As it is desirable to have this plant in flower for as great a length of time as possible, to have them early, we must sow them in the Autumn, either in pots or in the open border; if sown in pots, they can the more readily be secured from any severe weather, by placing them in a hot-bed frame, a common practice with gardeners who raise them for the London markets, in which they are in great request:  others again should be sown early in the spring, and the sowings repeated every month; they grow readily in almost any soil or situation, and by this means may be had to flower most of the year through.

If sown in pots, care must be taken to water them frequently.

[61]

Iris ochroleuca.  Tall Iris.

Class and Order.

Triandria Monogynia.

Generic Character.

Corolla 6-petala, inaequalis, petalis alternis geniculato-patentibus. Stigmata petaliformia, cucullato-bilabiata. Thunb.  Diss. de Iride.

Specific Character and Synonyms.

IRIS ochroleuca imberbis foliis ensiformibus, scapo subtereti germinibus hexagonis. Lin.  Syst.  Vegetab. p. 90.

[Illustration:  61]

Of the several species of Iris cultivated in our gardens, this excels in point of height; we have taken our English name therefore from this character, and not from the term ochroleuca, which, if translated, would be too expressive of the colour of the blossoms of the Iris Pseudacorus, with which the ochroleuca has some affinity in point of size as well as colour.

Notwithstanding Mr. MILLER’s description of his orientalis accords very badly with that of LINNAEUS’s ochroleuca, they have been generally considered in this country as one and the same plant, distinguished by the name of POCOCKE’s Iris, Dr. POCOCKE being the person who, according to MILLER, in his time first introduced it from Carniola (by inadvertence spelt Carolina, in the 6th 4to edition of the Dictionary).  There are grounds, however, for suspecting some error in the habitat of this plant, for had it grown spontaneously in Carniola, it is not probable that SCOPOLI would have omitted it in his Flora Carniolica.

Leaving its place of growth to be more accurately ascertained hereafter, we shall observe, that it appears perfectly naturalized to this country, growing luxuriantly in a moist rich soil, and increasing, like most of the genus, very fast by its roots.  It flowers later than most of the others.

[62]

Centaurea glastifolia.  Woad-Leaved Centaurea.

Class and Order.

SyngenesiA Polygamia Superflua.

Generic Character.

Receptaculum setosum. Pappus simplex. Corollae radii infundibuliformes, longiores, irregulares.

Specific Character and Synonyms.