Hairbell. Lantern of the Fairies
White Globe-Tulip
Calochortus Albus, Dougl. Lily Family
Stem.—One or two feet high; branching. Flowers.—White. Sepals.—Lanceolate. Petals.—Twelve to fifteen lines long; pearly white, sometimes lavender-tinged outside; covered within with long, silky white hairs. Gland.—Shallow crescent-shaped, with four transverse scales fringed with short glandular hairs. (See Calochortus.) Hab.—Coast Ranges and Sierras, San Diego to Tehama County.
Just before the oncoming of summer, our wooded hill-slopes and cañon-sides entertain one of the most charming of flowers; for the graceful stalks of the hairbell begin to hang out their delicate, white satin globes. Never was flower more exquisite in texture and fringing—never one more graceful in habit. If fairies have need of lanterns at all, these blossoms would certainly make very dainty globes to hold their miniature lights.
Wherever they grow, these flowers win instant and enthusiastic admiration; and they have received a variety of common names in different localities, being known as “snowy lily-bell,” “satin-bell,” “hairbell,” “lantern of the fairies,” and “white globe-tulip.”