Part 3
A tree usually 40—50 feet high with a diameter of 18—20 inches and remote, elongated, tough, persistent, nearly black branches, with prominent winter buds with conspicuous long white matted hairs fringing the margins of their scales and often nearly concealing the buds; bark on the old trunks ½ to ¾ of an inch thick, pale gray, divided into shallow irregular plates; leaves many in a cluster, 4-angled, slender, blue-green 1—1½ inches long; young cones showy with dark red or yellow-green scales and dark purple bracts; when mature, ovate 1½—2 inches long with reddish-purple scales and long tipped dark purple bracts.
[Illustration: Larix Lyallii Parl. (⅓ Nat.) Lyall’s Larch.]
[Illustration: Thuja plicata Don. (⅓ Nat.) Giant Cedar.]
An alpine tree occurring with more or less frequency throughout the Rockies from Banff to Field, from 6000 to 8000 feet elevation, at or near the tree limit, often much stunted and almost shrub-like; very abundant on the mountains in the region about Lake Louise.
[Sidenote: =Abies lasiocarpa= (Hook) Nutt. _Sub-alpine Fir, Balsam Fir._]
A tree usually 40—100 feet high with a trunk 1—5 feet in diameter, short crowded tough branches, usually slightly pendulous near the base and forming dense spire-like slender heads; bark rough on the older trees, with thick, appressed, cinnamon-red scales; leaves pale blue-green flat, 1—1¾ inches long on the lower branches, rounded or notched at the apex; on the upper branches thickened, not more than ½ an inch long, flattened and closely appressed with long rigid points; cones, oblong-cylindric, rounded, truncate or depressed at the narrowed apex, dark purple and soft-hairy, 1½—4 inches long with scales gradually narrowed from the broad rounded apex to the base, about 3 times as long as the bracts.
This tree the Balsam of the region is found throughout on the higher mountain slopes and summits, frequently forming the timber line in which case it is shrub-like and stunted.
[Sidenote: =Pseudotsuga mucronata= (Raf.) Sudw. _Douglas Spruce, Red Fir._]
A magnificent tree 80—100 feet high, with a trunk 2—3 feet in diameter, or frequently larger, with slender crowded branches and long pendulous lateral ones forming, while the tree is young, an open pyramid, soon deciduous from the trees crowded in the forest and leaving the bare trunk naked for ⅔ of its height and surmounted by a comparatively small, narrow head; bark on the young trees, smooth, dark gray-brown and lustrous, on the old trunks several inches thick, divided into oblong plates broken into irregularly connected ridges; leaves crowded, yellowish-green, straight or slightly curved, narrow, ¾—1¼ inches long, obtuse or acute at the apex; cones pendent on long stout stems, 2—4¼ inches long, with thin slightly concave scales; bracts often extending half an inch beyond the scales.
[Illustration: Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt. (⅓ Nat.) Balsam Fir.]
[Illustration: Pseudotsuga mucronata (Raf.) Sudw. (¼ Nat.) Douglas Fir.]
Throughout the Rockies in the lower wooded valleys, the handsomest tree of this section especially when young, now rather rare in the mature state along the line of the railway, but may be so seen to perfection in the Yoho and some of the other outlying valleys.
[Sidenote: =Tsuga heterophylla= (Raf.) Sarg. _Western Hemlock._]
A tree frequently 200 feet high, with a trunk 6—10 feet in diameter, with short slender usually pendulous branches forming a narrow pyramidal head; bark orange-brown, thin when young, an inch or more thick on mature trees and divided into broad flat ridges; leaves flat, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, marked below by broad white bands; cones sessile, oblong or oval, ¾—1 inch long with few yellowish-brown oblong scales abruptly contracted at the middle and purplish toward the base.
Abundant throughout the Selkirks.
[Sidenote: =Tsuga Mertensiana= (Bong.) Carr. _Mountain Hemlock._]
Tree usually 70—100 feet high with a tapering trunk 2—5 feet in diameter and gracefully pendent slender branches and drooping lateral ones; bark grayish and scaly, on mature trees 1—1½ inches thick divided into rounded ridges with closely appressed cinnamon scales; leaves more or less in clusters, standing out all over the sides of the branches, rounded, light bluish-green or in some pale blue ½—1 inch long; cones sessile, cylindric, oblong, narrowed toward the blunt apex and somewhat toward the base, pendulous, 1—3 inches long, with thin scales usually as broad as long, with slightly thickened or erose margins, purplish-brown, 4 times as long as the sharp, purple bract.
