YELLOW GROUP 



"It is not a grass at all," said the professor. "It is Ily- 

 poxis ere eta." l 



Said another, " I suppose we may call its cousin, the flower 

 so nearly like it, 'blue-eyed grass'?" "You certainly may 

 not," the professor answered, impatiently. "That is also 

 not in any sense a grass. It is Sisyrinchium augusttfolium, 

 a member of the Iris Family. These two flowers have no 

 relation to each other. The hypoxis is an amaryllis. Why 

 do people learn these common names, which are often so 

 misleading, when it is just as easy to associate a plant with 

 its only true name?" 



Blackberry Lily 



Bela.mci.nda. chinensis. — Family, Iris. Color, deep-orange yel- 

 low. Leaves, like those of iris, 8 to 10 inches long, folded. Above 

 are thin, dry bracts. July to September. 



It was while walking on one of the roads in Sufifern, New- 

 York, that I first found this strikingly handsome flower 

 growing to a height of 3 or 4 feet, with the sword-shaped 

 leaves of the flower-de-luce, the stem crowned with small 

 lily-like blossoms. I nevertheless perceived that it was not 

 a lily. An enlarged central column came up through the 

 ovary, and, the outside covering falling away, the round, 

 juicy seeds clung to this receptacle and formed a very clever 

 imitation of a blackberry. The 6 divisions of the flower 

 perianth are deeply and regularly cut nearly to the base of 

 the flower-tube, spreading and turning somewhat backward. 

 After flowering they twist together and remain withered 

 above the ovary. They are of a deep-orange tint, speckled 

 with purplish, irregular spots. Originally from China, here 

 and there escaped from gardens, from southern New York 

 to Georgia and westward. 



Smaller Yellow Lady's Slipper 



Cypripedium parviflorum — Family, Orchis. Color, bright yel- 

 low, with a tinge of purple or purplish stripes or spots upon the 

 petals, which are often twisted. Perianth divisions longer than 

 the lip, which is yellow. Stem, 2 feet high, leafy. This has a 

 subtle, rare fragrance. May to July. 



In swamps or bogs northward, and in the mountains of 

 Virginia. 



1 Now named //. hirsuta. 

 11 159 



