ERYTHRONIUM 



ERYTHRONIUM 



1143 



A. OLD-WORLD ERYTHRONIUMS. Fls. always solitary, 

 and without a crest near base of inner petals: Ivs. 

 handsomely mottled: offsets few. 



1. Dens-Cam's, Linn. St. 4-6 in. high: Ivs. oval- 

 acuminate, rounded at the base, blotched or patched 

 with reddish brown: fls. drooping, rose-colored, rose- 

 purple or lilac; segms. strongly reflexed, narrow, long- 

 pointed. Cent. Eu., Japan, in several forms. Gn. 76, 

 p. 649. Variations are white, rose-colored or flesh- 

 colored. Var. longifolium, Hort., varies in its narrower 

 Ivs. and larger fls; var. ma jus, Hort., is apparently a 

 form of this. Var. sibiricum, Hort., from the Altai 

 Mts., is taller. The species thrives in a moist open 

 garden soil, and exposed to the sun. Often used in 

 rock-gardens. Little known in American gardens. 



AA. EAST -AMERICAN ERYTHRONIUMS. Fl. solitary, 

 without a crest on inner petals: mostly producing 

 offsets. 



2. americanum, Ker. COMMON ADDER'S- TONGUE. 

 Fig. 1420. Scape 6-10 in., from an ovoid bulb that pro- 

 duces offshoots: Ivs. elliptic- or oblong-lanceolate, 

 mottled with purple-brown and whitish: fls. yellow, the 

 segms. recurved, the 3 inner ones auricled at base; 

 stigmas united. E. Canada, to Fla. and Ark., in rich low 

 grounds, particularly in or near woods. Runs into many 

 forms. The following names belong with it: E. lanceo- 

 latum, Pursh; E. angustatum, Raf.; E. bractedtum, 

 Boott. 



3. dlbidum, Nutt. WHITE ADDER'S-TONGUE. Pro- 

 ducing offshoots: Ivs. not mottled, narrow: fls. pinkish 

 white, yellow at base; segms. recurved, not auricled; 

 stigmas spreading. Ont. and N. Y. to Minn, and 

 Texas. 



4. mesachoreum, Knerr. Without basal offshoots: 

 Ivs. not mottled, narrowly oblong to linear-lanceolate: 

 fls. lavender, the segms. not recurved; stigmas spread- 

 ing; earlier than the last. Iowa to Kans. and Mo. 



5. propullans, Gray. Bulb ovoid: offshoots arising 

 from near middle of the st. : Ivs. small, green or slightly 

 mottled: fls. rose-colored, with yellow base; style 

 slender and stigmas united. S. Ont. and Minn. 



AAA. WEST-AMERICAN ERYTHRONIUMS. Fls. 2-4, some- 

 times more (rarely only 1-fld.). The Ivs. are richly 

 mottled, except in E. grandiflorum. The corms do 

 not produce offsets, except in E. Hartwegii. Inner 

 petals with auricles, except in E. Howellii. All 

 except E. purpurascens have large and showy fls. 



B. Style 3-cleft. 



6. grandifldrum, Pursh (E. giganteum, Lindl.). 

 Scape 1-2 ft. high: Ivs. broadly lanceolate, to 6 in. long, 

 acute and short-cuspidate, unmottled: scape slender, 

 3-5-fld.; fls. very bright yellow; petals recurved; anthers 

 yellow. E. Ore. to Brit. Col. Var. album, Hort. (E. 

 montanum, Hort.). Like the type, except the fls. are 

 white, yellowish at center, and with a slight greenish 

 cast. Var. minus, Morr., is smaller. E. grandiflorum 

 grows from very high mountains to (at one point) little 

 above the sea-level. In cult, the high mountain form 

 starts very late and is difficult to grow, while the sea- 

 level form (var. robustum, Purdy) is an easy subject. 

 In some localities the anthers are red, as in var. Nut- 

 tallianum, Purdy (E. Nuttallianum, Schult.), in others 

 both red and yellow, but as a rule yellow. The so-called 

 var, minor is small merely from less favorable situ- 

 ation. By some, the E. giganteum, Lindl., is kept dis- 

 tinct. G.C. 111.43:212. J.H. 111.58:397. G.M. 53:359. 



