Irideæ

Irideæ, or IRIDACEÆ, a natural order of endogenous plants, mostly herbaceous, with bulbous, tuberous, or creeping root-stocks; a few are some- what shrubby. The leaves are generally sword-shaped, in two rows, and equitant (so placed that one seems to ride on the back of another). The perianth is 6-partite, coloured, often very beautiful, in some regular, in others irregular. The stamens are three, with anthers turned outwards. The ovary is inferior; there is one style, with three stigmas, which are often petal-like, and add much to the beauty of the flower. The fruit is a 3-celled, 3-valved capsule. About 700 species are known, of which the greater number are natives of warm countries. They are particularly abundant in South Africa. A few are British. Iris, Gladiolus, and Crocns are familiar examples of the order. Acridity is a prevailing characteristic, and some species are medicinal; but the corms and root-stocks of some are edible.