Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/378

364 IRIS IRKUTSK wife of Zephyrus and mother of Eros. She was the personification of the rainbow, and messenger of the gods. IRIS, in botany, the generic name of a num- ber of beautiful plants belonging to the natu- ral order iridacea. The plants of this order are endogenous, having a creeping rootstock (r/iizoma), or else a flat tuber (cormus), equitant leaves, irregular flowers, three stamens, and an inferior ovary. They are represented equally in the temperate and hotter regions of the globe. The wild species of iris are generally called blue-flag, and the cultivated flower-de- luce, from the French fleur de Louis, it having been the device of Louis VII. of France. Our commonest blue-flag, /. versicolor, is a widely distributed plant, its violet-blue flowers, upon stems 1 to 3 ft. high, being conspicuous in wet places in early summer ; the root of this pos- sesses cathartic and diuretic properties, and is used by some practitioners. The slender blue- flag, / Virginica, found in similar localities near the Atlantic coast, is smaller in all its parts. A yellowish or reddish brown species, resembling the first named in appearance, is /. euprea, found in Illinois and southward. There are three native species which grow only about 6 in. high and have blue flowers : /. terna and /. cristata, in Virginia and south- ward, and /. lacustris, on the shores of the great lakes ; these are sometimes seen as gar- den plants. The orris root of the shops is the Iris Florentina. produce of 1. Florentina, I. pallida, and /. Germanica, which grow wild in the south of Europe; the rhizomes are pared and dried, and exported from Trieste and Leghorn, chief- ly for the use of perfumers; they have the odor of violets. The garden species of iris are numerous, and these by hybridizing and cross- ing have produced a great many known only by garden names. The dwarf iris, /. pitmila, from 3 to 6 in. high, flowers very early and makes good edgings to borders ; the common flower-de-luce of the gardens is /. Germanica; the elder-scented flower-de-luce is /. sambucina. There are several with yellow and brownish flowers, among which are /. pseudacorus and /. flavescens; the recently introduced /. Iberica Mourning Iris (Iris Susiana). presents a remarkable combination of colors. These and many others are hardy in our cli- mate, and readily multiplied by division of their rootstocks. /. Susiana, the mourning or crape iris, is one of the finest of the genus, its flowers being very large, dotted and striped with purple on a gray ground. In the north- ern states it needs winter protection. There are several species of iris with bulbous roots, and highly ornamental, such as the Spanish iris (/. xiphoides) and the Persian iris (/. Persica), with exquisitely scented blossoms of an ele- gant pearly whitish hue, admirably adapted to forcing in pots for the drawing room. IRISH MOSS. See CARRAGEEN. IRISH SEA, that part of the Atlantic ocean which lies between Scotland on the north, England on the east, Wales on the south, and Ireland on the west. It contains the isle of Man, Anglesea, Holyhead, and a few islets. Carnarvon and Morecambe bays, and the estu- aries of the Dee, Mersey, and Kibble, are its inlets in England ; Solway frith, Wigtown and Luce bays, in Scotland; and Dundrum, Car- liugford, Dundalk, and Dublin bays, in Ireland. The principal rivers flowing into it from Great Britain are the Esk, Kibble, Mersey, and Dee ; from Ireland, the Liffey and the Boyne. IRKUTSK. I. A government of Asiatic Rus- sia, in the S. part of E. Siberia, bordering on Mongolia; area, 271,875 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 365,810. The continuations of the Altai moun- tains form its S. boundary. The surface is ele- vated, the general level in the north and east being from 2,500 to 3,000 ft,, and that in the south 1,200 to 2,000 ft. It is watered by the Angara, Lena, and several smaller rivers, and