curiously mottled and delicately pencilled leaves bring to mind, not a
snake's tongue, but its skin, as they surely do. Whoever sees the sharp
purplish point of a young plant darting above ground in earliest spring,
however, at once sees the fitting application of adder's tongue. But how
few recognize their plant friends at all seasons of the year!

Every one must have noticed the abundance of low-growing spring flowers
in deciduous woodlands, where, later in the year, after the leaves
overhead cast a heavy shade, so few blossoms are to be found, because
their light is seriously diminished. The thrifty adder's tongue, by
laying up nourishment in its storeroom underground through the winter,
is ready to send its leaves and flower upward to take advantage of the
sunlight the still naked trees do not intercept, just as soon as the
ground thaws.


Yellow Clintonia

_Clintonia borealis_

_Flowers--_Straw color or greenish yellow, less than 1 in. long, 3 to 6
_nodding_ on slender pedicels from the summit of a leafless scape 6 to
15 in. tall. Perianth of 6 spreading divisions, the 6 stamens attached;
style, 3-lobed. _Leaves:_ Dark, glossy, large, oval to oblong, 2 to 5
(usually 3), sheathing at the base. _Fruit:_ Oval blue berries on
_upright_ pedicels.

_Preferred Habitat_--Moist, rich, cool woods and thickets.

_Flowering Season_--May-June.