224 FLOWERS OF FIELD, HILL, AND SWAMP 



99. Star-grass 



Hyp'oxis erecta. — Family, AmaxyWis. Color, y&Wovi. Leaves, 

 grass-like, stiff, hairy. 



Perianth, 6-parted, greenish and rough, hairy outside, yellow 

 within. Stamens, 6. Root, a small bulb. The bright star- 

 like blossoms grow i to 3 or 4, on a scape less than a foot 

 high. Common in dry soil. 



This is not a grass, as its common name would seem to imply. 

 In connection with this flower I recall an incident of a botan- 

 ical excursion. Rev. Thomas Morong, an eminent botanist, now 

 deceased, was the teacher and guide. Among the excursionists 

 were some amateur botanists, who knew the flowers only by 

 their common names. One of these young ladies found the hy- 

 poxis, and called it " yellow star-grass." " It is not a grass at all," 

 said the professor. " It is Hypoxis erecta." 



Said another, " I suppose we may call its cousin, the flower so 

 nearly like it, 'blue-eyed grass.''" "You certainly riiay not," the 

 professor answered, impatiently. "That is also not in any sense 

 a grass. It is Sisyrinchium angtistifolium, a member of the iris 

 family. These two flowers have no relation to each other. The 

 hypoxis is an amaryllis. Why do people learn these common 

 names, which are often so misleading, when it is just as easy to 

 associate a plant with its only true name?" 



Note to 72 (page 208). — A variety, decumbens, considered by Dr. 

 Britton a separate species, has reclining stems, leaves oblong or oval, the 

 upper ones opposite. 2 to 3 feet long. 



