Field Book of Western Wild Flowers: The Ultimate Guide to Flowers Growing West of the Rocky Mountains

TECHNICAL TERMS.

Corolla. The flower-cup composed of one or more divisions called petals.

Petal. One of the divisions of the corolla.

Calyx. A flower-envelope, usually green, formed of several divisions called sepals, protecting the bud.

Sepal. One of the divisions of the calyx.

Anther. The pollen-bearing organ, usually yellow.

Filament. The stalk-like support of the anther.

Stamen. Anther and filament combined.

Ovary. The seed-bearing organ.

Ovary inferior. With the flower-parts growing from above the ovary.

Ovary superior. With the flower-parts growing from below the ovary.

Placenta. That particular portion of the ovary wall to which the ovules are attached.

Ovule. The body in the ovary which becomes a seed.

Style. The stalk-like projection proceeding from the ovary and terminated by the stigma.

Stigma. The generally sticky and sometimes branching termination of the pistil through which pollination takes place.

Pistil. Ovary, style, and stigma combined.

Regular Flower. Generally symmetrical and uniform in the number of its parts.

Perfect Flower. A flower complete in all the common parts.

Staminate. With stamens and without pistils.

Pistillate. With pistils and without stamens.

Polygamous. Pistillate, staminate, and perfect flowers, on the same or on different plants.

Claw. The narrow or stalk-like base of some petals.

Pedicel. The stalk of a flower in a cluster.

Raceme. A flower-cluster in which the flowers are borne along the flower-stalk on pedicels of nearly equal length.

Spike. A flower-cluster in which the flowers have no pedicels and are arranged more or less closely along the flower-stalk.

Bracts. Small scalelike formations.

Involucre. A circle of bracts below a flower-cluster.

Stipule. Small often leaflike formations, confined to the base of the leaf.

Capsule. A dry seed-vessel, composed of more than one part and splitting open.

Akene. A small dry one-seeded fruit, not splitting open.

A KEY TO THE FAMILIES.

A. Parts of the flower nearly always in threes; leaves almost always parallel-veined.

a. Ovary superior.

b. Leaves often arrow-shaped; pistils many, in a head.

Alismaceae

b. Leaves not arrow-shaped; pistil one.

Liliaceat

a. Ovary inferior.

b. Flowers regular; stamens three.

Iridaceae

b. Flowers irregular; stamens one or two.

Orchidaceae

A. Parts of the flower mostly in fours or fives; leaves mostly netted-veined.

B. Corolla absent; calyx mostly present, some-times showy.

a. Ovary superior.

b. Pistils several to many, distinct.

Ranunculaceae

b. Pistil one, one to several-celled.

c. Flowers in long spikes with a white involucre at base.

Saururaceae

c. Flowers not in long spikes.

d. Stipules if present sheathing the stem; sepals three to six.

Polygonaceae

d. Stipules absent; sepals mostly five.

Chenopodiaceae

a. Ovary inferior or appearing so by the closely fitting calyx.

b. Ovary six-celled; stamens six to twelve.

Aristolochiaceae

b. Ovary one-celled; stamens three to five.

c. Leaves opposite; flowers often showy.

Nyctaginaceae

c. Leaves alternate; flowers not showy.

Santalaceae

B. Both corolla and calyx present.

C. Corolla of separate petals.

D. Ovary superior.

a. Stamens more than ten in number.

b. Pistils several to many, separate or united below.

c. Pistils separate and distinct.

d. Pistils enclosed in a hollow receptacle.

e. Leaves opposite; petals numerous.

Calycanthaceae

e. Leaves alternate; petals mostly five.

Rosaceae

d. Pistils not enclosed in a receptacle.

e. Stamens attached to the calyx.

Rosaceae

e. Stamens not attached to the calyx.

Ranunculaceae

c. Pistils united below into a lobed or beaked ovary.

d. Water plants with floating leaves.

Nymphaceae

d. Terrestrial or land plants.

e. Pistils forming a ring; filaments united.

