[Sidenote: =Wild Sweet William=
_Phlóx longifòlia_
=Pink
Spring, summer, autumn
West, etc.=]
Very attractive common flowers, with many stems, three to eight inches
high, from a woody base. The leaves are smooth or somewhat downy,
stiffish, pale gray-green and rather harsh, and the flowers are over
three-quarters of an inch across, clear pink, of various shades from
deep-pink to white, with an angled calyx. Only two yellow stamens show
in the throat and the style is long and slender. This grows on hills
and in valleys, as far east as Colorado, and its pretty flowers are
very gay and charming, particularly when growing in large clumps in
fields or beside the road. _P. Stánsburyi_, common on the plateau in
the Grand Canyon, blooming in May, is similar, but has sticky hairs on
the calyx.
There are many kinds of Gilia, variable and not easily distinguished;
the leaves nearly always alternate and thus differing from Linanthus;
the corolla funnel-form, tubular, or bell-shaped, but, unlike Phlox,
rarely salver-form and the seeds are usually mucilaginous when wet.
These plants were named for Gil, a Spanish botanist.
[Sidenote: =Scarlet Gilia, Skyrocket=
_Gília aggregàta_
=Red
Spring, summer, autumn
Southwest, Utah, etc.=]
A brilliant biennial or perennial plant, varying in general form and
color. In Utah it is somewhat coarse and usually has a single, leafy,
roughish, rather sticky stem, from one to two feet tall, purplish
towards the top, and thickish, somewhat sticky leaves, deeply lobed
and cut, in a cluster at the root and alternate along the stem, dull
bluish-green in color, smooth on the under side, with more or less
sparse woolly down on the upper side, as if partially rubbed off. The
flowers have no pedicels, or very short ones, and form small clusters
in the angles of the leaves along the upper part of the stem, but are
mainly at the top, in a large, handsome, somewhat flat-topped, loose
cluster. They are each more than half an inch across, with a corolla of
clear scarlet, the lobes shading at base to white, finely streaked
with crimson and prettily fringed at the tips. The stamens are equally
or unequally inserted in the corolla throat, the buds are prettily
twisted and fringed at the tips and usually have a dark purplish
calyx. Sometimes the flowers are all scattered along the stalk, making
a wand of bloom. This grows on mountain sides and sometimes has a
very disagreeable smell, hence the local name of Polecat Plant. In
Yosemite it is much more delicate in character, with several, smooth
or downy, reddish, leafy stems, from one to four feet high, from a
branched base, bearing very graceful clusters of flowers, the petals
of various shades of scarlet, pink, and crimson, often streaked with
white, or yellowish dotted with red, their long points curled back.
Often the buds are scarlet and the flowers pink, giving a very vivid
effect. The protruding stamens are inserted in the notches between the
lobes of the corolla, with red or pink filaments and yellow or purple
anthers. This has the look of a hothouse flower and is very beautiful
and striking when growing in masses in high mountain woods. This has
several common names which are very misleading, such as Wild Cypress
and Wild Honeysuckle. There are several named varieties. It grows in
the Southwest and also from British Columbia to New Mexico.
[Illustration: Scarlet Gilia--G. aggregata.]
[Illustration: P. longifolia.