IRIS. 
373 
fcle (hotter than the leaves, ere ft, of a pale purpllfli blue. 
Native of North America, whence it was lent by .Mr. Pe¬ 
ter Col'infon in 1756. It idowers in May. 
15. Iris dichotoma, or forked iris: bearded; leaves en¬ 
fiform, fmooth ; Item panicled, round. Stem round, 
fmooth, branched. Branches fimple, elongated, naked, 
fpreading very much, three-flowered or thereabouts. 
Leaves radical, fix or feven, embracing, diftich, Ihort; 
there is a very (hort Item-leaf at each ramification. Flow¬ 
ers on long peduncles, pale purple, the fmallelt of any in 
the genus. Native of Siberia; introduced in 1784. by Mr. 
John Bell. It flowers in Auguft. 
16. Iris tripetala, or three-petnlled iris: bearded; leaf 
linear,longer than the one-flowered fcape; petals alternate, 
awl-thaped. Native of the Cape of Good Hope, near Cape 
Town, Picketberg, See. 
17. Iris tricufpis, or trifid-petalled iris-: bearded; leaf 
linear, longer than the fub-biflorous fcape, alternate; pe¬ 
tals trifid. Bulb the lize of a hazel-nut. Scape fimple, 
round, jointed, upright, bearing one or two flowers, a 
foot and a half in height. Leaf Angle, nerved, upright, 
with the tip hanging down, two feet long. Border of the 
larger petals white, i’uborbiculate, with a point; claws 
green on the outfide, yellow within, dotted with black. 
Smaller petals feveral times (hotter, and lefs ; claws con¬ 
vex on the outfide, green, concave within, dotted with 
brown, the length of the larger ones, but narrower; feg- 
ments lanceolate, divaricating, a line in length, the mid¬ 
dle one of three a little longer, white dotted with brown. 
Inner lip of the ftigma bifid, the clefts ovate, blunt, only 
half the length of the larger petals, white, upright. It va¬ 
ries in the ihape of the larger petal, and very much in the 
colours, blue, purple, yellow, white, and fpotted. Native 
of the Cape, on the hills below Duyveliberg, in Swart- 
land, and near Berg-riviere. Mr. Curtis, when he figured 
this fpecies under the name of I. pavonia, (Mag. .t. 168.) 
had his doubts whether it was the pavonia of the Syflema 
Vegetabilium. He deferibes it as a fmall delicate iris, 
about a foot and a half high, with very narrow leaves, 
bearing on the top of the ftalk one, or at moll two flow¬ 
ers; three of the petals large and white, with a brilliant 
blue fpot at the bafe of each, edged on the outer fide with 
deep purple; the delicacy of the flower, and the eye-like 
fpot at the bafe of three of the petals, render it one of the 
moll (Inking plants of the genus. His figure is from a 
plant that flowered with Meff. Grimwood and Co. in June 
7794; and they received it from Holland. It had flow¬ 
ered, however, before in the royal botanic garden at Kew, 
namely in 1776. 
18. Iris plumariay or feathered iris: bearded; leaves li¬ 
near, fcape many-flowered; ftigmas fetaceous-multifid. 
Scape jointed, flexuofe, aimoll upright, branched at top, 
brafted, from a hand to a fpan in height. Leaf linear, 
from reflex fpreading, lhorter than the fcape.. Native of 
the Cape of Good Hope, belpw Duyveliberg^ 
II. Beardlefs. 19. Iris xiphium, bulbofe-rooted iris: 
beardiefs; leaves enfiform, channelled, awl-draped ; (hotter 
than the two-flowered fcape. Leaves channelled and con¬ 
voluted, not only at the bafe, as in the other fpecies, but 
the whole length of them ; they are awl-fliaped at the tip, 
and (hotter than the fcape. The flowers are blue, with 
emarginate petals. Native of the South of Europe. Dr. 
Nalh, in his Hiltory of Worcefterfnire, informs us, that it 
Was difeovered by the late duchefs dowager of Portland 
by the river-fide near Fladbury, and in other parts of that 
county. Gerarde cultivated it, and lays that he received 
it from his brother James Garret, apothecary. He adds, 
“ It is dalht over, inflead of the blue or watchet colour, 
with a molt pleafant gold yellow colour,, and is of fmell 
exceeding fweet.” 
