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diff --git a/38886.txt b/38886.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cd7fa6d --- /dev/null +++ b/38886.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15269 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wild Flowers of California: Their +Names, Haunts, and Habits, by Mary Elizabeth Parsons + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits + +Author: Mary Elizabeth Parsons + +Illustrator: Margaret Warriner Buck + +Release Date: February 15, 2012 [EBook #38886] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WILD FLOWERS OF CALIFORNIA *** + + + + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Mark Young and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + + + + + + + + THE WILD FLOWERS + OF CALIFORNIA + + + + + THE WILD FLOWERS + OF CALIFORNIA + + _THEIR NAMES, HAUNTS, AND HABITS_ + + BY + MARY ELIZABETH PARSONS + + ILLUSTRATED BY + MARGARET WARRINER BUCK + + _THIRD THOUSAND_ + + [Illustration] + + WILLIAM DOXEY + AT THE SIGN OF THE LARK + SAN FRANCISCO + 1897 + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1897 + WILLIAM DOXEY + + THE DOXEY PRESS + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + PAGE + + PREFACE vii + + TABLE OF PLATES xiii + + HOW TO USE THE BOOK xix + + EXPLANATION OF TERMS xxii + + IMPORTANT PLANT FAMILIES AND GENERA xxxi + + INTRODUCTORY xlii + + PRELUDE xlvii + + FLOWER DESCRIPTIONS:-- + + I. WHITE 3 + + II. YELLOW 109 + + III. PINK 193 + + IV. BLUE AND PURPLE 255 + + V. RED 335 + + VI. MISCELLANEOUS 369 + + INDEX TO LATIN NAMES 393 + + INDEX TO ENGLISH NAMES 399 + + INDEX OF TECHNICAL TERMS 405 + + GLOSSARY 406 + + + + + "Were I, O God, in churchless lands remaining, + Far from all voice of teachers or divines, + My soul would find in flowers of thy ordaining + Priests, sermons, shrines!" + + + + +PREFACE + + +To the thoughtless a flower is often a trivial thing--beautiful perhaps, +and worthy of a passing glance--but that is all. But to the mind open to +the great truths of the universe, it takes on a deeper significance. Such a +mind sees in its often humble beginnings the genesis of things far-reaching +and mighty. Two thousand years ago one grain of the shower of pollen wafted +upon the wind and falling upon a minute undeveloped cone, quickened a seed +there into life, and this dropping into the soil pushed up a tiny thread of +green, which, after the quiet process of the ages, you now behold in the +giant Sequoia which tosses its branches aloft, swept by the four winds of +heaven. + +Whether manifesting itself in the inconspicuous flower upon the tree or in +the equally unassuming inflorescence of the vegetable, or unfurling petals +of satin or gauze of brilliant hue and marvelous beauty, the blossom is the +origin of most that is useful or beautiful in the organic world about us. +Strip the world of its blossoms, and the higher forms of life must come to +a speedy termination. Thus we see the flower playing a wonderfully +important part in the cosmos around us. It becomes henceforth not only a +thing of beauty for the gratification of the aesthetic sense, but the +instrument by which Nature brings about the fullness of her perfection in +her own good season. + + * * * * * + +There is perhaps no nature-study that can yield the same amount of pure and +unalloyed pleasure with so little outlay as the study of the wild flowers. +When one is interested in them, every walk into the fields is transformed +from an aimless ramble into a joyous, eager quest, and every journey upon +stage or railroad becomes a rare opportunity for making new +plant-acquaintances--a season of exhilarating excitement. + +Mr. Burroughs, that devout lover of nature, says: "Most young people find +botany a dull study. So it is, as taught from the text-books in the +schools; but study it yourself in the fields and woods, and you will find +it a source of perennial delight. Find your flower, and then name it by the +aid of the botany. There is so much in a name. To find out what a thing is +called is a great help. It is the beginning of knowledge; it is the first +step. When we see a new person who interests us, we wish to know his or her +name. A bird, a flower, a place--the first thing we wish to know about it +is its name. Its name helps us to classify it; it gives us a handle to +grasp it by; it sheds a ray of light where all before was darkness. As soon +as we know the name of a thing, we seem to have established some sort of +relation with it." + +Having learned the name of a flower or plant, or having been formally +introduced to it, as it were, our acquaintance has but just begun. Instead +of being our end and aim, as it was with students of botany in the olden +times, this is but the beginning. If this were our ultimate aim, all our +pleasure would be at an end as soon as we had learned the names of all the +plants within our reach. But the point of view has changed and broadened. +The plant is now recognized as a _living organism_, not a dead, unchanging +thing. It is _vital_; it grows; it is amenable to the great laws of the +universe; and we see it daily complying with those laws, adapting itself to +its surroundings--or perishing. It becomes a thing of absorbing interest +when we trace the steps by which it has come to be what it is; when we note +its relationship to other closely allied forms, and locate its place in the +great world of plants. + +A thoughtful observation of the structure of plants alone will fill the +mind with amazement at the beauty of their minutest parts, the exquisite +perfection of every organ. Then it is most interesting to notice the +various kinds of places where the same plants grow; how they flourish in +different soils and climates; how they parry the difficulties of new and +unaccustomed surroundings, by some change of structure or habit to meet the +altered conditions--as clothing themselves with wool, to prevent the undue +escape of moisture, or twisting their leaves to a vertical position for the +same purpose, or sending their roots deep into the earth to seek perennial +sources of moisture, which enables them to flourish in our driest times. It +is wonderful to note, too, the methods employed to secure the distribution +of the seed--how it is sometimes imbedded in a delicious edible fruit, +again furnished with hooks or bristles or springs, or provided with silken +sails to waft it away upon the wings of the wind. Then the insects that +visit plants. It is marvelous to note how plants spread their attractions +in bright colors and perfumes and offerings of honey to bees, butterflies, +and moths that can carry their pollen abroad, and how they even place +hindrances in the way of such as are undesirable. + +Studied in this way, botany is no longer the dry science it used to be, but +becomes a most fascinating pursuit; and we know of no richer field in which +to carry on the study of flowers than that afforded in California. + + * * * * * + +There has been a long-felt need of a popular work upon the wild flowers of +California. Though celebrated throughout the world for their wealth and +beauty, and though many of them have found their way across the waters and +endeared themselves to plant lovers in many a foreign garden, the story of +their home life has never yet been told. + +It has been the delightful task of the author and the illustrator of the +present work to seek them out in their native haunts--on seashore and mesa, +in deep, cool canyon, on dry and open hill-slope, on mountain-top, in +glacier meadow, by stream and lake, in marsh and woodland, and to listen to +the ofttimes marvelous tales they have had to unfold. If they shall have +succeeded in making better known these children of Mother Nature to her +lovers and appreciators, and in arousing an interest in them among those +who have hitherto found the technical difficulties of scientific botany +insurmountable, they will feel amply rewarded for their labors. + +The present work does not claim by any means to be a complete flora of the +region treated. Our State is so new, and many parts of it have as yet been +so imperfectly explored, that a comprehensive and exhaustive flora of it +must be the work of a future time, and will doubtless be undertaken by some +one when all the data have been procured. Such an attempt, however, were it +possible, is without the scope of the present work. + +California, with her wonderfully varied climate and topography, has a flora +correspondingly rich and varied, probably not surpassed by any region of +like area in the Northern Hemisphere. Thus the author finds herself +confronted with an embarrassment of riches rather than with any lack of +material; and it has often been exceedingly difficult to exclude some +beautiful flower that seemed to have strong claims to representation. She +therefore craves beforehand the indulgence of the reader, should he find +some favorite missing. + +In making a choice, she has been guided by the following general +principles, and selected, _first_--the flowers most general in their +distribution; _second_--those remarkable for their beauty of form or color, +their interesting structure, history, or economic uses; _third_--those +which are characteristically Californian. At the same time, those which are +too insignificant in appearance to attract attention and those too +difficult of determination by the non-botanist have been omitted. Flowering +plants only have been included. + +Many of our species extend northward into Oregon and Washington. Thus, +while this work is called "THE WILD FLOWERS OF CALIFORNIA," it will in a +certain measure apply equally well to Oregon and Washington. + +It has been the aim of the author to picture for the most part the flowers +peculiarly Californian, leaving Mrs. Dana's charming book, "How to Know the +Wild Flowers," to illustrate those we possess in common with the Atlantic +Slope, thus making the works the complements one of the other. + +Mrs. Dana has kindly permitted the author to use her plan of +arrangement--_i.e._ of grouping all the white flowers in one section, the +yellow in another, the pink in a third, and so on, which, in the absence of +a key, greatly facilitates the finding of any given flower. The flowers of +each section have been arranged as nearly as possible according to their +natural succession in the seasons, with one or two exceptions. + +Such confusion is rife in the nomenclature of Californian plants, and the +same plant is so often furnished with several names,--and several plants +sometimes with the same name,--that the authority is in every instance +quoted, in order to make it perfectly clear what plant is meant by the name +given. Wherever allusion is made to the Spanish-Californians, the +Spanish-_speaking_ Californians are meant, very few of whom are Castilians +at the present day, most of whom are of an admixture of races. + +The flower-cuts are all from pen-and-ink drawings by the illustrator; and +all but four are from her own original studies from nature. These four, +which it was impossible for her to procure, have been adapted by her from +other drawings, by the aid of herbarium specimens. They include _Aphyllon +fasciculatum_, _Fremontia Californica_, _Hosackia gracilis_, and _Brodiaea +volubilis_. It has been impossible upon so small a page to maintain a +uniform relative size in the drawings, for which reason the +plant-descriptions in fine print should be consulted for the size. + +The author and the illustrator desire to make grateful acknowledgments to +many kind friends throughout the State who have rendered them assistance in +numerous ways. Their gratitude is due in particular to Miss Alice Eastwood, +of the California Academy of Sciences, who, by her unfailing kindness and +encouragement, as well as by her personal assistance, has rendered them +invaluable aid. Also, to Mr. Carl Purdy, of Ukiah, who from his wide +experience, as a grower of our native liliaceous plants, has a knowledge of +them shared by few or none, and who has generously placed at their disposal +the results of his observations. They also tender their thanks to the +Southern Pacific and the North Pacific Railways, who, by their generous +granting of reduced rates and passes, have made possible a wider personal +acquaintance with the flowers than could have otherwise been enjoyed. + + San Rafael, Cal., October 15, 1897. + + + + +TABLE OF PLATES + + + PAGE + + ACONITE _Aconitum Columbianum_ 329 + ALFALFA _Medicago sativa_ 327 + ALFILERILLA _Erodium cicutarium_ 195 + ALPINE HEATHER _Bryanthus Breweri_ 247 + ALPINE PHLOX _Phlox Douglasii_ 249 + ALUM-ROOT _Heuchera micrantha_ 59 + AMERICAN BARRENWORT _Vancouveria parviflora_ 89 + ANEMONE, WOOD _Anemone quinquefolia_ 19 + AUGUST-FLOWER _Grindelia cuneifolia_ 177 + AZULEA _Sisyrinchium bellum_ 285 + AZURE BEARD-TONGUE _Pentstemon azureus_ 309 + + BABY-BLUE-EYES _Nemophila insignis_ 291 + BEACH-ASTER _Erigeron glaucus_ 305 + BEAUTIFUL CLARKIA _Clarkia concinna_ 237 + BEE-PLANT, CALIFORNIAN _Scrophularia Californica_ 343 + BELLFLOWER _Campanula prenanthoides_ 323 + BIG-ROOT _Echinocystis fabacea_ 27 + BLAZING-STAR _Mentzelia Lindleyi_ 169 + BLEEDING-HEART _Dicentra formosa_ 243 + BLUE-BLOSSOM _Ceanothus thyrsiflorus_ 275 + BLUE-EYED GRASS _Sisyrinchium bellum_ 285 + BLUE GENTIAN _Gentiana calycosa_ 331 + BLUE GILIA _Gilia Chamissonis_ 297 + BLUE LARKSPUR _Delphinium_ 277 + BLUE-AND-WHITE LUPINE _Lupinus bicolor_ 301 + BLUE MILLA _Brodiaea laxa_ 303 + BLUE MYRTLE _Ceanothus thyrsiflorus_ 275 + BLUEWEED _Aconitum Columbianum_ 329 + BRODIAEA _Brodiaea capitata_ 263 + BRONZE-BELLS } + BROWN LILY } _Fritillaria lanceolata_ 265 + + CALF'S-HEAD _Darlingtonia Californica_ 391 + CALIFORNIA FUCHSIA _Zauschneria Californica_ 367 + CALIFORNIA LILAC _Ceanothus thyrsiflorus_ 275 + CALIFORNIA POPPY _Eschscholtzia Californica_ 115 + CALIFORNIAN AZALEA _Rhododendron occidentale_ 87 + CALIFORNIAN CENTAURY _Erythraea venusta_ 219 + CALIFORNIAN ROSE-BAY _Rhododendron Californicum_ 235 + CALIFORNIAN SLIPPERY-ELM _Fremontia Californica_ 159 + CALYPSO _Calypso borealis_ 211 + CANAIGRE _Rumex hymenosepalus_ 379 + CANCER-ROOT _Aphyllon fasciculatum_ 173 + CANCHALAGUA _Erythraea venusta_ 219 + CAT'S-EARS _Calochortus Maweanus_ 279 + CHAMISE LILY _Erythronium giganteum_ 137 + CHAPARRAL LILY _Lilium rubescens_ 73 + CHAPARRAL PEA _Pickeringia montana_ 231 + CHIA _Salvia Columbariae_ 299 + CHILICOTHE _Echinocystis fabacea_ 27 + CHRISTMAS-HORNS _Delphinium nudicaule_ 347 + CLIMBING PENTSTEMON _Pentstemon cordifolius_ 351 + CLOCKS _Erodium cicutarium_ 195 + CLUSTER-LILY _Brodiaea capitata_ 263 + COLLINSIA _Collinsia bicolor_ 295 + COLUMBINE _Aquilegia truncata_ 349 + COMMON ASTER _Aster Chamissonis_ 333 + COMMON MONKEY-FLOWER _Mimulus luteus_ 135 + CORAL-ROOT _Corallorhiza Bigelovii_ 273 + CREAM-COLORED WALL-FLOWER _Erysimum grandiflorum_ 133 + CREAM-CUPS _Platystemon Californicus_ 113 + CURRANT, CALIFORNIAN WILD _Ribes glutinosum_ 215 + + DEERWEED _Hosackia glabra_ 153 + DIOGENES' LANTERN _Calochortus pulchellus_ 145 + DOG'S-TOOTH VIOLET _Erythronium giganteum_ 137 + DUTCHMAN'S PIPE _Aristolochia Californica_ 375 + + FALSE LADY'S SLIPPER _Epipactis gigantea_ 389 + FALSE MALLOW _Malvastrum Thurberi_ 221 + FALSE TIDY-TIPS _Leptosyne Douglasii_ 149 + FAREWELL TO SPRING _Godetia viminea_ 241 + FAWN-LILY _Erythronium giganteum_ 137 + FETID ADDER'S-TONGUE _Scoliopus Bigelovii_ 257 + FIRECRACKER FLOWER _Brodiaea coccinea_ 239 + + FIREWEED _Epilobium spicatum_ 245 + FOUR-O'CLOCK, CALIFORNIAN _Mirabilis Californica_ 209 + FRINGED GILIA _Gilia dianthoides_ 217 + + GODETIA _Godetia viminea_ 241 + GOLDEN LILY-BELL _Calochortus pulchellus_ 145 + GOLDEN STARS _Bloomeria aurea_ 155 + GOOSEBERRY, FUCHSIA-FLOWERED _Ribes speciosum_ 339 + GREAT WILLOW-HERB _Epilobium spicatum_ 245 + GROUND-IRIS _Iris macrosiphon_ 281 + GROUND-PINK _Gilia dianthoides_ 217 + GUM-PLANT _Grindelia cuneifolia_ 177 + + HAIRBELL _Calochortus albus_ 55 + HAREBELL, CALIFORNIAN _Campanula prenanthoides_ 323 + HARVEST BRODIAEA _Brodiaea grandiflora_ 319 + HEN-AND-CHICKENS _Cotyledon Californicum_ 143 + HOUND'S-TONGUE _Cynoglossum grande_ 259 + HUCKLEBERRY _Vaccinium ovatum_ 201 + HUMMING-BIRD'S TRUMPET _Zauschneria Californica_ 367 + + INDIAN LETTUCE _Montia perfoliata_ 17 + INDIAN PAINT-BRUSH _Castilleia parviflora_ 345 + INDIAN PINK _Silene Californica_ 355 + INDIAN WARRIOR _Pedicularis densiflora_ 337 + ITHURIEL'S SPEAR _Brodiaea laxa_ 303 + + LADIES' TRESSES _Spiranthes Romanzoffianum_ 93 + LANTERN OF THE FAIRIES _Calochortus albus_ 55 + LARGE-FLOWERED BRODIAEA _Brodiaea grandiflora_ 319 + LESSINGIA _Lessingia leptoclada_ 253 + LITTLE ALPINE LILY _Lilium parvum_ 181 + LOCO-WEED _Astragalus leucopsis_ 41 + LUCERN _Medicago sativa_ 327 + + MANZANITA _Arctostaphylos manzanita_ 13 + MARIPOSA TULIP _Calochortus venustus_ 79 + MATILIJA POPPY _Romneya Coulteri_ 65 + MEADOW-FOAM _Floerkia Douglasii_ 127 + MILKWEED, COMMON _Asclepias Mexicana_ 313 + MILKWEED, HORNLESS WOOLLY _Gomphocarpus tomentosus_ 381 + MILK-WHITE REIN-ORCHIS _Habenaria leucostachys_ 95 + MILKWORT, CALIFORNIAN _Polygala Californica_ 287 + MINER'S LETTUCE _Montia perfoliata_ 17 + + MIST-MAIDENS _Romanzoffia Sitchensis_ 23 + MONK'S-HOOD _Aconitum Columbianum_ 329 + MOTTLED SWAMP-ORCHIS _Epipactis gigantea_ 389 + MOUNTAIN BALM _Eriodictyon glutinosum_ 57 + MOUNTAIN LADY'S SLIPPER _Cypripedium montanum_ 383 + + PENNYROYAL _Monardella villosa_ 325 + PENTACHAETA _PentachAEta aurea_ 125 + PEPPER-ROOT _Dentaria Californica_ 5 + PIN-CLOVER _Erodium cicutarium_ 195 + PINE-DROPS _Pterospora andromedea_ 187 + PINK PAINT-BRUSH _Orthocarpus purpurascens_ 229 + PIPE-VINE _Aristolochia Californica_ 375 + PIPSISSIWA _Chimaphila Menziesii_ 105 + PITCHER-PLANT, CALIFORNIAN _Darlingtonia Californica_ 391 + PITCHER-SAGE _Sphacele calycina_ 43 + POISON-OAK _Rhus diversiloba_ 9 + POLEO _Monardella villosa_ 325 + POP-CORN FLOWER 31 + PRICKLY PHLOX _Gilia Californica_ 207 + PRINCE'S PINE _Chimaphila Menziesii_ 105 + PUSSY'S-EARS _Calochortus Maweanus_ 279 + PUSSY'S-PAWS _Spraguea umbellata_ 71 + + QUININE-BUSH _Garrya elliptica_ 371 + + RATTLESNAKE PLANTAIN _Goodyera Menziesii_ 99 + RATTLE-WEED _Astragalus leucopsis_ 41 + RED-STEMMED FILAREE _Erodium cicutarium_ 195 + REDWOOD-SORREL _Oxalis Oregana_ 197 + REIN-ORCHIS _Habenaria elegans_ 385 + RESIN-WEED _Grindelia cuneifolia_ 177 + RICE-ROOT _Fritillaria lanceolata_ 265 + ROMERO _Trichostema lanatum_ 317 + RUBY LILY _Lilium