BRODIÆA. CLUSTER-LILY. WILD HYACINTH.
Brodiæa capitata, Benth. Lily Family.
Corm.—Small; scaly-coated. Leaves.—Linear; a foot or more long; passing away early. Scapes.—Four inches to over two feet high. Flowers.—Deep violet to white; six to ten lines long. Bracts.—Sometimes deep, rich purple. Perianth.—With oblong tube and campanulate, six-parted limb. Stamens.—Six; on the corolla; the inner with an appendage on each side; the outer naked. Ovary.—Three-celled. Style stout. Stigma three-lobed. Hab.—Throughout California.
This beautiful Brodiæa grows all over the hills in early spring, and steals into cultivated fields, where it luxuriates in the freshly stirred soil and lifts its fine violet-colored clusters above the waving grain. It holds quite as warm a place in our affections as the more gorgeous poppy. These blossoms will keep a long time after being gathered, and are used every year in lavish profusion in the decorations of the flower carnivals.
The little bulbs, eaten raw, are quite palatable, and are eagerly sought by the children, who call them "grass-nuts." The early Spanish-Californians also appreciated them, and knew them as "saitas." They have a number of other common names, such as "Spanish-lily," "cluster-lily," "wild hyacinth," and "hog-onion"; but I must protest against the injustice of this latter, and beg all flower-lovers to discountenance it.
![[BRODIÆA—Brodiæa capitata.]](#3624944100741987669_f098.png.id-1715696862636171479.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
Closely resembling the above, is B. multiflora, Benth. It has, however, but three stamens, the other three being represented by staminodia, which are entire and of the same length as the stamens.
B. congesta, Smith, another similar species, is often four feet tall. It also has three stamens and three staminodia; but the latter are deeply cleft and exceed the anthers. This is called "ookow" by the Indians.