FLOWERS OF HIGH ALTITUDES 97 



angle it droops. But the wind is another thing. It 

 has no purpose in helping her distribute her seeds. 

 It is unaware of her existence save as an obstacle 

 that needs a little energy to pass. Should the cap- 

 sule hang in the lee of a leaf, it might hold its seeds 

 until it grew weary and dropped them right under 

 the mother plant. That would never do. The seeds 

 must be dispersed as widely as possible so that the 

 new plants will have little competition. 



These seeds need unfrequented places to settle in. 

 It takes several years for lily seed to develop into a 

 bulb from which grows the flower stalk. For some 

 years, it sends up leaves just above the ground, vary- 

 ing their shapes with different years. During the 

 same period, it is developing underground towards 

 a bulb of short thick-pointed scales. Finally, it 

 has progressed enough to produce fruit, and it joys 

 upward into its bloom of sun-tinged bells. 



The bulb underground multiplies into bulblets, so 

 that the lily is propagated in two ways. One should 

 never pull any member of the Lily Family Calo- 

 chortus, Fritallaria, Brodiaea, Zygadenus, or others 

 of the beauteous sisterhood as the jerk kills the 

 bulb. Cut the lower stalk with a knife or shears, 

 and the bulb is still good for a number of new 

 plants. 



Alpine Lily is sometimes called Little Tiger Lily 

 from its coloring. Its botanical name is Lilium 



