132 WILD FLOWERS OF CALIFORNIA 



1794. False Hellebore Veratrum calif ornicum 



High north Coast Ranges. A characteristic plant of the Sierra Nevada. 

 Flowers greenish or cream color. 



1795. . Veratrum fimbriatum 



Mendocino "White Plains" and northward. Similar in habit to the pre- 

 ceding; leaves long and narrow. • 



1796. Squaw-grass Xeroplvyllum tenax 

 Bear-grass 



Mt. Tamalpais. Monterey and northward to Del Monte County. North- 

 ern Sierra Nevada. 



This plant is from 2 to 6 feet high with stout leafy stem springing from a 

 tuft of wiry, grass-like leaves which spread out like a fountain. 



The fibers of the leaves were employed by the Hupas for making garments 

 and for decorative work in baskets. The bulbs furnished a nourishing food often 

 being roasted in a pit for two days. Said to bloom only once in five to seven years. 

 This grass on Mt. Tamalpais was last in bloom in 1914. 



1797. Bog Asphodel Narthecium Calif ornicum 



Mendocino county and northward, northern Sierra Nevadas. Leaves iris- 

 like; flowers yellowish-green. 



1798. Wake Robin; Com- Trillium sessile 



mon Trillium Birth- 

 root 

 Coast Range woods, but not in inner Coast Range. Deep red or lilac, or 



varying to white. In varieties petals white, yellowish or greenish. Sierra 



Nevada, San Luis Obispo. 



1799. Coast Wake Robin; Trillium ovatum 



Common Trillium- 

 Birthroot 

 Woods near the coast, Santa Cruz northward. Petals white, changing to 

 deep rose color. March, April. 



1800. Fetid Adder's Scoliopus Bigelovii 



Tongue 

 Shade of the redwood forest, Marin to Humboldt. January, March. The 

 flowers are suggestive of orchids in appearance, but have a very offensive odor. 



1801. Red Clintonia Clintonia Andrewsiana 



Shady woods near coast. Leaves large, of a rich, polished green. Flowers, 

 a cluster of deep rose-colored nodding bells. 



1802. Green-cup ; White Clintonia uniflora 



Clintonia 

 Sierra Nevada, Merced and Tuolumne groves and near Chinquapin. Flow- 

 ers white, erect. 



1803. Wild Lilv-of-the Mianthemum bifolium 



Valley 

 Sausalito hills in rocks; Eureka northward. Flowers white. Fruit a red 

 berry. The leaves furnish a lotion for inflammation and burns highly es- 

 teemed in rural medicine. 



1804. Star-flowered Smilacina sessilifolia 



Solomon's Seal 

 Shady woods of the Coast Range. Small, cream-white flowers. Grows in 

 a loose cluster on a very slender angled flower stalk. Berries reddish, purple 

 or black. 



1805. False Solomon's Smilacina amplexicaulis 



Seal 

 Shady woods, range of preceding; also in Sierra Nevada, April. Feath- 

 ery appearing flower clusters. Flowers very small, cream-white. 



