Part 11

Abundant throughout the Rockies in damp sandy or gravelly ground, on the flood-plains and banks of rivers and streams and on the gravelly shores of lakes and ponds; flowering in June.

Plant with a cluster of grass-like leaves, 3—8 inches long and about ¼ of an inch broad, yellowish-green, from an oblique and chaffy rootstock. Flowers few, less than ¼ of an inch long, pale yellow, 6-parted, on very short pedicels; stamens 6, slightly exserted, with purple anthers; the whole in a compact head about ½ an inch long, on a stem 8—10 inches high, with sticky hairs near the top.

Stenanthium.

b Clintonia uniflora Kunth. Clintonia. (⅔ Nat.)]

Frequent throughout the region at an altitude of 4000 to 5000 feet, in wet open situations with shallow soil; flowering in June.

Similar to the preceding but readily distinguished by its taller stem and more open head of flowers, with longer sepals and pedicels, which are twice as long in each case.

In the Selkirks only, but frequent there in the bogs around Roger’s Pass.

LILIACEÆ

Lily Family

Plants with bulbs or corms but never rootstocks; leaves either at the base or in whorls or pairs on the stem; the flowers brightly coloured, frequently large, borne singly or in clusters at the summit of the frequently naked stem, the six parts though usually distinct, sometimes more or less united into a tube; stamens 6; stigma 3-lobed.

Bracts of the inflorescence thin and translucent. =Allium.= Bracts of the inflorescence leaf-like or none. Bulbs scaly. =Lilium.= Bulbs corm-like. =Erythronium.=

Plant 12—15 inches high with an oblique base from an oblong-ovoid bulb. Leaves narrow and grass-like, 6—8 inches long, thick and half rounded on the back, the old ones persistent and forming a mat at the surface of the ground. Flowers numerous, on slender pedicels, in a nodding terminal head; sepals and petals ¼ of an inch long, elliptic-ovate and obtuse, rosy pink with a darker mid-vein; stamens and styles exserted, anthers pale yellow.

Frequent throughout the Rockies on dry grassy or stony slopes and slides; flowering in June.

Star-Flowered Solomon’s Seal.]

Stem 1—2 feet high from a narrowly ovoid bulb, with a single, elongated, round, hollow, basal leaf and 1 or 2 similar leaves on the stem. Flowers numerous in a compact round head; the sepals and petals about ½ an inch long, slender, with a tapering tip, bright rose-purple with a darker mid-vein; stamens much shorter than the perianth segments.

Not infrequent in moist open places throughout the Rockies; flowering in July.

Stem 12—18 inches high, rather stout, from a depressed globose bulb an inch in diameter. Leaves alternate except the uppermost which are in a whorl of 5—7, dark green above, paler beneath, minutely roughened on the edges, lanceolate, tapering but slightly toward the sessile base. Flowers erect usually one, but sometimes several, on a stem; sepals and petals 2½ inches long, somewhat spreading, elliptic-oblong, tapering gradually toward both ends, the base contracted into a claw, which is less than ⅓ the length of the blade; blade reddish-orange on the inner face, paler near the base, which is dotted with numerous purplish-black spots; outer face less brilliant, largely suffused with green; stamens and stigma purplish.

Frequent throughout the Rockies on the edges of woods and in the lower river valleys; very abundant in early July in the valley of the Lower Kicking Horse and Columbia rivers from Golden to Donald.

A foot or more high from a deep-rooted, slender, membranous-coated corm. Leaves 2 or occasionally 3, opposite or in a whorl, broadly lanceolate, obtuse, 6—8 inches long, 2—3 inches wide, unequal, dull and glaucous green. Flowers 1—6, nodding, bright yellow, sepals and petals lanceolate 2 inches long, tapering to a slender, strongly reflexed tip; stamens exserted, anthers yellow or purplish-brown.

This beautiful lily is frequent on the slides and mountain slopes throughout the region at an elevation of 5000 feet or higher, appearing immediately after the snows have melted, and lasting but a short time. It may be found flowering according to the elevation and condition of the snow, from May throughout the summer. The plant has derived its common name no doubt from its habit of blooming so close to the melting snows. Where the plant occurs it is usually found in great numbers during the brief flowering period.

CONVALLARIACEÆ

Lily-of-the-Valley Family

Resembling the lilies, sometimes with naked but usually leafy stems, and simple or branched, frequently creeping rootstocks, flowers usually small and variously disposed on the stem, either scattered in the axils of the leaves or in terminal clusters, or occasionally solitary on a naked stem; either 4- or 6-parted, regular, perfect; stamens 6.

Plant producing but one flower. =Clintonia.= Plant producing several flowers. Flowers in a raceme or panicle. =Vagnera.= Flowers in an umbel or solitary. Flowers terminal on the branches. =Disporum.= Flowers axillary. Perianth narrowly campanulate. =Streptopus.= Perianth rotate. =Kruhsea.=

More or less hairy throughout, with 1 to 3 or 4 dark green leaves, 4—8 inches long and 1—2 inches wide, oblong-lanceolate with an abrupt tip, and tapering at the base to sheathing petioles, from a creeping underground stem 2—3 inches long. Flower-stem shorter than the leaves with one or rarely two blossoms which are pure white, very open, 6-parted; sepals and petals ¾—1 inch long, oblanceolate, obtuse; stamens 6, shorter than the petals, anthers yellow.

In rich, moist woods throughout the region.

Glaucous throughout, 8—20 inches high, smooth or with a few short hairs, leafy from a stout fleshy root; leaves alternate, 2—5 inches long, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, with a clasping base, smooth and bright green above, glaucous and minutely hairy beneath. Flowers white, several forming a rather open terminal head. 1—2 inches long; petals and sepals narrow, ¼ to ⅜ of an inch long; stamens 6, about half their length, anthers nearly white.

Common throughout the region in moist words and thickets; flowering through June and July.