BLUE AND PURPLE 



meadows. They are easily identified by the curious little ap- 

 pendage on the upper part of the calyx, which gives to this 

 genus its common name. 



Perhaps the best-known member of the group is the mad-dog 

 skull-cap, ,S. lateriflora, which delights in wet places, bearing 

 small, inconspicuous flowers in one-sided racemes. This plant 

 is quite smooth, while that of S. integrifolia is rather downy. 

 It was formerly believed to be a sure cure for hydrophobia. 



S. galericulata is usually found somewhat northward. Its 

 flowers are much larger than those of S. lateriflora, but smaller 

 than those of S. integrifolia. They grow singly from the axils 

 of the upper leaves. 



FLEUR-DE-LIS. LARGER BLUE FLAG. 



Iris versicolor. Iris Family. 



Stem. Stout, angled on one side, leafy, one to three feet high. Leaves. 

 Flat and sword-shaped, with their inner surfaces coherent for about half 

 of their length. Flowers. Large and showy, violet-blue, variegated with 

 green, yellow, or white j purple-veined. Perianth. Six-cleft, the three 

 outer divisions recurved, the three inner smaller and erect. Stamens. 

 Three, covered by the three overarching, petal-like divisions of the style. 

 Pistil. One, with its style cleft into three petal-like divisions, each of 

 which bears its stigma on its inner surface. 



Born in the purple, born to joy and pleasance, 



Thou dost not toil nor spin, 

 But makest glad and radiant with thy presence 



The meadow and the lin.* 



In both form and color this is one of the most regal of our 

 wild flowers, and it is easy to understand why the fleur-de-lis 

 was chosen as the emblem of a royal house, although the especial 

 flower which Louis VII. of France selected as his badge was prob- 

 ably white. 



It will surprise most of us to learn that the common name 

 which we have borrowed from the French does not signify 

 " flower-of-the-lily," as it would if literally translated, but 

 "flower of Louis," Its being a corruption of the name of the 

 king who first adopted it as his badge. 



For the botanist the blue-flag possesses special interest. It 

 * Longfellow. 

 244 



