GEISSORHIZA (from geisson, a tile, and rhiza, a root; referring to the dry coats which cover the bulbs, like the tiles on a roof). Tile Root. ORD. Irideae. A genus of about twenty-four species of very pretty greenhouse or half-hardy bulbous plants, natives, for the most part, of the Cape of Good Hope. Flowers Ixia-like, variable in colour, very showy; perianth funnel-shaped, with a short tube, and an ample, six-parted, nearly equal limb. Leaves narrow, setaceous, or sword-shaped. Bulbs covered by the scarious remains of the bases of the leaves, which lie over each other like the tiles of a roof, and hence the common name. For culture, see Galaxia. The following are a selection of the species usually seen in cultivation: GEISSORHIZA excisa (abrupt-leaved). fl. white. April and May. l., radical ones ovate-oblong. h. 6in. 1789. (B. M. 584, under name of Ixia excisa.) GEISSORHIZA grandis (large-flowered).* fl. inclined; perianth segments pale straw-coloured, with a blood-red midrib, elliptic-obovate, obtuse, patent; spike six to eight-flowered. May. l. radical, linear-ensiform, obtuse, green, strongly ribbed towards the base. Stem stout, leafy throughout. 1868. (B. M. 5877.) GEISSORHIZA inflexa (bending).* fl. very large and handsome; perianth petal-like; tube very short, slender at the base; segments of a bright yellow, each marked at the base with an obcordate dark purple or velvet spot. May. l. ensiform, acute, falcate, or obliquely bent. h. 1 1/2ft. 1824. One of the handsomest species of the genus; closely allied to GEISSORHIZA obtusata. SYN. GEISSORHIZA vaginata. (S. B. F. G. 138.) GEISSORHIZA obtusata (blunt). fl. yellow. May. l., radical ones ensiform-linear, obtuse. h. 1ft. 1801. (B. M. 672.) GEISSORHIZA Rochensis (De la Roche's).* fl. blue, crimson-spotted centre May. l. radical, linear, acute. Stem smooth. h. 9in. 1790. (B. M. 598, under name of Ixia Rochensis.) GEISSORHIZA secunda (side-flowering). fl. white. May. l., radical ones linear-acute. Stem villous. h. 1ft. 1795. (B. M. 1105, under name of Ixia secunda.) GEISSORHIZA setacea (bristle-leaved). fl. sulphur-coloured. June and July. l., radical ones bristly. Stem simple, few-flowered. h. 1ft. 1809. (B. M. 1255.) GEISSORHIZA vaginata (sheathed). A synonym of GEISSORHIZA inflexa.