60 FAMILIAR WILL FLOWERS. 



glove, plants that, though really wild, are so frequently 

 met with in cultivation. After the decay of the flowers 

 the seed capsules take their place, and are sufficiently 

 large, being some three inches long and fully an inch 

 in diameter, to attract attention. The numerous seeds 

 they contain have sometimes been roasted, and a de- 

 coction made from them that is said to be not unlike 

 coffee. The capsule is three-celled, and if cut transversely 

 with a sharp knife, has a very pleasing form of section ; 

 and, in fact, we would recommend our readers who take 

 any interest in the study at all to subject many other 

 fruits to a like process. Many of the sections thus afforded 

 are strikingly beautiful in form, those of the various 

 umbelliferous plants, such as the hemlock, carrot, or 

 harems-ear, being pre-eminently so. 



The fetid iris, gladdon, or roast-beef plant, is the 

 only other indigenous species of the genus. In this the 

 flowers, somewhat smaller than those of the /. pseudacorus, 

 are ordinarily of a bluish purple, though a variety with 

 yellow blossoms may sometimes be met with. It is a 

 dweller in woods and hedgerows, and though fairly 

 common, is by no means so widely distributed as the water 

 iris. The botanical name (/. fat'idissima] is sufficiently 

 expressive of the disagreeable odour that is given out 

 when the plant is bruised or crushed, though some have 

 preferred to detect a resemblance to roast beef. 