Malvaceae

e. Pistils not forming a ring.

f. Pistils inserted on a convex receptacle; stamens attached to the calyx.

Rosaceae

f. Receptacle not convex; stamens not attached to the calyx.

Papaveraceae

b. Pistil one, the styles and stigmas often several.

c. Ovary one-celled.

d. Style and stigma one.

e. Fruit a drupe (stone-fruit).

Drupaceae

e. Fruit an akene tipped with a tail.

Rosaceae

d. Styles or stigmas more than one.

e. Sepals falling as the flowers expand.

f. Sepals two or three; fruit a capsule.

Papaveraceae

f. Sepals four or six; fruit a berry.

Ranunculaceae

e. Sepals persistent; low shrubs.

Cistaceae

c. Ovary more than one-celled.

d. Water plants with floating leaves.

Nymphaceae

d. Plants not growing in water.

e. Leaves with smooth margins and with transparent dots.

Hypericaceae

e. Leaves neither smooth-edged, nor with transparent dots.

Malvaceae

a. Stamens ten or fewer in number.

b. Stamens of the same number as the petals and opposite them.

c. Ovary more than one-celled; calyx four- to five-cleft.

Rhamnaceae

c. Ovary one-celled.

d. Anthers opening by uplifted valves.

Berberidaceae

d. Anthers opening by longitudinal slits.

Portulacaceae

b. Stamens not of the same number as the petals, or if of the same number, alternate with them.

c. Ovaries two or more, separate or partly united.

d. Stamens united with each other and with the large thick stigma.

Asclepiadaceae

d. Stamens free from each other and from the pistils.

e. Stamens inserted on the receptacle.

f. Leaves and stems fleshy.

Crassulaceae

f. Leaves and stems not noticeably fleshy.

g. Lobes of ovary two to five, with a common style.

h. Ovary two- to three- lobed.

Limnanthaceae

h. Ovary five-lobed.

Geraniaceae

g. Ovaries with separate styles.

Ranunculaceae

e. Stamens inserted on the calyx.

f. Stamens twice as many as the pistils.

Crassulaceae

f. Stamens not twice as many as the pistils.

g. Stipules present.

Rosaceae

g. Stipules absent.

Saxifragaceae

c. Ovary one, the styles and stigmas one to several.

d. Ovary with one cell and one placenta.

e. Corolla forming standard, wings and keel; filaments mostly united.

Fabaceae

e. Corolla not of standard, wings and keel; filaments mostly not united.

f. Stamens ten or five; fruit smooth, slender.

Cassiaceae

f. Stamens three or four; fruit spiny, globose.

Krameriaceae

d. Ovary with one or more cells and styles, and two or more placentae and stigmas.

e. Ovary one-celled.

f. Corolla irregular; petals and sepals five.

Violaceae

f. Corolla regular or nearly so.

g. Ovules attached at the center or bottom of the ovary.

Caryophyllaceae

g. Ovules attached on two placentae.

h. Stamens equal; pod on a stalk.

Capparidaceae

h. Stamens unequal; pod without a stalk.

Cruciferae

e. Ovary more than one-celled.

f. Ovary three-celled; trees with palmate leaves.

Hippocastanaceae

f. Ovary more than three- celled.

g. Cells of ovary as many as the sepals.

h. Anthers opening by terminal pores; dwarf evergreen shrubby plants.

Pyrolaceae

h. Anthers opening by longitudinal slits.

i. Ovules and seeds one or two in each cell.

j. Herbs with lobed or cut leaves.

Geraniaceae

j. Evergreen shrubs with varnished leaves.

Zygophyllaceae

i. Ovules and seeds several in each cell; leaflets three.

Oxalidaceae

g. Cells of ovary twice as many as the sepals.

Linaceae

D. Ovary inferior or more or less so.

a. Stamens more than ten in number.

b. Plant spiny; leaves absent or soon deciduous

Cactaceae

b. Plant not spiny; leaves persisting for the season.

c. Leaves three-sided, fleshy.

