From so many charming species it has been very difficult to select; and if the reader finds some beautiful flower of this genus which is unnamed in these pages, he is advised to consult the technical botanies.
Calochortus, Pursh. Lily Family.
Stem.—Branching; from a membranous-coated, sometimes fibrous-coated corm. Leaves.—Few; linear-lanceolate; the radical one or two much larger than those of the flexuous or erect stem. Flowers.—Few to many; showy; terminal or axillary, or umbellately fascicled. Perianth.—Deciduous; of six more or less concave segments; the three outer lanceolate, greenish, more or less sepal-like; the inner (petals) mostly broadly cuneate-obovate, usually with a conspicuous glandular pit toward the base, which is apt to be hidden by long hairs. Stamens.—Six. Anthers erect; basifixed. Ovary.—Three-celled; three-angled. Stigmas three; sessile; recurved. Capsule.—Three-angled or winged.
The Calochorti are the most widely diffused of all the liliaceous plants of the Pacific Coast, and comprise some of the most beautiful flowers in the world. "On the north they reach British America; one species is to be found as far east as Nebraska; and several are natives of Northern Mexico; and within these limits no considerable section of country is destitute of some species."[1] They are so closely allied to the true tulips that the common designation of them as "tulips" is not at all amiss.
The name Calochortus signifies beautiful grass. The members of the genus fall naturally into three general groups:—
First—The Globe Tulips, which have flexile stems, sub-globose, nodding flowers, and nodding capsules. Of these there are three—C. albus, C. pulchellus, and C. amœnus.
Second—The Star Tulips, having low, flexile stems, erect, starlike flowers, with spreading petals, and nodding capsules. They comprise C. Benthami, C. Maweanus, C. cœruleus, C. apiculatus, C. elegans, C. Tolmei, C. umbellatus, etc.
Third—The Mariposa Tulips, which are usually tall, fine plants, with stiff, erect stems, having erect, cup-shaped or open-campanulate flowers, usually large and handsome, followed by erect capsules.
They have a few narrow, grasslike, radical leaves, which have usually dried away by the time of flowering, which is in early summer, after the ground has become dry and hard. These inhabit our dry, open hillsides and grassy slopes, loving a stony, clayey, sandy, or volcanic soil. They comprise over thirty different known forms, and others are constantly being discovered.
They have a tendency to hybridize, and the various forms sport and vary, and run into one another in such a wonderful manner that the exact determination of all the species is an impossible task to all but a few experts—and even they are not certain about them all yet. We have given only a few of the commonest or best-characterized species.