82 FLOWERS OF FIELD, HILL, AND SWAMP 



Found in northern New York and Maine, westward to Minne- 

 sota. 8 to 12 inches high. 



97. Iris. Flower-de-luce. Larger Blue Flag 

 Iris versicolor. — Family, Iris. Color, blue, with darker 

 veinings, and touches of yellow, white, and green. Leaves, 

 equitant, like corn or grass. Time, May, June. 



Every one knows the beautiful iris, one of the blue flowers, 

 but so variegated with other tints as to be named after the rain- 

 bow. 



The stiff, sword-shaped, folded leaves give a dignity to the 

 plant, which grows about 3 feet high. The large flower deserves 

 study. The perianth is divided into 6 lobes, 3 outer and 3 inner, 

 which are united into a short tube below. The outer divisions 

 curve gracefully backward, the inner stand erect. 



Stamens, 3, almost hidden under the 3 broad, petal-like styles, 

 which bear their stigmas immediately under their 2-lobed, lip- 

 like tips. Capsule, 3-lobed, i\ inches long. 



Insect aid is necessary for the fertilization of this flower, and 

 the bee, said to be a lover of blue colors, is often seen delving into 

 the honeyed depths of the iris, powdering his head with the pol- 

 len, which he carries to another flower. 



98. American Bog-asphodel 

 Narthecium Americanum (or AbcLma Americana). — Family, 

 Bunch-flower. Color, yellowish. Leaves, linear, one arising 

 out of another, like those of iris, about 7-nerved, very narrow. 

 Time, June, July. 



From the sword-shaped, grass-like leaves a straight stem arises, 

 a foot to 18 inches high, bearing at the top a dense raceme of small, 

 greenish - yellow flowers, each with 6 narrow similar sepals, 6 

 woolly stamens, and a sessile stigma. Bracts attend the flowers. 

 A rather pretty bog herb, found in pine barrens of New Jersey. 



99. Slender Yellow-eyed Grass 



Xyris flexubsa. — Family, Yellow-eyed Grass. Color, yel- 

 low. Leaves, grass-like. Time, all summer. 