Aizoaceae

c. Leaves neither three-sided nor fleshy.

d. Herbs; leaves rough-hairy.

Loasaceae

d. Shrubs or trees.

e. Leaves opposite; stipules none.

Hydrangeaceae

e. Leaves alternate; stipules present.

Pomaceae

a. Stamens ten or fewer in number.

b. Ovules and seeds more than one in each cell.

c. Ovary one-celled; fruit a berry.

Grossulariaceae

c. Ovary with two or more cells.

d. Stamens four or eight.

e. Shrubs; filaments two-forked at the apex.

Hydrangeaceae

e. Herbs; filaments not two-forked at the apex.

Onagraceae

d. Stamens five or ten; styles two or three.

Saxifragaceae

b. Ovules and seeds only one in each cell.

c. Stamens mostly ten; ovary partly inferior.

Hydrangeaceae

c. Stamens less than ten; ovary wholly inferior.

d. Stamens five; fruit dry.

Umbelliferae

d. Stamens four; fruit fleshy.

Cornaceae

C. Corolla with petals more or less united.

E. Ovary superior.

a. Stamens more than five in number.

b. Ovary one-celled.

c. Placenta one.

d. Corolla very irregular; stamens not protruding from the corolla.

Fabaceae

d. Corolla nearly regular; stamens protruding.

Mimosaceae

c. Placentae two; corolla irregular.

Fumariaceae

b. Ovary two to several-celled.

c. Ovary two-celled; corolla irregular.

Polygalaceae

c. Ovary three or more-celled; corolla regular or nearly so.

d. Stamens not attached to the corolla.

e. Style one; leaves simple.

Ericaceae

e. Styles more than one.

f. Styles three; erect spiny shrub.

Fouquieriaceae

f. Styles five; low herbs.

Oxalidaceae

d. Stamens attached to the corolla, plants without green foliage

Monoiropaceae

a. Stamens five or fewer in number.

b. Corolla regular.

c. Stamens free from the corolla.

Ericaceae

c. Stamens attached to the corolla.

d. Pistil one.

e. Stamens of the same number as the corolla lobes and opposite them.

Primulaceae

e. Stamens alternate with the corolla lobes or fewer.

f. Ovary one- or two-celled.

g. Styles two or occasionally one.

h. Capsule usually many-seeded; sepals united.

Hydrophyllaceae

h. Capsule few-seeded; sepals separate.

Convolvulaceae

g. Styles one or none.

h. leaves opposite.

i. Trees with pinnate leaves.

Oleaceae

i. Herbs with simple smooth-edged leaves.

Gentianaceae

h. Leaves alternate.

i. Ovary one-celled; leaves with three leaflets.

Menyanthaceae

i. Ovary two-celled; leaves various.

Solanaceae

f. Ovary three- or four-celled.

g. Style one; ovary three- celled.

Polemoniaceae

g. Styles two; ovary four- celled.

Boraginaceae

d. Pistils two.

e. Stamens and stigmas united; flowers with hood-like appendages.

Asclepidaceae

e. Stamens and stigmas not united; flowers without hood-like appendages.

Apocynaceae

b. Corolla more or less irregular.

c. Fruit a many-seeded capsule.

d. Ovary two-celled.

Scrophulariaceae

d. Ovary one-celled; plants without green foliage.

Orobanchaceae

c. Fruit of two or four seed-like nutlets.

d. Ovary four-lobed; plants mostly aromatic.

Labiatae

d. Ovary not lobed; plants rarely aromatic.

Verbenaceae

E. Ovary inferior.

a. Stamens eight or ten; evergreen shrubs.

Ericaceae

a. Stamens five or fewer in number.

b. Plants tendril-bearing.

Cucurbilaceae

b. Plants not tendril-bearing.

c. Stamens free, not united.

d. Leaves alternate; stamens free from the corolla.

