[BROWN LILY—Fritillaria lanceolata.]

When the plant is about to flower, the bulb sends up a tall stalk, with here and there a whorl of shining leaves, hanging at the summit its string of pendent bronze-bells. These are mottled and checkered, and are of varying shades, from dull green to black-purple, and often have a beautiful bloom upon them. Their modest colors blend so nicely into the shadowy scene about, that it is difficult to see them unless the eye is somewhat practiced.

Following the inflorescence comes a beautiful and unique seed-vessel, curiously winged and angled, and of a delicate, papery texture when mature. It contains the thin, flat seeds, neatly packed in six ranks.

The flowers are usually an inch long, though they are sometimes two inches long. A plant was once found three and a half feet high, with a chime of nineteen bells.

BLACK LILY. CHOCOLATE-LILY.

Fritillaria biflora, Lindl. Lily Family.

Hab.—The Coast Ranges, from San Diego to Mendocino County.

We have a number of species of Fritillaria, most of them with beautiful flowers. They fall naturally into two groups, according to the character of the bulb; F. lanceolata and F. biflora being types of the two groups.

F. biflora, the black, or chocolate, lily, is the species common in the south, and blooms early. It closely resembles F. lanceolata, but can always be distinguished by its bulb, which is composed of several erect, short, easily separable scales. Its specific name is an unfortunate one; for, far from being confined to two flowers, it often has as many as ten.

F. pluriflora, Torr., found upon the upper Sacramento, has flowers of a uniform reddish-purple, without mottling or spots. It has a comparatively large bulb, an inch or so long, formed of separate scales.