MOUSE EABS \Caloehortus Maweanus, Leich). Flowers, 

 erect in anthesis, barely an inch across, bell-shaped, white or 

 lilac, thickly covered with conspicuous white or purplish hairs. 

 Stems low and branched, bearing a few grass-like leaves. 

 Blooms in early spring, and is common in moist situations of 

 the Coast Ranges and Sierra foothills from Central California 

 northward into Oregon. 



Calochortus Maweanus (the queer specific name, by the way, 

 commemorates George Maw, an English horticulturist, author 

 of a fine work on the genus Crocus) belongs to that section of the 

 genus called Star Tulips. The noticeable furriness of the pet- 

 als has associated the delicate little plant with cats, even more 

 than with mice, and it is quite well known as "pussy's ears" 

 and "cat's ears," as well as "mouse ears." 



Quite similar in character are two other small plants of the 

 genus, found also in Central and Northern California. These 

 are C. umbeUatus, Wood, whose petals, however, lack the char- 

 acteristic hairiness of C. Maweanus: and C. Benthami, Baker, 

 the Yellow Pussy's Ears, readily distinguished by the yellow 

 color of the petals. 