rubescens_ 73 + + SAXIFRAGE, CALIFORNIAN _Saxifraga Californica_ 15 + SCARLET BUGLER _Pentstemon centranthifolius_ 359 + SCARLET GILIA _gilia Aggregata_ 361 + SCARLET HONEYSUCKLE _Pentstemon cordifolius_ 351 + SCARLET LARKSPUR, NORTHERN _Delphinium nudicaule_ 347 + SCARLET PAINT-BRUSH _Castilleia parviflora_ 345 + SHOOTING-STARS _Dodecatheon Meadia_ 205 + SIERRA PRIMROSE _Primula Suffrutescens_ 251 + + SILK-TASSEL TREE _Garrya elliptica_ 371 + SKULLCAP _Scutellaria tuberosa_ 271 + SNAPDRAGON, VIOLET _Antirrhinum vagans_ 321 + SNOW-PLANT _Sarcodes sanguinea_ 363 + SOAP-PLANT _Chlorogalum pomeridianum_ 83 + SPRING-BLOSSOM _Dentaria Californica_ 5 + STICKY MONKEY-FLOWER _Mimulus glutinosus_ 139 + ST. JOHN'S-WORT _Hypericum concinnum_ 163 + SULPHUR-FLOWER _Eriogonum umbellatum_ 179 + SUN-CUPS _OEnothera ovata_ 111 + SUNSHINE _Baeria gracilis_ 125 + SWEET-SCENTED SHRUB, CALIF'N. _Calycanthus occidentalis_ 353 + + TARWEED _Hemizonia luzulaefolia_ 189 + TARWEED _Madia elegans_ 183 + TIDY-TIPS _Layia platyglossa_ 149 + TOOTHWORT _Dentaria Californica_ 5 + TOROSA _Eschscholtzia Californica_ 115 + TREE-MALLOW _Lavatera assurgentiflora_ 227 + TREE-POPPY _Dendromecon rigidum_ 119 + TRILLIUM, CALIFORNIAN _Trillium sessile_ 261 + TWIN-BERRY _Lonicera involucrata_ 123 + TWINING HYACINTH _Brodiaea volubilis_ 233 + + VILLELA _Sisyrinchium bellum_ 285 + VIOLET NIGHTSHADE _Solanum Xanti_ 269 + + WAKE-ROBIN _Trillium ovatum_ 11 + WHIPPLEA _Whipplea modesta_ 33 + WHISPERING BELLS _Emmenanthe penduliflora_ 131 + WHITE EVENING PRIMROSE _OEnothera Californica_ 49 + WHITE FORGET-ME-NOT 31 + WHITE OWL'S CLOVER _Orthocarpus versicolor_ 53 + WHITE-VEINED SHINLEAF _Pyrola picta_ 101 + WILD BROOM _Hosackia glabra_ 153 + WILD BUCKWHEAT _Eriogonum fasciculatum_ 35 + WILD CANTERBURY-BELL _Phacelia Whitlavia_ 289 + WILD COREOPSIS _Madia elegans_ 183 + WILD CUCUMBER _Echinocystis fabacea_ 27 + WILD CURRANT, CALIFORNIAN _Ribes glutinosum_ 215 + WILD CYCLAMEN _Dodecatheon Meadia_ 205 + WILD GINGER _Asarum caudatum_ 311 + WILD HELIOTROPE _Phacelia tanacetifolia_ 283 + + WILD HOLLYHOCK _Sidalcea malvaeflora_ 199 + WILD HYACINTH _Brodiaea capitata_ 263 + WILD PEONY _Paeonia Brownii_ 341 + WILD PIE-PLANT _Rumex hymenosepalus_ 379 + WILD PORTULACA _Calandrinia caulescens_ 213 + WIND-FLOWER _Anemone quinquefolia_ 19 + WOOD-BALM _Sphacele calycina_ 43 + WOOLLY BLUE-CURLS _Trichostema lanatum_ 317 + + YELLOW DAISY _Layia platyglossa_ 149 + YELLOW GLOBE-TULIP _Calochortus pulchellus_ 145 + YELLOW PANSY _Viola pedunculata_ 121 + YELLOW SAND-VERBENA _Abronia latifolia_ 147 + YERBA BUENA _Micromeria Douglasii_ 63 + YERBA MANSA _Anemopsis Californica_ 77 + YERBA SANTA _Eriodictyon glutinosum_ 57 + + ZYGADENE _Zygadenus Fremonti_ 7 + + ---- _Baccharis Douglasii_ 107 + ---- _Gilia androsacea_ 223 + ---- _Hosackia gracilis_ 167 + + + + +HOW TO USE THE BOOK + + +When gathering flowers with a view to ascertaining their names with the +help of the botany, the whole plant--root, stem, leaves, flowers, buds, and +fruit--should be secured, if possible. This will avoid much uncertainty in +the work. + +The anthers are best seen in the unopened buds, and the ovary in old +flowers or those gone to seed. A cross-section of the ovary will show the +number of its cells. + +The flowers should be sorted into colors, and each in turn looked for in +its own color-section. In arranging the flowers according to color, some +difficulty has been experienced, because the pink blends so gradually into +the purple, and the purple into white, etc., that it has been impossible +sometimes to say accurately to which section a flower rightly belongs. In +such a case search must be made in the other probable section. Sometimes +the same flower occurs in several colors, in which case it is usually put +into the section in whose color it most frequently occurs. In the Red +Section have been included flowers of a scarlet hue, not those of crimson +or magenta hues, as these have a tendency to merge into pink or purple. +Flowers of a greenish-white are usually put into the White Section, those +of more decided green into the Miscellaneous. + +It is an excellent plan for the student to write a careful description of +his plant before beginning to look for it in the book; commencing with the +root, passing on to stem, leaves, inflorescence, calyx, corolla, etc., +taking the order of the technical descriptions in the book. This will serve +to do away with that vacillating condition of mind which is often the +result of reading a number of plant-descriptions before fixing firmly in +mind the characters of the specimen under consideration. + +A magnifying-glass--or a small dissecting microscope and a good Zeiss lens, +if more careful work is to be done,--a couple of dissecting needles, a +pocket-knife, and a small three or four-inch measure, having one of the +inches divided into lines, will be required for examining specimens. + +It is also a good plan to make a note of the date and place of collection +of all plants, as it is often of great interest to know these facts at some +future time. + +Plants are grouped into great orders, or families, which are made up of a +number of genera, each genus consisting of a number of species. Every plant +has two Latin names; the first a generic name, answering to the last name +of a person; the second a specific name, answering to a person's given +name. The latter is usually descriptive of some quality or character of the +plant, the name of the place where found, or of its discoverer, or of some +person in whose honor it is named. This dual name serves to clearly +distinguish the species from all others, especially when the name of the +person by whom the specific name was bestowed is added. + +Each plant-family bears an English title, which is usually the name of its +best-known genus. Thus the order _Leguminosae_ is known as the "Pea Family" +because _Lathyrus_, or the pea, is its best-known genus. In many instances +the English names borne by orders in the Eastern States have no +significance with us, as the type genus is not found in our flora. In such +cases we have given the name of the genus best known among us, to which we +have added the other; thus, "Baby-eyes or Waterleaf Family." + +Most of our plants have common English names, and the same plant is often +known by one name in one locality and by another in another. Hence, while +these names are often pretty and apt, they cannot serve for the accurate +identification of the plant. For this we must consult its Latin name, by +which it is known all over the world. + +Wherever the terms used are not understood, reference should be made to the +"Explanation of Terms" or to the Glossary. + +For identification of species not found in the present work, other books +should be consulted. The two large volumes of the botany of the Geological +Survey of California are the most complete of anything thus far published. +In addition to these, "The Synoptical Flora of North America," as far as +published (the _Gamopetalae_, the _Compositae_, and some orders of the +_Polypetalae_), furnishes valuable aid. Professor E.L. Greene's works, "The +Botany of the Bay Region," "Pittonia," and "Flora Franciscana," furnish +excellent plant-descriptions for the more advanced botanist. The author's +technical descriptions have in every instance been verified by comparison +with one or more of the above works. + +Miss Eastwood's little volume, recently published as Part Second of +"Bergen's Elements of Botany," (and also issued in separate form), is +recommended for use in connection with the present work, as it embodies in +compact form a general view of the method of classification of plants, +showing their places in the plant-world and their relations to one another. +It also contains very clear descriptions of plant-families. To the student +who becomes interested in knowing more about the structure of plants, +Gray's "Structural Botany" will prove useful; and the large work of Oliver +and Kerner (translated from the German) will prove a fascinating book. + + + + +EXPLANATION OF TERMS + + [The following simple definitions of the more common terms used + have been mostly taken or adapted from the works of Asa Gray + and others, and will prove useful to those unacquainted with + botany, or to those whose memories require refreshing.] + + +ROOTS + +The =root= is that portion of the plant which grows downward, fixing it to +the soil, and absorbing nourishment from the latter. True roots produce +nothing but root-branches or rootlets. + +Simple or unbranched roots are named according to their shapes-- + + _conical_, when like the carrot; + + _napiform_, when like the turnip; + + _fusiform_, when like the long radish. + +Multiple, or branched, roots may be-- + + _fascicled_, or bunched, as in the dahlia; + + _tubercular_, when furnished with small tubers; + + _fibrous_, when threadlike. + + +STEMS + +The =stem= is the ascending axis of the plant, which usually bears the +leaves, flowers, and fruit. The points on the stem to which the leaves are +fastened are called the =nodes=; and the portions of stem between the nodes +are called the =internodes=. The angle formed by the upper side of the leaf +and the stem is called the =axil=. + +Stems aboveground are classed as-- + + _erect_, when growing upright; + + _procumbent_, when lying on the ground without rooting; + + _decumbent_, when lying on the ground with the tip ascending; + + _diffuse_, when loosely spreading; + + _creeping_, when growing on the ground and rooting. + +Stems underground are classed as =rhizomes= (or =rootstocks=) =tubers=, +=corms=, and =bulbs=, the forms passing into one another by gradations. + + A =rhizome=, or =rootstock=, is a horizontal underground stem. It + is sometimes thick, fleshy, or woody, as in the iris; + + a =tuber= is a short, much thickened rootstock, having eyes or + buds of which the potato is an example; + + a =corm= is a depressed and rounded, solid rootstock; it may be + called a solid bulb; the garden cyclamen is an example; + + a =bulb= is a leaf-bud, commonly underground, with fleshy scales + or coats; the lily is an example. + +LEAVES + +=Leaves= are the green expansions borne by the stem, out-spread in the +air and light, in which assimilation is carried on. They may be said to +be the stomachs of the plant. A typical leaf consists of three +parts--the =blade=, the =foot-stalk= (or =petiole=), and a pair of +=stipules=. Yet any one of these parts may be absent. + + The =blade= is the expanded portion of the leaf and the part to + which the word _leaf_, in its commonest sense, is applied; + + the =stipules= are small, usually leaflike bodies borne at the + base of the petiole, usually one on either side; + + the =petiole= is the stalk of the leaf. + +=Leaves= are =simple=, when having but one blade; =compound=, when +having more than one, when each blade is called a =leaflet=. + +Compound leaves are said to be-- + + _pinnate_, when the leaflets are arranged along the sides of a + petiole, or rather of its prolongation, the rachis; + + _abruptly pinnate_, with an even number of leaflets; + + _odd-pinnate_, with an odd leaflet at the end; + + _palmate_, or _digitate_, when the leaflets all diverge from + the summit of the petiole, like the fingers of a hand. + +VENATION + +The venation, or veining, of leaves relates to the mode in which the woody +tissue, in the form of ribs, veins, etc., is distributed in the cellular +tissue. + +There are two principle modes-- + + the _parallel-veined_, of which the iris is an example; + + the _reticulated-veined_, or _netted-veined_, of which the Elm + is an example. + +Small veins are called =veinlets=. + + +FORM + +As to general form, or outline, leaves are:-- + +Those broadest in the middle-- + + _peltate_, or shield-shaped, when rounded, with the stem + attached to the center, or near it--as in the garden + nasturtium; + + _orbicular_, when circular in outline, or nearly so; + + _oval_, when having a flowing outline, with the breadth + considerably more than half the length, and both ends alike; + + _elliptical_, when having a flowing outline, twice or thrice as + long as broad, and both ends alike; + + _oblong_, when nearly twice or thrice as long as broad; + + _linear_, when narrow, several times longer than wide, and of + about the same width throughout; + + _acerose_, when needle-shaped--like the Pine. + +Those broadest at the base-- + + _deltoid_, when having the triangular shape of the Greek letter + _delta_; + + _ovate_, when having an outline like the section of a + hen's-egg, the broader end downward; + + _lanceolate_, or lance-shaped, when several times longer than + broad, and tapering upward, or both upward and downward; + + _subulate_, when shaped like an awl; + + _cordate_, when ovate, with a heart-shaped base; + + _reniform_, when like the last, only rounder and broader than + long; + + _auriculate_, when having a pair of small blunt projections, or + ears, at the base; + + _sagittate_, or arrow-shaped, when those ears are acute and + turned downward, the body of the leaf tapering upward; + + _hastate_, or halberd-shaped, when the ears or lobes point + outward. + +Those broadest at the apex-- + + _obovate_, when inversely ovate; + + _oblanceolate_, when inversely lanceolate; + + _spatulate_, when rounded above, and long and narrow below, + like a druggist's spatula; + + _cuneate_, or wedge-shaped, when broad above, tapering by + straight lines to an acute base; + + _obcordate_, when inversely cordate. + +Sometimes no one of the above terms will describe a leaf, and it becomes +necessary to combine two of them; as, _linear-spatulate_, +_ovate-lanceolate_, etc. + + +THE APEX + +Leaves are classified according to their apices; as-- + + _emarginate_, when having a decided terminal notch; + + _truncate_, when abruptly cut off; + + _obtuse_, when ending in a blunt or roundish extremity; + + _acute_, when ending in an acute angle, without special + tapering; + + _acuminate_, when tapering into a narrow, more or less + prolonged end; + + _mucronate_, when abruptly tipped with a small, short point. + + +THE MARGIN + +Leaves are classified according to their margins; as-- + + _entire_, when the margin is completely filled out to an even + line; + + _repand_, or _undulate_, when the margin is a wavy line; + + _dentate_, or _toothed_, when the teeth point outward; + + _crenate_, or _scalloped_, when dentate, with the teeth + rounded; + + _serrate_, when having small sharp teeth directed forward; + + _incised_, when cut by sharp and irregular incisions more or + less deeply; + + _lobed_, when cut not more than half-way to the midrib, and the + divisions or their angles are rounded; + + _cleft_, when cut half-way down or more, and the lobes or + sinuses are narrow or acute; + + _parted_, when the cutting reaches almost but not quite to the + midrib; + + _divided_, when the blade is cut into distinct parts, thus + making the leaf compound. + +All these terms may be modified by the words _pinnate_ or _palmate_; +thus--_pinnately parted_, _pinnately divided_, _palmately parted_, +_palmately divided_, etc.; also by the adjectives _once_, _twice_, +_thrice_, etc. + + +TEXTURE + +Leaves vary as to texture, and may be-- + + _coriaceous_, or leathery; + + _succulent_, or juicy; + + _scarious_, or dry and thin; + + _fleshy_, or thick; + + _herbaceous_, or thin. + + +ARRANGEMENT + +According to their arrangement on the stem, leaves are-- + + _alternate_, when distributed singly at different heights on + the stem; + + _opposite_, when two stand opposite each other at the nodes; + + _whorled_, when more than two are borne at a node, equidistant + in a circle around the stem. + + +INFLORESCENCE + +=Inflorescence= is a term commonly applied to the mode of flowering--_i.e._ +to the arrangement of blossoms on the stem and their relative positions to +one another. + + A =peduncle= is the stem of a solitary flower, or the main stem + of a flower-cluster; + + a =scape= is a peduncle growing from the ground; + + a =pedicel= is the stem of each flower in a cluster; + + a =bract= is a small floral leaf; + + an =involucre= is a collection of bracts around a flower-cluster + or around a single flower. + +Flowers may be solitary or clustered. + +Solitary flowers or flower-clusters are-- + + _terminal_, when borne at the summit of the stem; + + _axillary_, when borne in the axils of the leaves. + +A flower-cluster is called-- + + a =raceme=, when the flowers are arranged along the axis upon + pedicels nearly equal in length; + + a =corymb=, when the flowers are arranged as in the raceme, with + the lower pedicels elongated, making the cluster flat-topped; + + an =umbel=, when the pedicels arise from the same point, like the + rays of an umbrella, and the cluster is flat-topped; + + a =panicle=, when compound, irregularly made up of a number of + racemes; + + a =spike=, when like a raceme, the flowers being without + pedicels; + + a =spadix=, when it is a fleshy spike, generally enveloped by a + large bract, called a =spathe=, as in the calla-lily; + + an =ament=, or =catkin=, when it is a pendent spike, with scaly + bracts, like the Willow; + + a =head=, when it is a shortened spike, with a globular form; + + a =cyme=, when it is branched and flat-topped, usually compound, + with the older flowers in the center of each simple cluster. + + +THE INDIVIDUAL FLOWER + +A =complete flower= consists of =stamens= and =pistils= (the organs of +reproduction), and =calyx= and =corolla= (the floral envelops which +protect the stamens and pistils). But any one of these organs may be +absent. + + The =calyx= is the outer floral envelop, which is more often + green, though it is sometimes colored. It may consist of a + number of separate parts, called =sepals=, or these may be more + or less united. + + The =corolla= is the inner floral envelop. It is usually colored, + and forms the most beautiful feature of the flower, and plays + an important part in attracting insects to it, which may carry + on the work of fertilization. It may consist of a number of + separate parts, called =petals=, or these may be more or less + united, in which case the corolla is said to be _gamopetalous_. + When the calyx and corolla are much alike, and seem like one + floral circle, this is referred to as a =perianth=. + + The =stamens= and =pistils= are called the =essential organs= of a + flower, because they are necessary to the maturing of the + fruit. + + =Perfect