YELLOW 



deep green, fleshy, prickly, rounded joints and large yellow 

 flowers, which are often conspicuous in summer in dry, sandy 

 places along the coast. 



O, vulgaris, the only other species found in Northeastern 

 America, has somewhat smaller flowers, but otherwise so closely 

 resembles O. Rafinesqtiii as to make it difficult to distinguish be- 

 tween the two. 



COMMON BARBERRY. 



Berberis vulgaris. Barberry Family. 



A shrub. Leaves. — Oblong ; toothed ; in clusters from the axil of a 

 thorn. Flower. — Yellow; in drooping racemes. Calyx. — Of six sepals, 

 with from two to six bractlets without. Corolla. — Of six petals. Stamens. 

 — Six. Pistil. — One. Fruit. — An oblong scarlet berry. 



This European shrub has now become thoroughly wild and 

 very plentiful in parts of New England. The drooping yellow 

 flowers of May and June are less noticeable than the oblong 

 clustered berries of September, which light up so many over- 

 grown lanes, and often decorate our lawns and gardens as well. 



The ancients extracted a yellow hair-dye from the barberry ; 

 and to-day it is used to impart a yellow color to wool. Both its 

 common and botanical names are of Arabic origin. 



YELLOW STAR-GRASS. 



Hypoxis erecta. Amaryllis Family. 



Scapes. — Slender; few-flowered. Leaves. — Linear; grass-like; hairy. 

 Flowers. — Yellow. Perianth. — Six-parted; spreading; the divisions hairy 

 and greenish outside, yellow within. Stamens. — Six. Pistil. — One. 



When our eyes fall upon what looks like a bit of evening sky 

 set with golden stars, but which proves to be only a piece of 

 shaded turf gleaming with these pretty flowers, we recall Long- 

 fellow's musical lines : 



*' Spake full well in language quaint and olden, 

 One who dwelleth on the castled Rhine, 

 When he called the flowers so blue and golden, 

 Stars, which in earth's firmament do shine." 



159 



