RED 



to whether the spring had really come to stay, but no such lack 

 of confidence possesses our brilliant young friend, who almost 

 flaunts her lurid petals in your face, as if to force upon you the 

 welcome news that the time of birds and flowers is at hand. 

 Pretty and suggestive as is the common name, it is hardly appro- 

 priate, as the robins have been on the alert for many days be- 

 fore our flower unfurls its crimson signal. Its odor is most un- 

 pleasant. Its reddish fruit is noticeable in the woods of late 

 summer. 



The sessile trillium, T. sessile, has no separate flower-stalk, 

 its red or greenish blossom being set close to the stem leaves. 

 Its petals are narrower, and its leaves are often blotched or 

 spotted. Its berry is globular, six-angled, and red or purplish. 



The wake robins are native to North America, only one 

 species being found just beyond the boundaries in the Russian 

 territory. 



WOOD BETONY. LOUSEWORT. 



Pedicularis Canadcnsis. Figwort Family. 



Stems. Clustered, five to twelve inches high. Leaves. The lower ones 

 deeply incised, the upper less so. Flowers. Yellow and red, growing in a 

 short dense spike. Calyx. Of one piece split in front. Corolla. Two- 

 lipped, the narrow upper lip arched, the lower three-lobed. Stamens. 

 Four. Pistil. One. 



The bright flowers of the wood betony are found in our May 

 woods, often in the company of the columbine and yellow vio- 

 let. Near Philadelphia they are said to be among the very ear- 

 liest of the flowers, coming soon after the trailing arbutus. In 

 the later year the plant attracts attention by its uncouth spikes 

 of brown seed-pods. 



Few wayside weeds have been accredited with greater virtue 

 than the ancient betony, which a celebrated Roman physician 

 claimed could cure forty-seven different disorders. The Roman 

 proverb, " Sell your coat and buy betony," seems to imply that 

 the plant did not flourish so abundantly along the Appian Way 

 as it does by our American roadsides. Unfortunately we are 

 reluctantly forced to believe once more that our native flower is 



218 



