CHAMISE LILY. DOG'S-TOOTH VIOLET (Erythronium gi- 

 ganteum, Lindley.) Flowers yellow or cream color, often with 

 a maroon band at the base, the segments 1 to 2 inches long, 

 re volute; borne 1 to 6 or more in a loose raceme on a leafless 

 stem about a foot high. Leaves two, appearing basal, 6 to 10 

 inches long, dark green, mottled in brown. Blooming in 

 spring and early in summer in rich woods of the Coast Ranges 

 from Central California to Southern Oregon; one of the most 

 magnificent of wild flowers. 



There are several species of Erythronium in white and yel- 

 low, scattered over the Pacific Slope, all with a family re- 

 semblance to this, and you have only to see them once to be in 

 love with them always. The name Chamise Lily is Northern 

 Californian, given because of the flower's blooming sometimes 

 amid the chamise or thickets. 



The bulbs of the Chamise Lily are edible and were used to 

 some extent by the Northern California Indians. Mr. V. K. 

 Chesnut has recorded a curious belief of one tribe who thought 

 washing themselves with a decoction of the bulbs would pre- 

 vent the rattlesnakes from having dreams, which in their mind 

 made the snakes more irritable and dangerous! 



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