On the slopes and exposed ridges through the Selkirks, a most attractive tree.
[Illustration: Tsuga Mertensiana (Bong.) Carr. (⅔ Nat.) Mountain Hemlock.]
[Illustration: Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg. (⅙ Nat.) Hemlock.]
[Sidenote: =Picea Albertiana= S. Brown. _Alberta Spruce._]
A tree 30—60 feet high, slender, strict; twigs smooth and shining or occasionally glandular, hairy, but never glaucous, yellowish-brown when young becoming darker with age, leaf bases long and standing out at right angles from the stem; leaves pale blue or blue-green, ½—1 inch long, nearly straight or curved, acute or with a rigid tip, 4-sided; cones ovate or oblong, bright crimson when young, at maturity 1—1½ inches long and nearly as broad when expanded, scales stiff and rigid, broadly rounded at the apex, entire, broader than long, cinnamon brown with a chestnut edging; bract very small with a sharply angular tip.
The common spruce in the lower valleys and river bottoms throughout the Rockies.
[Sidenote: =Picea Engelmanni= (Parry) Engelm. _Engelmann’s Spruce._]
A tree often 150 feet high but usually much lower, with a trunk reaching 4—5 feet in diameter; spreading branches, produced in regular whorls and forming a narrow compact pyramidal head, and gracefully hanging short lateral branches; bark when mature reddish-brown and broken into thin scales; leaves soft and flexible, slender or slightly incurved, stouter on the fertile branches, ½—1⅛ inches long, glaucous when young, becoming dark blue-green; cones oblong-cylindric, 1—2 inches long, lustrous, light chestnut brown with thin flexible wedge-shaped scales, with erosedentate margins.
On the higher mountain slopes in the Rockies, but much lower in the valleys of the Selkirks, where it grows to a great size.
[Sidenote: =Juniperus Siberica= Burgs. _Alpine Juniper._]
A depressed rigid shrub, with many slender, decumbent stems, curving upward and forming a circular mass frequently 10 feet in diameter and 18 inches high; bark reddish-brown; leaves numerous ⅓—½ an inch long, awl-shaped, rigid, spreading nearly at right angles to the branches, linear-lanceolate, acute, and tipped with sharp, slender points; channelled and whitened above, lustrous green beneath; berry-like cones, blue and glaucous, subglobose or oblong about ¼ of an inch in diameter.
On dry hills and stony slopes throughout the region.
[Illustration: Picea albertiana S. Brown. (½ Nat.) Alberta Spruce.]
[Illustration: Picea albertiana S. Brown. (½ Nat.) Alberta Spruce.]
[Sidenote: =Juniperus prostrata= Pers. _Shrubby Red Cedar._]
A depressed, creeping shrub seldom more than a foot high, with spreading branches; bark grayish-brown; leaves scale-like, appressed, 4-ranked, acute, with a short spiny point; berry-like cones, light blue and glaucous, a third of an inch in diameter.
On dry stony ground and slopes throughout the Rockies.
[Sidenote: =Thuja plicata= Don. _Giant Cedar._]
A tree frequently 200 feet high with a broad, gradually tapering buttressed base sometimes 15 feet in diameter; branches short, horizontal, usually pendulous at the ends, bright yellow-green during the first year, becoming reddish-brown and lustrous; bark thin, cinnamon-red, divided into broad rounded ridges by shallow fissures; leaves ovate, long pointed, ¼ of an inch long or less; cones purplish-brown, much reflexed, clustered at the ends of the branches, ½ inch long with 6 oblong thin leathery scales with thickened spine-bearing tips.
Occasionally met with in the lower valleys on the western slope of the Rockies; becoming an immense forest tree in the moist valleys of the Selkirks where it forms a striking feature of the landscape.
TAXACEÆ
_Yew Family_
Trees or shrubs with narrow flat evergreen or deciduous leaves and a drupe-like fruit.
[Sidenote: =Taxus brevifolia= Nutt. _Western Yew._]
A small straggling tree or shrub seldom over 20 feet high and up to 12 inches in diameter; bark thin, covered with greenish-purple scales; leaves about ½ an inch long, linear-lanceolate, flat, dark yellowish-green above, paler below with stout midribs and rigid points; fruit a fleshy crimson disc ⅓ of an inch long and as broad, surrounding the hard, nearly black, depressed seed.
