Part 9

THIS beautiful flower, the blue Iris, which forms the right hand figure in the group of Moccasin flowers, abounds all through Canada, and forms one of the ornaments of our low sandy flats, marshy meadows and over-flowed lake shores; it delights in wet muddy soil, and often forms large clumps of verdure in half-dried up ponds and similar localities. Early in spring, as soon as the sun has warmed the waters after the melting of the ice, the sharp sword-shaped leaves escaping from the sheltering sheath that enfolded them, pierce the moist ground, and appear, forming beds of brilliant verdure, concealing the swampy soil and pools of stagnant water below. Late in the month of June the bursting buds of rich purple begin to unfold, peeping through the spathe that envelopes them. A few days of sunshine, and the graceful petals, so soft and silken in texture, so variable in shades of colour, unfold: the three outer ones reflexed, droop gracefully downwards, while the three innermost, which are of paler tint, sharper and stiffer, stand erect and conceal the stamens and petal-like stigmas, which lie behind them: an arrangement so suitable for the preservation of the fructifying organs of the flower, that we cannot fail to behold in it the wisdom of the great Creator. The structure of the cellular tissue in most water plants, and the smooth oily surface of their leaves, has also been provided as a means of throwing off the moisture to which their place of growth must necessarily expose them; but for this wise provision, which keeps the surface dry though surrounded with water, the plants would become overcharged with moisture and rot and decay too rapidly to perfect the ripening of their seeds—a process often carried on at the bottom of streams and lakes, as in the case of the Pond-lily and other aquatics. Our blue Iris, however, does not follow this rule, being only partly an aquatic, but stands erect and ripens the large bony, three-sided seeds in a three-sided membraneous pod. The hard seeds of the Iris versicolor have been roasted and used as a substitute for coffee. The root, which is creeping, fleshy and tuberous, is possessed of medicinal qualities.

At present we know of only two varieties of the Iris, Iris versicolor, and a tall slender variety with paler blue flowers and rounder scapes. The former is the handsomer flower, being beautifully varied with lighter and darker shades of blue, purple and yellow—the latter shade being at the base of the flower leaves. These are again veined with delicate lines and veinings of darker purple.

The name IRIS, as applied to this genus, was bestowed upon it by the ancient Greeks, ever remarkable for their appreciation of the beautiful, on account of the rainbow tinted hues displayed in the flowers of many of the species; especially are the prismatic colours shown in the flowers of the large pearly white garden Iris, a plant of Eastern origin, and also in the Persian or Susian Iris.

The Fleur-de-lis, as it was formerly written, signified whiteness or purity. This was changed to Fleur-de-luce, a corruption of Fleur-de-Louis. The blossoms of the plant having been selected by Louis the Seventh of France as his heraldic bearing in the Holy Wars. The flowers of the Iris have ever been favourites with the poet, the architect, and sculptor, as many a fair specimen wrought in stone and marble, or carved in wood, can testify.

The Fleur-de-lis is still the emblem of France.

Longfellow’s stanzas to the Iris are very characteristic of that graceful flower:

Beautiful lily—dwelling by still river, Or solitary mere, Or where the sluggish meadow brook delivers Its waters to the weir.

The wind blows, and uplifts thy drooping banner, And around thee throng and run The rushes, the green yeomen of thy manor— The outlaws of the sun.

O fleur-de-luce, bloom on, and let the river Linger to kiss thy feet; O flower of song, bloom on, and make forever The world more fair and sweet.

* * * * *

NAT. ORD. ERICACEÆ.

SMALL CRANBERRY. Vaccinium Oxycoccus.

There’s not a flower but shews some touch In freckle, freck or stain, Of His unrivalled pencil. HEMANS.

THERE is scarcely to be found a lovelier little plant than the common marsh Cranberry. It is of a trailing habit, creeping along the ground, rooting at every joint, and sending up little leafy upright stems, from which spring long slender thready pedicels, each terminated by a delicate peach-blossom tinted flower, nodding on the stalk, so as to throw the narrow pointed petals upward. The leaves are small, of a dark myrtle-green, revolute at the edges, whitish beneath, unequally distributed along the stem. The deep crimson smooth oval berries are collected by the squaws and sold at a high price in the fall of the year.

There are extensive tracts of low, sandy swampy flats in various portions of Canada, covered with a luxuriant growth of low Cranberries. These spots are known as Cranberry Marshes; these places are generally overflowed during the spring; many interesting and rare plants are found in these marshes, with mosses and lichens not to be found elsewhere, low evergreens of the heath family, and some rare plants belonging to the Orchidaceous tribes, such as the beautiful Grass-pink (Calopogon pulchellus), and Calypso borealis.

Not only is the fruit of the low Cranberry in great esteem for tarts and preserves, but it is also considered to possess valuable medicinal properties, having been long used in cancerous affections as an outward application—the berries in their uncooked state are acid and powerfully astringent.

This fruit is successively cultivated for market in many parts of the Northern States of America, and is said to repay the cost of culture in a very profitable manner.

So much in request as Cranberries are for household use, it seems strange that no enterprising person has yet undertaken to supply the markets of Canada. In suitable soil the crop could hardly prove a failure, with care and attention to the selection of the plants at a proper season.

The Cranberry forms one of the sub-orders of the heath family (Ericaceæ), and its delicate pink-tinted flowers are not less beautiful than many of the exotic plants of that tribe, which we rear with care and pains in the green-house and conservatory; yet, growing in our midst as it were, few persons that luxuriate in the rich preserve that is made from the ripe fruit, have ever seen the elegant trailing-plant, with its graceful blossoms and myrtle-like foliage.

The botanical name is of Greek origin, from oxus, sour, and coccus, a berry. The plant thrives best in wet sandy soil and low mossy marshes.

* * * * *

1 LILIUM PHILADELPHICUM (Wild orange Red lily)

2 CAMPANULA ROTUNDIFOLIA (Harebell)

3 CYPRIPEDIUM SPECTABILE (Showy Lady’s Slipper)

* * * * *

NAT. ORD. LILIACEÆ.—(GRAY.)

WILD ORANGE LILY. Lilium Philadelphicum.

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”