232 
The Gynandriris Section 
Gizeh, 1831, Hb. Monbret (V). 
1848, Kralik (V). 
, Ehrenburg (B). 
Syria. Aleppo, 1865, Haussknecht (K) (V) (BM) (B). 
1841, Kotschy (V). 
Beirut, 1850, Blanche (V), 1875, Post (BM). 
Lebanon and Beyrout, 1851, De Lessert (B). 
Lebanon, 1857, Gaillardot (K). 
E. of Jordan, 1873, Paine (K). 
Tiberias, 1897, Mars (B). 
Plains of Esdraelon, 1851, De Lessert (B). 
Jerusalem, 1861, Hb. Reg. Monac. (V). 
1889, Jouannet-Marie (V). 
Nazareth, 1863-4, Lowne (BM) (C). 
Hebron, 1855, Kotschy (V). 
Hauran, 1882, Stubel (B). 
Mesopotamia. Euphrates (Bamboudseh), 1836, Chesney (BM) (V) (C) (K) (B). 
Mosul (Nineveh), Kouyanjik, 1849, Loftus (BM). 
Biredjik, 1888, Sintenis, no. 177 (B). 
Arabia. Koweit, 1865, Pelly (K). 
Persia. Kirman (Chabis), 1859, Bunge (V) (B). 
Kischm, 1893, Bommuller (B). 
Turkestan. Askabad, 1900, Sintenis (BM) (V) (,K) (B). 
Bokhara , Kulab, 18 — , Regel (K). 
Baluchistan. 1851, Stocks (K) (C) (V) (B). 
Shorawak Plain (Nushki), 1896, Maynard (BM) (K) (B). 
Quetta, 1910, Cave Brown (HortD), 1911, Keyes (HortD). 
1888, Duthie (BM). 
Afghanistan. 1862, Griffith (K) (V) (B), 1885, Aitchison (K). 
North-West Frontier Province. Peshawar, 1877, Aitchison (K). 
Kuram Valley, 1879, Aitchison (K). 
Diagnosis. 
I. sisyrinchium cormum profert tunicis reticulatis vestitum nec bulbum nec rhizoma ; sfathae basi 
tubulatae. 
Description. 
Rootstock, a small globose corm, usually loosely wrapped in several layers of coarsely reticulated 
coats, the remnants of the corms of former seasons. The corms are said to be edible but my ex- 
perience is that they are exceedingly bitter and unpleasant to the palate. 
Leaves, few in number, small bulbs often only producing one leaf, linear, complicate, strongly veined, 
often falcate. 3 — 15 in. long. 
Stem, 1 — 12 in. long, often bearing several lateral heads in addition to the terminal cluster of 
flowers. 
Spalhe valves, papery, brownish green, closely ribbed, scarious at the edge and tip. The outer 
valve (about i£ in.) is shorter than the inner valves but all are usually tubular for some distance above 
the base. 1 — 6 flowered. 
Pedicel, £ in. flattened. 
Ovary. There is no obvious constriction between the ovary and the tube, which together measure 
in., so that it is difficult to say where one ends and the other begins. 
Tube. The tube is spotted with red purple in the upper part. 
Falls, of various shapes, varying from lanceolate to obovate with a short tapering haft. There 
is always on the blade a more or less conspicuous white patch, often spotted with the prevailing colour 
and surrounding the end of the yellow ridge, which, on the haft, is sometimes dotted with black. 
The main colour of the falls is of some shade of blue purple, rarely of a reddish tone of purple. 
Standards , oblanceolate, slightly shorter than the falls, with a canaliculate haft, of which the con- 
cave side is turned outwards. This character is probably peculiar to this Iris. 
Styles, short, adnate to one another for some distance. 
Crests, comparatively large, subquadrate. 
Stigma, with two distinct rounded tongues. 
Filaments, bluish or violet, longer than the anthers, adnate to, but not connate with, the styles. 
Anthers, bluish or pale violet. 
Pollen , cream. 
Capsule, narrow, oblong, trigonal, 1 — 1| in. long, with thin papery walls. 
Seeds , small, dark brown, globose or slightly flattened. 
Observations. 
I. sisyrinchium is the most widely distributed of all Irises and was thought by Foster to represent 
an approach to the archetype of the genus. 