Occurs locally in the Selkirks, forming much of the underwood on Beaver Creek.
ARACEÆ
_Arum Family_
Smooth perennial herbs with tuberous or corn-like rootstocks and mostly basal, large showy leaves; flowers small and numerously crowded on a spadix which is generally surrounded or subtended by a simple showy leaf-like organ called a spathe.
A very numerous family found mostly in the tropics and represented in our region by but a single species.
[Sidenote: =Lysichiton kamtschatcense= (L.) Schott. _Western Skunk Cabbage._]
A stemless marsh plant with large leaves 1—4 feet long, 3—18 inches wide, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, acute, narrowed below into a short petiole. Flowers appearing before the leaves; spathe yellow with a broad acute blade 2—6 inches long, narrowed below to a sheathing petiole 3—10 inches long; spadix 2—4 inches long, densely flowered, on a stout peduncle 8 inches or more long.
In wet and marshy spots through the Selkirks. Very abundant near Bear Creek Station on the railway, flowering in early spring.
MELANTHACEÆ
_Bunch-Flower Family_
Lily-like plants with leafy stems, usually with tufts of grass-like leaves at the base and rootstocks or occasionally bulbs.
The flowers small and distinctly 6-parted, with the same number of stamens and three styles; the flowers grow in close heads at the top of the stems.
Anthers, 1-celled. Leaves broad, petioles sheathing. =Veratrum.= Leaves grass-like. Flowers erect with a gland at the base of each petal. =Zygadenus.= Flowers nodding, petals without glands. =Stenanthella.= Anthers, 2-celled. =Tofieldia.=
[Sidenote: =Veratrum viride= Ait. _American White Hellebore._]
Stem 2—8 feet high, very leafy, softly hairy especially above. Leaves dark green above, paler and hairy beneath, prominently veiny and sheathing at the base, oval or elliptic, acute, 6—12 inches long, 3—6 inches broad, the upper becoming successively narrower. Flowers yellowish-green, numerous in a spreading head often 2 feet long, with drooping branches; perianth segments oblong or oblanceolate, acute, ¼—½ an inch long, twice as long as the stamens.
In swamps and on moist slopes and stream borders throughout the region, frequently growing in great masses. In the Rockies it seldom grows below 6000 feet elevation, but is found much lower in the moist valley of the Selkirks.
[Sidenote: =Zygadenus elegans= Pursh. _Tall Zygadenus._]
Very glaucous throughout, with a cluster of narrow, grass-like leaves 5—10 inches long and ¼ inch broad, from a chaffy bulbous root; stem whitish-green or purplish, 1—2 feet high, with scattered, purple, leaf-like bracts and an open head of flowers 4—12 inches long; flowers greenish-white, open, ½ an inch or more across the six petals and sepals with a large, bright green gland at the base; stamens 6, erect, forming a central column, anthers scarlet on the opening of the bud, changing to yellow; styles 3.
Throughout the Rockies up to 6000 or 7000 feet elevation, in all kinds of situations and soils, a most attractive plant worthy, of a place in the flower-garden, blossoming during midsummer.
[Illustration: Zygadenus elegans Pursh. (½ Nat.) Tall Zygadenus.]
[Illustration: Zygadenus gramineus Rydb. (½ Nat.) Zygadenus.]
[Sidenote: =Zygadenus gramineus= Rydb. _Grass-like Zygadenus._]
A slender, yellowish-green plant 8—12 inches high, from an elongated ovoid bulb. Leaves narrow and grass-like, rough on the margins and midribs, all with sheaths around the stem. Flowers light yellow, ¼ of an inch broad in a compact head 2—3 inches long; stamens exserted, anthers yellow.
On open grassy hillsides in the Rockies from Banff to Castle Mountain, flowering in June.
[Sidenote: =Stenanthella occidentalis= (A. Gray) Rydb. _Stenthium._]
Smooth 12—18 inches high from a bulbous base. Leaves 2—3 from the same root, 8—10 inches long, ½ an inch broad, spreading. Flowers 6—20, greenish-purple, ½ an inch long, open, drooping, in a simple slender head; sepals and petals 3 each, with recurved tips; stamens 6, included.
