(Plate LXXI)

Family

Lily.

Colour

Rose.

Odour

Scentless.

Range

In the Sierra Nevadas and California.

Time of Bloom

May.

Flowers: growing in a many-flowered umbel with a row of bracts underneath. Perianth; short funnel-form, contracted at the throat of four or five oblong lanceolate segments. Stamens: three, on the throat, alternating with three sterile filaments that are very short and have a lanceolate wing on each side.

Pistil.

Corolla.

Pistil: one. Leaves: from the root; more than a foot long; broadly linear. Scape: two to four, or even twelve feet long; twining; rough. Corm; an inch in diameter.

What might become of us if this strange plant should ever mingle in floral cultivation a good Providence only knows. It grows rapidly, and has a way of twining itself over bushes, so that when one stoops to pick the handsome blossoms it is sometimes a matter of amusement to try and trace the stem to its root. That is, if one is ambitious and intends planning a novel maze. There is very little hope of following its course, or of knowing just where the flowers will crop out. It is especially well known in the valley of the Sacramento.