Part 165 (1/2)
1. RIS, Tourn. FLOWER-DE-LUCE.
Perianth 6-cleft; the tube more or less prolonged beyond the ovary; the 3 outer divisions spreading or reflexed, the 3 inner smaller, erect.
Stamens distinct; the oblong or linear anthers sheltered under the overarching petal-like stigmas (or rather branches of the style, bearing the true stigma in the form of a thin lip or plate under the apex); most of the style connate with the tube of the perianth. Capsule 3--6-angled, coriaceous. Seeds depressed-flattened, usually in 2 rows in each cell.--Perennials, with sword-shaped or gra.s.sy leaves, and large showy flowers; ours with creeping and more or less tuberous rootstocks.
(????, the _rainbow_, anciently applied to this genus on account of its bright and varied colors.)
[*] _Stems leafy and rather tall (1--3 high), from thickened rootstocks, often branching; tube of the perianth shorter than the divisions, which are beardless and crestless, the erect inner ones (petals) much smaller than the outer._
[+] _Flowers violet-blue, variegated with green, yellow or white, and purple-veined._
1. I. versicolor, L. (LARGER BLUE FLAG.) Stem stout, angled on one side; _leaves sword-shaped_ (' wide); ovary obtusely triangular with the sides flat; flowers (2--3' long) short-peduncled, the funnel-form tube shorter than the ovary; capsule oblong, turgid, with rounded angles.--Wet places, Newf. to Fla., west to Minn. and Ark. May, June.
2. I. prismatica, Pursh. (SLENDER BLUE FLAG.) Stem _very slender_, terete; _leaves narrowly linear_ (2--3” wide); flowers slender-peduncled (1--2' long), the tube extremely short; ovary 3-angled, each side 2-grooved; capsule sharply triangular. (I.
Virginica, _Man._; not _L._)--Marshes near the coast, Maine to N. C.
June.
I. CAROLINIaNA, Watson, resembling n. 1, but with longer laxer and greener leaves, and the very large seeds in one row in each cell, probably occurs in S. Va.
(Addendum) 2^a. I. hexagona, Walt. Stems flexuous, often low and slender (1--3 high), leafy; leaves much exceeding the stem, 6--12” broad; flowers solitary and sessile in the axils, large, deep blue, variegated with yellow, purple, and white; tube ' long; segments about 3' long, the inner narrow; capsule oblong-cylindric, 6-angled, 2' long--Prairies, Ky. (_Short_) to W. Mo. (_Bush_), and on the coast from S. Car.
southward.
[+][+] _Flowers copper-colored or dull reddish-brown; petals widely spreading._
3. I. fulva, Ker. Stem and leaves as n. 1; tube of the perianth cylindrical, as long as the 6-angled ovary; style-branches narrow. (I.
cuprea, _Pursh._)--Swamps, S. Ill. and Mo. to La. and Ga. May.
[*][*] _Stems low (3--6' high), from tufted and creeping slender (or here and there tuberous-thickened) rootstocks, 1--3-flowered; tube of the perianth long and slender; the violet-blue divisions nearly equal._
4. I. verna, L. (DWARF IRIS.) _Leaves linear_, gra.s.s-like, rather glaucous; the thread-like tube of the perianth about the length of the divisions, which are oblong-obovate and on _slender claws_, the outer ones slightly hairy down the orange-yellow base, _crestless_; capsule obtusely triangular.--Wooded hillsides, Lancaster Co., Penn., to S. C., west to Ky. and Ala. April.--Flowers sometimes white with yellowish centre.
5. I. cristata, Ait. (CRESTED DWARF IRIS.) _Leaves lanceolate_ (3--5'
long when grown); those of the spathe _ovate-lanceolate_, shorter than the _thread-like tube of the perianth_, which is 2' long and _much longer than the_ light blue obovate short-clawed _divisions_, the outer ones _crested_ but beardless; capsule sharply triangular.--In the mountains from Md. to N. C.; Trumbull Co., Ohio (_Ingraham_); k.n.o.bs of S. Ind. May.--Flowers fragrant.
6. I. lacustris, Nutt. (LAKE DWARF IRIS.) _Tube of the perianth rather shorter than the divisions_ (yellowish, --' long), _dilated upward_, not exceeding the spathe; otherwise as in the last, and too near it.--Gravelly sh.o.r.es of Lakes Huron and Michigan. May.
I. PSEUDaCORUS, L., the YELLOW IRIS of European marshes, with very long linear leaves and bright yellow beardless flowers, is reported as having become established in Ma.s.s. and N. Y.
2. NEMaSTYLIS, Nutt.
Perianth spreading, the segments similar and nearly equal. Filaments more or less united into a tube. Style short, its slender 2-parted branches alternate with the anthers and exserted between them; stigmas minute, terminal. Capsule oblong or ovate, truncate, dehiscent at the summit. Seeds globose or angled.--Stems terete, from coated bulbs, with few plicate leaves, and few fugacious flowers from 2-bracted spathes.
(Name from ??a, _a thread_, and st????, _style_, for the slender style-branches.)
1. N. geminiflra, Nutt. Stem 1--2 high; spathes 2-flowered; perianth pale blue-purple, 1--2' broad, the divisions oblong-obovate; capsule obovate, ' long.--E. Kan. to Tex.
3. BELAMCaNDA, Adans. BLACKBERRY-LILY.