In moist woods throughout the Rockies, growing in moss; the dark green, widely spreading leaves and wand-like stem of drooping bell-like flowers, making a graceful and attractive plant during early summer.
[Sidenote: =Tofieldia palustris= Huds. _Scottish Asphodel._]
Low with numerous tufted grass-like leaves 1—2 inches long. Flowers 6-parted, minute, greenish-white in a compact oblong head ¼ of an inch long, elongated in fruiting; stamens 6; anthers yellow not exceeding the perianth; head of flowers borne on a slender, smooth stem 3—7 inches high.
Abundant throughout the Rockies in damp sandy or gravelly ground, on the flood-plains and banks of rivers and streams and on the gravelly shores of lakes and ponds; flowering in June.
[Sidenote: =Tofieldia intermedia= Rydb. _False Asphodel._]
Plant with a cluster of grass-like leaves, 3—8 inches long and about ¼ of an inch broad, yellowish-green, from an oblique and chaffy rootstock. Flowers few, less than ¼ of an inch long, pale yellow, 6-parted, on very short pedicels; stamens 6, slightly exserted, with purple anthers; the whole in a compact head about ½ an inch long, on a stem 8—10 inches high, with sticky hairs near the top.
[Illustration: _a_ Stenanthella occidentalis (A. Gray) Rydb.
Stenanthium.
_b_ Clintonia uniflora Kunth. Clintonia. (⅔ Nat.)]
Frequent throughout the region at an altitude of 4000 to 5000 feet, in wet open situations with shallow soil; flowering in June.
[Sidenote: =Tofieldia occidentalis= S. Wats. _Western False Asphodel._]
Similar to the preceding but readily distinguished by its taller stem and more open head of flowers, with longer sepals and pedicels, which are twice as long in each case.
In the Selkirks only, but frequent there in the bogs around Roger’s Pass.
LILIACEÆ
_Lily Family_
Plants with bulbs or corms but never rootstocks; leaves either at the base or in whorls or pairs on the stem; the flowers brightly coloured, frequently large, borne singly or in clusters at the summit of the frequently naked stem, the six parts though usually distinct, sometimes more or less united into a tube; stamens 6; stigma 3-lobed.
Bracts of the inflorescence thin and translucent. =Allium.= Bracts of the inflorescence leaf-like or none. Bulbs scaly. =Lilium.= Bulbs corm-like. =Erythronium.=
[Sidenote: =Allium recurvatum= Rydb. _Wild Onion, Garlic._]
Plant 12—15 inches high with an oblique base from an oblong-ovoid bulb. Leaves narrow and grass-like, 6—8 inches long, thick and half rounded on the back, the old ones persistent and forming a mat at the surface of the ground. Flowers numerous, on slender pedicels, in a nodding terminal head; sepals and petals ¼ of an inch long, elliptic-ovate and obtuse, rosy pink with a darker mid-vein; stamens and styles exserted, anthers pale yellow.
Frequent throughout the Rockies on dry grassy or stony slopes and slides; flowering in June.
[Illustration: Tofieldia intermedia Rydb. (⅔ Nat.) False Asphodel.]
[Illustration: Vagnera stellata (L.) Morong. (¼ Nat.)
Star-Flowered Solomon’s Seal.]
[Sidenote: =Allium sibericum= L. _Northern Garlic._]
Stem 1—2 feet high from a narrowly ovoid bulb, with a single, elongated, round, hollow, basal leaf and 1 or 2 similar leaves on the stem. Flowers numerous in a compact round head; the sepals and petals about ½ an inch long, slender, with a tapering tip, bright rose-purple with a darker mid-vein; stamens much shorter than the perianth segments.
Not infrequent in moist open places throughout the Rockies; flowering in July.
[Sidenote: =Lilium montanum.= A. Nelson. _Mountain-Lily._]
Stem 12—18 inches high, rather stout, from a depressed globose bulb an inch in diameter. Leaves alternate except the uppermost which are in a whorl of 5—7, dark green above, paler beneath, minutely roughened on the edges, lanceolate, tapering but slightly toward the sessile base. Flowers erect usually one, but sometimes several, on a stem; sepals and petals 2½ inches long, somewhat spreading, elliptic-oblong, tapering gradually toward both ends, the base contracted into a claw, which is less than ⅓ the length of the blade; blade reddish-orange on the inner face, paler near the base, which is dotted with numerous purplish-black spots; outer face less brilliant, largely suffused with green; stamens and stigma purplish.
