124 



LILIACEiE. 



the filaments a little longer; capsule broadly ovate, acute, almost 3 

 lines long, loculicidally 3-valved. 



Monterey, acc. to Bot. Cal.; Mt. Tamalpais, where it seems to 

 bloom only onee in seven years; Howell Mountain, Napa Co., where 

 it is said to fruit only once in five years; northward to Mendocino 

 Co., Bolander; Sierras from Placer Co., northward. Sonoma Co. 

 plants show an irregular perianth; the (apparently) upper perianth 

 segment is keeled, the two adjoining ones auricled or strongly oblique 

 on the upper side at base; leaves somewhat revolute-concave as if 

 channeled. 



16. NARTHECIUM Mceh. Bog Asphodel. 



Leaves narrowly linear and equitant, mostly radical, borne on a 

 creeping rootstock. Stems rather scape-like with few radical leaves, 

 bearing a terminal raceme of yellowish-green flowers. Pedicels with 

 a bractlet at the middle. Perianth with 6 distinct segments. Stamens 

 6, the filaments densely woolly, except at the very base. Style one, 

 attenuate upward to the stigma which is scarcely or very slightly 

 lobed. Capsule loculicidal, with thin-chartaceous walls. Seeds 

 numerous with a long bristle-like point at each end. (Narthex, Greek 

 name of Ferula, the stems of which were used as rods; applied here 

 on account of the scapose or rod-like flower stems.) 



1. N. Californicum Baker. Leaves iris-like, 4 to 8 in. long, \\ to 

 2 lines wide; cauline leaves 2 or 3, 1 to \\ in. long; stems 18 or 20 in. 

 hi^h; raceme loose, 3J to 4| in. long; pedicels 3 to 4 lines long; 

 perianth segments oblong-linear, acute, 3 or 4 lines long, the inner 

 with scarious margins; ripe capsules salmon-color; seeds, including 

 the points or tails, 5 lines long. 



Sherwood Valley (Mendocino Co.) and northward, and in the 

 northern Sierras. 



17. SCOLIOPUS Torr. 



Acaulescent, the very short subterranean stem bearing a pair of 

 broad leaves and an umbel of greenish-purple flowers, the peduncle of 

 which is almost obsolete, the sharply angular pedicels (which look 

 like scapes) alone appearing above ground. Root a cluster of coarse 

 fibers. Sepals ovate-lanceolate, purple-veined, somewhat carinate 

 toward the base, the upper | abruptly spreading or recurved. Petals 

 linear-subulate. Stamens 3, opposite the sepals, short, with greenish 

 extrorse anthers. Style short, its three long branches abruptly spread- 

 ing horizontally, or the tip recurving. Capsule with a membranous 

 wall which bursts irregularly. (Greek skolios, crooked, and pous, 

 foot, in allusion to the tortuous pedicels.) 



1. S. Bigelovii Torr. Leaves elliptic to oblong, commonly 

 mottled with dark splotches, 4 to 8 in. long, sheathing at base; flowers 

 with a fetid odor and having something the appearance of orchids; 

 pedicels 4 to 9 in. long, 3-angled, slightly winged, erect in fruit, 

 tortuous recurving or procumbent, the maturing capsule more or less 

 hidden by leaves or forest litter; sepals 7 to 9 lines long with 10 or 12 

 black or purple veins; petals as long as the sepals, hardly 1 line wide, 