flowers= have both sets of essential organs. + + =Imperfect flowers= have but one set of essential organs. + + _Staminate_ (or male) _flowers_ have only stamens; + + _Pistillate_ (or female) _flowers_ have only pistils. + + _Neutral flowers_ have neither. + +THE STAMEN + +The =stamen= consists of two parts--the =filament= and the =anther=. The +filament is the stalk of the stamen. The anther is the little case +holding the =pollen=, or powdery substance, which, falling upon the +stigma, is conducted downward into the ovary, where it quickens the +ovules into life. The anther normally consists of two cells, which more +often open lengthwise for the discharge of the pollen, though they +sometimes open by terminal pores or chinks, or by uplifting lids. + +Stamens sometimes undergo a morphological change, taking the form of +scales or other bodies (as is the case in many of our _Brodiaeas_), when +they are called =staminodia=. + + +THE PISTIL + +The =pistil= is the organ occupying the center of the flower. It +consists of three parts--the =ovary=, or the enlarged part below, +consisting of one or more cells or cavities, and containing the ovules, +or unfertilized seed; the =style=, or the stem which upholds the stigma; +the =stigma=, or the roughened portion which receives the pollen. + +The pistil is _simple_, when it has but one ovary, style, stigma, etc.; +_compound_, if any one of these is duplicated. + + +THE FRUIT + +The =fruit= is the ripened ovary. After the ovules have been fertilized, +the ovary is called a =pericarp=. Fruits may be either _fleshy_ or +_dry_. + +The following are some of the principal kinds of dry fruits:-- + + A =capsule= is a dry, dehiscent (splitting) fruit, composed of + more than one carpel or division; + + an =akene= is a small, dry, hard, one-celled, one-seeded + indehiscent fruit; + + a =follicle= is a pod formed from a single pistil, dehiscing + along the ventral suture only; + + a =legume= is a simple pericarp, opening by both seams. + + a =samara= is a dry, indehiscent fruit, having a wing. + +The following are some of the principal kinds of fleshy fruits:-- + + A =pome= is a fruit like an apple or pear; + + the =pepo=, or =gourd=, fruit is like that of the melon, squash, + etc.; + + the =drupe= is like that of the cherry, plum, and peach; + + the =berry= is like that of the grape, currant, and tomato. + +=Aggregate fruits= are those in which a cluster of carpels, all of one +flower, are crowded upon the receptacle into one mass; as in the +raspberry and blackberry. + + + + +IMPORTANT PLANT FAMILIES AND GENERA + + [To avoid too long technical descriptions in the body of the + work, a few of the more important plant families and genera + have been inserted below, to which reference has been made in + the technical descriptions.] + + +FAMILIES + +=Cruciferae.= Mustard Family. + + Herbs with pungent, watery juice. _Leaves._--Alternate; without + stipules; entire or divided. _Flowers._--Generally in racemes. + _Sepals._--Four. _Petals._--Four; usually with narrowed base or + claw; the blades spreading to form a cross. _Stamens._--Six; + two of them shorter than the other four. _Ovary._--Two-celled; + rarely one-celled. Style undivided, or none. Stigma entire or + two-lobed. _Fruit._--A silique--_i.e._ a capsule, in which the + walls separate upward away from a central partition. + +The Mustard family is a very large one, comprising over a hundred and +seventy genera, and containing between one and two thousand species. It is +widely distributed over all parts of the world, but is most abundantly +represented in the cooler or temperate regions. It furnishes us with many +useful plants; such as the mustard, horseradish, radish, cabbage, turnip, +cauliflower, etc. + +The genera of this order are very closely allied, and very difficult of +discrimination. The fruit, as well as the flower, is necessary in the study +of any given species. + +=Leguminosae.= Pea Family. + +The order _Leguminosae_ is divided into three well-marked sub-orders--the +Pea family proper, the Brasiletto family, and the Mimosa family. But as all +our genera, save _Cercis_, fall under the first, we shall describe that +only. + +PAPILIONACEAE. Pea Family proper. + + Herbs, shrubs, or trees. _Leaves._--Usually alternate; + compound; with stipules; the latter sometimes transformed into + thorns or tendrils. _Flowers._--Seldom solitary; usually in + spikes, racemes or umbels. _Calyx._--Five-toothed; often + bilabiate. _Corolla._--Irregular; of five petals; + _papilionaceous_--_i.e._ the two lower petals more or less + coherent, forming the _keel_; the two lateral ones often + adherent to the keel, called the _wings_; the upper petal + called the _standard_ or _banner_. Stamens and pistil inclosed + in the keel. _Stamens._--Ten; their filaments either coherent + into a tube surrounding the pistil; or nine of them united into + a sheath, open above, the tenth lying in front of the cleft; or + rarely all distinct. _Ovary._--Superior; one-celled. + _Style._--Simple and incurved. _Stigma._--Simple. _Fruit._--A + two-valved pod, of which the garden pea is typical. + +The Pea family, including its three sub-orders, is one of the most +important plant-families known. It is distributed over almost the entire +world, and furnishes some of the most valuable products to man. The +Judas-tree, the numerous acacias, and the sweet pea, are well known in our +gardens; while among our most valuable vegetables are the bean, the pea, +and the lentil. The clover and alfalfa are extremely important forage +plants. + +The order furnishes several important timber-trees, in different parts of +the world, such as the Rosewood, the Laburnum, and the Locust; and yields +numerous products of economic importance, such as licorice, senna, gum +Senegal, gum Arabic, gum tragacanth, balsam of copaiba, balsam of Tolu, +indigo, logwood, red sandalwood, etc. + +=Compositae.= Composite Family. + + Herbs, rarely shrubs. _Leaves._--Usually alternate; without + stipules. _Flowers._--In a close head on a common _receptacle_, + surrounded by an _involucre_, whose divisions are called + _scales_ or _bracts_. _Calyx-tube._--Adnate to the one-celled + ovary; its limb (called a _pappus_) crowning its summit in the + form of bristles, awns, scales, teeth, etc.; or cup-shaped; or + else entirely absent. _Corolla._--Either strap-shaped or + tubular; in the latter chiefly five-lobed. _Stamens._--Five + (rarely four); on the corolla; their anthers united in a tube. + _Style._--Two-cleft at the apex. _Fruit._--An akene. Flowers + with strap-shaped corollas are called _ray flowers_ or _rays_. + The _tubular flowers_ compose the disk. + +The Composite family is the largest of all plant-families, numbering twelve +thousand species and upward, and is widely distributed over the world. In +the cooler parts of the world the plants are mostly herbaceous, but toward +the tropics they gradually become shrubs, and even trees. In North America +they comprise about one sixth of all the flowering plants. + +For so large a family there are comparatively few useful plants found in +it. Among the products of the order, may be mentioned chicory, lettuce, the +artichoke, the vegetable oyster, arnica, chamomile-flowers, wormwood, +absinth, elecampane, coltsfoot, taraxacum, oil of tansy, etc. But our +gardens owe to this family innumerable beautiful and showy plants such as +the China aster, the chrysanthemum, the cosmos, zinnia, dahlia, ageratum, +gaillardia, coreopsis, sunflower, etc., etc. + +The plants of this family are quickly recognized by the flowers being +always borne in a head and surrounded by an involucre, and presenting the +appearance of a single flower. The heads are sometimes made up entirely of +one kind of flower. The dandelion and the chicory are examples of a head +made up entirely of ray-flowers, while the thistle consists of tubular +flowers only. The more common arrangement, however, is the mixed one, +comprising both tubular disk-flowers and strap-shaped rays, as in the +daisy. The seeds are usually furnished with silken down or a delicate +parachute to waft them abroad. + +The identification of the flowers of this order is a very difficult matter, +even for experienced botanists. + +=Labiatae.= Mint Family. + + Herbs with square stems. _Leaves._--Opposite; usually aromatic. + _Flowers._--Axillary, or often in whorls or heads. + _Corolla._--Bilabiate (rarely regular). _Stamens._--Four (or + only two). _Ovary._--Deeply four-lobed; becoming four seedlike + nutlets. Style single; arising from the midst of the lobes. + +The plants of this order are easily recognized by the traits in the above +description. But some of these traits are shared by the plants of the +Figwort family, which have also the bilabiate corolla. The distinguishing +character, however, is always to be found in the _four-lobed ovary_ for the +Figworts have a two-celled ovary. + +This order is a large one; and there are no noxious or poisonous plants to +be found in it. On the contrary, it comprises many useful plants, too well +known almost to need enumeration--such as the lavender, peppermint, sage, +horehound, thyme, spearmint, horsemint, pennyroyal, etc. + + +GENERA + +CEANOTHUS, L. Buckthorn Family. + + Shrubs or small trees, sometimes spinescent. + _Leaves._--Opposite or alternate; petioled; variously toothed + or entire. _Flowers._--Blue or white; small, usually not more + than two or three lines across; borne in showy thyrsoid or + cymose clusters. _Calyx._--Petaloid; with short tube and + five-cleft border, the lobes acute and connivent. + _Petals._--Five; long-clawed; hooded; inserted on the + calyx-tube. _Stamens._--Five; opposite the petals; long + exserted. _Ovary._--Three-lobed; three-celled. Style short; + three-cleft. _Fruit._--Dry; consisting of three dehiscent + nutlets; sometimes crested. + +The genus _Ceanothus_ is mainly a Western one. Of its thirty or more +species, two thirds are found in the region between the Rocky Mountains and +the Pacific Ocean. + +In California we have about twenty species; and these all hybridize to such +an extent, that often the determination of any given species is a very +difficult matter. The genus reaches its culmination in the mountains of +Santa Cruz County, where there are many beautiful species. Many of the +species are commonly known as "California lilac." + +LUPINUS, Catullus. Pea Family. + + _Leaves._--Palmately divided, with from one to sixteen + leaflets; stipules adnate; seldom conspicuous. + _Leaflets._--Entire; sessile. _Flowers._--In terminal racemes, + whorled or scattered. _Calyx._--Deeply bilabiate; upper lip + notched; lower usually entire, or occasionally three-toothed or + cleft. _Corolla._--Papilionaceous. _Standard._--Broad, with + sides reflexed. _Wings._--Falcate; oblong; commonly slightly + united at the tip in front of and inclosing the falcate, + usually slender, pointed keel. _Stamens._--With their filaments + united in a tube; of two forms; five with longer and basifixed + anthers; the alternate five with shorter and versatile ones. + _Pod._--Compressed; straight; two-valved. Style slender. Stigma + bearded. + +The Lupines are mostly plants of Western America. In fact, they are so +abundant between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean that that +territory is known among botanists as the "Lupine Region." + +The species, which are very numerous, are difficult of determination, +requiring very long technical descriptions, which cannot be given in a work +like the present. For this reason we have been able to give but a few of +the more easily recognized. + +We have in California upwards of forty species. They are of little economic +importance, although one or two species have been found very useful in the +reclaiming of sand-dunes. Several species have been cultivated for +ornament. The leaves are often beautiful and the flower-clusters showy. + +The generic name is supposed to come from the Latin _lupinus_, a _wolf_, +and to have been given because of the voracity evinced by the species in +exhausting the soil. + +ASTRAGALUS, Tourn. Pea Family. + + Herbs, or sometimes plants woody at base. _Leaves._--Alternate; + with stipules; unequally pinnate. _Flowers._--Rather small; + chiefly in simple axillary spikes or racemes, upon a commonly + elongated peduncle; papilionaceous. _Calyx._--Five-toothed. + _Corolla_ and its slender-clawed petals usually narrow. Keel + not pointed. _Stamens._--Nine united; one free. + _Ovary._--One-celled; sometimes apparently two-celled. + _Pod._--Very various; commonly inflated. _Seeds._--Few to many + on slender stalks; generally small for the size of the pod. + +The genus _Astragalus_ is a very large one, comprising many species in most +parts of the world, save Australia and South Africa. About two hundred +species are native of North America, most of which are found in the region +west of the Mississippi River. Of these several are known as "loco-weed," +and are poisonous to sheep and cattle. + +Very few species of this genus have any economic value. _A. gummifer_ and +some other similar species of Western Asia, low, spiny shrubs, yield the +gum tragacanth of commerce. + +OENOTHERA, L. Evening-Primrose Family. + + Herbs, or plants sometimes woody at the base. + _Leaves._--Alternate. _Flowers._--Axillary or in spikes or + racemes. _Calyx-tube._--More or less prolonged above the ovary + with four reflexed segments. + + _Petals._--Four; obcordate to obovate; sessile; yellow to + white, often tinged with red or turning red in fading. + _Stamens._--Eight; equal; or those opposite the petals shorter. + Anthers perfect; two-celled; versatile. _Ovary._--Four-celled; + many ovuled. Style filiform. Stigma four-lobed or capitate. + _Fruit._--A capsule with the seeds in one or two rows in each + cell. + +The name _OEnothera_ is from two Greek words, meaning _wine_ and _a hunt_, +or _pursuit_. Mr. Gray tells us that it was given in ancient times to some +plant whose roots were eaten to provoke a relish for wine. + +This is a large genus, containing a hundred or more species, which are +mostly confined to America, about a quarter of them being Californian. Many +of them are very beautiful and have long been favorites in gardens. The +flowers are yellow or white, and are commonly designated as "evening +primroses," as many of them open upon the edge of evening. + +GODETIA, Spach. Evening-Primrose Family. + +The genus _Godetia_ is closely allied to that of _OEnothera_; but is +distinguished from the latter in several points. Its flowers are purple, +lilac, or rose-colored--never yellow; the anthers are basifixed--_i.e._ +fixed by their bases--not versatile; and the stigma, instead of being +capitate, has four linear lobes. + +The plants of this genus were formerly included under _OEnothera_; but it +has been thought best to put them into a separate genus, which has been +named for a Dr. Godet. + +There are numerous species, many of them very beautiful and showy. They +vary a great deal under different conditions and in different seasons, and +are not well understood by botanists as yet. + +The genus is confined to the western coast of North America, and is most +largely represented in California. + +The species flower mostly in late spring and early summer, which has given +rise to the pretty name of "farewell to spring" for the plants of this +genus. + +GILIA, Renz. and Pav. Phlox or Polemonium Family. + + Herbs or plants somewhat shrubby at base. _Leaves._--Opposite + or alternate; simple or compound; without stipules. Many + species with showy flowers. All the parts of the flower five, + except the pistil, which has a three-celled ovary and a + three-lobed style. _Calyx._--Imbricated in the bud. + _Corolla._--Regular; funnel-form, salver-form, or sometimes + short campanulate or rotate; convolute in the bud. + _Stamens._--Five; on the corolla alternate with its lobes; + distinct. Filaments mostly slender; sometimes unequal in + length; not bearded at base. + +This genus was named in honor of Philip Gil, a Spanish botanist. In America +the name is pronounced _jil'i-a_, though according to the rules of the +Spanish language _he'li-a_ would be the correct pronunciation. + +This is a comparatively large genus, comprising about a hundred species, +most of which are native to the western parts of the United States. The +flowers are often showy and beautiful, and some of them closely resemble +the phloxes. A number are cultivated under the botanical name of +_Ipomopsis_ or _Leptosiphon_. + +PHACELIA, Juss. Baby-eyes or Waterleaf Family. + + Herbs, mostly branched from the base and hairy. + _Leaves._--Alternate; the lower sometimes opposite; simple or + compound. _Flowers._--Usually in one-sided scorpioid racemes. + _Calyx._--Deeply five-parted; without appendages. + _Corolla._--From almost rotate to narrowly funnel-form; + five-lobed; with ten vertical plates or scales at the base + within. _Stamens._--Five; equally inserted low or at the base + of the corolla. _Ovary._--One-celled. Styles two; or one which + is two-cleft. _Fruit._--A capsule. + +The name _Phacelia_ is from a Greek word signifying a _fascicle_, or +_bunch_, and refers to the fascicled or clustered flower-racemes. + +This genus is closely allied to _Nemophila_, but differs from it in several +points. The calyx is not furnished with appendages at the sinuses; the +corolla is imbricated in the bud--_i.e._ the lobes overlap one another in +the manner of bricks in a wall,--and is not convolute, or rolled up, as in +_Nemophila_. + +This is mainly a North American genus, having about fifty species, about +thirty of which are Californian. Many of the species have beautiful and +showy flowers, and are cultivated in gardens. The blossoms are blue, +violet, purple, or white, but never yellow (save sometimes in the tube or +throat). + +MIMULUS, L. Figwort Family. + + _Leaves._--Opposite; simple. _Flowers._--Axillary on solitary + peduncles; sometimes becoming racemose by the diminution of the + upper leaves to bracts. _Calyx._--Tubular or campanulate; + mostly five-angled and five- toothed. _Corolla._--Funnel-form; + bilabiate; the upper lip erect, two-lobed; the lower + three-lobed; a pair of ridges, either bearded or naked, running + down the lower side of the throat. _Stamens._--Four. Anthers + often near together in pairs, with divergent cells. + _Ovary._--Superior; two-celled. Style filiform. Stigma + two-lipped, with the lips commonly dilated