This shows how road building is destroying these beautiful plants. In the right foreground 
you see one of our collectors gathering what remains of a large clump of Purple Irises. 
of these, with one or two exceptions, are represented within a certain few 
pages of the color dictionary when laid out for actual color-matching. 
Mr. Alexander s color notes and descriptions based on sepals, i.e., the 
color of the blade and of the crest, indicate some 200 distinguishable forms, 
which may be summarized as follows: 
six various shades of violet-blue, with about fifteen different 
combinations of crest and color; 
four various shades of lavender-blue, with about twelve dif¬ 
ferent combinations of crest and color; 
eleven various shades of violet, with about forty different com¬ 
binations of crest and color; 
seventeen various shades of red -violet, with about thirty-five 
different combinations of crest' and color. 
fourteen various shades of lilac, with about twenty five dif¬ 
ferent combinations of crest and color. 
Natural Beds Being Destroyed 
The Louisiana wild irises are fast disappearing, due, 
First, to the large number of collectors of these rare plants, who are tak¬ 
ing them up by the thousands for shipment to France, Germany, Japan, China, 
England, etc., and to supply the different parks and state gardens throughout 
our country. 
Second, the few remaining fields in the vicinity of New Orleans and Al¬ 
giers are being destroyed as the result of the growth of the city, where low 
LOUISIANA WILD NATIVE IRIS 
