THE ^AERICP BQTpiST. 
BINGHAMTON. N. Y., SEPTEMBER, 1905. No. 3. 
THE WILD HYACINTH. 
Camassia Fraseri. 
In recent years one seldom takes up the catalogues of 
dealers in bulbs without finding listed therein the plant 
which forms the subject of this sketch, but those who 
cultivate it can form but an imperfect idea of its loveliness 
if they have never seen it in its native haunts. It seems to 
need the setting ot its marsh\- habitat to appear at its 
best, but there the tall spires of blue, pushing up in pro- 
fusion above the coarse grasses, remind one of the small 
purple fringed orchid, though the two flowers are not at 
all ahke in either form or color. All the species belonging 
to the genus Camassia are reported to delight in rich 
meadows that are wet in winter and spring but dry in 
summer, but our plant is often found in less watery situa- 
tions and occasionalh' grows on railway embankments. 
Like many other lihaceous plants, the w-ild hyacinth 
tlowers early in spring, being about coteraporary with the 
shooting star {Dodecatheon meadia) which often grows 
with it. The perianth is wide spreading and blue in color, 
the latter circumstance probably accounting for its 
common name. The flowers at the base of the raceme 
open first, and though the life of the individual flowers is 
short, the numerous buds keep the plant in blos.^som for 
some time. The flowers secrete nectar at the base of the 
perianth segments and are visited b^- bees ot various 
species, but stamens and pistils appear to ripen about the 
same time and no special adaptations for cross-poliination 