Mr. Miller makes two diflincl fpecies, which Mr. Pro- 
Felfor Martyn, his editor, has given as varieties. The la- 
tifohum, a, he fays, has much larger roots, with larger 
leaves, the flower-italk is near twice the height, and the 
flowers are more than double the fize. There are many 
\ 
varieties of thefe : the mod common colour is blue, deeper 
or lighter; but it is alfo yellow, white, blue with white 
or yellow falls, violet-coloured with blue falls, varie¬ 
gated, See. 
ao. Lis pfeudacorus, common yellow or water iris: 
beardlefs; leaves enfiform, alternate; petals fmaller than 
the-fligma. Root flefhy, the thicknefs of the thumb, 
fpneading horizontally near the furface, blackifh on the 
outfide, reddiih and fpongy within, the upper part cover¬ 
ed with numerous rigid fibres, the lower part fending 
down many iong, whitifh, wrinkled, ftringy roots. Leaves 
from the root, two or three feet long, upright, an inch or 
more in breadth, ftriated, having a prominent longitudi¬ 
nal midrib, equal to the fcape, deep green, fmooth; ftem- 
leaves (hotter, forming a (heath at the bottom. Scapes> 
from one to three feet in height, upright, alternately in¬ 
clined from joint to joint, round or flatted a little, fmooth 
and fpongy. Peduncles axillary, flat on one fide, and- 
fmooth; each fuftaining two or three flowers, the two 
outer (when there are three) having one (heath, and the 
middle flower two. Corolla yellow; the three outer pe¬ 
tals large, roundifh-ovate, reflex, one-toothed on each fide* 
ftreaked with purple lines at the bafe of the lamina, and 
having two fmall holes at the bottom of the claw. An¬ 
thers yellow with purplifh edges, two-celled, opening 
beneath. Germ three-cornered, the angles blunt and 
grooved. Stigma much larger than the fmall petals, yel¬ 
low, cut into fringed fegments at the top. Dr. Wither¬ 
ing fays he (liould be. tempted to deferibe'the flower as 
having nine petals, and three ftyles connected longitudi¬ 
nally to the three innermoft petals. It is common in 
moll parts of Europe, in marfhy meadows, and in fens, 
by the (ides of rivers, brooks, lakes, pools, and ditches; 
flowering at the end of June, or the beginning of July. 
It is called by Englifh writers water jlowcr-de-liice, yellozv 
Jlag, water-jlag, and provincially Jkeggs, or lugs. The root 
had formerly a place in the London Pharmaeopasa, under 
the name of Gladiolus luteus. It has an acrid burning 
tafte ; and the juice, on being fnuffed up tire noftrils, pro¬ 
duces a great heat in the mouth and nple, accompanied 
by a copious difeharge from thefe organs ; hence it is re¬ 
commended as a fialogogue and an errhine. Tiie root is 
fuch a powerful aflringent, that it lias been ufed inftead 
of galls in making ink, and for the purpofe of dying 
black ; and, from the fame quality, it has alfo been ufed 
fuccefsfully in diarrhoea,S; when given with this inten¬ 
tion, the root fhould be well dried; the fre(li root and its 
juice being, fo (Ironga cathartic, that eighty drops of the 
latter produced repeated evacuations after jalap, gam¬ 
boge, See. had failed ; this dofe was given every hour or 
two in a little fyrup of buckthorn, and had very imme¬ 
diate effects ; caufing the patient to difeharge by (tool fe¬ 
deral Scots pints of water in the courfe of the night. By 
continuing its ufe in an increafed dofe, it cured an inve¬ 
terate dropfy. The exprefled juice is likewife fail to be 
an ufeful application to ferpiginpus eruptions and fero- 
pbulous tumours. 
21. Iris feetidiflima, (linking iris, or (linking,-gladwin: 
beardlefs ; leaves enfiform ; fcape one-angled. Root 
thick, tufted, fibrous. Leaves grafsfgreen, when broken 
emitting a ltrong odour, not much unlike that of hot 
road beef at the firft feent, but, if fmeit too clofe, becom¬ 
ing difagreeable. Dr. Withering compares the fmell of 
the leaves to rancid bacon. They are acute and nerved, 
rather (hotter than the-fcape; which is Angle, cylindrical, 
but angular on one fide, jointed, (heathed with alternate 
fpathaceous leaves, two feet high, bearing- feveral flowers. 
Corolla of a lurid purplifh afh-cojour, not fmelling in the 
night time; claws of the outer petals wrinkled and plaited 
on the under furface ; inner petals larger than the itigmas,, 
fpreading. Native of France, Italy, England; as. near 
Hornfey ; about Charlton-wood, and between Eltliain arid 
Chidehiuil, in Kent; near Braintree and Woodford in Li¬ 
fe x ; Bath-hills, Ditchingham, Norfolk ; near Cherrys 
Hinton, Tevettham, Fulborn, and Triplaw, in Cambridge- 
Sure $, 
