WHITE 



secure wide dispersion by attaching themselves to animals or 

 clothing. Other species of avens have more conspicuous gol- 

 den-yellow flowers. 



MEADOW-SWEET. 



Spiraa salicifolia. Rose Family. 



Stem. Nearly smooth, two or three feet high. Leaves.-^- Alternate, 

 somewhat lance-shaped, toothed. Flowers. Small, white or flesh-color, in 

 pyramidal clusters. Calyx. Five-cleft. Corolla. Of five rounded petals. 

 Stamens. Numerous. Pistils. Five to eight. 



The feathery spires of the meadow-sweet soar upward from 

 the river banks and low meadows in late July. Unlike its pink 

 sister, the steeple-bush, its leaves and stems are fairly smooth. 

 The lack of fragrance in the flowers is disappointing, because of 

 the hopes raised by the plant's common name. This is said by 

 Dr. Prior to be a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon mead-wort, 

 which signifies honey-wine herb, alluding to a fact which is men- 

 tioned in Hill's " Herbal," that " the flowers mixed with mead 

 give it the flavor of the Greek wines. ' ' 



Although the significance of many of the plant-names seems 

 clear enough at first sight, such an example as this serves to 

 show how really obscure it often is. 



WHITE WATER-LILY. 



Nympha>a odorata. Water-lily Family. 



Leaves. Rounded, somewhat heart-shaped, floating on the surface of 

 the water. Flowers. Large, white, or sometimes pink, fragrant. Calyx. 

 Of four sepals which are green without. Corolla. Of many petals. Sta- 

 mens. Indefinite in number. Pistil. With a many-celled ovary whose 

 summit is tipped with a globular projection around which are the radiating 

 stigmas. 



This exquisite flower calls for little description. Many of us 

 are so fortunate as to hold in our memories golden mornings de- 

 voted to its quest. We t can hardly take the shortest railway 

 journey in summer without passing some shadowy pool whose 

 greatest adornment is this spotless and queenly blossom. The 

 b-eath of the lily-pond is brought even into the heart of our cit- 



88 



