2$2 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



slopes in brush and woodland, and are 

 seen at their best in land well drained 

 and rich in mould, and especially in the 

 crevices ofrocky places. E.grandijiorum 

 also comes from woodlands, but at high 

 altitudes, and does not take kindly to 

 cultivation in low ground; while E.mon- 

 tanum comes from sub-alpine regions, 

 growing in grassy clumps on open slopes 

 and in light soils, and is very apt to do 

 nothing at lower levels. E.purpurascens 

 has tastes like E. montanum but grows 

 in warmer latitudes. In a garden, where 

 their whims can be humoured, all but£. 

 purpurascens&re of about the same size, 

 but from data gathered for each form 

 from its own favoured region I feel sure 

 thatthereis no real differencein the size 

 of the flowers or height of the scape. At 

 its best E. purpurascens is but a small 

 flowered plant. 



In their number of flowers 



Number . ... 



and Form of there is much variation. Es. 



Flower. ■ /• n 



giganteum, gran a ijioriim, 

 revolutum, and their varieties, are as a 

 rule one flowered, the exception being 

 two, and the limit three. With Es. 

 Howe I Hi) citrinum^nd Hartwegii^ five 

 flowers are not uncommon,while£.///r- 

 purascens has mostly from five to eight. 

 E. californicum is often seen in masses 

 with few plants with over three flowers, 

 but in favourable places may have from 

 five to eight, while in its glory ten to six- 

 teen large flowers are not uncommon. 

 All the Western species (with the excep- 

 tion of E. Howe Hit) have four ear-like 

 gibbosities at the base of the inner petals, 

 and these I will term "auricles." They 

 are most prominent in the revolution 

 group and in E.giganteum. In one sec- 



tion of the genus the style is short and 

 club-shaped, while in another it is deep- 

 ly divided and the stigmas recurving in 

 the full flower; these differences should 

 be noted, for by them three species can 

 be readily identified. E.Hartwegii alone 

 bears its flowers in a sessile umbel, while 

 in other species the flowers (if more than 

 one) are in a raceme. 



The divisions of the perianth are 

 similar and of the same colour, and (for 

 brevity and to use a term more familiar 

 to most readers) I am calling both inner 

 and outer divisions u petals"in the same 

 way that I have used the'word c 4 bulb" 

 instead of the strictly proper term 

 "corm. 



The fine chromo- lithographs of 

 Western Erythroniums would lead one 

 to suppose that in several of the species 

 the flowers are in the form of a broadly 

 spreading bell, and in cloudy or foggy 

 weather this is true, but with the excep- 

 tion of E.purpurascens all of the West- 

 ern species are revolute after the first day 

 or so if they get sunlight, and not only 

 revolute but recurving closely to the 

 stem. 



It does not seem to me likely that 

 any new species of Western Erythro- 

 niums will be discovered, for the forms 

 are not local and the ground has been 

 well covered; good colour forms, how- 

 ever may yet be found. 



( i .) heaves never mottled ; inner petals au- 

 ricled ; flowers not in umbels ; style divided, and 

 the divisions recurving in fully-developed flowers. 



E. grandiflorum. — Leaves obovate-lan- 

 ceolate, acuminate below to a narrow petiole, 

 light green and entirely without mottling ; stem 

 seldom more than one flowered, but possibly 

 three ; petals bright yellow, lighter at the cen- 

 tre. Readily known by its bright yellow flowers 



