WILD I'LOWKRS OF COLORADO. II 



looked at them. Choosing a fine hunch that seemed further 

 advanced than the others I soon made a sketch of it. I say soon. 

 To an artist interested in the work time is nothing, and it is 

 usually hours instead of minutes that have passed. When I had 

 finished this sketch I found the sun cast its rays directly upon 

 me, and I knew there was no time to lose if I expected to reach 

 home in time for dinner. 



The next of what I consider exclusively Colorado plants is 

 the yucca. It comes much later in the spring, and if the season 

 is late it is often June before it makes its appearance. I have 

 given only the top of the stalk and the buds and the tips of the 

 leaves. This plant grows from one to four feet high, and blos- 

 soms all the way down the stalk, or, I should say, all the way up 

 from the root. The full blown blossoms are v.hite, with slight 

 streaks of a delicate pink and green. They are as large as 

 a tulip and much like the tulip in shape ; but instead of looking 

 up, they look down. They are very beautiful, and blossom until 

 the last of August. The leaves are sword-shaped, very sharp 

 and stiff, and grow from twelve to eighteen inches long. They 

 all start directly from the center, the stalk standing perfectly 

 straight. The common name is soap-plant, the root being used 

 by the Indians instead of soap. 



Speaking of yucca reminds me of an Indian girl I knew in 

 the early days of Colorado, before the Indian^- had gone to their 

 reservation. A squaw often came to my rooms to beg. She had 

 learned a few English words, and could say with apparent pride, 