and petaloid. + +The genus _Mimulus_ is so named from the shape of the corolla, which is +supposed to resemble the gaping countenance of an ape. It comprises forty +or fifty species, and affords us some of our most beautiful flowers. The +greater number of species and the handsomest are Pacific, and several of +our Californian species are especially prized in cultivation. + +The plants of the genus are all known as "monkey-flowers." They exhibit an +interesting character in the structure and movements of the stigma. It is +usually composed of two somewhat expanded lips. These are extremely +sensitive, and when touched, or when pollen has been received by them, they +close quite rapidly. + +ORTHOCARPUS, Nutt. Figwort Family. + + Low herbs; almost all annuals. _Leaves._--Mainly alternate; + sessile; often cut into from three to five filiform divisions; + the upper passing into the bracts of the dense spike and + usually colored, as are the calyx-lobes. + _Calyx._--Short-tubular or oblong-campanulate; evenly + four-cleft, or sometimes cleft before and behind and the + divisions again cleft. _Corolla._--Tubular; the upper lip, or + galea, little or not at all longer than the lower; small in + comparison with the large, inflated, one- to three-saccate lower + one, which usually bears more or less conspicuous teeth. + _Stamens._--Four; inclosed in the upper lip. + _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style long. Stigma capitate. _Fruit._--A + capsule. + +The genus _Orthocarpus_ is mainly Californian, comprising within our +borders something less than twenty species. Most of them are to be found +from San Francisco northward and in the mountains. + +They are closely related to the _Castilleias_, and resemble them closely in +habit. The difference between the two genera lies in the relative sizes of +the upper and lower lips of the corolla. In _Castilleia_ the upper lip is +the larger and more prominent; while in _Orthocarpus_ the lower is much +more conspicuous, often consisting of three inflated sacs. + +The species are quite difficult of determination. + +"Owl's clover" is a common English name for the plants of this genus. + +PENTSTEMON, Mitchell. Figwort Family. + + Perennial herbs, or rarely shrubby. _Leaves._--Opposite, rarely + whorled; the upper sessile or clasping; the floral gradually or + abruptly reduced to bracts. _Flowers._--Usually red, blue, + purple, or white, rarely yellow; in raceme-like panicles. + _Calyx._--Five-parted. _Corolla._--With a conspicuous and + mostly elongated or ventricose tube; the throat swelling out on + the lower if on either side; the limb more or less bilabiate, + with the upper lip two-lobed and the lower three-cleft, + recurved, or spreading. _Stamens._--Four perfect; a fifth with + a bearded filament only. Anther cells mostly united or running + together at the summit. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style long. + Stigma entire. + +The name _Pentstemon_ is from two Greek words, signifying _five_ and +_stamen_. It was bestowed upon this genus because the fifth stamen is +present, though sterile. + +The genus is a large one, comprising seventy species, most of which are +North American, though a few are Mexican. It is most abundantly represented +in the Pacific States and the States west of the Mississippi. California +has over twenty species, many of them very beautiful, a number of them +being in cultivation. + +"Beard-tongue" is the common English name for the plants of this genus. + +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. amoenus_. + +_Second_--The STAR TULIPS, having low, flexile stems, erect, starlike +flowers, with spreading petals, and nodding capsules. They comprise _C. +Benthami_, _C. Maweanus_, _C. coeruleus_, _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. + +_Mariposa_ is the Spanish word meaning _butterfly_, and was applied on +account of the marvelous resemblance of the markings of the petals of some +of the forms to the wings of that insect. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[Footnote 1: Mr. Carl Purdy.] + + + + +INTRODUCTORY + + +Situated on the western verge of the continent, so far removed from the +other parts of our country, not only by great distance, but by those mighty +natural barriers that traverse the continent from north to south, +California is eminently individual in her natural features. Stretching +through nine and one half degrees of latitude, with a sea-coast of seven +hundred miles, and several ranges of fine and lofty mountains, there is +probably not another State in the Union that has so wonderful a diversity +of climate and vegetation. Her shores, bathed by the warm Japan Current, or +Ku-ro Si-wa, which is deflected southward from Alaska, are many degrees +warmer than their latitude alone would warrant. + +Her general topography is simple and readily understood. The Sierra Nevada, +or "snowy range," upon the eastern boundary, with its granite summits and +its shoulders clothed with successive belts of majestic coniferous forests, +with an occasional snow-peak towering above the range, forms the eastern +wall of the great Central Valley, which is inclosed upon the west by the +Coast Range, less in height than the Sierra, but equally beautiful, less +forbidding, more companionable. The great Central Valley, four hundred and +fifty miles long, is drained by two rivers, which meet in its center and +break through the Coast Range, delivering their waters to the ocean through +the Golden Gate. The Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers receive many +important tributaries from the east, fed by the melting snows of the +Sierras, and flow through one of the most fertile regions of the world. + +The Sierras may be divided into five different belts, of varying altitudes +along the length of the range, beginning with the foothill region, which +may be termed the chaparral region. This is succeeded by the yellow-pine +belt, above which is the sugar-pine, or upper forest, belt, which is in +turn succeeded by the sub-alpine, while the alpine dominates all. + +The Coast Range is channeled on both sides by many beautiful wooded canyons, +affording homes for some of our loveliest flowers. Mr. Purdy writes of it: +This "is not a continuous range, but a broken mass of parallel ridges from +forty to seventy miles wide, with many other chains transverse to the +general trend of the range, and inclosing numerous valleys, large and +small, of widely different altitudes. In the Coast Range there is no warm +belt, but isolated warm spots. Climate here can only be ascertained by +experience. The geological formation of the ranges and the character of +soils constantly vary, and often widely at short intervals. Hence the flora +of this region is particularly interesting. It is hardly probable there is +a more captivating field for the botanist in the world." + +In the north and the south the two great ranges meet in some of the noblest +snow-peaks on the continent. Below their southern junction, to the +eastward, lies an arid desert region, and above their northern junction +extends a dry and elevated plateau to the northeast. Thus there arises a +great diversity of natural condition. As all living organisms are greatly +influenced by their environment, the flora naturally distributes itself +along the lines of climatic variation. Thus we have alpine species on the +snowy heights of the Sierras, and sub-alpine forms luxuriating in the +meadows fed from their snows; inland species in the Central Valley, and +following some distance up its eastern and western walls; the leathery and +hardy forms of the wind-swept coast; the curious prickly races of arid +regions; delicate lovers of the cool and shaded brook; dwellers in marshes +and on lake borders; denizens of dry, rocky hill-slopes, exposed to the +glare of the sun; and inhabiters of shaded woods. It may be said that the +most characteristically Western plants of our flora are to be found in the +Central Valley, in the lower belts of the Sierras, and in the valleys of +the Coast Range, many of which extend beyond our borders, both northward +and southward. Many of our alpine species are common to the East, and our +maritime flora is of necessity somewhat cosmopolitan, containing many +introduced species from various parts of the world. + + * * * * * + +The climate of California is divided into two seasons--the wet and the +dry,--the former extending from October to May, the latter occupying the +remaining months of the year. And this climatic division coincides almost +exactly with the area of the State. Of course, these dates are not +absolute, as showers may occur beyond their limits. + +It will be readily seen that the rainy season, or the winter, so-called, is +the growing time of our year--the time when the earth brings forth every +plant in his kind. On the other hand, the summer is the time of rest. Most +of the plant-life having germinated after the first moisture of the fall, +grows luxuriantly during the showery months of winter, blossoms lavishly in +the balmy sunshine of early springtime, produces seed in abundance by early +summer, and is then ready for its annual rest. Instead of shrouding the +earth in snow during our period of plant-rest, as she does in more rigorous +climes, Nature gently spreads over hill and valley a soft mantle of brown. + +When the first shrill notes of the cicada are heard in late spring, we +awake to a sudden realization that summer is at hand, and, looking about +us, we see that the flowers have nearly all vanished; hill and valley no +longer glow with great masses of color; only a few straggling species of +the early summer remain; but they too are soon gone, and soft browns and +straw-colors prevail everywhere. It is then that the deep, rich greens of +our symmetrically rounded Live-Oaks, so characteristic of this region, show +in fine contrast against this delicate background, forming a picture that +every Californian dearly loves; the Madrono and the Laurel spread their +canopies of grateful shade; while the Redwood affords cool retreats from +the summer sun. Then our salt marshes, as though realizing the need of +refreshing verdure, put on their most vivid greens; and our +chaparral-covered hill-slopes make walls of bronze and olive. + + * * * * * + +Perhaps no coniferous forests in the world are so beautiful or so +attractive as the Redwood forests of our Coast Ranges; and they play so +important a part in the distribution of our plants, it will not be out of +place to devote a little space to them here. + +The main Redwood belt is of limited range, extending along the Coast from +Monterey County to Humboldt County, and nowhere exceeding twenty miles in +breadth. Straggling trees may be found beyond these limits, but nowhere a +forest growth or trees of great size. In its densest portion, the stately +and colossal trees are too close together to permit of a wagon passing +between them. + +Mr. Purdy writes: "The Redwood is not only a lover of moisture, but to an +extent hardly to be believed, unless seen, a condenser and conserver of +moisture. Their tops reach high into the sea of vapor, and a constant +precipitation from them, like rain, takes place. The water stands in +puddles in the roads under them. This causes the densest of undergrowth; +hazels, huckleberries, various Ceanothi, ferns of large size and in +greatest profusion, large bushes of rhododendron, and numerous other plants +make the forest floor a perfect tangle in moister portions." + +Many charming plants find their homes amid the cool shade of these noble +trees. Trillium, and scoliopus, and dog's-tooth violets vie with clintonias +and vancouverias in elegance and grace, while little creeping violets, and +the lovely redwood-sorrel, and the salal make charming tapestries over the +forest floor about these dim cathedral columns. + +On the other hand, the open forest belts of the Sierras, which are of far +greater extent, present another and quite different flora from that of the +Coast Range and the Redwood belt. There may be found many interesting +plants of the Heath family--cassiope, bryanthus, chimaphila, ledum, various +pyrolas, and the snow-plant; there the aconite, false hellebore, eriogonums +and gentians, and new and beautiful pentstemons and Mimuli and lilies deck +the meadows and stream-banks. + +After the season of blossoming is over in the lowlands, we may pass on up +into the mountains and live again through a vernal springtime of flowers. + +Perhaps in no country in the world does the arrival of the spring flowers +"so transform the face of Nature as in California." The march of +civilization has brought changes in its wake; the virgin soil has been +broken and subdued into grainfields and vineyards; still enough of the +lavish blossoming is left us to appreciate Mr. Muir's description of the +face of the country as it appeared years ago. He says: "When California was +wild, it was one sweet bee-garden throughout its entire length, north and +south, and all the way across from the snowy Sierra to the ocean.... The +Great Central Plain ... during the months of March, April, and May was one +smooth, continuous bed of honey-bloom, so marvelously rich that in walking +from one end of it to the other, a distance of four hundred miles, your +foot would press about a hundred flowers at every step. Mints, gilias, +nemophilas, castilleias, and innumerable Compositae were so crowded +together, that had ninety-nine per cent of them been taken away, the plain +would still have seemed to any but Californians extravagantly flowery. The +radiant, honeyful corollas, touching and overlapping and rising above one +another, glowed in the living light like a sunset sky--one sheet of purple +and gold.... Sauntering in any direction, hundreds of these happy +sun-plants brushed against my feet at every step and closed over them as if +I were wading in liquid gold. The air was sweet with fragrance, the larks +sang their blessed songs, rising on the wing as I advanced, then sinking +out of sight in the polleny sod; while myriads of wild bees stirred the +lower air with their monotonous hum--monotonous, yet forever fresh and +sweet as everyday sunshine." + + + + +PRELUDE + + O LAND OF THE WEST! I know + How the field-flowers bud and blow, + And the grass springs and the grain + To the first soft touch and summons of the rain! + O, the music of the rain! + O, the music of the streams! + + --INA D. COOLBRITH. + + +Toward the end of our long cloudless summer, after most other flowers have +stolen away, Mother Nature marshals her great order of Compositae for a +last rally; and they come as welcome visitants to fill the places of our +vanished summer friends. + +Asters and goldenrods, grindelias, lessingias, and the numerous tarweeds, +with their cheerful blossoms, relieve the sober browns of sun-dried +hill-slopes and meadows, or fringe with color our roadsides and salt +marshes. + +But even these late-comers weary after a time, and one by one disappear, +till there comes a season when, without flowers, Nature seems to be humbled +in sackcloth and ashes. The dust lies thick upon roadside trees, a haze +hangs like a veil in the air, and the sun beats down with fierce, continued +glare. + +As this wears on day after day, a certain vague expectancy creeps gradually +over the face of things--a rapt, mysterious aspect, foreboding change. One +day there is a telltale clarity in the atmosphere. Later, the sky darkens +by degrees, and a dull, leaden hue spreads over the vault of heaven. +Nature mourns, and would weep. Her heart is full to bursting; still the +tears come not. The winds spring up and blow freshly over the parched land. +A few hard-wrung drops begin to fall, and at length there closes down a +thoroughgoing shower. The flood-gates are opened at last; the long tension +is over, and we breathe freely once more. + +During this first autumn rain, those of us who are so fortunate as to live +in the country are conscious of a strange odor pervading all the air. It is +as though Dame Nature were brewing a vast cup of herb tea, mixing in the +fragrant infusion all the plants dried and stored so carefully during the +summer. + +When the clouds vanish after this baptismal shower, everything is +charmingly fresh and pure, and we have some of the rarest of days. Then the +little seeds, harbored through the long summer in Earth's bosom, burst +their coats and push up their tender leaves, till on hillside and +valley-floor appears a delicate mist of green, which gradually confirms +itself into a soft, rich carpet--and all the world is in verdure clad. Then +we begin to look eagerly for our first flowers. + + + + +FLOWER DESCRIPTIONS + +A FANCY + + + I think I would not be + A stately tree, + Broad-boughed, with haughty crest that seeks the sky. + Too many sorrows lie + In years, too much of bitter for the sweet: + Frost-bite, and blast, and heat, + Blind drought, cold rains, must all grow wearisome, + Ere one could put away + Their leafy garb for aye, + And let death come. + + Rather this wayside flower! + To live its happy hour + Of balmy air, of sunshine, and of dew. + A sinless face held upward to the blue; + A bird-song sung to it, + A butterfly to flit + On dazzling wings above it, hither, thither,-- + A sweet surprise of life,--and then exhale + A little fragrant soul on the soft gale, + To float--ah! whither? + + --INA D. COOLBRITH. + + + + +_White or occasionally or partially white flowers not described in the +White Section._ + + +_Described in the Yellow Section_:-- + + ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS--Pimpernel. + + BRODIAEA LACTEA--White Brodiaea. + + CALOCHORTUS WEEDII--Mariposa Tulip. + + CUSCUTA--Dodder. + + ERIOGONUM URSINUM. + + ERYSIMUM GRANDIFLORUM--Cream-colored Wallflower. + + ESCHSCHOLTZIA CALIFORNICA--California Poppy. + + FLOERKIA DOUGLASII--Meadow-Foam. + + HEMIZONIA LUZULAEFOLIA--Tarweed. + + HOSACKIA BICOLOR. + + MELILOTUS ALBA--White Sweet Clover. + + PTEROSPORA ANDROMEDEA--Pine-Drops. + + VERBASCUM BLATTARIA--Moth-Mullein. + + +_Described in the Pink Section_:-- + + APOCYNUM CANNABINUM--American-Indian Hemp. + + DODECATHEON CLEVELANDI--Shooting-Stars. + + GILIA ANDROSACEA. + + LEWISIA REDIVIVA--Bitter-Root. + + OXALIS OREGANA--Redw'd-Sorrel. + + PHLOX DOUGLASII--Alpine Phlox. + + RHUS INTEGRIFOLIA--Lemonade-Berry. + + RHUS LAURINA--Sumach. + + SILENE GALLICA. + + TRIENTALIS EUROPAEA--Star-Flower. + + +_Described in the Blue and Purple Section_:-- + + BRODIAEA LAXA--Ithuriel's Spear. + + CALOCHORTUS CATALINAE--Catalina Mariposa Tulip. + + CALOCHORTUS MAWEANUS--Cat's-Ears. + + CALOCHORTUS UMBELLATUS--White Star-Tulip. + + CEANOTHUS DIVARICATUS--Wild Lilac. + + CEANOTHUS THYRSIFLORUS--California Lilac. + + COLLINSIA BICOLOR--Collinsia. + + DELPHINIUM. + + FRITILLARIA LILIACEA--White Fritillary. + + IRIS DOUGLASIANA--Douglas Iris. + + IRIS MACROSIPHON-Ground Iris. + + POLYGALA CORNUTA. + + SCUTELLARIA CALIFORNICA--White Skullcap + + TRILLIUM SESSILE--Calif. Trillium. + + +_Described in the Red Section_:-- + + GILIA AGGREGATA--Scarlet Gilia. + + AQUILEGIA COERULEA. + + +_Described in the Miscellaneous Section_:-- + + CEPHALANTHERA OREGANA--Phantom Orchis. + + CYPRIPEDIUM CALIFORNICUM--California Lady's Slipper. + + CYPRIPEDIUM MONTANUM--Mountain Lady's Slipper. + + PROSARTES MENZIESII--Drops of Gold. + + +TOOTHWORT. PEPPER-ROOT. SPRING-BLOSSOM. + +_Dentaria Californica_, Nutt. Mustard Family. + + _Roots._--Bearing small tubers. _Stems._--Six inches to two + feet high. _Root-leaves._--Simple and roundish or with three + leaflets. _Stem-leaves._--Usually with three to five pinnate + leaflets, one to three inches long. _Flowers._--White to pale + rose-color. _Sepals and Petals._--Four. _Stamens._--Four long + and two short. