CREAM-COLORED WALL-FLOWER.
Erysimum grandiflorum, Nutt. Mustard Family.
Stems.—Six to eighteen inches high. Leaves.—Spatulate or oblanceolate; entire, toothed or lobed; lower long-petioled. Sepals.—Four; one pair strongly gibbous at base. Petals.—An inch long; long-clawed; cream-color or yellowish. Stamens.—Six; two shorter. Ovary.—One-celled; linear. Style stout; short. Stigma capitate. Pod.—Nearly flat; thirty lines or less long. Syn.—Cheiranthus asper, Cham. and Schlecht. Hab.—The seaboard from Los Angeles to Oregon.
Growing along sandy stretches, or upon open mesas by the seashore, we may find the showy blossoms of the cream-colored wall-flower from February to May. These flowers are less stocky and much more delicate than the garden species; and when seen numerously dotting a field carpeted with other flowers, they stand out conspicuously, claiming the attention peculiarly to themselves. They have not the delicious fragrance of the Western wall-flower. At first yellowish, they become pale cream-color after fertilization has taken place.
E. asperum, DC., the Western wall-flower, is widely distributed, and may be known from the above by its four-sided pods, and by its flowers, which are usually orange-color—though they occasionally vary to yellow or purple. These blossoms are especially abundant in the mountains and valleys of the south, where their brilliant orange is conspicuous amid the lush greens of springtime. They are very fragrant, and are favorites among our wild flowers.