The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1892-10-15
FLOWERS OF THE WEST.
THEY ARE NOTED FOR THEIR BRIL-.
LiAkcY or coLoRINo.

"ss no neen - BE Appreciates.
Though Different from Flowers In the
East They Have Many Points In Common
II the flowers Of the Rocky mountain
region are noted for one thing more than
another 1t IL for briiliancy Of coloring.
It Ii always positive red or yellow or
pink. with very little Of the delicate
half tints and gradations seen in the
dora OF the Atlantic slope. Then, too,
ths flowers OF the west bloom in such
lavish profasion. The plains and slopes
blaze with immense patches of color for
miles and miles. Perhaps some OF the
blossoms are not w sweet scented as are
many of our eastern favorites, but what
these western flowers lack In sweetness
they make up in brilliancy.
1t 10 not always easy To trace out the
genus OF any particular plant. for the
reason that this elevated region has not
yet been thoroughly explored by the
botanist. and we have no one book to
which We can point a. authority like
Gray's Manual for the eastern states
and Chapman's for the southern. But
1t Is generally possible to determine the
alliances and place each plant in its
proper family.
SIMILAR POPULAR PLANTa,
Thus We recognize ths beautiful white
and purple iris. even though it il not like
any iris with which We ars already nc
quaiuted. And We know the large.
handsome. white bloomed evening prim-
ross from its resemblance to our familiar
eastern yellow species. and feel safe In
calling this western one an enothera.
What the people ca the plains Of w yo,n-
ing call bluebell is described in Gray ~
''lungwort.' II is dainty little blue
lowered member Of the boraginaces or
forgetme-not tribe. its botanical name
is pulinonaria or mertensia- This IL ex-
ee-aingiy fragrant. II is found In some
places NJ far east as Virginia.
But west of the Wasatch range two
other flowers ars called. in popular Ian
guage. tho bluebell. although neither is
true campanula any more than the
lungwort Is. One Of these 50 called blue
bells il ycri,able hyacinth. only the
blo~soins arc arranged in AN umbel. like
geFanium. The other biuebell is prob.
ably = SALIVA or sagc-at least IL is real
labiate plant. II is tall and handsome,
and in general aspect resembles our
great blue lobelia."
The i~gummAs:e. or pea family. is well
r~presen,ed. counted eight distinct
spcs,,es belonging TO this order. All are
called. indiif-rn,iy. wild sweet pea. 4"
although from the shape Of the leaves Of
seven one might conclude that these
were nosv nearly allied 10 the glycine
or wistar1a- The yellow fowered species,
from lis smooth. pale green foliage, may
tre true iAthyrus The others comprise
one white. two blue. TWO pink and two
crimson. Soane 81 these grow bat u few
inchcs above the surface Of the plain,
while the taller ones cling to the rocks
and bushes On the mountain side.
The coinpostiss, or compound Powered
plants. are also well represented. A
curious little daisy or chamotnile has
five broad white petals. A pretty pale
hlae asier OF crfgcrn recalls our own
su,unnal fora. A tall. handsome vel.
low Powered plant is very similar 10 our
own hAwkwecd There is but one spe-
ciss Of pixic. or pyxidanthcra. men.
toned ia Gray. This Is pink lowered
and belongs 10 the Jersey pine barrens. y
But here Oh the plains may I've found q
white pixie. This belongs 10 the pole.
monaaca or phlox family. This order
10 well represented In the west The
wasa,ch mountain range is rich In q
delicate pink si~scics Of phlox. The peo.
pie here cali If wild swee, William. jus,
m the Iseoplc Of Nebraska do the purple
species. although the real sweet William
is a diAnthus OF pink
SOME HRioHT ONES
A deep crimson Powered umbelliferous
plant is undoubtedly a member Of the
liliacer. or lilly family. The plan. is
low. tho blossoms are small but the
clusters arc dense. Some call il wild
onion" perhaps IL is an album. An
other plan, is said to he lily--it may
he. although IL looks more like n tiger
flower OF trill,um. II is as large a. q
tulip and has three broad, rounded petals
and three narrow. hlaielike ones The
color il white. painted a, the base o.
each petal with curious spot Of red and
yellow. The stems and leaves arc sim
pie, straight and whitish-
Then we may notice several low plan,s
bearing dense. rounded clusters OF tin,
white blossoms timed with pinl Som,
have a sweet scent too strong. however
10 he agreeable. These suggest the vim
cctoxicum and amianthcmum. with sim
liar l,liaceous plan,s of the New Jerse,
barren, We also notice two aistinc,
species Of pink purple wild reraniums
morn abundant erhans. In, not omit,
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