the latter because unable to perpetuate its race. And yet man has
greedily appropriated all the beauties of the floral kingdom as
designed for his sole delight

The name iris, meaning a deified rainbow, which was given this
group of plants by the ancients, shows a fine appreciation of
their superb coloring, their ethereal texture, and the evanescent
beauty of the blossom.

In spite of the name given to another species, the SOUTHERN BLUE
FLAG (I. hexagona) is really the larger one; its leaves, which
are bright green, and never hoary, often equaling the stem in its
height of from two to three feet. The handsome solitary flower,
similar to that of the larger blue flag, nevertheless has its
broad outer divisions fully an inch larger, and is seated in the
axils at the top of the circular stem. The oblong, cylindric,
six-angled capsule also contains two rows of seeds in each
cavity. From South Carolina and Florida to Kentucky, Missouri,
and Texas one finds this iris blooming in the swamps during April
and May.

The SLENDER BLUE FLAG (I. prismatica; I. Virginica of Gray),
found growing from New Brunswick to North Carolina, but mainly
near the coast, and often in the same oozy ground with the larger
blue flag, may be known by its grass-like leaves, two or three of
which usually branch out from the slender flexuous stem; by its
solitary or two blue flowers, variegated with white and veined
with yellow, that rear themselves on slender foot-stems; and by
the sharply three-angled, narrow, oblong capsule, in which but
one row of seeds is borne in each cavity. This is the most