r 



WILD FLOWI'RS OF COL()RAI)(X 37 



a portion of tlic root. It grows no higher here than represented 

 in the painting. 



The gentian will l^c more f^rmiiliar to lovers of wild flowers 

 than any of the others I may have given you. It is tlK> faxorite 

 wild flower of the East. Here the blossoms are larger and rieher 

 in color, blossoming much closer to the stalk, the stalk itself beini 

 much thicker than the gentian of the New r:ngland states. 



This flower always reminds me of a little story I read years 

 ago when I was a child, of a king who loved little children so 

 well that when they came to see him he presented them with 

 a flower called the gentian, and told them to follow the cxami)le 

 of the flower by looking up to heaven for beauty of face and char- 

 acter. For years after when I found the gentian I thought of the 

 good king and his advice and naturally looked up, hoping that by 

 doing so I w^ould receive the promised reward. 



I had never heard a common name gi\'en to this flower, l)ut, 

 as I was returning to camp, I met a little girl, daughter of one 

 of the natives. '' Little girl," I said, ''will you tell me the name 

 of this flower?" showing her my sketch. "That? Oh, yes'm, 

 it's burro's lily." ''Why is it called burro's lily?" I asked. 

 "'Cause the burros never hurt it, but munch all round it, like 

 as if they loved it. S'pose they do, and that's why folks call 

 it that." 



I knew before I had reached camp that something pleasant 

 had happened. I could see Dick in the distance, and it was 

 a face brim full of pleasure that met me to tell me the crocxl news. 



