322 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



character is shown; the ovate cladodes, with their prickly 

 points, are also well-shown. 



LiLY-OF-THE- Valley {Convallaria majalis). 



Because it was supposed to grow in valleys the 

 plant was so-named in English, and the Latin name 

 is intended to refer to the same notion. The second 

 Latin name means belonging to May. May was, in 

 Greek mythology, dedicated to Maia, who was the 

 daughter of Atlas and the mother of Mercury. 



Though nowhere really abundant the Lily-of-the- 

 Valley is found in many counties in England. It is 

 not indigenous in Scotland or Ireland. In the north 

 of England it ascends to looo ft. 



Woods, thickets^ or shaded places are the habitat 

 of the Lity-of-the-Valley. It is found on sandy soil 

 in the sandy dry oakwood, on limestone in ashwoods, 

 and in limestone scrub. 



Its shade-loving habitats are versed by Wordsworth 

 in " The Excursion " : 



"And leaves of that shy plant, 

 (Her flowers were shed) the lily of the vale, 

 That loves the ground, and from the sun withholds 

 Her pensive beauty, from the breeze her sweets." 



Creeping in habit below, from a slender root- 

 stock the aerial stem is a scape and the leaves radical. 

 The roots are fibrous. The plant propagates itself 

 freely by its spreading rhizomes. The leaves are 

 usually two together, enveloped below in a scaly 

 sheath, ovate to lance-shaped, with a long, slender, 



