ovary; middle lobe of upper lip with 2 yellow spots at base within.
Stamens 6, placed at unequal distances on tube, 3 opposite each lip.
Pistil 1, the stigma minutely toothed. _Stem_: Erect, stout, fleshy, 1
to 4 ft. tall, not often over 2 ft. above water line. _Leaves_: Several
bract-like, sheathing stem at base; 1 leaf only, midway on flower-stalk,
thick, polished, triangular, or arrow-shaped, 4 to 8 in. long, 2 to 6
in. across base.

_Preferred Habitat_--Shallow water of ponds and streams.

_Flowering Season_--June-October.

_Distribution_--Eastern half of United States and Canada.

Grace of habit and the bright beauty of its long blue spikes of ragged
flowers above rich, glossy leaves give a charm to this vigorous wader.
Backwoodsmen will tell you that pickerels lay their eggs among the
leaves; but so they do among the sedges, arums, wild rice, and various
aquatic plants, like many another fish. Bees and flies, that congregate
about the blossoms to feed, may sometimes fly too low, and so give a
plausible reason for the pickerel's choice of haunt. Each blossom lasts
but a single day; the upper portion, withering, leaves the base of the
perianth to harden about the ovary and protect the solitary seed. But as
the gradually lengthened spike keeps up an uninterrupted succession of
bloom for months, more than ample provision is made for the perpetuation
of the race--a necessity to any plant that refuses to thrive unless it
stands in water. Ponds and streams have an unpleasant habit of drying up
in summer, and often the Pickerel Weed looks as brown as a bullrush
where it is stranded in the baked mud in August. When seed falls on such
ground, if indeed it germinates at all, the young plant naturally