LILY FAMILY. Liliaceae. 



. .. This is a strange, rather grotesque-look- 



B?odiafa voltibiiis. in g P lant with its slightly roughish, leafless, 

 (Stropholirion reddish stem contorted into curious curves, 

 Californicum) occasionally quite short but usually enor- 

 mously long, sometimes as much as eight 

 Summer J 6 '. . . 



California feet, and twining awkwardly in a snake- 



like way around and over the bushes in its 

 neighborhood. There are sometimes a few long narrow 

 leaves lying on the ground, but when the flower blooms 

 they usually seem to have withered away. The flower- 

 cluster is quite compact, sometimes six inches across, com- 

 prising from eighteen to twenty flowers, with several, large, 

 pink, papery bracts. The flowers are rather pretty, dull 

 pink outside but paler inside, the buds are deeper and more 

 purplish pink, both of dry papery texture. The flowers are 

 over half an inch across, their tubes and buds are six -angled, 

 and they have three stamens with anthers and wings, al- 

 ternating with three, notched, petal-like stamens, without 

 anthers. In the spring the stem grows rapidly for several 

 weeks and then the flower cluster begins to come out at the 

 tip. If the stem is broken off the flower comes out just the 

 same and the stem keeps on growing, even if it is brought 

 into the house. These curious plants are found in the foot- 

 hills of the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada Mountains 

 and may be seen in open sunny places along the stage route 

 from Yosemite to Wawona. In the woods near Wawona 

 I saw it twining around a very tall white larkspur and the 

 combination was exceedingly pretty. The capsule is egg- 

 shaped and pointed, the seeds black and angled. 



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