THE IRIS FAMILY 
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base ; stamens 3, with the filaments either united into a tube round the style or only into a ring 
at the base, inserted on the perianth-tube ; carpels 3, united into a seedcase which adheres to the 
perianth-tube, a short style, and 3 narrow, rolled-in (involute), entire stigmas ; capsule roundish. 
Herbs with stems often 2-edged, sword-shaped (ensiform) parallel-veined leaves, and fibrous 
roots. 
(1) Blue-eyed Grass. (Sisyrin'chium angustifolium.) — Flowers blue, perianth-lobes pointed. 
(2) Sisyrin'chium californicum. — Flowers yellow, perianth-lobes blunt. 
1 . Blue-eyed Grass. (Sisyrin'chium angustifolium. Mill.)— As just described. A 
pretty little plant which has delicate blue flowers with pointed perianth-lobes, 1-6 on slender 
stalks (pedicels) in a cluster terminating a long slender 2-edged stalk, 6 inches to 1 foot high, 
which is occasionally branched and is usually destitute of leaves, when they are all from the 
root, and are narrow, short, and sword-shaped, and looking very like the leaves of the Bog Asphodel 
(Narthecium ossifragum). ( Sisyrinchium Bermudiana. Linn!) 
The variety Sisyrinchium anceps. Cav., which is the species drawn on Plate 55, is very 
similar, but it has broader leaves, more broadly winged stems, and one lobe of the spathe longer 
than the flowers. [ Plate 55. 
Very rare. In boggy places; in Counties Kerry, Cork, Clare, and Galway. July — August. 
Perennial. 
2. Sisyrin'chium californicum. Ait. — A similar species, having clusters of 3-5 yellow 
flowers with dark veins and blunt perianth-lobes. 
Very rare. In marshy ground ; in Rosslare, Wexford. June. Perennial. 
V. GLADIOLUS. Linn. — Flowers showy, in long terminal x -sided spikes, the base of each 
flower enclosed in a 2- or 3-lobed sheath (spathe). Perianth of 6 unequal lobes which are almost 
2-lipped, united into a short tube at the base to which the seedcase adheres ; stamens 3, inserted 
on the perianth-tube ; carpels 3, united into a seedcase, a long thread-like style, and 3 dilated, 
entire stigmas ; capsule oval, 3-valved. Herbs with bulbous roots with a fibrous covering more or 
less netted, and leafy stems with sword-shaped (ensiform), parallel-veined leaves. 
Gladiolus illyr'icus. Koch. — As just described. The only British species. The 
flowers are large, 1J-1J inches long, of a rich crimson, the 3 lower lobes with a pale spot, 3-10 in 
a i-sided spike; the capsule is short, oblong, with 3 prominent angles; the stems are 1^-2 feet 
high, with short, narrow, very pointed leaves, and small bulbs with numerous bulbils about the 
size of a hemp seed. 
Very rare. Among bracken ; in the New Forest and the Isle of Wight. June — July. Perennial. 
N 2 
