wager] 



SPRING WILD FLOWERS 



183 



The twisted column of the leaves of the May-apple are now 

 appearing above the ground. When well free they will slowly 

 open, exposing a single bud carried between the point of attach- 

 ment of the two leaves. Occasionally you will find a plant with 

 a flower bud when only one leaf is present. This, however, is 

 unusual . In the warm days of late spring, when the Trillia are 

 abundantly blooming, the colonies of May-apples, hiding under 

 their broad canopies the purest of waxen flowers, are one of the 



Fig. 10. The broad canopies of the May-apple hide the purest of blossoms 



pleasantest of the flower-lovers discoveries. The flower is highly 

 odorous, and serves to indicate the essence of a colony even when 

 you are some distance away from it. 



You cannot well escape the Shooting Star. This you will find 

 somewhat sparingly in the depths of the woods, but in great 

 numbers, occasionally, in the open prairies, or rocky hillsides. 

 There is a single cluster of leaves close to the ground, and from their 

 midst a shaft bearing on its simimit an umbel of pendant pink, 

 or white blossoms. These are most striking in their appearance. 

 It reminds one most of a sky-rocket whose path has been marked 



