Lupinus bicolor, Lindl. Pea Family.
Stems.—Stoutish; six to ten inches high; silky. Leaves.—Alternate; with small stipules. Leaflets.—Five to seven; linear-spatulate; one inch long. Flowers.—Four or five lines long; blue and white; the white changing to red-purple after fertilization. Upper calyx-lip bifid; lower twice as long; entire. Keel.—Falcate; acute; ciliate toward the apex. Pod.—Small; about five-seeded. (See Lupinus.) Hab.—Western Central California.
In late spring the open fields about San Francisco take on a delicate, amethystine tinge, due to the blossoms of the blue-and-white lupine. After fertilization has taken place, the white in these blossoms turns to deep red, and this admixture gives the general lilac tone to the mass.
DOUGLAS IRIS.
Iris Douglasiana, Herb. Iris Family.
Rhizomes.—Stoutish; clumps not dense. Radical-leaves.—Strongly ribbed underneath; dark, shining green above; one to three feet long; three to eight lines broad; flexile; rosy pink at base. Stems.—Simple; two- or three-flowered. Flowers.—On pedicels six to eighteen lines long; deep reddish-purple, lilac, or cream. Perianth-tube.—Six to twelve lines long. Capsule.—Narrowly oblong; acutely triangular; twenty lines long. Seeds nearly globular. (Otherwise as I. macrosiphon.) Hab.—The Coast, from Santa Cruz to Marin County.
On account of the bright and varied hues of its flowers, the genus Iris was named for the rainbow-winged messenger of the gods. In France it is known as "fleur-de-lis," a name whose origin has caused endless discussion and has been accounted for in many ways. There are many species, all of them beautiful. Orris-root is the product of the lovely white Florentine Iris.
[BLUE-AND-WHITE LUPINE—Lupinus bicolor.]
![[BLUE-AND-WHITE LUPINE—Lupinus bicolor.]](#3624944100741987669_f115.png.id-7157137803972573508.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
In California we have several comparatively well-known species, and a number of others which are without names as yet; but the Douglas Iris is probably our most beautiful. It thrives well upon open mesas or upon well-drained hill-slope in the shelter of the chaparral. But it is found at its best in the rich soil of moist woodlands, whose seclusion seems the most fitting abode for so aristocratic a flower. There, surrounded by the delicate greenery of fern-fronds and a hundred other tender, springing things, it seems to hold a sylvan court, receiving homage from all the other denizens of the wood. There is a certain marked and personal individuality about these flowers which makes encountering them seem like meeting certain distinguished personages.