102 WILD FLO-VVERS. 



be different from those which inhale atmospheric 

 air, as the breathing of fishes is from that 

 of birds." "Accordingly," adds this writer, 

 " they are of a different texture, pelkicid, hke 

 oiled paper, harsh and ribbed, but often very 

 brittle ; and their surfaces, like that of aquatic 

 animals, destituteof down, or hair of any kind." 

 This remark applies to those plants which live 

 wholly in the water, and not fully to those 

 which grow to some height above its surface. 



Waving its bright yellow petals above the 

 stream, and forming in and around it a thick 

 sedgy mass, Vvdth its sword-like leaves, the 

 yellow iris (Iris j;5e!f(/ffco;vf.y) is a beautiful 

 flower in June. It is often called flag-sedge, 

 and corn-flag, and, in Scotland, is named water- 

 skeggs. The French term it la flamhe aqua- 

 tique. Country people value its long acrid 

 root as a cure for the tooth-ache. It is also 

 used for dyeing a black colour, and for making 

 ink, and is dried and ground for snuff. Its 

 juice is made into a cosmetic, and its seeds 

 roasted for coffee. This flower is sometimes 

 found in moist woods. 



We have but two wild species of iris, and 

 the other was named on a preceding page. Our 

 common purple iris is the jieur de luce, and it 

 derives the name from Louis vii., king of 

 France, who, when setting forth on his crusade 

 to the Holy Land, chose this flower as his 

 heraldic emblem. Fleiir de luce is merely a 

 corruption of Jieur de Louis, and it is now 

 more often called ^ewr «?e lis, or lily flower. 



