A stemless marsh plant with large leaves 1—4 feet long, 3—18 inches wide, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, acute, narrowed below into a short petiole. Flowers appearing before the leaves; spathe yellow with a broad acute blade 2—6 inches long, narrowed below to a sheathing petiole 3—10 inches long; spadix 2—4 inches long, densely flowered, on a stout peduncle 8 inches or more long. In wet and marshy spots through the Selkirks. Very abundant near Bear Creek Station on the railway, flowering in early spring. MELANTHACEÆ _Bunch-Flower Family_ Lily-like plants with leafy stems, usually with tufts of grass-like leaves at the base and rootstocks or occasionally bulbs. The flowers small and distinctly 6-parted, with the same number of stamens and three styles; the flowers grow in close heads at the top of the stems. Anthers, 1-celled. Leaves broad, petioles sheathing. =Veratrum.= Leaves grass-like. Flowers erect with a gland at the base of each petal. =Zygadenus.= Flowers nodding, petals without glands. =Stenanthella.= Anthers, 2-celled. =Tofieldia.= [Sidenote: =Veratrum viride= Ait. _American White Hellebore._] Stem 2—8 feet high, very leafy, softly hairy especially above. Leaves dark green above, paler and hairy beneath, prominently veiny and sheathing at the base, oval or elliptic, acute, 6—12 inches long, 3—6 inches broad, the upper becoming successively narrower. Flowers yellowish-green, numerous in a spreading head often 2 feet long, with drooping branches; perianth segments oblong or oblanceolate, acute, ¼—½ an inch long, twice as long as the stamens. In swamps and on moist slopes and stream borders throughout the region, frequently growing in great masses. In the Rockies it seldom grows below 6000 feet elevation, but is found much lower in the moist valley of the Selkirks. [Sidenote: =Zygadenus elegans= Pursh. _Tall Zygadenus._] Very glaucous throughout, with a cluster of narrow, grass-like leaves 5—10 inches long and ¼ inch broad, from a chaffy bulbous root; stem whitish-green or purplish, 1—2 feet high, with scattered, purple, leaf-like bracts and an open head of flowers 4—12 inches long; flowers greenish-white, open, ½ an inch or more across the six petals and sepals with a large, bright green gland at the base; stamens 6, erect, forming a central column, anthers scarlet on the opening of the bud, changing to yellow; styles 3. Throughout the Rockies up to 6000 or 7000 feet elevation, in all kinds of situations and soils, a most attractive plant worthy, of a place in the flower-garden, blossoming during midsummer. [Illustration: Zygadenus elegans Pursh. (½ Nat.) Tall Zygadenus.] [Illustration: Zygadenus gramineus Rydb. (½ Nat.) Zygadenus.] [Sidenote: =Zygadenus gramineus= Rydb. _Grass-like Zygadenus._]