840 



TEE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[November, 



while in company with a friend, we determined 

 on taking a ramble among the hills which so 

 nearly environ the beautiful town of San Rafael, 

 of which place the gentleman was a resident ; and 

 while ascending one of them our eyes were 

 greeted with a fine display of this, the finest of 

 California's floral gems. In ascending to the 

 summit of one of the highest hills, the flowers 

 became more profuse and beautiful, and I can- 

 not refer to any previous botanical excursion 

 that ever gave me such genuine delight as I ex- 

 perienced on this occasion. 



Tliat it improves by cultivation was very ap- 

 parent, for near to where it was growing in great 

 pr ofusion a piece of ground had been enclosed 

 for the pui-pose of growing the Eucalyptus. The 

 ground on which the trees were planted had 

 been pretty thoroughly broken up a year or two 

 previous, and the bulbs which had remained in 

 the ground at the time of the breaking up of the 

 soil, had thrown up flower stems over two feet 

 high, with umbels as large as those of Agapan- 

 thus umbellata, and of dark blue or violet, very 

 striking indeed. The plants on the inside of the 

 enclosure being twice as large as those on the 

 outside where the ground had not been broken 

 up. 



A short time subsequent to making this dis- 

 covery, I met Prof. Bolander, of San Francisco, 

 and to whom I introduced the subject, at the 

 same time asking him to favor me with the cor- 

 rect name, which he did in writing, and the 

 name as he gave it is now before me— Seubertia 

 laxa— and that there may be no mistake of iden- 

 tity,! enclose you a small bulb which I dug from 

 one of the hills in the vicinity of San Rafael. 

 Please ^ive us the true name, 



iTihe name Seubertia which Kunth gave to this 

 is more properly appropriated by a genus of 

 composites nearly allied to the well-known Bellis 

 or English Daisy ; hence Hookers' name of Tri- 

 teleia prevails. — Ed. G. M.] 



BRODIAEA COCCINEA. 



BY W. C. L. DREW. 



Among the many wonderful plants found in 

 the vegetable world of our State, California, there 

 are few, if any, that are more curious and inter- 

 esting than the various Brodiaeas, foremost 

 among which is the B. coccinea, an idea of 

 ■which I shall attempt to give the readers of the 

 Monthly in this article. 



B. coccinea was first discovered by Gray a few 

 years ago ; it belongs to the Natural Order Lili- 

 acese; in its native home it is not so well known 

 under its botanical name as given above, as by 

 its common and popular name, Vegetable Fire- 

 Cracker, which name is far more appropriate 

 than that borne hy many flowers. 



The flowers are borne in immense clustera or 

 umbels, each cluster having from twenty to fifty, 

 and often more, blossoms in it; and are often 

 found from six to eight inches across the cluster_ 



The single blossoms are about the size of a 

 Chinese fire-cracker, which every one has seen 

 on the Fourth of July; in shape they are also 



similar; in color they are of a very bright 

 scarlet, and very brilliant, and produce a daz- 

 zling appearance when seen swaying to and fro 

 in the sunshine, it is to this resemblance to the 

 fire-cracker it owes its name " Vegetable Fire- 

 Cracker," and at a distance its resemblance to a 

 pendant bunch of fire-crackers is very remarka- 

 ble. The flowers remain fresh for a very long 

 tune, often three or four months, which i^oint will 

 make the plant valuable. The stem grows two feet 

 high, is straight and slender, but very strong; 

 the leaves are from two to four in number, and 

 are of a drooping nature ; they envelope the part 

 of the stem under ground, but above ground 

 they are almost always found lying flat on the 

 surface. 



The root is a bulb of small size, found very 

 deep in the ground, never less than five inches. 

 It abounds in a mucilagenous or starchy sub- 

 stance, and is relished by the Indians, who seek 

 it, and consider it a dainty. 



It is found in gravelly and rocky soils, on 

 mountain tops and along the northern part of 

 California, and always in partial shade, being 

 under oaks and conifers or in half open woods. 

 These points will give persons cultivating it a 

 hint as to treatment. 



