826 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
October 15, 1904. 
are numerous, and have a. great family likeness for such a 
large genus. Altogether, 143 species, besides the more im¬ 
portant varieties, have been here described. 
There are bearded and beardless Irises, the former coming 
under the section Pogonirisi, and to give readers an idea of the 
method followed, we turn to Iris germanica as the most 
common type of bearded Iris in order to indicate the method 
employed by the author to simplify this beautiful but intricate 
class of plants. He first describes the form or character of 
the root-stock, then the leaves, and ultimately the flowers. He 
then takes up the subject of varieties, describing the more 
important of those which have any pretension toi being con¬ 
sidered botanically distinct. These are then briefly described 
in order toi distinguish them from the original or wild type. 
In this particular species he finds the variety australis 
belongs, and differs from Mr. Baker in placing it here instead 
of under I. pallida. This is where the cultivator has the best 
opportunity of distinguishing between one form and another 
by growing the plants under his eye or having them placed 
before him in a, fresh condition. We should have been sur¬ 
prised if lie had found that this variety belonged to I. pallida, 
because the flowers of I. germanica australis has claret-purple 
standards, whereas the forms' belonging strictly to I. pallida 
coming under our observation are characterised by delicacy of 
colour rather than intensity. With some other forms, however, 
he finds differences in the leaves, as well as the flower's, by 
comparison with the typical I. germanica., which finds a place 
in, gardens' almost or quite universally wherever Irises are 
grown. The author also, finds, that the German Iris and some 
of its varieties'-are more or less distinctly scented, although 
described as scentless, and in this way we should agree. 
The bearded Irises are fairly numerous, and include a list of 
species which are amongst the most popular in gardens- gen¬ 
erally. These vary greatly in vigour and height, and would 
include such widely different forms as I. purnila, I. biflora, I. 
va.riegata., I. germanica, I. pallida, and I. chrysantha. The 
latter, we ma,y state, is the most recent acquisition to' the 
group, and was accidentally introduced to the Cambridge 
Botanic Garden. 
The beardless Irises grouped under the term Apogon include 
a. large number of species, some of which are amongst the best 
known in gardens', while other's, are amongst the least known. 
For instance, the first species mentioned in the group is I. 
unguicularis, better known as I. stylosa. The common Yellow 
Flag, I. Pseudacorus, also belongs to this section, and, being 
the British species, it will be familiar to a number of gardeners, 
and we refer to it as a type of what is meant by beardless 
Irises'. It isi the yellow Fleur de Luce of French history, 
which the author says' take® its name from growing on the 
banks of the River Lys on the borders of Flanders. 
It is, therefore, to 1 be considered one of the most widely 
distributed European species of Irises, so that we feel some¬ 
what. surprised at. the title of the plate facing page' 76, where 
the picture is described as English Flags. The name may he 
taken as a popular designation, although not in the nature of 
a name. If either of the two British species had a.ny peculiar 
right to the title of being called English, the term should have 
been applied to. I. foetidissima. On the other hand, the 
common Water Flag flowers as well on the banks of the Ythan 
a.s on the Cam or the Thames. 
Besides the common form of this species, the author describes 
two salient varieties. He also. .offers a plea, for the more ex¬ 
tended cultivation of this British Iris wherever there is water 
or constant moisture. We are also surprised that more atten¬ 
tion has. nut been given this easily grown and very handsome 
native plant. Although the most suitable place for it would 
be on the banks of streams 1 , ponds 1 , or other ornamental water 
in private establishments, we also know that it can be grown 
in the ordinary garden border with more certainty than the 
German Iris, especially in the sunny south, where heavy soils 
are liable to get baked and kill the Irises belonging to the 
bearded type. The reason why the Yellow Flag is so. easy to 
cultivate is because it produces' numerous wiry fibrous roots 
that penetrate the soil deeply and keep the plant supplied v ith 
moisture, where I. germanica sometimes perishes during severe 
droughts, especially if it has been recently transplanted. 
In perusing the book, we find that the author has devoted 
a considerable amount of attention to his subject, and has 
given a deal of useful information in the space at his command, 
and we have' no doubt that those who make a. thorough 
acquaintance of this book with the object of gaining a know¬ 
ledge of the Irises, will be led to a more extended cultivation 
of the several species. 
We cannot omit reference to the numerous and excellent, 
full-page illustrations of several of the species of Irises. Par¬ 
ticularly fine pictures, are I. statellae, I. plicata, Mme. Chereau, 
I. ochaurea, and I. florentina, mostly pale-coloured varieties, 
which have been executed on a. black background, thereby 
bringing out the. structure of the flowers very vividly. The 
finely-marked and lined forms of the Oncocyclus group have 
also, been brought out to great advantage, the complicated and 
line colours marking the vernation being brought out with 
great distinctness in. I. Korolkowi, I. paradoxa, and others. 
The study of German Irises at the end of the hook is not 
very happy from our point of view, as art is captious in. bring¬ 
ing out, what gardeners would consider defects. For instance, 
the. flowers here appear as if nodding or drooping for want of 
water, as if they had been carried ini the hands of the artist 
until they were flagging. The sketch of Spanish I rise® exe¬ 
cuted on the same lines' at the beginning of the hook is a 
much happier illustration from a gardeneFs pO'int of view. 
Several illustrations of the Juno Irises bring out the character¬ 
istics of this distinct, type to advantage, including I. orchioide , 
I. warieyensis, and I. willmottiana. 
Rose Hugh Dickson. 
(See Supplement.) 
On several occasions we have been able to see and admire 
the above new and beautiful Hybrid Perpetual Boise. We have 
also, had the pleasure, however, of seeing the plants growing 
on their native soil in tiro grounds of Mr. Hugh Dickson, Royal 
Nurseries, Belfast. At the beginning of September, the young 
stems of the plants were 5 ft. to. 6 ft. high, and were not 
ripened up, or fully developed. The young and tender foliage 
was much tinted with red, thus giving the plants an interesting 
and beautiful effect, quite apart from the flowers. 
The flowers themselves might be described a® cup-shaped", 
with the broad outer petals decidedly reflexed at the edges. 
The central portion is pointed and prominent, thus adding 
beauty and quality to a flower which we have described as rich 
carmine-crimson in our notes. Another way of describing the 
same flower is brilliant crimson, shaded with scarlet. It may 
possibly vary ai little, according to the season of the year, the 
amount, of rainfall and treatment given it, but we have reason 
to believe it, is relatively constant under varying conditions as 
to' soil, moisture and surroundings. We have been assured 
that the blooms open freely in all weathers, and at the begin¬ 
ning of September. Even after rather a stormy period the 
plants in. the open, field gave a good account of themselves. 
The variety has been awarded the Gold Medal of the 
National Rose Society as the best new seedling Rose for the 
season, when first exhibited. It was awarded first, prize and 
Silver Medal for the best Hybrid Perpetual Rose in the show, 
inaugurated by the Royal Horticultural Society in conjunction 
with the National Rose Society a,t the New Horticultural Hall 
on September 20th last. It also took the first prize for the 
best twelve blooms of any one variety on that occasion. At 
Edinburgh Show on, September 14th it, also wort the first prize 
for twelve blooms of any variety of a crimson Rose. We also 
learn that it is generally acknowledged by the trade and the 
public in, general, who. have had an opportunity of seeing it, 
that it is the finest Hybrid Perpetual Rose of its colour ever 
introduced. The coloured plate forming our supplement for 
this week gives a very , good idea of the variety when iu full 
bloom, and also of the general character of the foliage, which 
is both good and ornamental. 