Campanulaceae

d. Leaves opposite or whorled: stamens inserted on the corolla.

e. Stamens one to three.

Valerianaceae

e. Stamens four to five.

f. Leaves opposite, never in whorls nor with stipules.

Caprifoliaceae

f. Leaves opposite and with stipules, or in whorls and without stipules.

Rubiaceae

c. Stamens united by their anthers.

d. Corollas all strap-shaped and perfect; juice milky.

Cichoriaceae

d. Marginal corollas strap-shaped, never perfect; disk corollas perfect; juice not milky.

Compositae

WATER-PLANTAIN FAMILY. Alismaceae.

A rather small family, widely distributed, growing in fresh-water swamps and streams. The leaves are all from the root, with long sheathing leaf-stalks, and the flowers are regular and perfect, or with only pistils or only stamens; the sepals three; the petals three; the stamens six or more; the ovaries numerous, superior, developing into dry, one-seeded nutlets.

There are a good many kinds of Sagittaria, with fibrous roots and milky juice; the leaves are usually arrow-shaped; the lower flowers usually pistillate and the upper ones usually staminate; the stamens are numerous and the numerous ovaries are closely crowded and form roundish heads. The name is from the Latin for arrow, referring to the shape of the leaves.

An attractive and very decorative plant, with stout, smooth, hollow flower-stems, from eight inches to four feet tall, with very handsome, smooth, olive-green leaves and papery bracts. The flowers are about an inch across, with delicately crumpled, white petals and yellow anthers, forming a bright golden center, and the plants look very pretty standing along the edges of ponds. The leaves are exceedingly variable both in size and shape. This is found throughout North America. The tubers are edible and hence the plant is often called Tule Potato, and they are much eaten by the Chinese in California. The Indian name is Wapato.

Arrowhead Sagittària latifòlia White Summer North America

LILY FAMILY. Liliaceae.

A wonderfully beautiful family, large and widely distributed, mostly perennial herbs, growing from bulbs or root-stocks, with perfect, regular, symmetrical flowers and toothless leaves. The flower-cup almost always has six divisions, the outer often called sepals and the inner petals. The six stamens are opposite the divisions and sometimes three of them are without anthers. The styles or stigmas are three and the ovary is superior, developing into a three-celled capsule or berry, containing few or many seeds.

There are several kinds of Anthericum, rather small, lily-like plants, with grasslike leaves, springing from the base and surrounded by the fibrous remnants of older leaves. The slender stems are leafless, or have one, very small, dry leaf; the roots thick and fleshy-fibrous; the flowers yellow, on pedicels jointed near the middle; the style long and slender; the pod oblong, containing several flattened, angular seeds in each cell. They are common in rocky soil, at altitudes of six thousand to nine thousand feet, from western Texas to Arizona.

A beautiful little plant, with delicate flowers, unusual and pretty in coloring. It grows from eight to fifteen inches tall and has a slender, pale-green stem, springing from a clump of graceful, pale bluish-green, grasslike leaves. The flowers are about three quarters of an inch long, pale orange or corn-color, with a narrow stripe on each division; the pistil green, with an orange stigma; the anthers yellow. The flowers fade almost as soon as they bloom. This grows in open woods.

Amber Lily Anthéricum Tórreyi Yellow Summer Arizona

There are several kinds of Zygadene, natives of North America and Siberia. They mostly have coated bulbs, resembling onions, and white or greenish flowers, in clusters, the leaves long, smooth, folded lengthwise and springing mostly from the root. The flowers are perfect or polygamous, the six divisions alike, with one or two, greenish, glandular spots at the base of each; the styles three, distinct; the fruit a three-lobed capsule, with several or many seeds in each compartment. The name is from the Greek for yoke and gland, because some kinds have a couple of glands on each division of the flower.

