48 TREES AND FIjOWERS OF 



(blue) (blue) 



SHOOTING STAR 



FRINGED GENTIAN 



Shooting Star (Dodacatheon) . This flower is 

 one of the most interesting and beautiful of the early- 

 blooming species; it might be called the American 

 cyclamen. It is abundant in open, moist woodlands 

 during June. From a basal rosette of smooth, thick- 

 ish, paddle-shapeed leaves there arises a straight, slen- 

 der flower-stalk about six inches high, bearing at its 

 upper end a cluster of four or five nodding flowers. 

 These are of a most singular structure, their long, 

 narrow petals being turned sharply back and twisted, 

 as though the flower were shooting through the air. 



Fringed Gentian (Gentiana). The gentian, which 

 is the state flower of Wyoming, is exceedingly plentiful 

 in moist meadows and on streamsides throughout the 

 Park. The slender stems, sparsely branched, reach a 

 height of about one foot, bearing a few oppositely-ar- 

 ranged, broad-based, pointed leaves. The four dark- 

 blue petals are tightly twisted together when the 

 flower is in bud, and even after it has opened their low- 

 er portion is still overlapped and folded into a deep 

 tube. The upper ends bend outward, and are notched 

 into slight fringe or deeply-toothed edge. 



