PUSSY PAWS (Sprdguea umbellata, Torr.) Flowers pink or 

 white, with conspicuous papery sepals, in cushionlike incurling 

 clusters, umbellate, 1 to 3 inches across, topping fleshy scapes 

 a few inches to a foot high. Leaves spatulate in a dense basal 

 rosette. A mountain plant, common in gravelly open spaces, 

 where it often dyes considerable spaces with a tone of delicate 

 color during the months of summer. It is very common in 

 the Yosemite region, but is well distributed in its various 

 forms throughout the higher mountains of the Pacific Coast 

 from Mount San Jacinto to British Columbia, eastward 

 through Nevada to the Rockies including Yellowstone Park. 

 Also in the northern Coast Ranges of California. 



The soft, cushiony flower clusters, usually flesh tinted, 

 are obviously responsible for the common name Pussy Paws of 

 this charming little plant, familiar to every summer visitor to 

 the higher mountains of California. As the color scheme of 

 the clusters is quite often a mixture of white and pink, an- 

 other popular name, Painted Snow Flower, is not without 

 appropriateness, 



Some modern botanists are disposed to call this plant 

 Calyptridium umbellatum. 



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