LILY FAMILY. 



LILIACEJE. 



Adder's-tongue. M-ythronium Americanum. 



Dog-tooth Violet. 

 Trout Lily. 



Found in early May on springy slopes or in moist meadow-lands. 



Two leaves and the single flower-stem, which is about 6 or. 8 

 inches in height, rise from the root. 



The leaves are long and oval, tapering at the tip, with an entire 

 margin, of a thick and juicy texture, and a smooth surface that is cool 

 to the touch. The color is green with a bloom upon it, and mottled 

 and streaked with dull red, which appears very strongly in the midrib 

 and near the base of the leaf. 



The flower is nodding and lily like in its general character ; formed 

 of 6 long taper-pointed petal-like calyx-parts. A lidge runs down the 

 middle of each of the 3 inner parts. The flower is yellow ; dark red- 

 dish on the outside of the outer divisions, and spotted with minute 

 I'eddish dots on the inside of the inner divisions. The 6 stamens are 

 large and yellow, and the pale greenish-yellow pistil is club-shaped, 

 with 3 grooves. The flower-stem is round, smooth, and pale ; it grows 

 from between the two leaves. 



In the sun the flower opens wide, its three outer divisions rolling 

 back, and exhales a fragrant smell like that of new lilac shoots ; the 

 markings on the leaves are richer in color when the plant grows 

 in more shaded places. It is a communistic plant, and exceeding 

 capricious in withholding its bloom when transplanted. 



57° 



