THREE NEW FLOWERS 103 



" Then begin about False Solomon's Seal, and 

 tell just why It's called false." 



" That is because its leaves look almost exactly 

 like those of Solomon's Seal," I said, " although 

 the sprays of leaves are much larger, and they have 

 no flowers like bells hanging underneath them. 

 Perhaps they wanted first to be Solomon's Seals and 

 then decided to be something else." 



" Have they no flowers, Philip asked. 



" Oh, yes," I told him, " beautiful flowers, and 

 much easier to see than Solomon's Seal's little green 

 bells. They have hundreds of tiny, white flowers 

 which grow In a bunch at the end of the spray 

 of leaves. Then they have a very sweet scent. 

 You can find them by that alone when you are 

 in the woods. Grandmother thinks they are 

 very handsome plants and that they should have 

 a name of their own. She calls them ' Wild 

 Spikenard. ' " 



" It's time to hear about False Lily-of -the- Val- 

 ley," Philip said. 



I thought it must soon be time for luncheon, 

 but I told him quickly, that it was a dear little 

 plant, and that to grow well it snuggled up closely 

 about the trunks of old trees, where the soil was 

 rich and moist. It was much smaller than the 

 other two plants, I said, and stood up quite 

 straight, while they leaned over. I said also that 

 its tiny flowers had the same sweet fragrance as 

 the False Solomon's Seals, and that although they 



