Flowers of Mystery 439 



bees seek in the leaves! they throng its green and 

 white blades in May, finding something, I am sure, 

 besides the delightful scent; though I do not note 

 that they pierce the veins of the plant for the sap, 

 as I have known them to do along the large veins 

 of certain palm leaves. I have seen bees often act 

 as though they were sniffing a flower with apprecia- 

 tion, not gathering honey. The only endeared 

 striped leaf was that of the Striped Grass — Gar- 

 dener's Garters we called it. Clumps of it growing 

 at Van Cortlandt Manor are here shown. We 

 children used to run to the great plants of Striped 

 Grass at the end of the garden as to a toy ribbon 

 shop. The long blades of Grass looked like some 

 antique gauze ribbons. They were very modish 

 for dolls' wear, very useful to shape pin-a-sights, 

 those very useful things, and very pretty to tie up 

 posies. Under favorable circumstances this garden 

 child might become a garden pest, a spreading weed. 

 I never saw a more curious garden stray than an 

 entire dooryard and farm garden — certainly two 

 acres in extent, covered with Striped Grass, save 

 where a few persistent Tiger Lilies pierced through 

 the striped leaves. Even among the deserted 

 hearthstones and tumble-down chimneys the striped 

 leaves ran up among the roofless walls. 



Let me state here that the suggestion of mystery 

 in a flower did not always make me dislike it ; some- 

 times it added a charm. The Periwinkle — Ground 

 Myrtle, we used to call it — was one of the most m\ s- 

 terious and elusive flowers I knew, and other chil- 

 dren thus regarded it ; but I had a deep affection 