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style simple. + _Pod._--Slender; twelve to eighteen lines long. + _Syn._--_Cardamine paucisecta_, Benth. _Hab._--Throughout the + Coast Ranges. + +What a rapture we always feel over this first blossom of the year! not only +for its own dear sake, but for the hopes and promises it holds out, the +visions it raises of spring, with flower-covered meadows, running brooks, +buds swelling everywhere, bird-songs, and the air rife with perfumes. + +It is like the dove sent forth from the ark, this first tentative blossom, +this _avant courier_ of the great army of Crucifers, or cross-bearers, so +called because their four petals are stretched out like the four arms of a +cross. + +It is usually in some sheltered wood that we look for this first shy +blossom; but once it has proved the trustworthiness of the skies, it is +followed by thousands of its companions, who then come out boldly and star +the meadows with their pure white constellations. + +The Latin name of this genus (from the word _dens_, a tooth), translated +into the vernacular, becomes toothwort, the termination _wort_ signifying +merely plant or herb. + +It was so named because of the toothed rootstocks of many species. + +The little tubers upon the root often have a pungent taste, from which +comes one of the other common names--"pepper-root." Various other names +have been applied to these flowers, such as "lady's smocks" and +"milkmaids." + +[Illustration _TOOTHWORT--Dentaria Californica._] + + +ZYGADENE. + +_Zygadenus Fremonti_, Michx. Lily Family. + + _Bulb._--Dark-coated. _Leaves._--Linear; a foot or two long; + deeply channeled. _Scape._--Three inches to even four feet + high. _Flowers._--White. _Perianth Segments._--Six; strongly + nerved; bearing at base yellow glands; inner segments clawed. + _Stamens._--Six; shorter than the perianth. + _Ovary._--Three-celled. Styles three; short. + _Capsule._--Three-beaked. _Hab._--Coast Ranges, San Diego to + Humboldt County. + +The generic name, _Zygadenus_, is from the Greek, and signifies yoked +glands, referring to the glands upon the base of the perianth segments. + +We have several species, the most beautiful and showy of which is _Z. +Fremonti_. This is widely distributed, and grows in very different +situations. In our central Coast Range its tall stems, with their lovely +clusters of white stars, make their appearance upon rocky hill-slopes with +warm exposure, in the shelter of the trees, soon after the toothwort has +sprinkled the fields with its white bloom. In the south it rears its tall +stems upon open mesas, unprotected by the shelter of friendly tree or +shrub, and in some localities it makes itself at home in bogs. It is +possible that the future may reveal the presence of more than one species. + +It has sometimes been called "soap-plant"; but this name more appropriately +belongs to _Chlorogalum_. It somewhat resembles the Star of Bethlehem of +Eastern gardens. The fact that it grows in boggy places has given rise to +the name of "water-lily" in certain localities; but this ought to be +discountenanced, as it bears not the slightest resemblance to the +magnificent water-lily of Eastern ponds. + +Another species--_Z. venenosus_, Wats.--is found from Monterey and Mariposa +Counties to British Columbia. This may be distinguished from the above by +its narrow leaves--only two or three lines wide,--usually folded together, +and by its smaller flowers, with perianth segments only two or three lines +long; and also by the fact that the stamens equal the segments in length. +The bulb is poisonous, and our Northern Indians call it "death camass," +while the farmers in the Sierras call it "Lobelia," not because of any +resemblance to that plant, but because its poisonous effects are similar to +those of the latter. It is fatal to horses, but hogs eat it with impunity, +from which it is also known as "hogs' potato." It is found in moist meadows +or along stream-banks, in June and July. + +[Illustration _ZYGADENE--Zygadenus Fremonti._] + + +POISON-OAK. + +_Rhus diversiloba_, Torr. and Gray. Poison-Oak or Cashew Family. + + _Shrubs._--Three to fifteen feet high. _Leaflets._--One to four + inches long. _Flowers._--Greenish white; small. _Sepals and + Petals._--Usually five. _Stamens._--As many or twice as many as + the petals. _Ovary._--One-celled. Styles three: distinct or + united. _Fruit._--A small, dry, striate, whitish drupe. + _Hab._--Throughout California. + +The presence of the poison-oak in our woods and fields makes these outdoor +haunts forbidden pleasures to persons who are susceptible to it. It is +closely allied to the poison-ivy of the Eastern States, and very similar in +its effects. It is a charming shrub in appearance, with beautiful glossy, +shapely leaves; and in early summer, when it turns to many shades of +scarlet and purple-bronze, it is especially alluring to the unsuspecting. +It is quite diverse in its habit, sometimes appearing as an erect shrub, +and again climbing trees or rock surfaces, by means of small aerial +rootlets, to a considerable height. Horses eat the leaves without injury; +and the honey which the bees distill from its small greenish-white flowers +is said to be excellent. + +Many low plants seek the shelter of these shrubs, and some of our loveliest +flowers, such as Clarkias, Godetias, Collinsias, Brodiaeas, and larkspurs, +seem to realize that immunity from human marauders is to be had within its +safe retreat. + +The remedies for oak-poisoning are numerous; and it may not be out of place +to mention a few of them here. Different remedies are required by different +individuals. Any of the following plants may be made into a tea and used as +a wash: Grindelia, manzanita, wild peony, California holly, and _Rhamnus +Purshiania_, or _Californica_. Hot solutions of soda, Epsom salts, or +saltpeter are helpful to many, and the bulb of the soap-root,--_Chlorogalum +pomeridianum_--pounded to a paste and used as a salve, allowing it to +dry upon the surface and remain for some hours at least, is considered +excellent. In fact, any pure toilet soap may be used in the same manner. + +[Illustration POISON OAK--_Rhus diversiloba_.] + + +WAKE-ROBIN. + +_Trillium ovatum_, Pursh. Lily Family. + + _Rootstock._--Thickened. _Stem._--Erect; stout; a foot or more + high; bearing at summit a whorl of three sessile leaves. + _Leaves._--Rhomboidal; acuminate; netted-veined; five-nerved; + two to six inches long. _Flower._--Solitary; pure white, + turning to deep rose; peduncle one to three inches long. + _Sepals._--Three; herbaceous. _Petals._--One or two inches + long. _Stamens._--Six. _Ovary._--Three-celled. Stigmas three; + sessile. _Capsule._--Broadly ovate: six-winged. _Hab._--The + Coast Ranges, from Santa Cruz to British Columbia. + +The wake-robin is in the vanguard of our spring flowers, and a walk into +some high, cold canyon while the days are still dark and short will be amply +rewarded by the finding of its white and peculiarly pure-looking blossoms +standing upon the bank overlooking the streamlet. The blossoms remain +unchanged for a time, and then, as they fade, turn to a deep purplish +rose-color. + +Our wake-robin so closely resembles _T. grandiflorum_, Salisb., of the +Eastern States, that it seems a pity it should have been made into a +different species. + + +BEACH-STRAWBERRY. + +_Fragaria Chilensis_, Ehrhart. Rose Family. + + _Hab._--The coast, from Alaska to San Francisco and southward. + +This beautiful strawberry is found growing near the seashore, where its +large, delicious berries are often buried beneath the shifting sand, +becoming bleached in color. It sometimes covers acres with its thick, +shining, dark-green leaves, among which are sprinkled its large pure-white +flowers, an inch or more across. + +The wood-strawberry--_F. Californica_--is very common in the Coast Ranges; +but for the most part it is dry and flavorless. + +[Illustration WAKE-ROBIN--_Trillium ovatum_.] + + +=MANZANITA. BEARBERRY.= + +_Arctostaphylos manzanita_, Parry. Heath Family. + + Shrubs three to twenty-five feet high, with purple-brown bark. + _Leaves._--Pale. _Flowers._--White or pinkish; in crowded + clusters. _Corolla._--Four or five lines long; campanulate. + _Stamens._--Ten; filaments dilated and bearded at base; anthers + two-celled, opening terminally, each cell furnished with a long + downward-pointing horn. _Ovary._--Globose; five to ten-celled. + Style simple. _Fruit._--Six lines in diameter, containing + several bony nutlets. _Syn._--_Arctostaphylos pungens_, HBK. + _Hab._--Throughout the State. + +Of all our shrubs, the manzanita is the most beautiful and the best known. +Sometimes as early as Christmas it may be found in full bloom, when its +dense crown of pale foliage, surmounting the rich purple-brown stems, is +thickly sown with the little clusters of fragrant waxen bells. After the +blossoms have passed away, the shrubs put forth numerous brilliant scarlet +or crimson shoots, which at a little distance look like a strange and +entirely new kind of blossoming. The manzanita is closely allied to the +madrono, and resembles it in many ways, particularly in the annual peeling +of its rich red bark and in the form of its flowers. + +The Greek generic name, translated into English, becomes "bearberry." The +pretty Spanish name--from _manzana_, apple, and the diminutive, _ita_,--was +bestowed by the early Spanish-Californians, who recognized the resemblance +of the fruit to tiny apples. + +We have a dozen or more species of _Arctostaphylos_, but _A. manzanita_ is +the commonest of them all. It varies greatly in size and habit. In +localities most favorable it becomes a large, erect shrub, with many +clustered trunks, while in the Sierras it finds but a precarious footing +among the granite rocks, often covering their surfaces with its small +tortuous, stiff branches. The leaves, by a twisting of their stalks, assume +a vertical position on the branches, a habit which enables many plants of +dry regions to avoid unnecessary evaporation. + +[Illustration MANZANITA--_Arctostaphylos manzanita_.] + +The largest manzanita known is upon the estate of Mr. Tiburcio Parrott, in +St. Helena, Napa County, California. It is thirty-five feet high, with a +spread of branches equal to its height, while its trunk measures eleven and +a half feet in circumference at the ground, soon dividing into large +branches. It is a veritable patriarch, and has doubtless seen many +centuries. According to an interesting account in "Garden and Forest," it +once had a narrow escape from the ax of a woodman. A gentleman who was a +lover of trees, happening to pass, paid the woodman two dollars to spare +its life. + +Years ago no traveler from the East felt that he could return home without +a manzanita cane, made from as straight a branch as could be secured. + +The berries of this shrub are dry and bony and quite unsatisfactory. They +are, however, pleasantly acid, and have been put to several uses. It is +said that both brandy and vinegar are made from them, and housewives make +quite a good jelly from some species. Bears are fond of the berries, and +the Indians eat them, both raw and pounded into a flour, from which mush is +made. The leaves made into a tincture or infusion are now an officinal +drug, valued in catarrh of the throat or stomach. + +From Monterey to San Diego is found _A. glauca_, Lindl., the great-berried +manzanita. It closely resembles the above, but its berries are three +fourths of an inch in diameter. + +Of the same range as the last is _A. bicolor_, Gray, whose leaves are of a +rich, shining green above and white and woolly beneath. Its berries are the +size of a pea, yellowish at first, and turning red later. + + +CALIFORNIAN SAXIFRAGE. + +_Saxifraga Californica_, Greene. Saxifrage Family. + + _Leaves._--Few; all radical; oval; one to two inches long, on + broad petioles six to twelve lines long. _Scape._--Six to + eighteen inches high. _Flowers._--White or rose; four or five + lines across. _Calyx._--Deeply five-cleft, with reflexed lobes. + _Petals._--Borne on the calyx. _Stamens._--Ten. + _Ovaries._--Two; partly united. Styles short. Stigmas capitate. + _Syn._--_S. Virginiensis_, Michx. _Hab._--Throughout the State. + +[Illustration CALIFORNIANSAXIFRAGE--_Saxifraga Californica_.] + +In the rich soil of cool northward slopes, or on many a mossy bank amid the +tender young fronds of the maidenhair, may be found the delicate clusters +of our little Californian saxifrage. The plants are small, with but a few, +perhaps only one or two, oval, rather hairy leaves, lying upon the ground, +and a slender red scape upholding the dainty cluster of small white +flowers. The tips of the calyx-lobes are usually red, and the wee stamens +are pink. + +We have several species of saxifrage, most of which are plants of exceeding +delicacy and grace, and with small flowers. + + +MINER'S LETTUCE. INDIAN LETTUCE. + +_Montia perfoliata_, Howell. Purslane Family. + + Smooth, succulent herbs. _Radical Leaves._--Long-petioled; + broadly rhomboidal. _Stems._--Simple; six to twelve inches + high, having, near the summit, a pair of leaves united around + the stem. _Flowers._--White. _Sepals._--Two. _Petals._--Five, + minute. _Stamens._--Five. _Ovary._--One-celled Style slender. + Stigma three-cleft. _Syn._--_Claytonia perfoliata_, Don. + _Hab._--Throughout California. + +Though our Indian lettuce is closely allied to the Eastern "Spring Beauty," +one would never suspect it from its outward appearance and habit. The +little flower-racemes look as though they might have pushed their way right +through the rather large saucer-like leaf just below them. The succulent +leaves and stems are greedily eaten by the Indians, from which it is called +"Indian lettuce." + +Mr. Powers, of Sheridan, writes that the Placer County Indians have a novel +way of preparing their salad. Gathering the stems and leaves, they lay them +about the entrances of the nests of certain large red ants. These, swarming +out, run all over it. After a time the Indians shake them off, satisfied +that the lettuce has a pleasant sour taste equaling that imparted by +vinegar. These little plants are said to be excellent when boiled and well +seasoned, and they have long been grown in England, where they are highly +esteemed for salads. + +[Illustration MINER'S LETTUCE--_Montia Perfoliata_.] + + +WOOD ANEMONE. WIND-FLOWER. + +_Anemone quinquefolia_, L. Buttercup or Crowfoot Family. + + _Rootstock._--Horizontal. _Stem._--Six to fourteen inches high. + _Leaves._--Radical leaf remote from the stem; trifid; the + segments serrate. Involucral leaf not far below the flower; + three foliolate. _Sepals._--Petaloid; five or six; usually + bluish outside. _Petals._--Wanting. _Stamens and + Pistils._--Numerous. _Akenes._--Two lines long; twelve to + twenty. _Syn._--_Anemone nemorosa_, L. _Hab._--The Coast + Ranges, in moist shade. + +The delicate blossoms of the wood anemone might at first be confounded with +those of the toothwort by the careless observer, but a moment's reflection +will quickly distinguish them. The anemone is always a solitary flower with +many stamens, and its petals are of a more delicate texture. It grows upon +wooded banks or cool, shaded flats among the redwoods. + +There are many quaint traditions as to the origin of its name, and poets +have from early times found something ideal of which to sing in these +simple spring flowers. + +The generic name has the accent upon the third syllable, but, when +Anglicized into the common name, the accent falls back upon the second. + + +OSO-BERRY. + +_Nuttallia cerasiformis_, Torr. and Gray. Rose Family + + Deciduous shrubs; two to fifteen feet high. _Leaves._--Broadly + oblanceolate; two to four inches long; narrowed into a short + petiole. _Flowers._--White; in short terminal racemes; + dioecious; three to eleven lines across. _Calyx._--Top-shaped, + with five-lobed border. _Petals._--Five; inserted with ten of + the stamens on the calyx; broadly spatulate. + _Stamens._--Fifteen. _Ovaries._--Five. Styles short. + _Fruit._--Blue-black, oblong drupes; six to eight lines long. + _Hab._--Chiefly the Coast Ranges from San Luis Obispo to Fraser + River. + +[Illustration WOOD ANEMONE--_Anemone quinquefolia._] + +About the same time that the beautiful leaves of the buckeye are +emerging from their wrappings, we notice in the woods a shrub which has +just put forth its clusters of bright-green leaves from buds all along +its slender twigs. Amid their delicate green hang short clusters of +greenish-white flowers. These blossoms have a delicious bitter +fragrance, redolent of all the tender memories of the springtime. + +This shrub is usually mistaken for a wild plum; and the illusion is still +further assisted when the little drupes, like miniature plums, begin to +ripen and hang in yellow and purple clusters amid the matured leaves. + + +WILD DATE. SPANISH BAYONET. + +_Yucca Mohavensis_, Sargent. Lily Family. + + _Trunk._--Usually simple; rarely exceeding fifteen feet high; + six or eight inches in diameter; naked, or