Fritillarias. 



6 7 



The stalk of Frit- 

 illaria is stout and 

 erect. The stalk 

 leaves are arranged 

 in circles on the 

 stem, ten or fifteen 

 long leaves in a 

 whorl. At the base 

 there is a single 

 large leaf, sometimes 

 in F. lanceolata as 

 large as the hand. 

 The Fritillarias are 

 usually profuse 

 bloomers; the blos- 

 soms an inch or so 

 across, pendant bells 

 strung on the upper 

 part of the flower 

 stalk, sometimes a 

 few but often a string 

 a foot long, and com- 

 prising a dozen or 

 more blossoms All 

 fritillaria recurva. are of elegant habit, 



one of those perfectly graceful forms which delights 

 the eye in outline, all curves, and symmetry. Several species 

 are more elegant in' habit than rich incolor. Fritillaria 

 lanceolata, F. biflora and F. pluriflora have curiously 

 mottled flowers, in shades of green and brown, very odd 

 but hardly pretty; but, on the other hand, F. recurva, with 

 its scarlet bells, is as beautiful as any lily, The yellow bells of F. 

 pudica are very attractive, and F. liliacea gives variety with its 

 white blossoms. 



All are easily cultivated, preferring a gritty soil with leaf mold 

 and partial shade, but doing well in almost any well drained soil. 

 Well grown specimens will reach three and four feet in height, 

 and I will hardly dare to tax the credulity of the reader with the 

 number of flowers that have been grown on one stalk. 



Carl Purdy. 



SOME NOTES ON ECHINO CACTUS. 



(From Garden and Forest, iii, 238.) 



The genus Echinocactus is represented in SouthernCalifornia by 

 a great diversity of forms which nearly approach each other. The 

 Cactaceae are generally recognized as very difficult to study, not, 

 perhaps because they are characterless, but because of the diffi- 

 culty of making specimens and the usual lack of material for 

 study. Only by very extended and close field observation can 



