AMERICAN WILD FLOWERS 



469 



in California and Oregon. Camas or wild hyacinth found from 



Texas westward has clusters of blue flowers. Brodiaea is a well 



known wild flower of the Pacific coast 



region with narrow basal leaves and tall 



flowering stalks bearing small clusters of 



starshaped flowers whose color varies 



from golden yellow, blue and purple to 



scarlet. 



One of the most unusual genera of 

 the lily family is the predominantly 

 western yucca, some species of which 

 become bushy shrubs as well as trees, 

 but all characterized by slender pointed 

 sword-like leaves. Bear grass is a south- 

 eastern species with a basal rosette of 

 leaves and a flowering stalk five feet or 

 more in height bearing a huge cluster 

 of white flowers. In the same general 

 area, Spanish bayonet inhabits sandy 

 soils where it produces its rosettes of 

 sharply pointed leaves and clusters of 

 flowers with a reddish tinge. More typi- 

 cal of the Southwest are the species 

 known as Spanish dagger and desert 

 CANDLE (fig. 286) whose flowering stalks 

 — often six and eight feet tall — produce 

 giant clusters of creamy white flowers 

 which are conspicuous features on the 

 dry hillsides of California. The largest 

 member of the genus is the grotesque 

 Joshua tree of the southwestern deserts. 



Fig. 286. — Desert can- 

 dle is a Yucca species which 

 produces a huge flower 

 cluster. 



The Amaryllis Family 



The Amaryllis Family (Amaryllidaceae) is closely related to 

 the Lily Family, being distinguished from it chiefly by having the 

 ovary of the flower attached to the calyx, rather than entirely 

 free. The perianth, consisting of six segments, usually has a 

 partly united and tubular base. 



