HARPER'S GUIDE TO WILD FLOWERS 



row above another, making a pyramid of from 2 to 40 blossoms. 

 July and August. 



A stalk 7 to 8 feet high, crowned with many rows of these 

 large, bright lilies, is one of the handsomest gifts of the 

 flower kingdom. Neither is it chary of its charms, for it 

 blooms in the low meadows, along the roadside, in thickets, 

 rearing its beautiful pyramids where the clethra grows, near 

 the border of a marsh or shaded stream, wherever the soil 

 is moist. New England to Virginia and westward. (See 

 illustration, p. 153.) 



Wild Yellow Lily. Canada Lily. Meadow Lily 



L. canadense. — Color, yellow, dotted with brown. Leaves, 

 rough on margins and veins underneath, lance-shaped, or some- 

 what oblong, in whorls of 4 to 10 around the stem. Height, 3 to 

 5 feet. Flowers about i\ inches long, the sepals curving back- 

 ward. The stamens, as in all our lilies, have prominent brown 

 anthers, which dust the bodies of big bees with pollen when they 

 sip the nectar from the bells. Stigma, large and 3 -divided. 

 June and July. 



This is pre-eminently the field lily, and the only one of our 

 wild lilies which is of a golden yellow color. Like the Turk's- 

 cap, it nods on its stem, but unlike that, which rears a 

 pyramid of many rich blossoms, this hangs out a single golden 

 bell, or at most two or three lilies, on its fknver-bearing stalk. 



In the fields, low-lying and moist, or sometimes in swamps, 

 where this flower appears in profusion, the golden color most 

 charmingly tints the entire meadows. Perhaps a few of the 

 red lilies may keep it company, but for the most part these 

 prefer a drier and shadier locality. Nova Scotia, south to 

 Georgia, west to Missouri. 



Dog's-tooth Violet. Yellow Adder's-tongue 



Erythrdnium americanutn. — Family, Lily. Color, light yellow. 

 Perianth divisions 6, separate, narrow, longer than the 6 stamens, 

 of a light yellow color, sometimes spotted at the base. Flow- 

 ers, single, bell-shaped, on long peduncles. Style, club-shaped 

 with united stigmas. Stem, 1 foot high or less. Leaves, 2, long, 

 narrow, usually mottled with white or purplish spots, sometimes 

 wholly green, contracted below into petioles which surround the 

 stem. March to May. 



Deep, cool, moist woods, New England to Florida and 

 westward. A low, smooth plant, often growing in masses 



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