A handsome, rather stout plant, about a foot tall, with bright light-green, smooth, graceful leaves sheathing the stem, which has a papery bract around its base. The flowers are in clusters varying in shape, sometimes growing in a long, loose raceme and sometimes in a closer, pointed cluster. The divisions of the rather small, cream-white flowers have short claws, with a yellow gland and a stamen at the base of each. The stamens are conspicuous, with swinging, yellow, shieldshaped anthers, and are at first longer than the three styles, which gradually lengthen and, together with the stamens, give a delicate, feathery appearance to the whole flower cluster. This grows on dry hillsides and in meadows. The bulb is very poisonous.

Poison Sego Zygadènus Paniculàtus Cream-white Spring, summer Utah, Nev., Idaho

A handsome graceful plant, with one or more stiff stems, from six inches to three feet tall, springing from a large clump of rather stiff, bluish-green leaves, covered with a pale bloom, and bearing fine clusters of cream-white flowers, less than an inch across, their divisions united below and adhering to the base of the ovary and each with a sticky, bright-green, heart-shaped gland. This grows in moist places in the mountains, across the continent.

Zygadene Zygadènus élegans White Summer U. S.

Much like the last, but the foliage with less bloom and the flowers handsomer and rather larger. Their divisions are free from the ovary, only the inner divisions have claws, and the glands are greenish-yellow and toothed. This grows among bushes, on hillsides and sea-cliffs along the coast.

Star Zygadene Zygadènus Fremóntii White Spring, summer California

Not nearly so handsome as the two last, but a pretty plant, from one to two feet tall, with dull-green leaves, folded lengthwise, with rough edges. The cream-colored flowers are less than half an inch across, striped with green on the outside, their divisions free from the ovary and all with claws, with roundish, greenish-yellow glands, not toothed, and with long stamens. This grows in meadows and the bulb is very poisonous except to hogs, so it is often called Hog’s Potato.

Death Camass Zygadènus venenòsus White Spring Wash., Oreg.,Cai.

There are several kinds of Veratrum, natives of the north temperate zone; tall, perennial herbs, with thick, short, poisonous rootstocks; stems tall and leafy, more or less hairy; leaves broad, plaited, with conspicuous veins; flowers more or less downy, polygamous, whitish or greenish, in a cluster, their six, separate divisions colored alike, adhering to the base of the ovary, without glands, or nearly so, and without claws; stamens opposite the divisions, with heart-shaped anthers; styles three; capsule three-lobed, with several flat, broadly-winged seeds in each com partment. Veratrum is the ancient name for Hellebore.

The leaves of this plant are its conspicuous feature. A few near the top are long and narrow, but most of them are boat-shaped, with heavy ribs, and from six to twelve inches long. They are bright yellowish-green and, although somewhat coarse, the general effect is distinctly handsome, as we see masses of them growing luxuriantly in rich, moist meadows and marshes in the mountains. When they first come up in the spring, the shoots are packed into green rosettes, in which the leaves are intricately folded, but they soon grow to a height of three to six feet. The flowers are beautiful, in fine contrast to the coarse foliage. They measure about half an inch across and are cream-white, streaked with green, and form a fine cluster about a foot long. The flowers are far prettier and the plants handsomer than their eastern relations and they flourish at an altitude of six to nine thousand feet. The plants are supposed to be poisonous to cattle, but in a recent bulletin of the Agricultural Experiment Station of the State of Washington, it is reported as being a popular food with horses and sheep, particularly the latter, which eat it greedily and without ill effects.

False Hellebore Veràtrum Calijórnicum Greenish-white Spring West

There are several kinds of Hastingsia, perennials, with bulbs. or rootstocks; the stamens on the base of the perianth, with swinging anthers; the ovary with a very short stalk and short style.

An attractive marsh plant, with a smooth, stiff, bluish stem, over three feet tall, springing from a cluster of long, narrow, sword-like leaves. The slightly sweet-scented flowers are white, about half an inch across, forming a long, graceful, fuzzy wand of bloom, which has a pretty silvery effect and looks interesting at a distance, but is not very striking close by, as the flowers are too colorless. The seeds are black and shiny.

