194 
The Juno Section 
Description. 
Rootstock , a large bulb, i — in. in diameter, with brown tunics and 4 — 6 tapering fleshy roots, 
persistent in the resting state. 
Leaves , deeply-channelled, with polished upper and glaucous under surface, tapering to a point, 
3 — 4 in. long at the flowering time and then growing to a foot or more. 
Stern, very short, entirely hidden by the leaves, bearing 1 — 3 flowers. 
Spathe valves , 4 in. long, pale green, not rigid, loose but not inflated. 
Pedicel , very short at first but eventually thrusting the ripe capsule to the surface of the ground. 
Ovary , cylindrical, sub-sessile in the spathe, £ in. long. 
Tube, 4 — 6 in. long, greenish-white, becoming thicker in the upper part where it is tinged with 
blue ; trigonal with a groove running down each face. 
Falls, 3 — 4 in. long by 1 in. or more broad. Blade oblong, the haft cuneate with conspicuous wings 
not transparent as in most other Junos; the colour is usually blue of some shade but occasionally pure 
white. The median ridge is conspicuous, of a bright orange colour, dotted along the haft with blackish 
green and covered with a faint whitish pubescence which spreads slightly on either side. 
Standards, about an inch long, canaliculate, with obovate blade and cuneate haft, poised horizontally. 
Styles, large, nearly as long, with the crests, as the falls, the edges irregularly toothed. 
Crests, very large, sometimes as long as the style, overlapping, sub-quadrate with coarsely-toothed 
edges. 
Stigma, obscurely bilobed. 
Filaments, pale mauve, about as long as, or slightly longer than, the anthers, bearing numerous 
minute, colourless, hairlike processes. 
Anthers, broad, white, mottled and edged with purple. 
Pollen , white or cream, spherical, covered with minute spines. 
Capsule, oblong, trigonous, 2 in. long, coming to the surface only as it ripens. The thin papery 
walls are often much inflated. 
Seeds, oval or pyriform, dark reddish-brown with a wrinkled surface. 
Observations. 
This Iris was first reported by Clusius in his volume on Spain (Hisp. Hist. Antwerp, 1576) under 
the name of Iris bulbosa latifolia. He found it growing in profusion in the neighbourhood of Cordova 
and Antequera. In the former locality, at any rate, on the banks of the Guadalquivir and on the sur- 
rounding hills, up to an elevation of 2000 feet, it has been found abundantly in recent years. The 
deepest and richest shades of blue in the flowers are found at the highest elevations in positions where 
the plants are in partial shade. It is also abundant in similar positions on the slopes of Mount Etna, 
where, as in Spain and Algeria, the flowering period lasts for three months or more from December or 
even November, according to the aspect and elevation. 
It is a remarkable fact that of all the Irises at present in cultivation, I. alata and its near relative 
I. palest ina are the only two cases in which the pollen grains are covered with minute spines. In 
common with all the members of the Juno group, the pollen grains are spherical and if the pentagonal 
markings or bosses, which are so conspicuous on the pollen of all the others, are present at all in the 
case of these two, they are very indistinctly and faintly marked. It is possible that these spines tend 
to protect the pollen from the intrusion of moisture between the grains, which swell and burst at once 
when immersed in water. 
This Iris cannot often be cultivated from year to year in this country, except perhaps in very dry 
and sunny localities. It does best in a heavy loam and needs complete drought for a period of several 
months in summer. Even if this is provided either naturally or artificially, it is seldom that the bulbs 
are able to make satisfactory leaf-growth as they should do, immediately the flowers have faded, owing 
to the fact that they usually flower in the depth of winter. Consequently sound bulbs are seldom pro- 
duced or ripened in this country. Fortunately, bulbs of this species are imported in large quantities 
from the south of Europe and can be purchased very cheaply. It is, therefore, possible by obtaining 
a supply of these bulbs in August or September to have this Iris in bloom in the open from October 
onwards until after Christmas. The exceptional summer of 1911 had such a good effect on bulbs of 
I. alata in my garden that, although they were neither protected in any way nor lifted, many flowered 
again in 1912. 
There is a variety alba with pure white flowers, which was known to Clusius and which is still 
sometimes to be obtained and another known as marginata, whose flowers are of a dark blue with a 
conspicuous white or light edge to the blade. 
Among flowers of the ordinary type, there is considerable variation in the shade of blue and in 
the amount of veining. 
Plate XL shows the brown roots which were formed at the end of the previous season’s growth, 
and the white root-fibres which were thrown out when growth began in the autumn. 