Frequent throughout the Rockies on the edges of woods and in the lower river valleys; very abundant in early July in the valley of the Lower Kicking Horse and Columbia rivers from Golden to Donald.
[Sidenote: =Erythronium grandiflorum= Pursh. _Snow Lily._]
A foot or more high from a deep-rooted, slender, membranous-coated corm. Leaves 2 or occasionally 3, opposite or in a whorl, broadly lanceolate, obtuse, 6—8 inches long, 2—3 inches wide, unequal, dull and glaucous green. Flowers 1—6, nodding, bright yellow, sepals and petals lanceolate 2 inches long, tapering to a slender, strongly reflexed tip; stamens exserted, anthers yellow or purplish-brown.
[Illustration: Erythronium grandiflorum Pursh. (½ Nat.) Snow Lily.]
This beautiful lily is frequent on the slides and mountain slopes throughout the region at an elevation of 5000 feet or higher, appearing immediately after the snows have melted, and lasting but a short time. It may be found flowering according to the elevation and condition of the snow, from May throughout the summer. The plant has derived its common name no doubt from its habit of blooming so close to the melting snows. Where the plant occurs it is usually found in great numbers during the brief flowering period.
CONVALLARIACEÆ
_Lily-of-the-Valley Family_
Resembling the lilies, sometimes with naked but usually leafy stems, and simple or branched, frequently creeping rootstocks, flowers usually small and variously disposed on the stem, either scattered in the axils of the leaves or in terminal clusters, or occasionally solitary on a naked stem; either 4- or 6-parted, regular, perfect; stamens 6.
Plant producing but one flower. =Clintonia.= Plant producing several flowers. Flowers in a raceme or panicle. =Vagnera.= Flowers in an umbel or solitary. Flowers terminal on the branches. =Disporum.= Flowers axillary. Perianth narrowly campanulate. =Streptopus.= Perianth rotate. =Kruhsea.=
[Sidenote: =Clintonia uniflora= (Schult.) Kunth. _Clintonia._]
More or less hairy throughout, with 1 to 3 or 4 dark green leaves, 4—8 inches long and 1—2 inches wide, oblong-lanceolate with an abrupt tip, and tapering at the base to sheathing petioles, from a creeping underground stem 2—3 inches long. Flower-stem shorter than the leaves with one or rarely two blossoms which are pure white, very open, 6-parted; sepals and petals ¾—1 inch long, oblanceolate, obtuse; stamens 6, shorter than the petals, anthers yellow.
In rich, moist woods throughout the region.
[Illustration: Lilium montanum A. Nelson. (½ Nat.) Red Mountain-Lily.]
[Illustration: Kruhsea streptopoides (Ledeb.) Kearney. (½ Nat.) Kruhsea.]
[Sidenote: =Vagnera stellata= (L.) Morong. _Star-flowered Solomon’s Seal._]
Glaucous throughout, 8—20 inches high, smooth or with a few short hairs, leafy from a stout fleshy root; leaves alternate, 2—5 inches long, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, with a clasping base, smooth and bright green above, glaucous and minutely hairy beneath. Flowers white, several forming a rather open terminal head. 1—2 inches long; petals and sepals narrow, ¼ to ⅜ of an inch long; stamens 6, about half their length, anthers nearly white.
Common throughout the region in moist words and thickets; flowering through June and July.
[Sidenote: =Vagnera amplexicaulis= (Nutt.) Greene. _False Solomon’s Seal._]
Tall, stout, and leafy, 18—30 inches high, from a fleshy rootstock; stem striate and slightly hairy especially near the top; leaves alternate, sessile or short-petioled, ovate or oblong, 3—7 inches long, 1½—3 inches broad, short, acuminate, often with a twisted tip. Flowers small, yellowish-white in a close terminal head 1½—3½ inches long; petals and sepals minute, about ¹/₁₆ of an inch long; stamens 6, the filaments petaloid and about ⅛ of an inch long, anthers yellowish white.
Common throughout the region in the moist rich woods; flowering during June.