Reed-lily Hastíngsia álba (Schoenolirion) White Summer Oreg., Cal., Nev.

There are several kinds of Chlorogalum. This odd plant springs from a big bulb, which is covered with coarse brown fiber and often shows above the ground. The leaves are sometimes over two feet long, with rippled margins, look like very coarse grass, and usually spread out flat on the ground. The plants are conspicuous and look interesting and we wonder what sort of flower is to come from them. Then some day in late summer we find that a rather ugly, branching stalk, four or five feet tall, has shot up from the center of the tuft of leaves. The branches are covered with bluish-green buds, and we watch with interest for the bloom, but we may easily miss it, for the flowers are very short-lived and come out only for a little while in the afternoons. In the lowlands the flowers are rather scattered and straggling, but in Yosemite they are lovely, close by. Each flower is an inch or more across and looks like an airy little lily, with six spreading divisions, white, delicately veined with dull-blue, and they are clustered along the branches, towards the top of the stalk, and bloom in successive bunches, beginning at the bottom. When they commence to bloom, the tips of the petals remain caught together until the last minute, when suddenly they let go and spring apart and all at once the dull stalk, like Aaron’s rod, is adorned with several delicate clusters of feathery silver flowers. The thread-like style is slightly three-cleft at the tip and the capsule has one or two blackish seeds in each cell. The bulbs form a lather in water and are used as a substitute for soap by the Indians and Spanish-Californians, and as food by the Pomo Indians, who cook them in great pits in the ground. Pomeridianum means in the afternoon.

Amolé Soap Plant Chlorógalum Pomeridiánum Silvery-white Summer California

Wild Onions are easily recognized by their characteristic taste and odor. They mostly have coated bulbs; their leaves are long and narrow, from the base; the flower-stalk bears a roundish, bracted cluster of rather small, white, pink, or magenta flowers, on slender pedicels, their six divisions nearly alike and each with a stamen attached to its base. The bracts enclose the buds, before blooming, in a case and the capsule contains six, black, wrinkled seeds. There are numerous kinds, very widely distributed, not easily distinguished, some resembling Brodiaea, but the latter never smell of onion. Allium is the Latin for garlic.

From four to ten inches high, with a few leaves. Before blooming, the flower cluster is enveloped in two papery bracts, forming a beautiful pink and white, iridescent case, the shape of a turnip, at the tip of the stalk. Later these bracts split apart and disclose a cluster of pretty flowers, usually very deep pink in color, the divisions each with a darker line on the outside, the anthers pale-yellow. This is very gay and attractive, often growing in patches on dry hillsides and fields. The flowers last a long time in water, gradually becoming paler in color and papery in texture. The bulb is marked with veins.

Pink Wild Onion Allium acuminàtum Pink Spring, summer Northwest

Six to ten inches tall, with two slightly thickish leaves, and usually two slender flower stalks, each bearing a graceful cluster of starry, white, pink or pinkish-purple flowers, each petal delicately striped with pinkish-brown, the anthers pink, the ovary green, with three, tiny, double crests. These flowers are exceedingly delicate and pretty, growing among rocks in shady canyons. The bulb is usually red-coated.

Wild Onion Allium bisceptrum Pink, white Spring Utah, Nev., Cal.

The flower cluster of Allium serràtum is much more compact than the last and the pink flowers change to deep purplish-pink as they fade, making a pretty, round, papery head, about an inch and a half across. Common on low hills in California.

There are many kinds of Brodiaea, among the prettiest western flowers. They have a small, solid bulb, coated with brownish fibers. The stem bears a bracted, roundish head of flowers at the top, the pedicels varying in length. Their leaves, all from the root, are grasslike and soon wither and the flowers dry up, become papery, and remain on the stalk, sometimes keeping form and color for some time. The stamens are in two sets and are attached to the flower-tube, their filaments often winged. Sometimes three of the stamens are without anthers and their filaments are broadened, so that they look like small petals alternating with the ordinary stamens.

