32 AS CALIFORNIA FLOWERS GROW 



The Gilias do not all bloom in the daylight. For 

 instance, one whose common name is Evening Snow 

 prefers to attract a night moth to help her in her 



fertilization. She rolls 

 up her petals in the 

 day-time, but as the 

 afternoon n e a r s its 

 close, she becomes sud- 

 denly alert. She un- 

 furls her five white 

 banners and sends out 

 great whirls of her fra- 

 grance. After the sun 

 sets, the moths start out 

 seeking their meals. 

 Both fragrance and 

 ghostly white blossoms 

 guide them; and they 



GILIA 



co-operate, even though 

 unconsciously, with Mrs. Gilia. 



The correct pronunciation of the genus name, 

 Gilia, is He'li-a, its first syllable sounding exactly 

 like the first in Gila River or Gila monster. The 

 flower was named in honor of a Spanish botanist, 

 Felipe Louis Gil, who lived in the last half of the 

 eighteenth century, just at the time when our State 

 was being settled by white men. We in California 

 should be careful of the pronunciation of our Span- 



