SAGEBRUSH MARIPOSA 



Calochortus macrocarpus Douglas 



The genus Calochortus, comprising the mariposas, which are often 

 called mariposa lilies or butterfly tulips, the globe-tulips, and several 

 kinds of pussy-ears, contains about fifty species. Nearly all of them 

 are so beautiful that they command the admiration of all who see 

 them. Our experience with the sagebrush mariposa was a revelation 

 of nature's methods. Our camp had been pitched on a dry bench fifty 

 feet above the Kootenay River near Canal Flats, British Columbia, 

 where the sparse vegetation indicated a lack of moisture. One night 

 a heavy storm of wind and rain came up. A few days later the miracle 

 was manifest, for all around the tent the buds of the sagebrush mari- 

 posa were almost ready to unfold, and. soon the plants were in perfect 

 bloom. There are myriads of them in some parts of the Columbia 

 River Valley, where the little prairies are colored purple with their 

 flowers. 



This mariposa is found in sagebrush plains from Montana to Ore- 

 gon and northward to British Columbia. 



The specimen figured was sketched at the camp mentioned above, 

 near Canal Flats, British Columbia, Canada, at an altitude of 3,500 feet. 



PLATE I75 



