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CALOCHORTI IN THE SIERRA NEVADA. 



By Geo. Hansen. 



With the admiration for tiie beautiful coloring of the species of 

 Calochortus is usually connected regret over the failure to "do" 

 them well in our gardens. A few hints from one at home near the 

 Calaveras Big Trees, may, perchance, cause some disappointments 

 to be avoided, and encourage the growing of the 



"MARIPOSA LILIES." 



Calochortus venustas Beuth., the true Mariposa Lily, is the most 

 common. It varies to a xery great degree, displaying all shades 

 from a soft Frencli white to the richest purple, spotted and dotted, 

 and more or less hairy towards the bottom of its lovely cup-shaped 

 flower. It grows in colonies, and at times covers entirely the sides 

 of the hill. Yet I have also observed that it will disappear almost 

 as suddenly as it a[)j)eare(l, the cause of whicli I never quite under- 

 stood. There was but very little difference in the rainfall of the 

 different seasons, and the conditions of light and shade under which 

 tlie plants grew, had not been interfered with either. If Nature 

 herself causes such changes, we can not be surprised to find that 

 the biill)s disappear at times in our home gardens, when aware that 

 no great change has takeu place in the condition of their surround- 

 ings. It might be siiid, though, that their reoccurrence at the very 

 same places in the hills might be looked for if we come to know 

 that an adventive bud forms just below the surface of the soil. I^ 

 the old bull) has ceased to flourish, be it that it has outlived its 

 usefulness, be it that some conditions under which it succeeds best 

 have changed, it would take the new bulblet, which forms attached 

 to the stem and sheltered by a leaf, several years to reach the 

 flowering stage, and, meantime, it is more than natural that we 

 overlook the narrow leaf of the young bulb amongst the dry grass 

 which surrounds it. 



C. venusiiis grows from an elevation of about 1,000 feet upwards. 

 The pink and copper-colored varieties were most frequent at abou 



Erythea, Vol. VII, No. 2 [6 February, 1899]. 



