LILY FAMILY. 323 
Allium unifolium Kell. 
Shép (Yuki). —The wild or Indian onion, which grows | to 2 feet 
high in rich, damp meadows throughout the region, and very closely 
resembles the young form of our ordinary cultivated onion, which is 
‘alled by the same Indian name. The leaves are much more slender 
and the bulb never grows much longer than an inch. The bulb and 
the base of the leaves are fried and eaten to a greater or less extent by 
nearly all the tribes. One Indian considered them poisonous; another 
told me that quail eat the leaves in early spring and that their flesh 
then becomes worthless for food, because the odor of the onion per- 
vades it. Ao-b7'-yé is the Pomo name applied both to this plant and the 
cultivated onion. 
Calochortus maweanus Leichtl. 
Tom'-té bd (Pomo).-— A delicate, tulip-like plant, whose purplish 
white flowers grow in the grass on open hillsides in early spring. The 
petalsare hairy at the base, acharacter which has given the plant its name 
of *‘cat’s ears.” It is one of several species that have the same common 
name and are also called ‘star tulips.” The corms are eaten in small 
quantity, mostly by children, and are described as ‘* good sweet 
potatoes.” 
Calochortus pulchellus Doug. 
Be-shi' bd (Y okia).—The exquisite lemon-yellow globe tulip (fig. 68), 
which is very common along roadsides and in loose earth in thin woods 
throughout the district, especially southward. The corms are small, 
being only occasionally as large as one’s thumb, but they are easily gath- 
ered in considerable quantity. They are eaten raw or are roasted in the 
ashes for about an hour. The Yokia name means **‘ deer potato,” and 
is applied to the plant because deer are said to feed upon the corms. 
Ka-la bd, the Pomo name, means ‘‘tree” or ‘‘ forest potato.” The 
peculiarly fringed and closely overlapping petals, together with a 
peculiar saccate depression on each, and the arrangement of the inner 
hairs suggest an interesting adaptation for insect fertilization. 
Calochortus venustus Benth. 
Ba-tém' (Yokia).—The commonest species of the Mariposa or but- 
terfly lilies (fig. 69), which grow, often in great tracts, on open hill- 
sides throughout the region. The large, showy flowers are white or 
lilac-colored, and are marked, as indicated in the figure, with varying 
shades of brown, red, or yellow. The corms are very sweet and - 
make good ** potatoes.” 
Dichelostemma capitatum ( Benth.) Wood. 
Bo lé (Yokia).—A very common plant with w small fibrous-coated 
bulb from which spring 2 or 3 crass-like leaves and a lone, slightly 
Fan] o =) > « 
tortuous scape which bears at the summit a small head of violet-colored, 
