98 AS CALIFORNIA FLOWERS GROW 



parvum. Lilium is the ancient Latin name for the 

 family, and parvum is from the small bulb or small 

 flowers. 



A lowly sister of Alpine Lily that springs up in 

 the damp spots in the Sierras as soon as the snow 

 disappears, and that always lives in moist places, is 

 the Wild Garlic or Wild Onion. One may not care 

 for its odor, but the quality that produces this same 

 odor often gives savor to many an otherwise insipid 

 camp stew. The Wild Onion bulbs had developed 

 the year before, so as to be ready to rush into bloom 

 with the first cleared earth. They wear a reddish 

 or a brown coat for winter protection. Within the 

 heavier colored coat are fitted closely many veined 

 layers, so that the bulb is said to be "tunicated," as 

 is the cultivated onion. From the center of the 

 bulb starts the new plant, pushing up two green tips 

 ready to burst through the ground at the first hail 

 from the sunshine. The leaves all rise from the top 

 of the bulb and overlap at their base. As they grow 

 in the air, they spread out long and narrow, and 

 finally their ends become threadlike and twist in- 

 wardly. They take no chances of shutting out the 

 sunshine from the precious blossom, and they wither 

 away early. 



From the center of the leaves, there rises a naked 

 scape, on the top of which is borne the numerous 

 pink flowers. In this floral envelope, the sepals and 



