Dodecatheon Meadia, L. Primrose Family.

Leaves.—All radical; tufted; from obovate to lanceolate. Scape.—Three to fifteen inches high; umbel two- to twenty-flowered. Calyx.—Deeply five-cleft, the divisions reflexed in flower, erect in fruit. Corolla.—With extremely short tube, and an abruptly reflexed five-parted limb; white, rose-color, or purple. Stamens.—Five; opposite the corolla-lobes. Filaments short; united. Anthers standing erect around the long style, forming a beak; violet. Ovary.—One-celled. Hab.—Throughout the continent; exceedingly variable.

The shooting-star is one of our prettiest spring flowers, which arrives a little before the baby-eyes and just as the brakes are unrolling their green crosiers. There is something particularly pleasing in these blossoms. It seems as though Nature had taxed her ingenuity to produce something original when she fashioned them. The name Dodecatheon, from the Greek, is entirely a fanciful one, and means "the twelve gods."

Formerly D. Meadia, L., was considered the only species, embracing many widely varying forms; but of late botanists have made several of the forms into separate species.

D. Hendersoni (Gray), Ktz., is the species prevalent in our central and northern Coast Ranges. This has ovoid or obovoid, very obtuse, entire leaves, with broad petiole, equaling the blade, two inches long. Its flower-stem is from eight to twelve inches high, bearing a cluster of bright rose-purple flowers. The corolla has a short, dark-maroon tube, encircled by a band of yellow, sometimes merging into white. A variety of this with very slender stems and the flower parts in fours is common in the Bay region, and southward possibly to Santa Barbara. This is called var. cruciata. Its blossoms have a strong odor, suggestive of a tannery. In this species the capsule opens at the top, splitting into a number of little teeth, which soon turn downward.

[SHOOTING-STARS—Dodecatheon Hendersoni var. cruciata.]

D. Clevelandi, Greene, is a beautiful species found in the south. It sends up a tall shaft, crowned with a large cluster of beautiful blossoms, varying from a delicate lilac to pure white. The petals are ringed below with pale yellow, and the beak of the flower is a rich prune-purple. There is a certain generous, fine look about these flowers, although they are exquisitely delicate. Their charm is completed by a delicious perfume, like that of the cultivated cyclamen.

Among the children the various forms are known by a number of names, such as "mad violets," "prairie-pointers," "mosquito-bills," and "roosters'-heads." The latter is said to be the designation of prosaic little boys who see in these blossoms gaming possibilities, and who love to hook them together and pull to see which head will come off first.

PRICKLY PHLOX.