' [Footnote: Trillium or Wake Robin] These have three green leaves
about the middle of the stalk, and the flower is composed of three pure
white or deep red leaves--petals my father used to call them: for my
father, Lady Mary, was a botanist, and knew the names of all the flowers,
and I learned them from him. The most curious is the moccasin flower. The
early one is bright golden yellow, and has a bag or sack which is
curiously spotted with ruby red, and its petals are twisted like horns.
There is a hard, thick piece that lies down just above the sack or
moccasin part; and if you lift this up, you see a pair of round, dark
spots like eyes, and the Indians say it is like the face of a hound, with
the nose and black eyes plain to be seen. Two of the shorter, curled,
brown petals look like flapped ears, one on each side of the face. There
is a more beautiful sort, purple and white, which blooms in August. The
plant is taller, and bears large, lovely flowers."
"And has it a funny face and ears too, nurse?"
"Yes, my dear, but the face is more like an ape's: it is even more
distinct than in the yellow moccasin. When my brother and I were children,
we used to fold back the petals, and call them baby flowers: the sack, we
thought, looked like a baby's white frock.
Pages:
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112