36 WlLl), OR NATIVE FLOWERS. 



showy ; the smaller the more graceful, and has a delicate fragrance 

 which is not so strong in the larger flower. The long spirally twisted 

 petals and sepals of a purplish brown colour, sometimes tinled and 

 veined with red, give this smaller flower a very elegant appearance? 

 though the rich golden hue of the larger is more striking to the eye. 



C. porviflorum affects the n^oist soil of wet grassy meadows and 

 swamps, while the larger plant loves the open plain lands among shrubs 

 and tall grasses. In the month of June when it may be seen beside the 

 gay Painted Cup {Castilleia coccitiea), the Blue Lupine (Z. perennis), 

 the larger White Trillium, and other lovely wild flowers, it forms a 

 charming contrast to their various colours and no less varied forms. 



The stem of the larger Moccasin flower is thick and leafy, each 

 many-nerved leaf sheathing the flowers before they open. The flowers 

 are from one to three in number, bent forward, droopmg gracefully 

 downwards. The golden sac-like lip is elegantly striped and spotted 

 with ruby red ; the twisted narrow petals, and sepals, two in number of 

 each kind, are of a pale fawn colour, sometimes veined and lined with a 

 deeper shade. 



Wild Garlic — Wild Leek. — Allium tricocciiin (Ait.) 



As soon as the warm rays of early spring sunbeams have melted 

 the snow in the woods, we see the bright, closely-folded and pointed 

 leaves of the Wild Garlic, or Wild Leek as it is commonly called, 

 piercing through the carpet of dead leaves that thickly covers over 

 the rich black mould, the refuse of* many years of former decayed 

 foliage. The cattle, that have been for many months deprived of green 

 food, eagerly avail themselves of the first appearance of the succulent 

 and welcome leaves of the Garlic. The milk of the cows becomes so 

 strongly flavoured with the disagreeable odour of the oily vegetable that 

 the milk and butter are rejected, and can only be used by persons who 

 are indifferent to the nature of their food, caring more for quantity than 

 quality ; but the generality of people turn away with a. feeling of disgust 

 from leeky butter and leeky milk. It is, however, a consolation to the 

 thrifty farmer to know that, like many other evils, it has its palliative. 

 The cows and oxen that have been brought low in flesh and strength 

 during the long, hard winter, are speedily restored to health by feasting 

 upon this otherwise objectionable food. 



It is a pleasant plant to the eye — the rich verdure of the broad 

 succulent leaves sjjringing so freshly where all was barren and unsightly 

 — and later in the season, the tall heads of pretty, pale blossoms are not 

 without attraction, though not nice to place in a bouquet of sweeter 

 flowers. 



