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CARL PURDY, UKIAH, CALIFORNIA 
Giant Dog's-tooth Violets, Erythronium Californicum. Rich creamy tint. Imagine the beauty 
of thousands dotted among low ferns and wood plants 
DOG S -TOOTH VIOLETS ( Eryt i_) 
The charm of these most beautiful woodland plants is well pictured in the accom- 
panying halftones. If they had no other beauty than that of their richly mottled leaves, 
they would be well worth a place in the shady corner. Their flowers are indeed very 
fine, and, in the western species, often 3 inches across, with stems at the most 18 inches 
high, although oftener from 3 to 6 inches. The colors run in delicate tints of white, 
pink, cream, bright yellow and even rose. They are hardy in the coldest parts of the 
United States, and while they are at their best in a loose, gritty soil, rich in leaf- 
mold, they also thrive in the greatest variety of clays, grits, and rocky soils. In wood- 
lands, in shaded corners, or in the crevices of rockwork in shade, is the place to natur- 
alize them; they should carpet the ground. Plant in early fall, covering with 2 to 3 inches 
of soil over the bulbs, and from 2 inches apart up. Dog's-tooth Violets can be grown in 
pots or in the coldframe in the way recommended for calochortus. E. Hartwegii is the 
best for pots. All my varieties are described on the next page. 
Customers of mine in different parts of the East, as far removed as Minnesota, 
Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Delaware," have planted these lovely flowers in 
