PHLOX FAMILY 



the object. Soon, however, the tendril body begins to contract and 

 ultimately assumes the corkscrew-like form so commonly seen; 

 this contraction drags the stem nearer to the point of attachment. 

 A second use, and perhaps the most important, of this contracted 

 tendril is that it acts as a spiral spring and becomes a yielding 

 instead of an unyielding body; and thus enables a plant to weather 

 a gale which might otherwise tear it from its support. After the 

 tendril has taken hold of a support, spiral coils can be made in it 

 only by the middle part turning, and this will cause the coils to be 

 turned one-half in one direction and one-half in the other. 



TRICOLORED GILIA 



Cilia tricolor. 



Cilia, in honor of Philip Gil, a Spanish botanist. 



A native of western California, found in gardens and sparingly es- 

 caped. Annual. Midsummer. 



Stem. — Slender, branching, about a foot high. 



Leaves. — Alternate, scattered, two or three times pinnately dissected 

 into short linear divisions. 



Flowers. — Lilac-purple, panicled at the end of the branches. 



Calyx. — Tubular, five-lobed; lobes imbricated in the bud. 



Corolla. — Short, funnel-form, with yellow tube, lilac-purple or whitish 

 lobes, deep violet-purple throat; lobes convolute in bud. 



Stamens. — Five, inserted on tube of corolla. 



Ovary. — Three-celled; style slender; stigma three-cleft. 



The Gilias are Western flowers; seventy-five species are recorded 

 and these are especially abundant in the Rocky Mountain region; 

 indeed they are with you at every turn as you climb the mountain 

 paths. The flowers are often showy and beautiful, and some of 

 them resemble phloxes. 



Gilia tricolor is especially abundant in western California. 

 The corollas are a delicate lilac, blending into white toward the 

 centre. Mrs. Parsons reports that the children are so won by the 

 fresh and wJJJSOme blossoms that they call them bird's-eyes. 



368 



