PLANTS GROWING IN DRY SOIL. 257 



of the unsullied newness of its life. It is also a pretty sight in 

 June when in fruit. 



A. alnifolia is a smaller shrub of the west which has been 

 looked upon as a mere variety. The petals are shorter and the 

 fruit more rounded than that of the preceding. In fact, the 

 several wild species have no very marked differences, and are 

 sometimes regarded as one by botanists. 



YELLOW STAR-GRASS. 



Hypdxts hirsuta. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Amaryllis. Yellow. Scentless. Maine southward and Early summer. 



westward. 



Flowers : growing singly, or a few in a cluster at the end of a naked scape. 

 Perianth ; of six narrow divisions, within yellow, the outside green and slightly 

 hairy. Stamens: six. Pistil: one. Leaves : from the base ; sometimes over a 

 foot long; linear; grass-like. 



Long ago this plant was called the yellow star of Bethlehem. 

 It nestles so cosily among the grasses of the meadows and 

 thickets that from afar we connect its bright gleam of colour 

 with a fire-fly that has alighted and is fluttering his wings. On 

 reaching it we are no less pleased to find the winsome face of 

 the yellow star-grass. It is, however, in no sense a grass, but 

 quite an orthodox little member of the amaryllis family ; and 

 one of the oldest known of American flowers. 



BULBOUS BUTTERCUP. GOLDEN CUPS. (Plate CZ.) 

 Rantinculus bulbbsus. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Crowfoot. Yellow. Scentless. Eastern states. May-July. 



Flowers: large ; terminal ; cup-shaped. Calyx : reflexed ; of five sepals. Co- 

 rolla : of five, six, or seven petals. Stamens : numerous. Pistils : several. 

 Leaves : much divided ; deeply toothed. Stem : herbaceous ; erect from a 

 round bulb and having an acrid, watery juice. 



" Heigh-ho ! daisies and buttercups, 



Fair yellow daffodils, stately and tall, 

 When the wind wakes how they rock in the grasses, 



And dance with the cuckoo-buds, slender and small ; 

 Here's two bonnie boys and here's mother's own lasses, 



Eager to gather them all." JEAN INGELOW. 



