The Pogoniris Section 177 
Standards , obovate with a short channelled haft which bears a few indistinct bronze-purple veins 
on a light ground. The blade is of a pale blue-purple, of a lighter shade than the falls. 
Styles , pale in colour except along the central ridge, which is blue-purple. 
Crests, triangular, blue-purple. 
Stigma , entire. 
Filaments, colourless. 
Anthers, cream. 
Pollen , white. 
Capsule, oblong, trigonal, 2 — 2^ in. long, with thick walls. 
Seeds, dark red-brown, wrinkled, somewhat pyriform but often compressed. 
Observations. 
This fine Iris grows in the neighbourhood of Mardin in northern Mesopotamia, whence it is from 
time to time imported with I. Gatesii. It was first sent to England apparently by the Rev. O. H. 
Parry and has flowered in more than one garden in this neighbourhood. Unfortunately in this light 
sandy soil the plants seemed gradually to lose their vigour until now they have almost all succumbed. 
The same fate has befallen other plants that have been received by Messrs Van Tubergen from the 
same locality. Fortunately I was able to obtain seeds from the original plants and hope that the 
seedlings will take more kindly than did their parents to their surroundings and to the climatic 
conditions prevailing here. 
I. mesopotamica was one of the parents, I. pallida dalmatica being' the other, of the fine hybrid, 
named Carthusian, which was raised some years ago and exhibited in London by Mr J. W. Marshall, 
a former colleague and neighbour. 
I. mesopotamica is distinguished from I. cypriana by its broad foliage, by the spathes, which are only 
slightly scarious in the upper part at flowering time, by the shorter perianth tube and by the shorter 
and less prominent beard. These differences are scarcely sufficient to separate two species but the 
plants are certainly distinct horticulturally if not botanically, and it seemed better therefore to describe 
them under different names, even if a better knowledge of the plants leads to their being eventually 
regarded as mere varieties of one species. 
The Iris grown in France under the name of I. Ricardi was found in a garden near Jerusalem 
and is apparently only a form of I. mesopotamica. In warm climates, in the south of France for 
instance, in the heavy limestone soil, this Iris is magnificent and, when crossed with various bearded 
species and hybrids, has given rise to a series of fine plants, much larger and sturdier than the usual 
so-called "German” Irises. Unfortunately, it is only in warm sheltered positions in heavy calcareous 
soil that these fine hybrids seem capable of doing really well in England. 
t /. CYPRIANA 
Baker and Foster in Gard. Chron. 1888, II. p. 182. 
Baker, Hdk. I rid. p. 37 (1892). 
Distribution. All that is known of the origin of this plant is that it was found growing in Cyprus by 
Mrs Kenyon and sent by her to Kew, whence Foster received rhizomes in 1885. 
Diagnosis. 
I. cypriana Pogoniris ; /. trojanae haud dissimilis sed folia angusta, spathae latiores, breviores, fere 
omnino scariosae ; semina elliptica vel pyriformia nec compressa. 
Description. 
Rootstock, a stout rhizome. 
Leaves, ensiform, of a slightly glaucous blue-green somewhat like those of I. pallida but distinctly 
narrow for so large a plant. 
Stem, about 3 feet in height, bearing a terminal head of 3 flowers, and 2—3 lateral heads each of 
at least 2 flowers, the lowest branch being the longest and bearing 3 flowers. The stem is often bent 
and unable to support itself erect 
Spathes, not more than 2 in. long, very broad and navicular, the outer valves being almost entirely 
scarious, the inner much less so. 
Pedicel, extremely short. 
Ovary, more equally six grooved than that of / . mesopotamica. 
Tube, 1 in. long, light yellow-green, with faint broken purple stripes. 
Falls , the elongated wedge-shaped blade narrows gradually to the broad wedge-shaped haft, which 
is veined with brown on a light ground. The blade is of a pale blue-lilac overlaid with a reddish 
shade and the prominent beard is white, slightly tipped with yellow in front, becoming almost wholly 
yellow at the base. The shape of the blade is peculiar, for the widest point is at the extreme end. 
4i in. by 2\ — 2% in. 
Standards, the obovate blade is of a paler shade of lilac than the falls and the deeply channelled 
haft is dotted and veined with brown-purple, on the inner side. 
D. 
23 
