Observations. 
The Reticulata Section 
227 
Considerable confusion arose with regard to this Iris, owing to the fact that Baker’s original 
description was founded on imperfect dried material. The bulbs had lost their outer reticulated coats 
and the inner skin appeared to be merely membranous, thus resembling the bulb of a small Juno 
Iris, such as /. persica , but in reality agreeing with those of the other members of the Reticulata 
group, in which the inner skin is much less distinctly veined than are the outer coats. This fact and 
the minuteness of the standards led Baker to class it at first by itself, and afterwards (Handb. Irid. 
p. 44) in the Juno group. Accordingly, when some years later Bornmliller discovered more specimens 
near Amasia and Egin, Haussknecht founded on them a new species, Bornmillleri , which differed from 
Baker’s description in having reticulate and not membranous coats. However, Foster was able to 
obtain through Max Leichtlin some of the bulbs collected by Bornmuller, and to compare with them 
when they flowered a dried specimen supplied by Mrs Danford herself. He then had no doubt as 
to the identity of the two plants (Foster, Bulbous Ir. p. 12, 1892). 
This species is one of the smallest, but especially valuable for its bright colour and early flowering 
habit. It is usually in flower in January and February, and increases rapidly by offsets. Six or eight 
of these or even more form at the base of each bulb of flowering size, and it is obvious that the 
stru ggl e f° r existence among them will be so keen that some will succumb, unless they are given 
space in which to find nutriment and room to develop. It is therefore best to lift the bulbs every 
year, and to replant them two or three inches apart. This operation should be carried out soon after 
the leaves have withered, and if the bulbs have to be kept out of the ground for any length of time, 
they should be covered with dry sand to prevent shrivelling. In any case they should be replanted 
early in the autumn. 
The soil that suits them best seems to be a rather heavy loam, well enriched with humus, provided 
that the position is well-drained and sunny and dry in summer. 
No hybrid of this Iris is known. 
1 1 . Bakeriana 
(Plate XLV, Fig. 3) 
•Foster in Bot. Mag. t. 7084 (1889), named after Mr J. G. Baker, at that time Keeper of the Kew Herbarium. 
•The Garden, 1890, p. 462, t. 753. 
•Gard. Chron. 1890, II. p. 293, t. 45 a. 
Baker, Handb. Ir. p. 42 (1892). 
•Gard. Chron. 1897, xxi. p. 103. 
•Joum. Hort. Soc. XXVIII. t. 120 (1904). 
•Gard. Chron. 1909, XLV. p. 53. 
DISTRIBUTION. Asia Minor and Mesopotamia. The type, which is in Herb. Kew., was cultivated by Foster 
from bulbs sent to him in 1887 by the Rev. G. F. Gates of the American Mission and collected in the 
neighbourhood of Mardin in Armenia. 
Other specimens. 
Kurdistan (Kangiwar), 1877, Floyer (K). 
On hills near the Euphrates, 1879, Mrs Danford (K). 
Kurdistan, 1888, Sintenis (K). 
Sultanabad (Prov. Irak-adschmi, Mt Schuturunkuh), 1897, Strauss (B). 
Diagnosis. 
I. Bakeriana Xiphion ; I. reticulatae affinis sed folia cylindrata 8-costata nec tetragona. 
Description. 
Rootstock , an ovate bulb with greyish-white, netted coats as in /. reticulata but somewhat more 
slender. 
Leaves , usually two from each bulb, 4 — 6 inches long at flowering time and finally a foot or more 
in length, hollow, cylindrical, with 8 ribs, of a glaucous bluish green, with a white horny tip as in 
/. reticulata. 
Stem , very short if any. 
Spathe valves, narrowly lanceolate, membranous, greenish by reason of the conspicuous green veins 
on a whitish ground. 
Pedicel , very short at first, but afterwards growing and bringing the ripe capsule to the surface. 
Ovary, cylindrical. 
Tube, 3 — 6 in. long, rising 1 — 1£ in. above the spathes, with 8 deep violet lines in the upper part. 
Falls. The oblong-elliptical haft is separated by a slight constriction from the small, sharply reflexed 
ovate blade. The latter is of an intense violet at the tip and round the circumference, the central 
space being white with small deep violet spots. Along the upper part of the haft runs an inconspicuous 
pale yellow streak, hardly raised into a ridge and becoming white on the blade. The sides of the haft 
bear oblique parallel lilac veins on a pale whitish ground, which is dotted with violet down the centre. 
Standards, erect, oblanceolate, of a uniform deep lilac colour. 
29 — 2 
