7 
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 inform. 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 reen foliage, with a beautiful ‘bloom,” 
Yellow Globe ; 
which sets off the clear-yellow blossoms to 
Tulip 
Calochértus perfection. There are from two to twenty 
amabilis flowers on each stem and the petals are 
bapaphctl smooth, except for a neat, stiff fringe of 
Spring : : 
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. 