[Sidenote: =Streptopus amplexifolius= (L.) DC. _Tall Twisted-stalk._]
Plant 1—3 feet high, from a short, stout rootstock, covered with numerous fibrous roots; stem glaucous, usually branching below the middle, smooth above and covered with stiff hairs below. Leaves alternate, ovate-lanceolate, 2—5 inches long, 1—2 inches wide, acuminate, smooth, bright green above, glaucous beneath, heart-shaped and clasping at the base. Flowers numerous, 1 or 2 on a stem at the back of each of the upper leaves, stem bent or twisted about the middle; sepals and petals greenish-white or yellowish, narrowly lanceolate about ½ an inch long, spreading and turned back at the tips; berry ½—¾ of an inch in diameter, globose, yellow or bright scarlet.
A rather striking plant throughout the region in the moist rich woods among rocks; flowering in June.
[Sidenote: =Streptopus curvipes= A. M. Vail. _Smaller Twisted-stalk._]
Plant 6—24 inches high, smooth except the flower-stalks and margins of the leaves, simple or slightly branched from a slender creeping rhizome, with a few fibrous rootlets at the nodes. Leaves yellowish-green, sessile, oval or oblong-lanceolate, 1—3 inches long, acuminate at the tip and rounded or more or less clasping at the base, the margins more or less scatteringly glandular-hairy. Flowers few at the backs of the upper leaves, solitary on glandular-hairy, curved stalks ¼—¾ of an inch long; sepals and petals pale purple or rose colour, darker spotted on the inner surface, slender, slightly more than ¼ of an inch long; anthers beaked, the beaks slender; berry globose, about ⅜ of an inch in diameter, bright red.
In the damp woods in the Selkirks, frequent, growing in colonies and spreading largely by the creeping rhizomes.
[Sidenote: =Kruhsea streptopoides= (Ledeb.) Kearney. _Kruhsea._]
Smooth and simple, 3—6 inches high, from an extensively creeping rhizome, with a few fibrous roots at each node. Leaves 4—8, bright green and shining on both surfaces, ovate-lanceolate, acute, 1—2 inches long, the upper merely sessile, the lower clasping at the base. Flowers few, about ¼ of an inch in width, stellate and solitary on very slender, curved stalks about ⅜ of an inch long in the axils, at the backs of the upper leaves; sepals and petals deep wine-colour at the base, with yellowish-green reflexed tips; stamens 6, anthers ovoid, 2-lobed, yellow and prominent, slightly below the centre of the sepals and petals; ovary broadly urn-shaped; style none; berry nearly globose at maturity and bright red.
Known only in the Selkirks where it occurs in colonies of considerable size in the rich woods at Glacier; flowering in the middle of June.
[Sidenote: =Disporum Oreganum= (S. Wats.) B. and H. _Disporum._]
Stem 1—3 feet high, much branched and finely hairy above. Leaves yellowish-green when young, becoming darker with age, ovate or oblong, acuminate, distinctly heart-shaped at the base, 2—4 inches long, hairy, especially beneath. Flowers appearing as the leaves unfold greenish-yellow or nearly white, drooping 1 or 2 together at the ends of the branches; sepals and petals spreading half an inch or more in length, lanceolate and narrowed at the base into a broad claw; stamens exserted, anthers yellow; style simple, larger than the stamens; berry ovate, half an inch in diameter, smooth or nearly so when ripe, bright red and few-seeded.
In moist rich woods throughout the region, most abundant on the western slope of the Rockies and in the Selkirks; flowering in June.
[Sidenote: =Disporum majus= (Hook). Britton. _Large Flowered Disporum._]
Plant 1—2 feet high with few branches, hairy when young. Leaves ovate or oblong-lanceolate, acute or short, acuminate, rounded at the base. Flowers greenish-yellow or nearly white, 1—3 together at the ends of the branches; sepals and petals not spreading, half an inch or less in length, narrowly oblong or oblanceolate, stamens about equalling the sepals and petals; style slightly longer than the stamens, 3-cleft; berry a little less than half an inch in diameter, depressed, globose, and roughened with short papillæ.
In rich woods, most abundant on the eastern slopes of the Rockies; flowering early in June.
IRIDACEÆ
_Iris Family_
Perennial herbs with narrow 2-ranked, grass-like leaves and mostly clustered, perfect flowers, subtended by bracts; perianth of 6 segments, rolled together in the bud, stamens 3, inserted on the perianth opposite its outer series of lobes; filaments slender, distant or united; anthers facing upward.
[Sidenote: =Sisyrinchium septentrionale= Bicknell. _Blue-eyed Grass._]