LARGE BLUE FLAG.
_Iris Versicolor._
_Fleur-de-luce._
Lilies of all kinds,
The fleur-de-luce being one.
WINTER’S TALE.
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.
* * * * *