CATALINA MARIPOSA TULIP.
Calochortus Catalinæ, Wats. Lily Family.
Stems.—Two feet high; loosely branching; bulbiferous. Leaves and bracts linear-lanceolate. Flowers.—Erect; eighteen lines or so long. Sepals.—Green without; scarious-margined; whitish within; with purple spot at base; one inch long; acute. Petals.—White; with garnet base; bearing a round gland covered with hairs. Filaments garnet. Capsule.—Narrowly oblong; three-sided; obtuse; an inch or two long. Seeds flat; horizontal. (See Calochortus.) Hab.—From San Luis Obispo County to San Bernardino; and the islands off the Coast.
This is one of the earliest Mariposas to bloom in the south. Its beautiful, stately white cups have a garnet base within, and this, with its oblong, obtuse capsule and horizontal seeds, clearly identifies it. These blossoms are favorite resting-places for the bees, who are often beguiled in them from their labors and lulled to a gentle slumber. We have frequently startled the little truants from these siestas, and with amusement watched them struggling for a moment before regaining consciousness and whizzing away once more upon their round of duties.
This may be designated our maritime Calochortus, as it is found mostly near the Coast or upon its islands.
C. splendens, Dougl., found in the Coast Ranges from Lake County to San Diego, is sometimes confused with the above. It is a beautiful flower, whose petals are a clear rose-lilac without spots or marks, with long, whitish, cobwebby hairs on their middle third. Its anthers are purple or lilac, three to six lines long.
DOG-VIOLET.
Viola canina, var. adunca, Gray. Violet Family.
Stems.—Leafy; several from the rootstocks. Leaves.—Ovate; often somewhat cordate at base; acute or obtuse; six to eighteen lines long; obscurely crenate. Stipules foliaceous; narrowly lanceolate; lacerately toothed. Flowers.—Violet or purple; rather large. Lateral petals bearded. Spur as long as the sepals; rather slender; obtuse; hooked or curved. (Otherwise as V. pedunculata.) Hab.—The Coast Ranges, from San Francisco to Washington.
... "violets Which yet join not scent to hue Crown the pale year weak and new."