Its name derives from the Greek goddess, Iris, who carried messages from Olympus to earth along a rainbow, whose colours were seen by Linnaeus in the multi-hued petals of many of the species.
Gladiolus, a genus of perennial bulbous flowering plants in the iris family (Iridaceae), sometimes called the sword lily or gladiola
It is a woodcut portraying three native plants representing three transcontinental, native families, viz: Araceae, Orchidaceae, Iridaceae.The examples shown are an arum, a cypripedium and a blue-eyed grass.