Page:Journal of botany, British and foreign, Volume 9 (1871).djvu/22

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

12 MONOGRArH OF THE GENUS XIPIIION.

/. spedaliUs (Spach, Hist. Plian. vol. xiii. p. 20; Ann. Sc. N;it. 3rd series, vol. v. p. 93) appears to be a garden hybrid between tliis species and X vulgare. Judging from the description, /. serol'ma, Willk. Prodr. Hisp. vol. i. p. 141, from the province of Jaen in Spain, is very nearly the same plant, but I have not seen specimens. An excellent series of uncoloured figures of this and the two following, the series thirteen in number, will be found in the ' Hortus Eystettensis ' of Besler.

2. X. Imitanicum, Alefeld ; bulbo ovoideo membranaceo-tunicato, caule firrao pedali vel sesquipedali, uni- vel raro bi-floro, foliis 4-6 distichis falcatis. angustissime linearibus, deorsum dorso semiteretibus, seorsum filiformibus, spathae valvis lanceolatis ventricosis ad basin limbi attingen- tibus, pedicello ovario subsequante, perianthii tubo subnnllo, limbo flaves- cente, saepe fundo rubro-brunneo tincto, segmentis exterioribus 2|-2|-un- cialibus, lamina rotuiidata ungue panduriformi duplo breviore, segmentis interioribus oblanceolatis exterioribus fequilougis, stigmatibus cum cristis limbo distincte brevioribus. — X. limtanicum, Alefeld, Bot. Zeit. 1863, p. 297. X sordidnm, Salisb. Hort. Trans, vol. i. p. 303. Iris lusita- nica, Gawl. Bot. Mag. t. 679 ; Spreng. Syst. Veg. vol. i. p. 159 ; Boiss. Voy. vol. ii. p. 603 ; Spach, Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 3. vol. v. p. 93. /. sor- dida, Soland. in Herb. Mus. Brit. /. juncea, Brotero, Fl. Lusit. vol. i. p. 51 ; Webb. It. Hisp. p. 9, non Desf. nee Willk. etLauge, Prodr. Hisp. vol. i. p. 142, quoad descriptiouem. /. Xipkium, Ehrh. Beitr. vol. vii. p. 139, ex parte.

Bulb ovoid, 12-15 lines thick, with several brown membranous coats; the rootlets fibrous. Stem 12-18 inches high, firm, erect, terete, usually 1-headed, with 3-4 falcate leaves laxly placed on each side, linear-filiform, the lowest 8-12 inches long, 2-3 lines broad where they leave the stem, seraiterete at the back, subglaucous, persistent. Valves of spathe 2-2 1^ inches long, lanceolate, ^ inch broad, reaching up to the base of the limb at the flowering time, considerably ventricose. Pedicel and ovary each 12-15 lines long. Tube of perianth scarcely any. Limb 2^-2| inches long, pure yellow or tinged in the lower half with dull purple (Z. soi-di- diim, Salisb.) ; outer divisions with a round lamina an inch broad, twice as long as the pandnriform limb, which is half an inch broad in the middle ; inner divisions oblanceolate, erect, as long as the outer ones, 5-6 lines broad. Stigmas, including the crest, distinctly shorter than the divisions.

Hab. Portugal; frequent in the neighbourhood of Lisbon, especially at the foot of the Serra de Cintra and in other places, Brotero ; Wel- witsch, 356 ! Webb! Sir W. C. Trevelyan ! etc. Flowers in March and April.

This comes extremely near X. vulgare in everything but the colour of the flower, and some of the plates of Besler's ' Hortus Eystettensis,' quoted by Ehrhart for his /. Xiphium evidently belong to it.

3. X. lat/folium, 'Miller ; bulbo ovoideo magno membranaceo-tunicato, caule firmo flexnoso saepe bipedali, uni- vel bi-floro, foliis caulinis 4-6 dis- tichis falcatis, anguste linearibus dorso semiteretibus, spathaj valvis lan- ceolatis, ventricosis ad vel ultra basin limbi attingentibus, pediceUo ovario subaiquante, perianthii tubo subnullo, limbo violaceo segmentis exterioribus 2|-3-uncialibus intus flavo carinatis, lamina rotundata ungue cunealo ex- cedente, segmentis interioribus erectis et stignuitibus (cum cristis) seg- mentis exterioribus distincte brevioribus. — X. lutifoUum, Miller, Diet.

�� �