THE IRIS FAMILY. 



71 



Many of us know these cheery Httle blossoms which somehow manage to 

 glance out at us from amid their grass-like leaves, and are always crisp and 

 bright-looking. Of this, our present species, the leading characteristics are 

 its broadly winged stem, the rather wide leaves, and that in drying it turns 

 to black. 



In the south there are many species of this genus which now are recog- 

 nised by a number of botanists, whereas, formerly, the books which were 

 supposed to cover the field did not describe more than one or two. 



5. Atld7iiicuin, eastern blue-eyed grass, is a coastal species which occurs 

 from Florida to Newfoundland. Usually it inhabits dry or moist soil, or 

 grows in brackish, sandy places. By its very narrow leaves, v^'hich are con- 

 siderably stouter than the stems, and its much branched inflorescence it 

 may be known. The flowers are rather a pale blue, often with a lilac tint. 



S. scabrclliim is one from the mountains which has rough and minutely 

 scabrous leaves. Its rather small flowers grow closely at the summit of the 

 stem from where a grass-like bract arises above them. 



THE CANNA FAHILY. 

 Caniiacece. 



Herbs ivith simple, alternate leaves which are sheathed and have 

 numerous parallel-veins diverging widely from their midrib ; the flowers 

 being irregular with three sepals and six-parted corollas. 



INDIAN SHOT. 



Cdiina flaccida. 



Floiuers : large ; showy ; solitary, or more usually a few growing in the spike. 

 Calyx : with three linear-lanceolate pointed sepals, often two inches h^ng. Corolla : 

 funnel-form, six-parted, the three exterior divisions reflexed and similar to the 

 sepals ; the three interior ones, unequal and yellow. Stamens : with petal-like 

 filaments. Capsule : densely covered with bristles. Leaves : nine to fifteen inches 

 long ; lanceolate; long pointed at the apex and tapering at the base into long 

 petioles which sheathe the stem ; entire ; smooth with parallel divergent veins. 

 Stem : two to four feet high ; stout ; leafy. 



In the deep recesses of inaccessible, miry swamps, especially those of 

 eastern and western Florida and near Jacksonville, this beautiful plant 

 attains to the acme of its development. Its growth is then graceful and 

 the blossoms very lovely. It would seem as though the plant should do well 

 in cultivation although it is little known to most of us in gardens. The 



