ON THE CAMASSIA 



great promise of improvement under the hands of 

 some careful experimenter. 



It is a little difficult to cross them. I have pro- 

 duced many hybrids, however, and it is said that 

 occasional hybrids are found where two wild 

 species are growing in the same neighborhood. 

 They all bear seed abundantly, though it takes 

 three, four, or even five years from seed before 

 they bloom. 



They grow by thousands on each square yard 

 of ground, appearing almost as thick as grass on 

 a well-kept lawn. 



In the same species there is a good deal of 

 variation in the form and size of the flower. On 

 the heights of the Sierras, the Brodiaea lactea 

 grows only a few inches high, whereas in the val- 

 leys it grows to a height of eighteen inches or two 

 feet. 



Along the alluvial creek banks Brodiaea Laxa 

 grows very large and tall, with handsome clusters, 

 while on the mountain sides it is dwarfed. 



Even plants of the same species in the same 

 locality vary widely as to size of flower. 



Brodiaea capitata grows abundantly along the 

 roadsides, and especially in grain fields. It blooms 

 and produces seed before the grain is cut. Brodiaea 

 terrestris has a stem so short that the flowers 

 almost rest on the ground. The blossom is just the 



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