All through the spring these lovely flowers grow abundantly all over the hills and fields of California. The slender stalks vary from a few inches to two feet tall. The flowers are usually purplish-blue, but vary from deep-violet to white and are rather translucent in texture. They measure over half an inch across and grow in a cluster of seven or eight flowers, with several membranous, purplish bracts at the base. There are six anthers. The three inner stamens are winged and form a crown in the throat of the flower-tube. These Brodiaeas last a long time in water and are great favorites everywhere. The little bulbs are edible and give the name of Grass Nuts. There are several other names, such as Cluster Lily and Hog-onion. The name Wild Hyacinth is poor, as it does not resemble a hyacinth in character. B. capitàta var. pauciflòra of Arizona is similar, except that the bracts are white. Covena is the Arizona name.

Grass Nuts. Blue Dicks. Covena Brodiaèa capitàta Blue, violet Spring California

Much like the last, except that only three of the stamens have anthers and the stem is sometimes as much as five feet tall. This grows on open hills in the Coast Ranges.

Ookow Brodiaèa congèsta Blue, violet Spring, summer Wash., Oreg., Cal.

In early June, at the time of the hay harvest, these handsome flowers, which look like clusters of little blue lilies, begin to appear among the dried grass of the hillsides and in open places in the woods. They vary in height from a few inches to over a foot and the number of flowers in a cluster also varies very much. Sometimes there are as many as ten of the beautiful blossoms, an inch or more long, with pedicels unequal in length and from one to four inches long, in a large cluster at the top of the stalk, with several, whitish, papery bracts at the base of the cluster. The color of the flowers is usually a deep bright blue shading to violet and the six divisions grow paler toward the base and have a brown stripe on the outside; the buds are greenish, striped with brown. The stamens are translucent white, three ordinary stamens, with long erect anthers, alternating with three without anthers, the latter tongue-shaped and petal-like. The leaves, which are thickish and about the same length as the stalk, have withered away before the flowers bloom. This plant very much resembles Ithuriel’s Spear, Trileleia laxa, but three of the stamens are without anthers and the ovary is not on a long stalk. It is the commonest kind around San Francisco. B. minor is much the same, but a smaller plant with fewer and smaller flowers. The three outer divisions are narrow, with pointed tips, and the inner blunt and broad, and the sterile stamens are notched and longer than the fertile ones. This grows on dry hills and plains in middle and southern California.

Harvest Brodiaea Brodiaèa grandiflòra (Hook era coronaria) Blue Summer Cal., Oreg., Wash.

This is a strange, rather grotesque-looking plant, with its slightly roughish, leafless, reddish stem contorted into curious curves, occasionally quite short but usually enormously long, sometimes as much as eight feet, and twining awkwardly in a snake-like way around and over the bushes in its neighborhood. There are sometimes a few long narrow leaves lying on the ground, but when the flower blooms they usually seem to have withered away. The flower-cluster is quite compact, sometimes six inches across, comprising from eighteen to twenty flowers, with several, large, pink, papery bracts. The flowers are rather pretty, dull pink outside but paler inside, the buds are deeper and more purplish pink, both of dry papery texture. The flowers are over half an inch across, their tubes and buds are six-angled, and they have three stamens with anthers and wings, alternating with three, notched, petal-like stamens, without anthers. In the spring the stem grows rapidly for several weeks and then the flower cluster begins to come out at the tip. If the stem is broken off the flower comes out just the same and the stem keeps on growing, even if it is brought into the house. These curious plants are found in the foothills of the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada Mountains and may be seen in open sunny places along the stage route from Yosemite to Wawona. In the woods near Wawona I saw it twining around a very tall white larkspur and the combination was exceedingly pretty. The capsule is eggshaped and pointed, the seeds black and angled.

