SUPPLEMENT 



imagine a more exquisite flower. The yellow globe tulip, C. pulchel- 

 lus y is common north of Monterey County. C. albus is frequently 

 much larger than the one in the illustration, the flowers being often 

 an inch in diameter. I have seen the flowers visited by flies and 

 beetles only ; the flowers seem capable of self pollination. Of the 

 cup shaped Mariposas, perhaps the one that is most fittingly named 

 the butterfly tulip, is the C. venustus, Benth. It is rather widely dis- 

 tributed ; I have found it in canons bordering the San Fernando 

 Valley, and abundantly at Newhall. The corollas vary from white 

 to violet, rose or cream, and there are three blotches of color on each 

 petal, the upper one usually red. In form the flowers are exquisite 

 beyond description. C. luteus, var. oculatus, Wats., is said to be 

 equally beautiful. The most common Mariposa about Los Angeles 

 and other adjoining coast towns, is the one illustrated, C, Catalincc, 

 Wats., which usually shades from white to lilac or rose, and has crim- 

 son spots. C. splendens, Dougl., is common in the south ; it is clear 

 lilac throughout, and occasionally has no honey glands at all. There 

 is a sturdy yellow Mariposa, C. davatus, common in southern canons, 

 and C. luteus, a smaller plant with yellow flowers is also found. The 

 very hairy, purple-blotched C. U eedii, var. purpnrasccns, Wats., is 

 rather abundant in the south, but it blooms in June and July and so 

 misses the attention it deserves. C. Nuttallii, of the high mountains 

 is found in all shades from cream-white to deep purple. The flame- 

 colored Mariposa, C. Kennedyi, Porter, is common in the Mohave 

 Desert. As implied in the Reader, it seems probable that these Mari- 

 posas must often fail of pollination. The sagmas open very late, and 

 even then it is easy for an insect to get honey or pollen without strik- 

 ing them. I have never found honey very abundant, and the hairs 

 about the glands must be a veritable thicket to a small insect ; at any 

 rate I have seen insects come for pollen much more frequently than 

 for honey. The bulbs become rather deeply buried ; and some 

 species produce bulblets freely in the axils of the lower leaves. 



Perhaps mention should be made of a section of Calochorti not 

 represented in the south, but common in the north, the group popu- 

 larly known as the star tulip ; the flowers resemble those of the globe 

 group, but they are erect or nearly so, and are from bell-shaped to 

 star-shaped rather than globular; they are of various tints, and are 

 sometimes known as " mouse ears," or " pussy ears; '* C. Maweanus, 

 L/eich., is a type. 



In Southern California the plants considered in this chapter will 

 usually be abundant in March or early in April. The next three 

 chapters should follow as promptly as possible, especially if the two 



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