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THE LADIES’ FLOWER-GARDEN 
divisions, three of which stand erect, and are called by modern botanists the corolla ,• and the other three, which 
are bent back, are called the calyx. Besides these, there are three other leafy bodies, which are, in fact, the 
stigmas, and under each of which lies a stamen. All the fibrous-rooted kinds of Iris are furnished with a fleshy 
underground stem, called a rhizoma, or root stalk ; and the leaves of nearly all the species are sword-shaped, like 
those of most kinds of bulbs. The word Iris signifies a rainbow, and is applied to this genus in allusion to the 
various colours of the flowers. 
1.— IRIS SUSIANA, Lin. THE CHALCEDONIAN IRIS. 
Engravings. — Bot. Mag., t. 91 ; and our fig. 1, in PI. 95. 
Specific Character. — Leaves ensiform, glabrous ; scape one-flowered ; flower bearded ; petals roundish. 
Description, &c.— This splendid plant is a native of Persia ; and from Susiana, one of the cities in that 
country, it takes its name. It grows about two feet high, and flowers freely in the open air in Britain about the 
latter end of May, or the beginning of June. It should be grown in a loamy soil, and in an open situation, where 
it is freely exposed to the sun and air ; and it will not thrive in close town gardens, or in any situation where it 
is exposed to a smoky atmosphere, or too much moisture. It is generally propagated by taking off the new 
tubers that it forms every year ; but as these are rarely brought to perfection in this country, for want of heat in 
our summers, tubers are every year imported from Holland. This species is called in the old books the great 
Turkey flower de luce, because it was first imported into this country from Constantinople. It was introduced 
in 1573. 
2.— IRIS FLORENTINA, Lin. 
Synonvme. — I. alba, Bauh. 
Engravings.-^ — Bot. Mag., t. 671 ; and our fig. 2, in PI. 95. 
Specific Character. — Leaves glaucous, shorter than the stem ; 
THE FLORENTINE IRIS. 
spathe membranaceous, one or two-flowered, shorter than the tube ; 
segments of the calyx revolutely deflexed ; stigmas oblong ; segment of 
the corolla erect, and curving inwards. 
Description, &c. — The root stock of this species, which is thick, fleshy, and creeps horizontally along the 
ground, forms the powder known as orrice powder or orrice root in the shops, which is frequently used to give 
fragrance to tooth-powder, from its possessing a strong scent of violets. Orrice root is a corruption of Iris root ; 
but that used by the perfumers is all imported from Leghorn, as what is produced in this country has scarcely 
any fragrance. The colour called Verdelis, or Iris green, is made from the flowers of this species, and those of 
I. germanica. The Florentine Iris is a native of Italy, and other parts of the South of Europe, and it takes its 
name from its growing in great abundance on the walls of Florence. It has also been found in Algiers, where it 
is grown with I. germanica, to cover graves. It was introduced before 1596, and it is quite hardy in British 
gardens. 
3.— IRIS GERMANICA, Lin. THE COMMON PURPLE, OR GERMAN IRIS. 
Synonymes. — I. sambucina, Thunb. ; I. squalens. Mill. ; I. casru- 
lea, Wein. ; I. silvestris, Bauh.; I. vulgaris, Ger. ; I. latifolia, 
Clus. ; I. purpurea. Park. 
Engraving. — Bot. Mag., t. 670. 
Specific Character. — Spathe partly herbaceous, and partly mem- 
branaceous ; one or two-flowered, including the tube of the flower ; 
leaves acuminate, shorter than the stem. 
1 
Description, &c. — This species bears considerable resemblance to the last, excepting that the flowers are 
purple instead of white, and that the root stock is not sweet scented ; and if chewed it will be found to be slightly 
bitter, and to produce a most disagreeable heat in the throat. This is the commonest species of Iris in British 
