stout, straight, almost circular, sometimes branching above.
Leaves: Erect, sword-shaped, shorter than stem, somewhat hoary,
from 1/2 to 1 in. wide, folded, and in a compact flat cluster at
base; bracts usually longer than stem of flower. Fruit: Oblong
capsule, not prominently 3-lobed, and with 2 rows of round, flat
seeds closely packed in each cell. Rootstock: Creeping,
horizontal, fleshy.
Preferred Habitat - Marshes, wet meadows.
Flowering Season - May-July.
Distribution - Newfoundland and Manitoba to Arkansas and Florida.

"The fleur-de-lys, which is the flower of chivalry," says Ruskin,
"has a sword for its leaf and a lily for its heart." When that
young and pious Crusader, Louis VII, adopted it for the emblem of
his house, spelling was scarcely an exact science, and the
fleur-de-Louis soon became corrupted into its present form.
Doubtless the royal flower was the white iris, and as li is the
Celtic for white, there is room for another theory as to the
origin of the name. It is our far more regal looking, but truly
democratic blossom, jostling its fellows in the marshes, that is
indeed "born in the purple."

When Napoleon wished to pose as the true successor of those
ancient French kings whose territory included the half of Europe
- ignoring every Louis who ever sat on the throne, for their very
name and emblem had become odious to the people - he discarded
the fleur-de-lis, to replace it with golden bees, the symbol in
armory for industry and perseverance. It is said some relics of
gold and fine stones, somewhat resembling an insect in shape, had
been found in the tomb of Clovis's father, and on the supposition