a deep blue purple with a broad beard of bluish white hairs tipped with orange. 
Var. australis. 
Synonym. 
I. australis, Todaro, Nuov. Gen. e Spec. III. p. 49 (1861). 
Lojac.-Pojero, FI. sicula III. p. 70 (1909). 
(Foster MS.) mentions a letter from Todaro received on May 5, 1880, in which it was stated that 
the plant had not been found spontaneous in Sicily but that it came true from seed repeatedly. Another 
note mentions that Foster had another plant obtained by Barr from Portugal, which seemed identical 
with australis, except that it grew “ rather taller both in leaf and in flower.” The falls are described 
as being distinctly veined, the colour being deeper in the centre. The standards are similar in colour 
and of a deep reddish purple. 
[N.B. I am inclined to believe that this plant must be identical with I. Kochii, Kerner. As, 
however, there is no direct evidence and as the name /. Kochn is so well-established in gardens, it 
seems better to make no change in the names.] 
fVar. Askabadcnsis. This plant has been recently, introduced into our gardens from Askabad by 
Mr C. G. Van Tubergen, Junr., of Haarlem. It is a late flowering and very distinct form of I. germanica. 
Its colouring is not unlike that of the variety A mas except that the shade of the pale blue standards is 
somewhat lighter while that of the falls is both paler and slightly more red. The yellow brown veining 
on the haft of the falls is slight and inconspicuous as is also that on the haft of the standards, which 
bears a few yellow tipped hairs. The beard is largely tipped with yellow even at the apex and becomes 
wholly orange at the base. 
The whole plant is more slender than A mas and the flowers distinctly smaller. In my experience 
it has proved the latest to flower of all the varieties of /. germanica. 
[N.B. The plant, which is in commerce under the name of /. germanica var. grisea and which 
flowers at the same time as the various varieties of that species, is however quite distinct. Its origin is 
unknown but the long narrow green spathes and its inflorescence show that it is not a germanica. 
The stem is about a foot in height and bears one lateral branch besides the terminal head and a 
reduced sheathing leaf. The spathes are very nearly 3 in. long, narrow and almost wholly green, being 
only slightly scarious at the extreme tip. The perianth tube is under an inch long. The colour is a 
faint blue grey, the segments being veined at the base with a reddish purple, which on the falls passes 
first into bronze and then into a yellowish green near the end of the beard. This is composed of white 
hairs tipped with yellow. 
The plant is not free flowering and, from the malformed style branches and stigma, I am inclined 
to think that it must be a hybrid, possibly of one of the Indian pogoniris, of which the green spathe 
valves are characteristic.] 
tVar. Jlorentina. 
Synonyms. 
/. floretitim, *Ker-Gawl. in Bot. Mag. t. 671 (1803). 
I. pallida, # Kbhler, Mediz-Pflanz. I. (1887). 
The nomenclature of this plant is extremely complicated but the Bot. Mag. figure is clear and 
obviously represents the plant that is now commonly cultivated as I. Jlorentina. Of the other figures 
that have been published as I. Jlorentina, some 1 represent /. albicans (see p. 161 and Plate XXXV), 
while others’ depict white flowered Irises that cannot be identified with certainty. Linnaeus’ species 
I. Jlorentina Syst. Nat. ed. x. p. 863 (1759) can hardly stand, for he refers us to Plate 154 in Miller’s 
leones — a figure of a white flowered form of /. spuria with an exaggerated pubescence on the falls, 
although the plant was described as a bearded Iris (see p. 63). 
If we adhered strictly to the chronological order of publication, we should have to attach Redout's 
name of I. Jlorentina to the plant that we know as I. albicans (l.c.) but since this would only lead to 
confusion, it seems better to keep the name for the Bot. Mag. plant. 
1 E.g. *Red. Lil. t. 23 (1802). 
* E.g. *Sibth. FI. Graec. t. 39. 
