hi
i I
with pointed entire lobes, the outer lip very short, truncate,
emarginate and slightly revolute.
A very elegant Iris long cultivated in the gardens, but of
its origin and native country nothing certain is known. It
is very iiearly related to germanica, from which it is chiefly
distinguished by the smaller size of all its parts, and by the
narrower and wavy segments of its perianthium. We have
not remarked whether the flowers are fragrant.
Mr. Bellenden Ker has proposed to combine pUcata, nu-
dicaulis, and the present under the name oi aphylla; but, although
we are disposed entirely to concur in this view of our
acute and learned friend, we have followed Lamarck for the
present, being convinced that the whole genus requires a
thorough revision from a comparison of living specimens, to
settle, on satisfactory principles, the limits of the species ;
and we are the more induced to take this course, as the name
of aphylla must be dropt; that ambiguous species having
been entirely taken up by Linnaeus from Caspar Bauhin,
whose Iris latifolia, caule aphyllo, evidently refers either to
germanica or pallida.
Mr. William Swainson, who has devoted considerable
attention to the study of this genus, has recognized three distinct
types or forms, the European, Asiatic, and American,
which, with few exceptions, appear to be perfectly natural.
Our drawing was taken from a specimen that blossomed
at Mr. Knight’s Nursery, in May last. D. Bon.
I. Stamen. 2 . Pistil. 3. Ovarium separate.