400 THE LILIALES 



fensive and far-fetched, and also of dog-tooth violet, although 

 it is not a violet at all. Burroughs has suggested the very appro- 

 priate name of trout lily, since the mottled leaves often form 

 conspicuous beds on shady banks of streams; but to those who 

 have experienced the spring time in the north country, the term 

 fawn lily seems singularly appropriate. The leaves of the fawn 

 lily spring from deep-seated bulbs that are formed in a peculiar 

 way. The seed germinates on the surface of the soil and forms 

 a very small bulb and a single grass-like leaf. During each suc- 

 ceeding season a larger leaf and bulb are formed, and when of 

 sufficient size, the bulb sends out one or more runners that pene- 

 trate the soil and develop new bulbs at their tips (Fig. 287, B). 

 In this way the bulbs become deep-seated and rapidly increase 

 in numbers, and after several years they attain sufficient size to 

 develop two leaves and a flower. The mottled leaves have the 

 same habit of rolling up in emerging from the ground, as noted 

 in the skunk cabbage. It is to be observed that the position 

 assumed by the mature leaf of many plants is often strikingly 

 correlated with the extent of the root system. In the Liliales 

 generally, which do not have extensive lateral roots, the hang of 

 the leaves is such as to direct the water that falls upon them 

 towards the center of the plant, a feature doubtless of consider- 

 able advantage to plants living in semi-arid regions. The flower 

 is of a decidedly higher type than any previously studied and it 

 presents several features of special interest. The flower is later- 

 ally placed or slightly pendulous. The perianth is conspicuously 

 developed, consisting of two whorls of three numbers each 

 though these organs are not as yet fully differentiated into calyx 

 and corolla. The stamens are also arranged in two whorls of 

 three members each and the three carpels form a single whorl 

 which cohere into a compound pistil. The members of these 

 whorls alternate with each other, so that the flower has three 

 planes of symmetry. At maturity the walls of the ovary become 

 papery and split down the side, thus freeing the seeds. This form 

 of fruit is known as the capsule, and is of very common occur- 

 rence in the order (Fig. 287, C). The development of a con- 

 spicuous perianth is a noteworthy departure. It protects the 