Twining Brodiaèa Brodiaèa volùbilis. (Stropholirion Califor nicum) Pink Summer California

There are four kinds of Bloomeria, all Californian, resembling Brodiaea, but the stamens unlike. They have a fibrous-coated, solid bulb, long narrow leaves, and a bracted cluster of many flowers, at the top of a tall flower-stalk. The flowers are yellow, with six, nearly equal, spreading divisions, the six stamens on the base of the divisions, with slender filaments, which with a microscope are seen to have a short, two-toothed, hairy appendage at base. These are united and form a little cup surrounding the base of the stamens. The style is club-shaped, with a three-lobed stigma. The roundish capsule, beaked with the style, contains several, angular, wrinkled seeds in each cell.

Golden Stars Bloom èria aùrea Yellow Spring, summer California

In late spring the meadows around Pasadena and other places in the Coast Range are bright with pretty clusters of Golden Stars. The plant is from six to eighteen inches tall, springing from a small bulb, covered with brown fibers, with a long, narrow, grasslike leaf, and a large flower-cluster, sometimes comprising as many as fifty blossoms, at the top of the stalk. The flowers, about an inch across, with pedicels from one and a half to two inches long, are orange-yellow, the spreading divisions each striped with two dark lines, and the anthers are bright green. This looks very much like Golden Brodiaea, but the latter has no cup at the base of the stamens. It grows in the southern part of California and is abundant wherever it is found. B. Clevelandi is much the same, but the flowers are striped with green and the numerous buds are green, so that it is less golden and the general effect is not so good. It has numerous narrow leaves.

Triteleias resemble Brodiaeas, but they have six, swinging anthers and the ovary has a stalk.

Though the general appearance of the plant is very different, the individual flowers of this beautiful plant very much resemble the bells of a Hyacinth, for they have the same waxy, semi-translucent texture. The bluish-green leaves, folded lengthwise and withering before the flower, are sometimes a foot long and the flower-stalk often reaches a height of two feet and bends beneath the weight of its lovely crown of blossoms. The cluster has four papery bracts at the base and is from three to four inches across, comprising about a dozen flowers, each nearly an inch long. They are pale-violet, with a bright-blue mid-vein on each division, the general effect being blue, with a white pistil and six stamens in two rows, all with blue anthers and the outer ones with broad, white filaments. It is wonderful to find these lovely and exotic-looking flowers, delicately scented, gleaming in the shadow of a dusky oak thicket or a deep canyon. They last a long time in water, becoming papery as they wither.

Indian Hyacinth Triteleia grandiflòra (Brodiata Douglasii) Blue Spring, summer Northwest and Utah

From one to two feet high, with very pretty flowers, about half an inch long, delicately striped with green on the outside, with six equal stamens, their filaments broad, triangular and slightly united at base, with yellow or purple anthers, and a green pistil. The leaf is grasslike, but thickish, and as long as the flower-stalk. These flowers are quite common and last a long time in water.

White Brodiaea Triteleìa hyacinthìna (Brodiaea lactea) White Spring Cal., Oreg., Wash.

Very much like Harvest Brodiaea but rather taller, with more flowers in the cluster, and less waxy in texture, varying in color from blue to violet and occasionally white. This is common on hillsides and in adobe fields. The rather fanciful name was suggested by the spear carried by Milton’s angel Ithuriel.

Ithuriel’s Spear Triteleìa láxa (Brodiaea) Blue, purple Spring Cal., Oreg.

There are one or two kinds of Brevoortia.

A handsome plant, most extraordinary both in form and color. The stem is from one to three feet tall, with a few grasslike leaves, and bears a large cluster of six to thirteen flowers, one or two inches long, hanging on slender, reddish pedicels. They have bright-crimson tubes and apple-green lobes, sometimes turned back, showing the tips of the three pale-yellow anthers. There are also three stamens without anthers and broadened so that they look like three white or yellowish petals. The buds are also crimson, tipped with green, and the whole color scheme is wonderfully brilliant and striking. This