PHLOX FAMILY. PolemomacesLC. 



Exceedingly pretty flowers, with very 

 Evening Snow 



Lindnthus dichdt- slender, brown stems, often branching, 

 omus (Cilia) from two to twelve inches tall, and a few, 



White rather inconspicuous, dull green leaves. 



Spring /pj le fl owers are an ^h or m0 re across, 



California 



with a salver-form corolla, with a long 



slender tube, white and beautifully sheeny in texture, 

 bordered with dull pink on the outside, showing where the 

 petals overlapped in the bud; the stamens and pistil not 

 showing in the throat. They have a strong and unpleasant 

 odor, but the effect of the airy flowers is beautiful, es- 

 pecially in the desert, as they sway to and fro in the wind 

 on their slender stalks. They open only in the evening, 

 but stay open all night and keep on opening and closing 

 for several days, getting larger as they grow older. This is 

 common on open slopes and hills, but is variable and not 

 easily distinguished from similar species. 



A charming little desert plant, about 

 Yellow Gilia 

 Lindnthus three inches tall, with a very slender, 



dureus (Gilia) usually smooth, widely branching stem 



Yellow and small, pale green leaves, apparently in 



whorls and cut into very narrow divisions, 



quite stiff and tipped with a bristle. The 



flowers are about half an inch across, bright yellow, with an 



orange-colored "eye" and tube, orange anthers and a 



yellow pistil, and they look exceedingly gay and pretty on 



the pale sand of the desert. 



A very pretty little plant, slightly hairy, 



Lindnthus Parvi- 



fldrus (Gilia) Wltn a slender stem, from three to ten 

 White, pink, lilac inches tall, and clusters of small, stiff, 

 Spring dark green leaves. The flowers are about 



three-quarters of an inch across, with long, 

 threadlike, yellow tubes, sometimes an inch and a half 

 long, and white, pink, or lilac petals, with an orange or 

 white "eye" and often brownish on the outside, with 

 yellow anthers and a conspicuously long, yellow pistil. 

 This is common throughout California, growing in open 

 ground on hills and sea-cliffs. L. paruiflorus var. acicularis 

 is similar, but smaller. The flowers are similar, but often 

 have so little white about them that they are yellow in 

 general effect, and are sometimes specked with crimson at 

 the base of the petals. They grow in sandy places in 

 southern California. 



