32 Muhlenbergia, Volume 7 



"By the end of April. the prairies in the Sacramento valley 

 assumed a different aspect; two weeks ago they were a carpet 

 of flowers, which have now disappeared, and a yellow, sickly 

 tinge pervades the whole: snch is the rapidity of vegetation 

 under the cloudless sky of a tropical snn. Bulbous plants now 

 make their appearance; the most common being Triteleia laxa, 

 which not only grows in the open prairie, but also in the shaded 

 and damp lowlands; a pure white variety of it I also found: it 

 is, however, by no means common. Calochortus No. 306, is 

 also very frequent; a whitish variety occurs occasionally along 

 with Brodiaea congesta, B. No, 274, B. No. 326, Liliacea No. 

 250, and Liliacea No. 300. 



"Being now aware of the rapidity of Californian vegetation, 

 I lost no time in collecting such seeds as were worth taking, 

 and returned to my headquarters by the beginning of May. 

 Most kinds had, during the fortnight I first saw them in flower, 

 ripened their seed, and it was with difficulty I found a few grains 

 of the beautiful little Leptosiphon aureus, and similar plants, 

 which, between their taller neighbors, had almost become invis- 

 ible." 



306 Calochortus venustus and C. luteus. 



274 DichElostemma multifeorum (Benth.) Heller. 



326 HooKERA CAEiFORNiCA (Lindl.) Greene 



250 Hesperocordum lacteum Lindl. 



