ing and perpetuating this lovely species of unsur- 
passed beauty. 
The further discovery that the Louisiana wild na- 
tive iris lends itself readily to transplanting makes 
possible the cultivation of fields of these plants 
throughout the country. Dr. John K. Small, Ph. D., 
Se. D. of the New York Botanical Garden, said 
“Once established, these plantations would care for 
themselves in an environment which their ancestors 
occupied before man came on the scene and destroyed 
what nature planted and developed through the ages.” 
Our experience, resulting from letters received from 
those to whom we have made shipments, demonstrates 
that these plants will thrive in any state in our Union. 
The Range of Color of the Louisiana Wild Iris 
The Louisiana Wild Iris reaches its maximum de- 
velopment in places where a damp acid soil is avail- 
able or frequent watering is practicable before and 
during the blooming period. Specimens of the mam- 
moth iris, some of them more than seven feet tall, 
grow in southern Louisiana in more than two hun- 
dred hues of lavendar, violet, lilac, henna, orange, 
and old rose, and all shades approaching red and 
blue, 
These uncultivated flowers grow in a _ profusion 
and with a rare beauty unmatched by dwarf types 
of yellow and purple iris common in northern cli- 
mates. Local flower lovers have for years gathered 
these lovely plants for their own gardens, but only 
recently have they been accorded intense botanical 
study and commercial development. 
Mr. Alexander, co-student with Dr. John K. Small, 
of these Louisiana irises, records that it is interesting 
should be replanted to occupy 
the same relative position as in nature. 
The illustration herewith shows this posi- ks 
Irises 
tion. When growing in fish ponds or rene 
aquariums under 
3 TOP OF SOIL ee 
water, the top OL lene ece sso. oS SS —— — — 
RHIZOME 
the rhizome also 
should be just out 
of the soil. 

W HS SS 
DSS 
that the great range of color mentioned is more ap- 
parent than real. Among the many shades repre- 
sented, none goes into true red and none into true 
blue. The nearest approaches to red in the numer- 
ous iris fulva variations always have a cast of orange; 
the nearest approaches to blue always have a cast 
of violet or purple; and the “red” and the “pinks” 
in the group Roseanthae are really not red or pink 
at all, but various shades of lilac, red-lilac, red- 
purple, red-violet, pink-lilac, and rosy-lilac. All 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. 
The iris beds lie in isolated and scattered spots 
about the bayou headlands near New Orleans and Al- 
giers. Several thousand specimens of the mammoth 
irises have been taken to the New York Botanical 
Garden, as well as to our plant, where thorough 

One of the blocks of wild irises lined out in our nursery. From these stands, colors will be 
separated and seeds collected. 
6 
SS 
\ \\ ROOTLET: 
