Popular Studies of California Wild Flowers 29 



petal. They are among the most characteristic flowers of the West. 

 And to quote Carl Purely : "Until one has seen a good collection of 

 these plants, he has no idea how much Nature can do in the variation 

 of one flower." There are several well-marked strains, all said to 

 be variations of C. venustus. But ranging in color from white to 

 cream, palest to a clear bright yellow, orange, pink, claret, magenta, 

 flaming vermilion, lilac, purple, green-banded, and a mingling of 

 all other shades, wonderfully blotched and mottled with exquisitely 

 delicate pencilings, eyes and dots, in rich 'contrasting colors ; yet 

 each variety carries out a color schenle of its own. They bloom in 

 the spring in the Coast Ranges and in the summer in the Sierras, 

 and nearly all are confined to the Pacific Coast. But certain varie- 

 ties grow in the Rocky Mountain regions, and one has been discov- 

 ered as far east as Dakota and Nebraska. Abrams mentions several 

 varieties in his "Flora of Los Angeles and Vicinity" ; they are par- 

 ticularly beautiful in that locality. The famous Catalina Mariposa, 

 C. catalina Wats., is common throughout Southern California, 

 blooming on the plains and foothills and coast islands from February 

 until May. This flower is white or lilac, with a dark red blotch at 

 the base of each petal. It was first described from a specimen col- 

 lected on the Santa Catalina Island about fifty years ago. 



Mary Austin, in her charming book, "The Land of Little Rain," 

 says: "Farther south in the trail there will be poppies meeting ankle- 

 deep, and singly, peacock-painted bubbles of calochortus blown out 

 at the tops of tall stems." She was of course speaking of the early 

 springtime. Flowers are short lived in that region. 



The flaming vermilion, tulip-shaped Desert Mariposa is a de- 

 light of motorists in the early spring along Southwestern desert 

 roads ; this glorious flower blooms in the hot, bright sunlight close 

 to the sand ; and with a semblance of shade or protection, it is even 

 more beautiful. "The wonder of it is increased," says Saunders, 

 "by finding it in the midst of such barren, sun-scorched wastes as 

 popular speech calls 'God-forsaken.' The flower is a reproach to 

 such a phrase, and seems to preach to us the universality of the 

 divine providence." This species (C. kennedyi) is somewhat rare 

 in California, but Margaret Armstrong speaks of it as being so 

 abundant in the foothills and mountain slopes of Arizona as to give 

 a beautiful orange-red color to the landscape for miles in the spring. 



In his "Flora of Middle Western California," Jepson mentions 

 three of the popular Mariposas to be found in this section of the 

 State: C. splendens Dougl. and C. venustus Dougl., the white 

 Mariposa Lily, which is sometimes white and often lilac colored, 

 with a rose-colored blotch near the apex, and eyes and pencilings of 

 rich colors; also C. luteus Dougl., which has very erect stems with 

 fan-shaped petals, somewhat more claw-shaped than the preceding- 

 species. This Mariposa occurs from a clear yellow to a deep orange, 

 and instead of the central blotch, its penciled lines radiate from 

 gland to center of petal. Its honey gland is densely matted with 

 yellow hairs, with scattered single hairs to the center of the petals. 



The yellow Mariposa Lily is a favorite with many, but C. luteus 

 is the least lovely of all Mariposas. A well-marked variety of the 



