48 FLOWERS OF THE BOGS AND MARSHES 



stalks, with 6 perianth segments, longer than the stamens, in which 

 the anthers are deep -orange. The capsule is red, oblong, smooth, 

 with 6 ridges and furrows, and longer than the perianth. 



Bog Asphodel has a stem 6-10 in. long. It is in flower in July 

 and August. It is a perennial, propagated by division. 



There is no honey, but the flowers are conspicuous and scented. 

 There are 6 stamens, 3 below the ovary, 3 on the perianth segments. 

 The anther-stalks are woolly and awl-shaped. The anthers open 

 inwards at the same time as the stigma, and are linear, deep-orange, 

 on white anther-stalks. The style is short and the stigma blunt. The 

 flower is adapted for cross-pollination by pollen-collecting bees and 

 flies. 



The seeds are pale-yellow, very small, and the testa is 8 mm. long. 

 The seeds are provided with hairy outgrowths, which aid in their dis- 

 persal by the wind. 



Bog Asphodel is a peat-loving plant, and requires a peat soil, 

 growing in bogs and marshes. 



Narthecium is from the Greek narthex, the name of a tall umbel- 

 liferous plant, and ossifragum, from os, bone, frango, I break, refers to 

 reputed properties. The plant is called Bog Bastard or Lancashire 

 Asphodel, Yellow Grass, Knavery, Maiden Hair, Move Grass, Rosa 

 Solis. 



As to the last, Ellis says: "This moor-grass, in the parish of Wing 

 (Bucks) they call Rosa Solis, as it is distinguished by shepherds from 

 other grasses, who know it by its three-square leaf rapier-like; for the 

 blade, like that, is thickish and shaped somewhat in the flag kind, 

 bearing a yellowish flower, like that of a daffodown-dilly, and seldom 

 runs above a handful high in a spongy soft substance ". The names 

 Lancashire Asphodel and Maiden Hair are to be explained thus: " In 

 Lancashire it is used by women to die their haire of a yellowish 

 colour ", Gerarde says. Parkinson says his friend Anthony Salter of 

 Exeter told him they called it Knavery there. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



304. Narthecium ossifragum, Huds. Flowering stem a scape with 

 few leaves, erect, decumbent, leaves ensiform, ribbed, rigid, flowers 

 yellow, racemose, capsule red, triangular. 



