116 Popular Studies of California Wild Flowers 



were cut, so as to leave most of the leaves below the flower, the 

 bulbs would not be materially damaged, but when the stalks are cut 

 close to the ground or still worse, pulled up the bulb is either 

 killed outright or so weakened that it will not recover for several 

 years." 



The Washington Lily was christened "The Lady Washington" 

 by the miners of '49, which goes a long way to prove that the gold 

 diggers were not altogether a bad lot, wholly devoid of sentiment 

 and appreciation of the finer things of life. Dr. Kellogg, who first 

 described this beautiful lily to science, preserved to posterity the 

 semblance of its original and patriotic American name by calling it 

 Lilium zvashingtonianum. Of recent years it is called the Wash- 

 ington Lily. The Shasta Lily, which is more plentiful than the 

 Washington, is really a variety of L. washingtonianuni, but it has 

 a smaller bulb. The Lemon Lily, L. parryi, often called Parry's 

 Lily, found in the southern part of the State, has flowers similar in 

 form, but of a clear yellow color, dotted with darker spots. In the 

 Coast Range we have the wonderful Ruby Lily, Lilium rub esc ens, 

 a truly magnificent plant, with whorls of rippling green leaves and 

 gorgeous blossoms of pink and ruby shades, and widely famed as the 

 most deliciously fragrant flower in the world. It is a strange, elusive 

 flower, choosing for its habitats the wildest and most inaccessible 

 mountain fastnesses, and but seldom seen, even by those who live 

 in close proximity to its hiding places. Out-door people, familiar 

 with its fragrance, are ofttimes guided to its presence by the spice- 

 like odor of its blooms. Henry Van Dyke says of this flower : 

 "Searching and strange in its sweetness, 



It steals like a perfume enchanted 

 Under the arch of the forest, and all who 



Perceive it are haunted, 

 Seeking, and seeking forever, till sight of 

 The lily is granted." 



In different localities the Ruby Lily is called the Chaparral Lily. 

 It is also called the Redwood Lily. Botanists claim that L. rub esc ens 

 and L. zvashingtonianum are closely related. The white Washington 

 Lily, in age, frequently assumes a purplish cast. The Ruby Lily 

 is a taller and handsomer plant, with larger and more fragrant 

 blossoms ; but no flower that blooms can compare with the chaste 

 and spiritual charm of the Washington Lily. It seems almost to 

 have borrowed some ethereal quality from the gardens of paradise. 



The aspect of Nature is devout. 

 Like the figure of Jesus, she stands with bended 

 head, and hands folded upon the breast. 



The happiest man is he zvho learns from Nature the 



lesson of worship. 



EMERSON. 



