i66 FLOWERS OF FIELD, HILL, AND SWAMP 



in rows of threes, quite close together, slightly fragrant, white, 

 straight, tall. The sepals and petals are stiff and waxy. The lip 

 is folded or wavy, oblong, turned down. There are long root- 

 leaves, which at time of flowering have generally disappeared. 

 Leafy bracts, beginning below the spike, follow around with the 

 flowers. ^ to 2 feet high. 



51. Grass-leaved Lady's Tresses 



G.praecox is an earlier-blossoming species (July and August). 

 Possibly also a little taller, with long, persistent root-leaves, 

 and bracts surrounding the stem above. The white flowers, 

 not fragrant, in single rows, stand out horizontal}}', and twist 

 around the stem. 10 to 30 inches high. 



52. Pointed Blue-eyed Grass 



Sisyrfnchium angusiifolium. — Family, Iris. Color, blue, 

 with yellow centre. Leaves, grass-like. Time, summer. 



Perianth, of 6 divisions, each tipped with a bristle. Stamens 

 and stigmas, 3. 3 to 15 inches high. 



A well-known pretty blue or violet-tinted flower, with a yellow 

 centre. The perianth segments are regularly divided and spread- 

 ing, so that one of its popular names is Blue Star. On the tip of 

 a flattened stem, often "winged," one or more flowers are borne, 

 and they are topped by a grass-like bract, a spathe which at first 

 encloses the flower. Newfoundland, south to Virginia, and west- 

 ward. 



53. Stout Blue-eyed Grass 



S. diiceps ox grainiiwidcs has a smaller blossom, growing on 

 a taller and more branching stem, with two spathes. 8 to 18 



inches high. 



54. Wild Leek 



Allium iricoccum. — Family, Lily. Color, white or green- 

 ish. Leaves, long and narrow, disappearing before the flowers 

 come. Time, July. 



From a coated bulb, the leaves appear early in spring, growing 

 less than a foot high. Later come the flowers. in umbels, like the 



