44 WILD, OK NATIVE FLOWERS. 



Large Blue Flag — Fleur-de-Luce — Iris versicolor (L.). 



Lilies of all kinds, 



The fleur-de-luce being one. — Winter's Talc. 



This beautiful flower abounds all through Canada, and forms one 

 of the ornaments of our low, sandy flats, marshy meadows and overflowed 

 lake shores ; it deli^'lits in wet, muddy soil, and often forms large clumps 

 of verdure in half-dried ponds and similar localities. Earl) in spring, 

 as soon as the sun has warmed the waters, after the melting of the ice, 

 the sharp sword-shaped leaves escaping from the sheltering sheath that 

 enfolded them, pierce the moist ground, and appear, forming beds of 

 brilliant verdure, concealing the swampy soil and pools of stagnant water 

 below. Late in the month of June the bursting buds of rich purple 

 begin to unfold, peeping through the spathe that envelopes them. A 

 few days of sunshine, and the graceful petals, so soft and silken in 

 texture, so variable in shades of colour, unfold : the three outer ones 

 reflexed, droop gracefully downwards, while the three innermost, which 

 are of paler tint, sharper and stiffer, stand erect and conceal the stamens 

 and petal-like stigmas, which lie behind them : an arrangement so suit- 

 able for the preservation of the fructifying organs ot the flower, that we 

 cannot fail to behold in it the wdsdom of the great Creator. The 

 structure of the cellular tissue in most water plants, and the smooth, 

 oily surface of their leaves, has also been provided as a means of throw- 

 ing off the moisture to which their place of growth must necessarily 

 expose them ; but for this -wise provision, which keeps the surface dry 

 though surrounded with water, the planls would become overcharged 

 with moisture and rot and decay too rapidly to perfect the ripening of 

 their seeds — a process often carried on at the bottom of streams and 

 lakes, as in the case of the Water-lily and other aquatics. Our blue Iris, 

 however, does not follow this rule, being only partly an aquatic, but 

 stands erect and ripens the large, bony three- sided seeds in a three-sided 

 membraneous pod. The hard seeds of the Iris versicolor have been 

 roasted and used as a substitute for coffee. The root, which is creeping, 

 fleshy and tuberous, is possessed of medicinal qualities. 



The name Ins, as applied to this genu'-, was bestowed upon it by 

 the ancient Greeks, ever remarkable for their appreciation of the beauti- 

 ful, on account of the rainbow tinted hues displayed in the flowers of 

 many of the species ; especially are the prismatic colours shown in the 

 flowers of the large, pearly-white garden Iris, a plant of Eastern origin. 



The Fleur-de-lis, as it was formerly written, signified whiteness or 

 purity. This was changed to Pleur-de-iuce, a corruption of Fleur-de- 

 Louis — the blossoms of the plant having been selected by Louis the 



