The Yellow Flag 



cure of toothache that it might be worth while for 

 distracted sufferers to try it nowadays. According 

 to authorities, one must rub the aching tooth with 

 a piece of the root, or lay a piece of the root upon 

 it, or chew the root, when the pain flies like magic. 



From below this creeping rootstock many rootlets 

 pass downwards ; from above broad, flat stalkless 

 leaves rise, bound several together into a sheath at 

 the base. The lower leaves may be two to three 

 feet tall, the upper leaves much shorter and embrac- 

 ing the flower-stalk higher up. Their shape has 

 given the plant the name of " Segg," " Skeggs," 

 or " Cegg," all of which came down from the Anglo- 

 Saxon days when a " segg " was a small sword. 

 " Dagger Flower " is a name with similar allusion. 



On the top of the stem that rises through the 



embracing leaves are the remarkable looking flowers. 



The lowest of them are probably fading, then 



come flowers in full beauty, then large pointed 



buds in various stages. The structure of a mature 



flower is not quite obvious at a first glance. There 



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