48 
LARGE BLUE FLAG. 
sharper and stiffer, stand erect and conceal the stamens and petal¬ 
like stigmas, which lie behind them: an arrangement so suitable for 
the preservation of the fructifying organs of the flower, that we 
cannot fail to behold in it the wisdom of the great Creator. The 
structure of the cellular tissue in most water plants, and the smooth 
oily surface of their leaves, has also been provided as a means of 
throwing off the moisture to which their place of growth must neces¬ 
sarily expose them ; but for this wise provision, which keeps the 
surface dry though surrounded with water, the plants would become 
overcharged with moisture and rot and decay too rapidly to perfect 
the ripening of their seeds—a process often carried on at the bottom 
of streams and lakes, as in the case of the Pond-lily and other 
aquatics. Our blue Iris, however, does not follow this rule, being 
only partly an aquatic, but stands erect and ripens the large bony, 
three-sided seeds in a three-sided membraneous pod. The hard 
seeds of the Iris versicolor have been roasted and used as a substitute 
for coffee. The root, which is creeping, fleshy and tuberous, is 
possessed of medicinal qualities. 
At present we know of only two varieties of the Iris. Iris 
versicolor , and a tall slender variety with paler blue flowers and 
rounder scapes. The former is the handsomer flower, being beau¬ 
tifully varied with lighter and darker shades of blue, purple and 
yellow—the latter shade being at the base of the flower leaves. 
These are again veined with delicate lines and veinings of darker 
purple. 
The name Iris, as applied to this genus, was bestowed upon it 
by the ancient Greeks, ever remarkable for their appreciation of 
the beautiful, on account of the rainbow tinted hues displayed in the 
