LILY FAMILY. Liliaceae. 



Perhaps the most characteristic western flowers are the 

 members of the genus Calochortus. They grow freely all 

 through the West, as far north as British America, and 

 down into Mexico, but they never get east of Nebraska, so 

 these gay and graceful flowers may be considered the pecu- 

 liar property of the West. Calochortus means "beautiful 

 grass" and the leaves are usually grasslike, the stems 

 slender and the flowers bright in color, decorative and in- 

 teresting in form. They have three sepals, often greenish, 

 and three large, colored petals, with a honey-gland, usually 

 covered with hairs, at the base of each. They are allied to 

 true Tulips, so the popular name is suitable, and they fall 

 into three groups: Globe Tulips, with nodding, globular 

 flowers, and nodding capsules; Star Tulips, with erect, star- 

 like flowers and nodding capsules; and Mariposa Tulips, 

 with large, somewhat cup-shaped flowers and erect cap- 

 sules. Mariposa means "butterfly" in Spanish and is 

 appropriate, for the brilliant hairy spots on the petals are 

 wonderfully like the markings of a butterfly's wing and the 

 airy blossoms seem to have but just alighted on the tips of 

 their slender stalks. They usually grow on dry open hill- 

 sides and their leaves have often withered away before the 

 flowers bloom. The various forms run into each other, so 

 that it is impossible to determine all the different species. 

 They have solid bulbs, some of which are edible, considered 

 a delicacy by the Indians and called Noonas. 



A charming plant, with pale bluish- 

 Golden Lily Bell foliage, with a beautiful "bloom," 

 Yellow Globe 5 ^u 1 n ui 

 Tulip which sets off the clear-yellow blossoms to 



Calochortus perfection. There are from two to twenty 



amabilis flowers on each stem and the petals are 



smooth, except for a neat, stiff fringe of 

 California hairs along the margins and the matted 



hairs on the glands, which are often red- 

 dish. These lovely flowers, common in northern California, 

 are peculiarly fresh in color and when growing among the 

 grass in the shade of oak trees they have the springlike 

 charm of Daffodils in English woods. 



