Irises - Historic Iris Preservation Society

OTHER APOGON IRISES 67
Moreover, it is spiteful even when gently handled, for the
rhizome is covered with long and very sharp spines, which
enter the flesh and then break off and make their presence
known in the most unmistakable way. The flowers are of
a greenish-yellow, and, as catalogues have it,
it is a plant
" of botanical interest." I. Aschersonii is somewhat similar
in appearance ;
but it flowers more easily and its spines are
less vicious. /. masia is a purple-flowered plant of the
same structure as the other two, but though the late Max
Leichtlin once had it in cultivation and sent it to Foster,
with whom it
flowered, it is apparently not to be obtained
at present.
The remaining Apogon Irises hardly
seem to fall into
any group. For instance, we have in England a very
peculiar Iris, namely /. fcetidissima ; its habit is peculiar to
itself, and so too are its
orange-red seeds, which cling fast
through the winter to the open capsules. Its usual form
has dingy purple flowers of but little beauty, but there
is to be found a yellow-flowered variety which is some
improvement in this respect on the type. It is worth
growing in half-shady places for the decorative value of
the seed capsules in winter. Its leaves should be carefully
handled, for they requite rough treatment by emitting a
curious half-foetid odour.
The small Japanese species /. minuta seems to stand
by itself except for another species from China, not in
cultivation, which, as far as can be seen by herbarium
specimens, is closely allied to it. It produces about the
middle of April small yellow flowers tinged with brown,
and the plant is peculiar in that nodules form on its roots
as on those of leguminous plants. It is not yet certain