IRIS _spuria_ imberbis foliis linearibus, scapo subtrifloro tereti, germinibus hexagonis. _Linn. Syst. Vegetab. p. 91._ _Jacq. Fl. austr. tab. 4._ IRIS pratensis angustifolia, folio foetido. _Bauh. Pin. 32._ The greater blue Flower-de-luce with narrow leaves. _Park. Parad. p. 184._ [Illustration: 58] Some plants afford so little diversity of character, that an expressive name can scarcely be assigned them; such is the present plant, or LINNAEUS would not have given it the inexpressive name of _spuria_, nor we have adopted it. This species is distinguished by the narrowness of its leaves, which emit a disagreeable smell when bruised, by the colour of its flowers, which are of a fine rich purple inclining to blue, and by its hexangular germen. It is a native of Germany, where, as Professor JACQUIN informs us, it grows in wet meadows; is a hardy perennial, thrives in our gardens in almost any soil or situation, flowers in June, and is propagated by parting its roots in Autumn. [59] ~Mesembryanthemum bicolorum. Two-Coloured Fig-Marigold.~ _Class and Order._ ~Icosandria Pentagynia.~ _Generic Character._ _Cal._ 5-fidus. _Petala_ numerosa, linearia. _Caps._ carnosa, infera, polysperma. _Specific Character and Synonyms._ MESEMBRYANTHEMUM _bicolorum_ foliis subulatis punctatis laevibus distinctis, caule frutescente, corollis bicoloribus. _Linn. Syst. Vegetab. p. 470._ MESEMBRYANTHEMUM tenuifolium fruticescens, flore croceo. _Dill. Elth. 267. t. 202. f. 258._ [Illustration: 59] Contrary to the _Mesembryanthemum dolabriforme_, lately figured in this work, this species expands its flowers in the day-time, and that only when the sun shines powerfully on them; on such occasions, the blossoms on the top of the branches being very numerous, exhibit a most splendid appearance. It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, flowers in July, and is most readily propagated by cuttings. Like most of the Cape plants, it requires the shelter of a green-house during the winter. [60] ~Lathyrus odoratus. Sweet Pea, or Vetchling.~ _Class and Order._ ~Diadelphia Decandria.~ _Generic Character._ _Stylus_ planus, supra villosus, superne latior. _Cal._ laciniae superiores 2-breviores. _Specific Character and Synonyms._ LATHYRUS _odoratus_ pedunculis bifloris, cirrhis diphyllis, foliolis ovato-oblongis, leguminibus hirsutis, _Linn. Syst. Vegetab. p. 663._ LATHYRUS distoplatyphyllos hirsutus mollis, magno et peramaeno flore odoro. _Comm. hort. 2. p. 219. t. 80._ [Illustration: 60] There is scarcely a plant more generally cultivated than the _Sweet Pea_, and no wonder, since with the most delicate blossoms it unites an agreeable fragrance. Several varieties of this plant are enumerated by authors, but general cultivation extends to two only, the one with blossoms perfectly white, the other white and rose-coloured, commonly called the _Painted Lady Pea_.