7. parviflorum, Goodd. The Cent. Rocky Mt. form 

 of E. grandiflorum: scape 4-12: Ivs. oblong, tapering 

 both ways: fls. usually solitary, bright yellow, greenish 

 in the bottom; segms. lanceolate-acuminate, about 1 in. 

 long, strongly recurved; anthers pale yellow. A sub- 

 alpine species. 



8. calif 6rnicum, Purdy. Lvs. richly mottled: fls. 

 few to as many as 16; petals revolute and broader, 

 creamy to light yellow, deeper at the center and often 

 marked maroon at base. In the Coast Ranges of Calif., 

 San Francisco Bay to Humboldt Co. In cult, the 

 most satisfactory East. The description of E. revolu- 

 tum var. Watsonii in Cyclo. Amer. Hort., also covers 

 E. calif ornicum. G. 32:424. 



9. Hartwegii, Wats. Bulb-bearing offsets freely on 

 filiform stolons from the base: lys. mottled: fls. 1-6, 

 mostly in a sessile umbel, large, light yellow-orange at 

 center and white or cream-color above. Foothills of 

 the Sierra Nevada Mts. in Calif. G.C. III. 20:361; 

 43:215. The plant appears to have several scapes 

 because the umbel is sessile but each fl. is on a pedicel. 



10. revolutum, Smith. Lvs. 1-4, mottled in white and 

 light brown: fls. nearly always 1 or 2; petals narrow and 

 curved; style large and stout; filaments from subulate 

 (awl-shaped) to deltoid, opening from white flushed 

 with pink to pinkish purple, becoming purple. J.H. 



III. 35: 523; 43: 

 268. Var. Bo- 

 landerii is not 

 separable from 

 the type. Pink 

 Beauty is a soft 

 pink form found 

 in Humboldt 

 County, Calif. 

 Var. albifldrum, 

 Hort. (var. Wdt- 

 sonii, Purdy. E. 

 giganteum var. 

 albifldrum, Hort. 

 E. grandifldrum 

 var. albifldrum, 

 Hook.). Fls. pure 

 white with a 

 greenish cast, 

 often banded 

 maroon at base; 



petals slender; a very beautiful 

 plant. B.M. 5714. F.S. 20:2117. 

 G.C. III. 3:556; 15:621. Var. 

 Jdhnsonii, Purdy (E. Jdhnsonii, 

 Bolander). Very similar to the 

 type, but Ivs. mottled in dark 

 brown and looking as if coated in 

 varnish, and fls. dark rose with 

 orange center. Gn. 51:136. G.C. 

 III. 19: 549; 25: 253. Var. prafecox, 

 Purdy. Lvs. mottled in ma- 

 hogany, the most beautifully of 

 any erythronium: the fls., usually 

 2-4, are creamy white with orange 

 center. 



11. montanum, Wats. Scape 

 slender, to 18 in., 1-3-fld.: Ivs. not mottled, broad- 

 lanceolate to nearly ovate, contracted into a winged 

 petiole; perianth pure white, orange at base. On high 

 mountains of Ore. and Wash. Very difficult to cult, 

 as the bulbs start very late; one of the most beautiful. 



BB. Style not divided. 



12. citrinum, Wats. Rather stout, to 10 in., 1-9- 

 fld., the fls. close together and opening at about the 

 same time: lys. mottled, very broad-lanceolate, obtuse 

 and short-apiculate, attenuate to a very short petiole: 

 petals broad, strongly recurved, light yellow, orange at 

 center, the tips becoming pink. S. Ore. Gn.M. 6:65. 



13. Hendersonii, Wats. Fig. 1421. Slender, to 12 

 in., 1-3-fld.: Ivs. mottled in dark brown, lanceolate to 

 oblong, obtuse and short-apiculate, narrowed to a short 

 petiole: petals strongly recurved, pale purple, with a 

 very dark purple, almost black, center. S. Ore. G.F. 



1421. Erythronium 

 Hendersonii: ( X 1 A) 



