w 



26 AMONG THE WILD-FLOWERS 



not know; probably from the spotted charac- 

 ter of the leaf, which might suggest a snake, 

 though it in no wise resembles a snake's 

 tongue. A fawn is spotted, too, and "fawn- 

 lily " would be better than adder' s-tongue. 

 Still better is the name "trout-lily," which has 

 recently been proposed for this plant. It blooms 

 along the trout streams, and its leaf is as mot- 

 q^J tied as a trout's back. The name "dog's- 

 tooth" may have been suggested by the shape 

 and color of the bud, but how the "violet" 

 came to be added is a puzzle, as it has not one 

 feature of the violet. It is only another illus- 

 tration of the haphazard way in which our 

 wild-flowers, as well as our birds, have been 

 named. 



In my spring rambles I have sometimes come 

 upon a solitary specimen of this yellow lily 

 growing beside a mossy stone where the sun- 

 shine fell full upon it, and have thought it one 

 of the most beautiful of our Avild-flowers. Its 

 two leaves stand up like a fawn's ears, and this 

 feature, with its re-curved petals, gives it an 

 alert, Avide- awake look. The white species I 

 have never seen. I am told they are very 

 abundant on the mountains in California. 



Another of our common wild-flowers, wh'ch 

 I always look at with an interrogation point in 

 my mind, is the wild ginger. Why should this 

 plant always hide its flower? Its two fuzzy, 

 heart-shaped green leaves stand up very con- 

 spicuously amid the rocks or mossy stones, but 

 its one curious, brown, bell- shaped flower is 