covered with + refracted dead leaves, or clothed to the ground with the living + leaves. _Leaves._--Linear-lanceolate; one to three feet long; + one or two inches wide; rigid; margins at length bearing coarse + recurved threads. _Flowers._--In short-stemmed or sessile, + distaff-shaped panicles, a foot or two long; pedicels + eventually drooping, twelve to eighteen lines long. + _Perianth._--Broadly campanulate. _Segments._--Six; thirty + lines long; six to twelve wide. _Stamens._--Six; six to nine + lines long; filaments white, club-shaped. _Ovary._--Oblong; + white; an inch or two long, including the slender style. + Stigmas three. _Fruit._--Cylindrical; three or four inches + long; pendulous, pulpy. _Syn._--_Yucca baccata_, Torr. + _Hab._--Southern California, from Monterey to San Diego; coast + and inland. + +The genus _Yucca_ comprises sixteen or eighteen species, and reaches its +greatest development in Northern Mexico. Three species are to be found +within our borders, two of which are arborescent, _Y. arborescens_, and _Y. +Mohavensis_. Considerable confusion has hitherto reigned among the species, +but they are now better understood. + +They are all valuable to our Indians as basket and textile plants, and are +useful to them in many other ways. + +Owing to the structure of the flowers, self-fertilization seems impossible, +and scientists who have made a study of the subject say that these plants +are dependent upon a little white, night-flying moth to perform this office +for them. This little creature goes from plant to plant, gathering the +pollen, which she rolls up into a ball with her feet. When sufficient has +been gathered, she goes to another plant, lays her egg in its ovary, and +before leaving ascends to the stigma and actually pushes the pollen into +it, seeming to realize that unless she performs this last act, there will +be nothing for her progeny to eat. This seems an almost incredible instance +of insect intelligence; but it is a well-authenticated fact. + +_Yucca Mohavensis_, commonly called "wild date," or "Spanish bayonet," is +more widely distributed within our borders than either of our other +species. Its large panicle of overpoweringly fragrant white waxen bells is +a striking object wherever seen. On the coast this yucca is often stemless, +but in the interior, where it is more abundant, it rises to a considerable +height, and culminates upon the Mojave Desert, where the finest specimens +are found. + +The fruit, which ripens in August and September, turns from green to a +tawny yellow, afterward becoming brownish purple, and eventually almost +black. This has a sweet, succulent flesh, and, either fresh or dried, is a +favorite fruit among the Indians. Dr. Palmer writes that this is one of the +most useful plants to the Indians of New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern +California. They cut the stems into slices, beat them into a pulp, and mix +them with the water in washing, as a substitute for soap. + +The leaves are parched in ashes, to make them pliable, and are afterward +soaked in water and pounded with a wooden mallet. The fibers thus liberated +are long, strong, and durable, and lend themselves admirably to the weaving +of the gayly decorated horse-blankets made by the tribes of Southern +California. They also make from it ropes, twine, nets, hats, hair-brushes, +shoes, mattresses, baskets, etc. + + +FALSE SOLOMON'S SEAL. + +_Smilacina sessilifolia_, Nutt. Lily Family. + + _Rootstock._--Slender; branching; creeping; scars not + conspicuous. _Stem._--About a foot long (sometimes two); + usually zigzag above; leafy. _Leaves._--Alternate; sessile; + lanceolate; two to six inches long; shining above; spreading in + a horizontal plane. _Flowers._--White; few; in a simple + terminal raceme, on pedicels two to seven lines long. + _Perianth._--Of six, distinct, spreading segments. + _Segments._--One and one half to four lines long; lanceolate. + _Stamens._--Six; half the length of the segments. + _Ovary._--Three-celled. Style short. _Berry._--Nearly black; + three to five lines through. _Hab._--Monterey to British + Columbia. + +The False Solomon's Seal is one of the prettiest plants in our woods in +March, and in many places it almost hides the ground from view. It has a +graceful, drooping habit that shows its handsome, spreading leaves to full +advantage, and its few delicate little white blossoms are a fitting +termination to the pretty sprays. + +_S. amplexicaulis_, Nutt., is a very handsome, decorative plant, with fine, +tall, leafy stem, and large, feathery panicle of tiny white flowers. The +broadened white filaments are the most conspicuous part of these blossoms, +which are less than a line long. The berries are light-colored, dotted with +red or purple. + + +MIST-MAIDENS. + +_Romanzoffia Sitchensis_, Bongard. Baby-eyes or Water leaf Family. + + _Leaves._--Six to eighteen lines across; smooth. + _Flowers._--White, pink, or purple. _Calyx._--Deeply + five-parted. _Corolla._--Funnel-form; five-lobed; four lines + long. _Stamens._--Five. _Ovary._--Two-celled. _Hab._--Coast + Ranges, from Santa Cruz northward. + +In appearance these delicate herbs resemble the saxifrages, and they affect +much the same sort of places, decking mossy banks and stream borders with +their beautiful scalloped leaves and small white flowers. + +The genus was named in honor of Nicholas Romanzoff, a Russian nobleman, +who, by his munificence, enabled some noted botanists to visit this coast +early in the century. + +[Illustration MIST-MAIDENS--_Romanzoffia Sitchensis._] + + +STRAWBERRY CACTUS. CALIFORNIAN FISH-HOOK CACTUS. LLAVINA. + +_Mamillaria Goodridgii_, Scheer. Cactus Family. + + Oval, fleshy, leafless plants; mostly single, though sometimes + clustered; three to five inches long; covered with prominences + or tubercles. _Tubercles._--Each bearing a flat rosette of + short, whitish spines, with an erect, dark, fish-hook-like + central one. _Flowers._--Small; greenish-white. _Outer + Sepals._--Fringed. _Petals._--About eight; awned. + _Stamens._--Numerous. _Ovary._--One-celled. Stigmas five or + six. _Fruit._--Scarlet; an inch long. _Hab._--San Diego and + neighboring islands, and southward. + +The dry hill-slopes about San Diego afford the most interesting field +accessible to civilization, _i.e._ within our boundaries, for the gathering +and study of the cacti. + +Nestling close to the ground, usually under some shrub or vine, you will +find the little fish-hook cactus, one of the prettiest and most interesting +of them all. Its oval form bristles with the little dark hooks, each of +which emanates from a flat star of whitish spines. + +The flowers may be found in April or May, but it is more noticeable when in +fruit. The handsome scarlet berries, like old-fashioned coral eardrops, +protruding from among the thorns, are easily picked out, and they very +naturally find their way to one's mouth. Nor is one disappointed in the +expectation raised by their brilliant exterior--for the flavor is +delicious, though I cannot say it resembles that of the strawberry, as some +aver. To me it is more like a fine tart apple. + + +THIMBLE-BERRY. + +_Rubus Nutkanus_, Mocino. Rose Family. + + _Stems._--Three to eight feet high. _Leaves._--Palmately and + nearly equally five-lobed; cordate at base; four to twelve + inches broad; the lobes acute; densely tomentose beneath. + _Flowers._--Few; clustered; white, sometimes pale rose; an inch + or two across, with rounded petals. _Stamens and + Pistils._--Numerous. _Fruit._--Large; red; "like an inverted + saucer;" sweet and rather dry. _Hab._--Monterey to Alaska. + +The thimble-berry is unequaled for the canopy of pure light-green foliage +which it spreads in our woods. It would take the clearest of water-colors +to portray its color and texture. The large white flowers, with their +crumpled petals, are deliciously fragrant, but with us are never followed +by an edible fruit, probably owing to the dryness of our summer climate. In +Oregon and northward the berries are said to be luscious. There the bushes +grow in the fir forests, where they seem most at home. + +_Rubus spectabilis_, Pursh., the salmon-berry, has leaves with three +leaflets, and large solitary, rose-colored flowers, which are followed by a +salmon-colored berry. These shrubs are exceedingly beautiful when in full +bloom. + + +COMMON WILD PEA. + +_Lathyrus vestitus_, Nutt. Pea Family. + + _Stems._--One to ten feet high; slender; not winged. + _Leaves._--Alternate; with small semi-sagittate stipules; + pinnate, with four to six pairs of leaflets; tendril-bearing at + the summit. _Leaflets._--Ovate-oblong to linear; six to twelve + lines long; acute. _Flowers._--White, pale rose or violet; + seven to ten lines long. _Lower Calyx-teeth._--About equaling + the tube. _Corolla._--Papilionaceous; the standard veined with + purple in the center. _Stamens._--Nine united; one free. + _Ovary._--Flattened; pubescent. Style hairy down the inner + side. (See _Leguminosae_.) _Hab._--Sonoma County to San Diego. + +The genus _Lathyrus_, which contains the beautiful sweet pea of the garden, +affords us several handsome wild species, but most of them are difficult of +determination, and many of them are as yet much confused. This genus is +quite closely related to _Vicia_, but, in general, the leaflets are +broader, the flowers are larger, and the style is hairy down the inner side +as well as at the tip. + +_Lathyrus vestitus_ is the common wild pea of the south. It is quite +plentiful, and clambers over and under shrubs, hanging out its occasional +clusters of rather large pale flowers. + +_L. Torreyi_, Gray, found from Santa Clara County to Napa in dry woods, is +a slender plant, having from one to three small white or pinkish flowers. +It is remarkable for and easily distinguished by its very fragrant +foliage. + + +WILD CUCUMBER. BIG-ROOT. CHILICOTHE. + +_Echinocystis fabacea_, Naudin. Gourd Family. + + Tendril-bearing vines, ten to thirty feet long. + _Root._--Enormous; woody. _Leaves._--Palmately five- to + seven-lobed; three to six inches broad. _Flowers._--Yellowish + white; monoecious. _Calyx-tube._--Campanulate; teeth small or + none. _Corolla._--Five- to seven-lobed; three to six lines + across. _Staminate Flowers._--Five to twenty in racemes; their + stamens two and a half, with short connate filaments and + somewhat horizontal anthers. _Pistillate Flowers._--Solitary; + from the same axils as the racemes. _Ovary._--Two- to + four-celled. _Fruit._--Two inches long; prickly. + _Syn._--_Megarrhiza Californica_, Torr. _Hab._--Near the coast, + from San Diego to Point Reyes. + +The wild cucumber is one of our most graceful native vines. It drapes many +an unsightly stump, or clambers up into shrubs, embowering them with its +pretty foliage. Seeing its rather delicate ivy-like habit above ground, one +would never dream that it came from a root as large as a man's body, buried +deep in the earth. From this root, it has received two of its common names, +"big-root" and "man-in-the-ground." Sometimes this may be seen upon the +ocean beach or rolling about in the breakers, where it has been liberated +by the wearing away of the cliffs. It is intensely bitter. + +The seeds have a very interesting method of germinating. The two large +radical leaves remain underground, sending up the terminal shoot only. They +are so tender and succulent that they would be eaten forthwith, if they +showed themselves above the ground. An oil expressed from the roasted seeds +has been used by the Indians to promote the growth of the hair. + +Authorities have differed about the classification of these plants, and +they have been variously called _Megarrhiza, Micrampelis_, and +_Echinocystis_, the latter being latest approved. We have several species. +One common in the South is _E. macrocarpa_, Greene. This has a large oval, +prickly ball, four inches or so long. When mature, this opens at the top, +splitting into several segments, which gradually roll downward, like the +petals of a beautiful white lily, showing their pure-white inner surfaces +and leaving exposed the four cells in the center, with lacelike walls, in +which nestle the large, handsome dark seeds. These seeds are often +beautifully mottled and colored, and in the early days served the +Spanish-Californian children for marbles. + +[Illustration _WILD CUCUMBER--Echinocystis fabacea._] + + +WHITE LAYIA. WHITE DAISY. + +_Layia glandulosa_, Hook. and Arn. Composite Family. + + _Stems._--Six to twelve inches high; loosely branching; hairy; + often reddish. _Leaves._--Sessile; linear; the upper all small + and entire; the lower often lanceolate and incised pinnatifid. + _Heads._--Usually large and showy. _Ray-flowers._--Bright, pure + white, sometimes rose-color; eight to thirteen; three-lobed; an + inch or less long; six lines wide. _Disk-flowers._--Golden + yellow; five-toothed. Each scale of the involucre clasping a + ray-flower. _Hab._--Columbia River to Los Angeles. + +These white daisies, as they are commonly called in the south, cover the +fields and plains in early spring, jostling one another in friendly +proximity and stretching away in an endless perspective. They are of a +charming purity, and to me are more attractive than their sisters, the +tidy-tips. + +They love a sandy soil, and I have seen them flourishing in the +disintegrated granite of old river-beds, where the dazzling whiteness of +the stones was hardly distinguishable from the blossoms. The involucre is +thickly studded with curious little glands, resembling small glass-headed +pins. + + +BED-STRAW. GOOSE-GRASS. CLEAVERS. + +_Galium Aparine_, L. Madder Family. + + Climbing by the prickly stem-angles and leaf-margins. + _Stems._--Weak; one to four feet long. _Leaves._--In whorls of + six to eight; linear oblanceolate; one inch long. + _Peduncles._--Elongated; one- to two-flowered. + _Flowers._--Minute; one line across; greenish-white. + _Calyx-tube._--Adnate to the ovary; limb obsolete. + _Corolla._--Mostly four-cleft. _Stamens._--Four. + _Ovary._--Two-lobed, two-celled. Styles two, short. Stigmas, + capitate. _Fruit._--Two or three lines across, covered with + hooked bristles. _Hab._--Throughout the State. + +All through our moist woodlands, in early spring, the long stems of the +bed-straw may be found, running about upon the ground or entangled amid the +stems of other plants. The angles of these weak stems and the leaf-margins +and midribs are all clothed with small backward-pointing bristles, which +make the plants cling to surrounding objects. The flowers are greenish and +minute, and are followed by tiny prickly balls. + +A cold infusion of this little plant is used as a domestic remedy in cases +of fever, where a cooling drink is desired. + +The genus has received the common name of "bed-straw," because it was +supposed that one of the species, _G. verum_, filled the manger in which +was laid the Infant Jesus. There are a dozen or so species in California. + +Very conspicuous all through the south is _G. angustifolium_, Nutt., often +three feet high, sending up very numerous slender, feathery stems from a +woody base. This has its small leaves in whorls of four. + + +MOUNTAIN HEART'S-EASE. + +_Viola Beckwithii_, Torr. and Gray. Violet Family. + + _Leaves._--Broadly cordate in outline; three-parted; the + divisions cleft into linear or oblong segments. + _Peduncles._--About equaling the leaves. _Petals._--Four to + seven lines long; very broad; the upper deep purple, the others + lilac, bluish, or white, veined with purple, with a yellowish + base; the lateral bearded; the lowest emarginate. + _Stigma._--Bearded at the sides. _Capsule._--Obtuse. (Otherwise + as _V. pedunculata_.) _Hab._--The Central Sierras. + + "By scattered rocks and turbid waters shifting, + By furrowed glade and dell, + To feverish men thy calm, sweet face uplifting, + Thou stayest them to tell + + "The delicate thought that cannot find expression-- + For ruder speech too fair,-- + That, like thy petals, trembles in possession, + And scatters on the air." + +The poet, with a delicate insight, has made this mountain flower the +reminder to the rugged miner of home and scenes far away. But the vision +lasts but for a moment only; then, as he brushes away a tear, his uplifted +pick-- + + "Through root and fiber cleaves-- + And on the muddy current slowly drifting + Are swept thy bruised leaves. + + "And yet, O poet! in thy homely fashion, + Thy work thou dost fulfill; + For on the turbid current of his passion + Thy face is shining still." + + +POP-CORN FLOWER. + +WHITE FORGET-ME-NOT. NIEVITAS. + +Borage Family. + +The wild white forget-me-nots are among our most welcome flowers. Though +not showy, taken singly, they often cover the fields, presenting the +appearance of a light snowfall, from which fact the Spanish-Californians +have bestowed the pretty name "nievitas," the diminutive of _nieve_, snow. + +Their chief charm often lies in their pure, delightful fragrance, which +recalls the days of our careless, happy childhood. Children are keen +observers of flowers, and are among their most appreciative lovers, and +with them these modest, chaste little blossoms are special favorites. + +There are many species, and even genera, and their determination is beset +with serious difficulties. It requires endless study and patience to +disentangle the facts about any one of them. They are comprised under +several genera, _Krynitzkia_, _Plagiobothrys_, _Eritrichium_, _Piptocalyx_, +etc. Some have fragrant flowers and some have not. Children of the south +call them "pop-corn flowers." + +[Illustration WHITE FORGET-ME-NOT.] + + +WHIPPLEA. + +_Whipplea modesta_, Torr. Saxifrage Family. + + Slender, diffuse, hairy undershrubs. _Leaves._--Opposite; + short-petioled; ovate; toothed or entire; an inch or less long; + three-nerved. _Flowers._--White; barely three lines across; in + small terminal clusters. _Calyx._--White; five-cleft. + _Petals._--Five. _Stamens._--Usually ten. Filaments awl-shaped. + _Ovary._--Three- to five-celled, globose. Styles of the same + number. _Hab._--Coast Ranges from Monterey to Mendocino County. + +Under the redwoods, or in moist canyons in their vicinity, may be found this +pretty undershrub trailing over banks or brushwood. In April its exquisite +little clusters of pure white flowers, with a pleasant fragrance, make +their appearance, and the plants have then been sometimes mistaken for a +species of _Ceanothus_. + + +WOODLAND STAR OF BETHLEHEM. + +_Tellima affinis_, Bolander. Saxifrage Family. + + _Stems._--Slender; six to twenty inches high. + _Root-leaves._--Round-reniform; scalloped; rarely an inch + across. _Stem-leaves._--Three to five; ternately cleft; + variously toothed. _Flowers._--White; in a loose raceme; nine + lines across. _Calyx._--Small; campanulate; five-toothed. + _Petals._--Five; wedge-shaped, with three acute lobes. + _Stamens._--Ten. Filaments very short. _Ovary._--One-celled. + Styles, three, short, stout. Stigmas, capitate. _Hab._--Shady + places almost throughout the State. + +"Star of Bethlehem" is the common name by which many of our children know +this fragile flower. Its slender stems rise from many a mossy bank, +upbearing their few delicately slashed, pure-white stars, which seem to +shed a gentle radiance about them upon the woodland scene. + +[Illustration WHIPPLEA--_Whipplea modesta._] + + +WILD BUCKWHEAT. + +_Eriogonum fasciculatum_, Bentham. Buckwheat Family. + + Shrubby; very leafy. _Leaves._--Alternate; nearly sessile; + narrowly oblanceolate; acute; tomentose beneath; glabrous + above; three to nine lines long; much fascicled. + _Flowers._--White or pinkish; in densely crowded compound + clusters; several perianths contained in the involucres. + _Involucres._--Campanulate; five- or six-nerved and toothed; two + lines high. _Perianth._--Minute; of six nearly equal segments. + (See _Eriogonum umbellatum_.) _Hab._--Santa Barbara and + southward; east to Arizona. + +The wild buckwheat is a characteristic feature of the southern landscape. +It is a charming plant when in full bloom, and its feathery clusters of +pinkish-white flowers show finely against the warm olive tones of its +foliage. It is a very important honey plant, as it yields an exceptionally +pure nectar and remains in bloom a long time. Growing near the sea, it is +often close-cropped and shorn by the wind, and then it quite closely +resembles the _Adenostoma_, or chamisal. + +Another very widely distributed and common species is _E. nudum_, Dougl. +Every one is familiar with its tall, green, naked, rushlike stems, bearing +on the ends of the branchlets the small balls of white or pinkish flowers. +Its leaves are all radical, smooth green above and densely white-woolly +beneath. + + +SIERRA PLUM. WILD PLUM. + +_Prunus subcordata_, Benth. Rose Family. + + Trees or shrubs three to ten feet high, with ash-gray bark and + branchlets occasionally spinescent. _Leaves._--Short-petioled; + ovate; sharply and finely serrate; an inch or two long. + _Umbels._--Two- to four-flowered. Pedicels three to six lines + long. _Flowers._--White; six lines across. _Fruit._--Red or + purple; six to fifteen lines long; fleshy; smooth. (Otherwise + as _P. ilicifolia_.) _Hab._--Mostly eastward of the Central + Valley, from San Felipe into Oregon. + +The wild plum reaches its greatest perfection in the north, where the +shrubs are found in extensive groves covering whole mountain slopes. + +[Illustration WILD BUCKWHEAT--_Eriogonum fasciculatum._] + +The flowers, which are produced before the leaves, from March to May, are +white, fading to rose-color. By August and September, the bushes are +loaded with the handsome fruit, richly mottled with red, yellow, and +purple; and these colors are duplicated in the autumn foliage, which in the +North becomes very brilliant. + +This fruit is excellent for canning, preserving, and making into jelly. +Many families make annual pilgrimages to these wild-plum orchards of the +mountains and carry away bushels of the fruit; but even then countless tons +of it go to waste. + +_P. demissa_, Walpers,--the wild cherry or choke-cherry,--is found upon +mountains throughout the State, but less abundantly near the coast. Its +small white flowers grow in racemes three or four inches long, and these +ripen into the pretty shining black cherries, half an inch in diameter. It +often covers acres upon acres of rough land, and commences to bear when but +two feet high. + +Housewives of our mountain districts make a marmalade of the fruit, which +has a peculiarly delicious, tart flavor. + + +ELLISIA. + +_Ellisia chrysanthemifolia_, Benth. Baby-eyes or Waterleaf Family. + + More or less hairy. _Stems._--Loosely branching; a foot or so + high. _Leaves._--Mostly opposite; auricled at base; twice- or + thrice-parted into many short, small lobes. _Flowers._--In + loose racemes; white; three lines or so across. + _Calyx._--Five-cleft; without appendages at the sinuses; almost + equaling the corolla. _Corolla._--Open-campanulate; having ten + minute scales at base within. _Stamens._--Five. + _Ovary._--One-celled; globose. Style slender; two-cleft. + _Hab._--San Francisco to San Diego. + +These little plants, with delicately dissected leaves, are common in moist, +shaded localities; but, unfortunately, their foliage has a very strong +odor, which just escapes being agreeable. Their general aspect is somewhat +similar to that of some of the small species of _Nemophila_; but the lack +of appendages upon the calyx reveals their separate identity. It blooms +freely from March to June, and is especially abundant southward. + + +MADRONO. MADRONE. + +_Arbutus Menziesii_, Pursh. Heath Family. + + Shrubs or trees. _Leaves._--Alternate; petioled; oblong; entire + or serrulate; four inches or so long. _Flowers._--White; waxen; + in large clusters. _Calyx._--Five-cleft; minute; white. + _Corolla._--Broadly urn-shaped; three lines long; with five + minute, recurved teeth. _Stamens._--Ten; on the corolla. + Filaments dilated; bearded. Anthers two-celled; saccate; + opening terminally; furnished with a pair of reflexed horns + near the summit. _Ovary._--Five-celled. Style rather long. + _Fruit._--A cluster of scarlet-orange berries, with rough + granular coats. _Hab._--Puget Sound to Mexico and Texas; + specially in the Coast Ranges. + + Captain of the Western wood, + Thou that apest Robin Hood! + Green above thy scarlet hose, + How thy velvet mantle shows; + Never tree like thee arrayed, + O thou gallant of the glade! + + When the fervid August sun + Scorches all it looks upon, + And the balsam of the pine + Drips from stem to needle fine, + Round thy compact shade arranged, + Not a leaf of thee is changed! + + When the yellow autumn sun + Saddens all it looks upon, + Spreads its sackcloth on the hills, + Strews its ashes in the rills, + Thou thy scarlet hose dost doff, + And in limbs of purest buff + Challengest the somber glade + For a sylvan masquerade. + + Where, oh where shall he begin + Who would paint thee, Harlequin? + With thy waxen, burnished leaf, + With thy branches' red relief, + With thy poly-tinted fruit, + In thy spring or autumn suit,-- + Where begin, and oh, where end,-- + Thou whose charms all art transcend? + + --BRET HARTE. + +The name "madrono" was applied by the early Spanish-Californians to this +tree because of its strong resemblance and close relationship to the +_Arbutus unido_, or strawberry-tree of the Mediterranean countries, which +was called madrono in Spain. + +Our madrono, though but a large shrub in the south, increases in size +northward, and reaches its maximum development in Marin County, where there +are some superb specimens of it. One tree upon the shores of Lake Lagunitas +measures more than twenty-three feet in circumference and a hundred feet in +height, and sends out many large branches, each two or three feet in +diameter. + +A large part of the forest growth on the northern slopes of Mt. Tamalpais +is composed of it; and as it is an evergreen, it forms a mountain wall of +delightful and refreshing green the year around. The bark on the younger +limbs, which is of a rich Indian red, begins to peel off in thin layers +about midsummer, leaving a clear, smooth, greenish-buff surface, and +strewing the forest floor with its warm shreds, which mingling with the +exquisite tones of its ripened leaves, which have fallen at about the same +time, make a carpet equal in beauty of coloring to that under the English +beeches. It is thoroughly patrician in all its parts. The leaves which are +clustered at the ends of the slender twigs are rich, polished green above, +and somewhat paler beneath. + +In the spring it puts forth great panicles of small, white, waxen bells, +which call the bees to a sybaritic feast, and in the autumn it spreads a no +less inviting repast in its great clusters of fine scarlet berries for the +blue pigeons who visit it in large flocks. + +The wood of the madrone is hard and close-grained, of a light brown, shaded +with red, with lighter-colored sap-wood. It is used in the manufacture of +furniture, but is particularly valuable for the making of charcoal to be +used in the composition of gunpowder. The bark is sometimes used in tanning +leather. + + +WILD WHITE LILAC. + +_Ceanothus velutinus_, Dougl. Buckthorn Family. + + Widely branching shrubs, two to six feet or more high. + _Leaves._--Alternate; petioled; roundish, or broadly ovate; + eighteen lines to three inches long; polished, resinous above; + somewhat pubescent beneath; strongly three-nerved. + _Flowers._--White; three lines across; in large, dense, + compound clusters four or five inches long and wide. (See + _Ceanothus_ for flower structure.) _Hab._--Coast Ranges; + Columbia River, southward to San Francisco Bay; also eastward + to Colorado. + +Its ample bright-green, highly varnished leaves and large white +flower-clusters make this a very beautiful species of _Ceanothus_. The +foliage is glutinous with a gummy exudation, which has a rather +disagreeable odor. Yet the shrub would be very handsome in cultivation. + + +WHITE NEMOPHILA. + +_Nemophila atomaria_, Fisch. and Mey. Baby-eyes or Waterleaf Family. + + _Corolla._--Pure white, closely dark-dotted nearly to the edge; + an inch or less across; densely hairy within the tube. Scales + of the corolla narrow, with long hairs. (Otherwise as _N. + insignis_.) _Hab._--Central California. + +This delicate _Nemophila_ haunts wet, springy places among the hills, and +is at its best in early spring. There are a number of small-flowered forms +of _Nemophila_ which have been hitherto referred to _N. parviflora_, but +which the future will probably prove to constitute a number of species. + +_N. maculata_, Benth., found in Middle California and the High Sierras, is +a charming form, with large flowers, whose petals bear strong violet +blotches at the top. + + +RATTLE-WEED. LOCO-WEED. + +_Astragalus leucopsis_, Torr. and Gray. Pea Family. + + _Stems._--A foot or so high. _Leaflets._--In many pairs; six + lines or more long. _Flowers._--Greenish-white; six lines long; + in spikelike racemes an inch or two long. _Calyx._--With teeth + more than half the length of the campanulate-tube. + _Pod._--Thin; bladdery-inflated; an inch or more long, on a + smooth stalk twice or thrice the length of the calyx-tube. (See + Astragalus.) _Hab._--Santa Barbara to San Diego. + +These plants are very noticeable and quite pretty, with their pale foliage, +symmetrical leaves, and white flowers; but they are dreaded by the farmers +of the region of their growth, who aver that they are deadly loco-weeds. It +is said that native stock will not touch them; but animals brought from a +distance and unacquainted with them, eat them, with dreadful results of +loco. + +We have numerous species, all rather difficult of determination. + + +WILD MORNING-GLORY. + +_Convolvulus luteolus_, Gray. Morning-Glory Family. + + _Stems._--Twining and climbing twenty feet or more. + _Leaves._--Alternate; sagittate; two inches or so long; smooth. + _Peduncles._--Several-flowered; axillary, with two small + linear-lanceolate bracts a little below the flower. + _Flowers._--Cream-color or pinkish, sometimes deep rose. + _Sepals._--Five; without bracts immediately below them. + _Corolla._--Open funnel-form; eighteen lines long; not lobed or + angled. _Stamens._--Five. _Ovary._--Globose; two-celled or + imperfectly four-celled. Style filiform. Stigmas two. + _Hab._--Throughout California. + +I remember long stretches of mountain road where the wild morning-glory has +completely covered the unsightly shrubs charred by a previous year's fire, +flinging out its slender stems, lacing and interlacing them in airy +festoons, which are covered with the fragile flowers in greatest profusion. +In these tangles, the industrious spiders have hung their exquisite +geometrical webs, which catch the glittering water-drops in their meshes. +When the sun comes out after a dense, cool fog-bath on a summer morning, +nothing more charmingly fresh could be imagined than such a scene. + +[Illustration RATTLE-WEED--_Astragalus leucopsis._] + +The common morning-glory of the south--_C. occidentalis_, Gray--is very +similar to the above, but may be distinguished from it by the pair of +large, thin bracts immediately below the calyx and enveloping it. + +Another very pretty species is _C. villosus_, Gray. This is widely +distributed, but not very common. Its trailing stems and foliage are of a +velvety sage-gray throughout, and its small flowers of a yellowish +cream-color. The hastate leaves are shapely, and the whole plant is +charming when grown away from dust. + +The common European bindweed--_C. arvensis_, L.--is to the farmer a very +unwelcome little immigrant. In fields it becomes a serious pest; for the +more its roots are disturbed and broken up the better it thrives. But +despite its bad character, we cannot help admiring its pretty little white +funnels, which lift themselves so debonairly among the prostrate stems and +leaves. + +In medicine a tincture of the whole plant is valued for several uses. + + +WOOD-BALM. PITCHER-SAGE. + +_Sphacele calycina_, Benth. Mint Family. + + Woody at the base; two to five feet high; hairy or woolly. + _Leaves._--Two to four inches long. _Flowers._--Dull white or + purplish; an inch or more long; mostly solitary in the upper + axils. _Calyx._--Five-cleft. _Corolla._--Having a hairy ring at + base within. _Stamens._--Four, in two pairs. _Ovary._--Of four + seedlike nutlets. Style filiform. Stigma two-lobed. _Hab._--Dry + hills. San Francisco Bay, southward. + +The wood-balm is closely allied to the sages, which fact is betrayed by its +opposite, wrinkly, sage-scented leaves; but its flowers have quite a +different aspect. These are ample and cylindrical, with a five-lobed +border, one of the lobes being prolonged into somewhat of a lip. + +The generic name is from the Greek word meaning _sage_; and the specific +name, signifying _cuplike_, refers to the shape of the blossoms. + +The dwellers among our southern mountains, with that happy instinct +possessed by those who live close to the heart of nature, have aptly named +this "pitcher-sage." + +[Illustration PITCHER-SAGE--_Sphacele calycina._] + +After the flowers have passed away, the large inflated, light-green +calyxes, densely crowded upon the stems, become quite conspicuous. + + +YUCCA-PALM. TREE-YUCCA. JOSHUA-TREE. + +_Yucca arborescens_, Trelease. Lily Family. + + Scraggly trees; thirty, or forty feet high; with trunks one or + two feet in diameter. _Leaves._--Eight inches long; crowded; + rigid; spine-tipped; serrulate; the older ones reflexed and + sun-bleached, the younger ashy-green. _Flowers._--In sessile, + ovate panicles, terminating the branches. Panicles several + inches long. _Perianth._--Narrowly campanulate; eighteen to + thirty lines long. _Fruit._--Two or three inches long. + (Otherwise as _Y. Mohavensis_.) _Hab._--Southwestern Utah to + the Mojave Desert. + +The traveler crossing the Mojave Desert upon the railroad has his curiosity +violently aroused by certain fantastic tree forms that whirl by the car +windows. These are the curious Joshua-trees of the Mormons, which are +called in California tree-yucca or yucca-palm. A writer in "The Land of +Sunshine" thus aptly characterizes them: "Weird, twisted, demoniacal, the +yuccas remind me of those enchanted forests described by Dante, whose trees +were human creatures in torment. In twisted groups or standing isolated, +they may readily be imagined specters of the plains." + +Mr. Sargent tells us that, though found much to the eastward of our +borders, it abounds in the Mojave Desert, where it attains its largest size +and forms a belt of gaunt, straggling forest several miles in width along +the desert's western rim. + +Its flowers appear from March to May, but are not at all attractive, on +account of their soiled white color and disagreeable, fetid odor. "The +unopened panicles form conspicuous cones eight to ten inches long, covered +with closely overlapping white scales, often flushed with purple at the +apex." + +The seeds are gathered and used by the omnivorous Indians, who grind them +into meal, which they eat either raw or cooked as a mush. The wood +furnishes an excellent material for paper pulp, and some years ago an +English company established a mill at Ravenna, in Soledad Pass, for its +manufacture. It is said that several editions of a London journal were +printed upon it, but owing to the great cost of its manufacture, the +enterprise had to be abandoned. + +The light wood is put to many uses now, and in the curio bazaars of the +south it plays a conspicuous part, made into many small articles. By sawing +round and round the trunk of the tree, thin sheets of considerable size are +procured. A sepia reproduction of one of the old missions upon the +ivory-tinted ground of one of these combines sentiment and novelty in a +very pretty souvenir. Surgeons find these same sheets excellent for +splints, as they are unyielding in one direction and pliable in the other; +and orchardists wrap them around the bases of their trees to protect them +from the gnawing of rabbits. + + +COMMON ELDER. + +_Sambucus glauca_, Nutt. Honeysuckle Family. + + Shrubby or arborescent; often thirty feet high; with finely + fissured bark. _Leaves._--Opposite; petioled; pinnate. + _Leaflets._--Three to nine; lanceolate; acuminate; serrate; two + inches or so long; smooth. _Flowers._--Minute; two or three + lines across; in large, flat, five-branched cymes; white. + _Calyx._--Five-toothed. _Corolla._--Rotate; five-lobed. + _Stamens._--Five; alternate with the corolla lobes. + _Ovary._--Three- to five-celled. Stigmas of same number. + _Berries._--Small; dark blue, with a dense white bloom. + _Hab._--Throughout the State; common. + +The elder is one of our most widely distributed shrubs, and is a familiar +sight upon almost every open glade or plain. It is especially abundant in +the south. Its flower-clusters, made up of myriads of tiny cream-white +blossoms, make a showy but delicate and lacelike mat, while its berries are +beautiful and inviting. The bears are especially appreciative of these, and +we have sometimes seen their footprints leading along a lonely mountain +road to the elder-berry bushes. The fruit is prized by our housewives for +pies and preserves, and it would doubtless make as good wine as that of the +Eastern species. + +Among the Spanish-Californians the blossoms are known as "sauco" and are +regarded as an indispensable household remedy for colds. They are +administered in the form of a tea, which induces a profuse perspiration. +It is said that Dr. Boerhaave held the elder in such reverence for the +multitude of its virtues, that he always removed his hat when he passed it. + +In ancient times the elder was the subject of many strange superstitions. +In his interesting book, "The Folk-Lore of Plants," Mr. Thistleton Dyer +says that it was reputed to be possessed of magic power, and that any +baptized person whose eyes had been anointed with the green juice of its +inner bark could recognize witches anywhere. Owing to these magic +properties, it was often planted near dwellings to keep away evil spirits. +By making a magic circle and standing within it with elder-berries gathered +on St. John's Night, the mystic fern-seed could be secured which possessed +the strength of forty men and enabled one to walk invisible. This was one +of the trees suspected as having furnished wood for the Cross; and to this +day the English country people believe themselves safe from lightning when +standing under an elder, because lightning never strikes the tree of which +the Cross was made. + + +COULTER'S SNAPDRAGON. + +_Antirrhinum Coulterianum_, Benth. Figwort Family. + + _Stems._--Two to four feet high; smooth below. + _Leaves._--Linear to oval; distant. Tendril-shoots long and + slender, produced mostly below the flowers. _Flowers._--White + or violet; in densely crowded villous-pubescent spikes, two to + ten inches long. (Otherwise as _A. vagans_.) _Hab._--Santa + Barbara to San Diego. + +The flowers of this pretty snapdragon are usually white, and the lower lip, +with its great palate often dotted with dark color, takes up the major part +of the blossom. They are sometimes violet, however, when they much resemble +the flowers of the toad-flax, but are without their long spur. + +_A. Orcuttianum_, Gray, is a similar species, but more slender, with fewer +and smaller flowers, whose lower lip is not much larger than the upper, and +whose flower-spikes are disposed to have the tortile branchlets in their +midst. This is found near San Diego and southward. + + +HELIOTROPE. + +_Heliotropium Curassavicum_, L. Borage Family. + + Diffusely spreading; six to twelve inches high. + _Leaves._--Alternate; sessile; obovate to linear; an inch or + two long; succulent; glaucous. _Flowers._--Usually white, + sometimes lavender; in dense, usually two-forked spikes. + _Calyx._--Five-parted. _Corolla._--Salver-form; border + five-lobed, with plaited sinuses; three lines across. + _Stamens._--Five. Anthers sessile. _Ovary._--Of four seedlike + nutlets. Stigma umbrella-like. _Hab._--Widely distributed. + +This, the only species of true heliotrope common within our borders, is +widely distributed over the world. It affects the sand of the seashore or +saline soils of the interior. It is in no way an attractive plant, as +compared with our garden heliotrope, as its flowers have a washed-out look +and are not at all fragrant, while its pale stems and foliage lack color +and character. + +Its leaves, which contain a mucilaginous juice, are dried and reduced to +powder by the Spanish-Californians, who esteem them very highly as a cure +for the wounds of men and animals. They blow the dry powder into the wound. + + +HOREHOUND. + +_Marrubium vulgare_, Linn. Mint Family. + +The horehound has been introduced from Europe at various points along our +Coast, but it is now so abundant as to seem like an indigenous plant. It +has many white-woolly, square stems, and roundish, wrinkly opposite leaves, +covered beneath with matted, white-woolly hairs. Its small, white, +bilabiate flowers are crowded in the axils of the upper leaves so densely +as to appear like whorls. It may be known from the other members of the +Mint family by its campanulate calyx with ten strong, recurved teeth. + +This has long been used in medicine as a tonic, and is especially esteemed +by our Spanish-Californians as a remedy for colds and lung troubles. + + +WHITE EVENING PRIMROSE. + +_OEnothera Californica_, Watson. Evening-Primrose Family. + + Hoary pubescent, and more or less villous. _Stems._--A foot or + so high. _Leaves._--Oblanceolate or lanceolate; sinuately + toothed or irregularly pinnatifid; two to four inches long. + _Flowers._--White; turning to rose-color; two inches across. + _Ovary and Calyx-tube._--Over three inches long. + _Calyx-lobes._--One inch long; separate at the tips. (See + _OEnothera_ for flower-structure.) _Hab._--Central and Southern + California; especially about the San Bernardino region; not + plentiful. + +Perhaps the most beautiful of all our evening primroses is this charming +white species. Late in the afternoon the handsome silvery foliage begins to +show the great white, opening moons of the fragile blossoms. Their silken +texture, delicate fragrance, and chaste look make them paramount among +blossoms. + +It is a most interesting sight to watch the opening of one of the nodding +silvery buds. I sat down by one which had already uplifted its head. The +calyx-lobes had just commenced to part in the center, showing the white, +silken corolla tightly rolled within. It grew larger from moment to moment, +when suddenly the calyx-lobes parted with a jerk, and the petals, freed +from their bondage, quickly spread wider and wider, as though some spirit +within were forcing its way out, while one after another the calyx-lobes +were turned downward with a quick, decisive movement. It was a wonderful +exhibition of the power of motion in plants. I could now look within and +see a magical tangle of yellow anthers delicately draped with cobwebby +ropes of pollen. + +The stamens take a downward curve toward the lower petal. The anthers have +already opened their stores of golden pollen before the unfurling of the +buds, so that the somewhat sticky ropes are all ready to adhere to the +first moth who visits the flower in search of the delicious and abundant +nectar stored in the depths of the long calyx-tube. The day following their +opening the blossoms begin to turn to a delicate pink, and the calyx-lobes +have a fleshlike look. + +[Illustration WHITE EVENING PRIMROSE--_OEnothera Californica._] + + +EVENING SNOW. + +_Gilia dichotoma_, Benth. Phlox or Polemonium Family. + + Six inches to a foot high; erect; sparsely leaved. + _Leaves._--Opposite; mostly entire; filiform. + _Flowers._--Nearly sessile in the forks, or terminal. + _Calyx._--With cylindric tube five lines long; wholly white, + scarious, except the five filiform green ribs, continued into + needle-like lobes. _Corolla._--White; an inch or two across. + Anthers linear. _Hab._--Throughout the western part of the + State. + +This is one of the most showy of our gilias. Miss Eastwood writes of it: +"At about four o'clock in the afternoon _Gilia dichotoma_ begins to whiten +the hillside. Before expansion the flowers are hardly noticeable; the dull +pink of the edges, which are not covered in the convolute corolla, hides +their identity and makes the change which takes place when they unveil +their radiant faces to the setting sun the more startling. They intend to +watch all night and by sunset all are awake. In the morning they roll up +their petals again when daylight comes on, and when the sun is well up all +are asleep, tired out with the vigil of the night. The odor is most +sickening.... The same flower opens several times, and grows larger as it +grows older." + + +HEART'S-EASE. + +_Viola ocellata_, Torr. and Gray. Violet Family. + + _Stems._--Nearly erect; six to twelve inches high. + _Leaves._--Cordate; acutish; conspicuously crenate. + _Petals._--Five to seven lines long; the upper white within, + deep brown-purple without; the others white or yellowish, + veined with purple; the lateral with a purple spot near the + base and slightly bearded on the claw. (Flower structure as in + _V. pedunculata_.) _Hab._--Wooded districts from Monterey to + Mendocino County. + +This dainty little heart's-ease has nothing of the gay, joyous, +self-assertive look of our yellow pansy, but rather the shy, timid mien +belonging to all the creatures of the woodland. It ventures its pretty +blossoms in late spring and early summer. + + +ICE-PLANT. + +_Mesembryanthemum crystallinum_, L. Fig-Marigold Family. + + Procumbent, succulent plants, covered with minute, elongated, + glistening papillae. _Leaves._--Flat; ovate or spatulate; + undulate-margined; clasping. _Flowers._--White or rose-colored; + axillary; nearly sessile; rather small. _Calyx._--With + campanulate tube and usually five unequal lobes. + _Petals._--Linear; numerous. _Stamens._--Numerous. + _Ovary._--Two- to many-celled. Stigmas five. _Hab._--The Coast + and adjacent islands from Santa Barbara southward; also in the + Mojave Desert. + +The ice-plant spreads its broad, green leaves over the ground, often making +large rugs, which, when reddened by the approach of drouth and glistening +with small crystals, produce a charming effect. The flat leaves of this +plant are quite unexpectedly different from those of our other species of +_Mesembryanthemum_, which are usually cylindrical or triangular. The +leaf-stems and the calyx-tube, in particular, are beautifully jeweled with +the clear, glasslike incrustation. The flesh-pink or almost white flowers +resemble small sea-anemones, with their single row of tentacle-like petals +and hollow tube powdered with the little white anthers. + +The plant grows so abundantly in the fields of the southern seasides as to +be a dreadful pest to the farmer, and it is very disagreeable to walk +through, as it yields up the water of its crystals very readily, and this +is said to be of an alkaline quality, which is ruinous to shoe-leather. + +This ice-plant grows plentifully in the chalky regions of France, and has +there been recommended for use as a food, to be prepared like spinach. It +also grows in the Canary Islands. + + +SQUAW-GRASS. SOUR-GRASS. TURKEY-BEARD. + +_Xerophyllum tenax_, Nutt. Lily Family. + + _Radical leaves._--Very numerous; two or three feet long; about + two lines broad; gracefully flexile; serrulate. _Scape._--Two + to five feet high; with scattered leaves; bearing at top a + dense raceme a foot or two long. _Perianth segments._--Six; + spreading rotately; four or five lines long; white. + _Stamens._--Six. _Ovary._--Three-celled. Styles three; + filiform. _Hab._--Coast Ranges to British Columbia; also in the + Northern Sierras. + +Often upon high ridges we notice the large clumps of certain plants with +long, slender, grasslike leaves, which ray out in every direction like a +fountain, and resemble a small pampas-grass before it flowers. We naturally +wonder what the plants are, but it may be many years before our curiosity +is satisfied. Suddenly some spring we find them sending up tall +blossom-shafts, crowned with great airy plumes of pure-white flowers, fully +worthy of our long and patient waiting. After putting forth this supreme +effort of a lifetime, and maturing its seed, the plant dies. + +In the north, where it is sometimes very abundant, and occupies extensive +meadows, it is known as "sour-grass." The name "squaw-grass" is also +applied there, because the leaves, which are long, wiry, and tough, are +used by the Indians in the weaving of some of their finest baskets. Baskets +made from them are particularly pliable and durable. + + +WHITE OWL'S CLOVER. + +_Orthocarpus versicolor_, Greene. Figwort Family. + + Slender; seldom branching or more than six inches high. Herbage + slightly reddish. _Leaves._--Cleft into filiform divisions at + the apex. _Flowers._--Pure white, fading pinkish; very + fragrant. Lower lip of the corolla with three very large sacs. + Folds of the throat densely bearded. (See _Orthocarpus_.) + _Hab._--San Francisco and Marin County. + +During the spring the meadows about San Francisco are luxuriantly covered +with the pretty blossoms of the owl's clover, which make snowy patches in +some places. Unlike the other species of _Orthocarpus_, this has +delightfully fragrant blossoms. + +I do not know why this plant should be accredited to the owl and called +clover, unless the quizzical-looking little blossoms are suggestive of the +wise bird. But with all his wisdom, I doubt if he would recognize his +clover. + +[Illustration WHITE OWL'S CLOVER--_Orthocarpus versicolor._] + + +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 canyon-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." + + +TOLGUACHA. LARGE-FLOWERED DATURA. + +_Datura meteloides_, DC. Nightshade Family. + + _Hab._--Southern California, and northward--at least to + Stockton. + +The large-flowered Datura is a common plant along southern roadsides, +producing in early May its enormous white or violet-tinged funnels, which +are sometimes ten inches long. It resembles the common Jamestown-weed, of +which it is a near relative, but may be distinguished by its large flower +and its cylindrical calyx, which is not angled. It shares with the +Jamestown-weed its narcotic poisonous qualities, and is a famous plant +among our Indians. Dr. Palmer writes that they bruise and boil the root in +water, and when the infusion thus made is cold, they drink it to produce a +stupefying effect. In a different degree they administer it to their young +dancing women as a powerful stimulant, and before going into battle the +warriors take it to produce a martial frenzy in themselves. + +[Illustration HAIRBELL--_Calochortus albus._] + +By the Piutes it is called "main-oph-weep." The specific name, +_meteloides_, indicates the resemblance of this plant to _Datura Metel_, of +India. + + +YERBA SANTA. MOUNTAIN BALM. + + _Eriodictyon glutinosum_, Benth. Baby-eyes or Waterleaf Family. + + Shrubby; three to five feet high. _Leaves._--Thick; glutinous; + smooth above; light beneath, with prominent net-veining; three + to six inches long. _Flowers._--Purple, violet, or white. + _Calyx._--Five-parted. _Corolla._--Six lines long; four lines + across. _Stamens._--Five; alternate with the corolla-lobes. + _Ovary._--Two-celled. Styles two. _Hab._--Western California; + common on dry hills. + +The bitter, aromatic leaves of the yerba santa are a highly valued, +domestic remedy for colds, and many old-fashioned people would not be +without it. + +Dr. Bard, one of our most eminent physicians, writes of this interesting +little shrub: "It has been reserved for the Californian Indian to furnish +three of the most valuable vegetable additions which have been made to the +pharmacopoeia during the last twenty years. One, the _Eriodictyon +glutinosum_, growing profusely in our foothills, was used by them in +affections of the respiratory tract, and its worth was so appreciated by +the missionaries that they named it yerba santa, or holy plant." + +The other plants referred to by Dr. Bard are the _Rhamnus_, or _Cascara +sagrada_, and the _Grindelia_. In the mountains of Mariposa County, it is +known as "wild peach," probably because the leaf somewhat resembles the +peach-leaf. + +Dr. Behr writes that considerable quantities of it are exported, partly for +medicinal purposes, and partly as a harmless and agreeable substitute for +hops in the brewing of certain varieties of beer, especially porter. + +In Ventura County this passes by insensible gradations into _E. +tomentosum_, Benth., and there it is difficult to distinguish clearly +between the two species. + +[Illustration YERBA SANTA--_Eriodictyon glutinosum._] + +_E. tomentosum_, Benth., is found from San Diego probably to Santa Barbara. +This comely shrub is so disguised in its woolly coat that one does not at +first detect its close relationship to the more common yerba santa. Its +broad, oval leaves, ribbed like the chestnut and closely notched, and its +generous clusters of unusually large violet flowers, serve to bewilder us +for the moment. The wool upon the foliage gives it a gray-green tone, +harmonizing perfectly with the violet flowers. It is specially abundant all +over the mesas by the seashore, near San Diego. + + +ALUM-ROOT. + +_Heuchera micrantha_, Dougl. Saxifrage Family. + + _Rootstock._--Stout. _Leaves._--All radical; two to four inches + long. Scapes.--Often two feet high. _Flowers._--White; minute; + in loose panicles. _Calyx._--Five-toothed; one or two lines + long. _Petals._--Five; one line long; on the sinuses of the + calyx. _Stamens._--Five. _Ovary._--One-celled. Styles two. + _Hab._--Coast Ranges and Sierras from Monterey to British + Columbia. + +Upon almost any drive or walk along a shaded road, we may find the +alum-root hanging over a mossy bank. Its large, airy panicle is composed of +minute flowers, and appears in early summer. But it is more conspicuous for +its exquisite foliage than for its flowers. The leaves are usually mottled +in light green and richly veined in dark brown or red, and they often turn +to a rich red later in the season. + +The root is woody and astringent, to which latter fact the plant owes its +English name, which it shares with the other members of the genus. These +are very satisfactory plants to bring in from the woods, because they +remain beautiful in water for many weeks. + +[Illustration ALUM-ROOT--_Heuchera micrantha._] + + +CHAMISAL. CHAMISO. GREASEWOOD. + +_Adenostoma fasciculatum_, Hook. and Arn. Rose Family. + + Shrubs two to twenty feet high, with gray, shreddy bark and + reddish, slender branches. _Leaves._--Two to four lines long; + linear to awl-shaped; smooth; clustered. Stipules small; acute. + _Flowers._--White; two lines across; in terminal racemose + panicles. _Calyx._--Five-toothed; with bracts below resembling + another calyx; tube ten-ribbed. _Petals._--Five. + _Stamens._--Ten to fifteen; in clusters between the petals. + _Ovary._--One-celled. _Fruit._--A dry akene. _Hab._--Widely + distributed. + +The chamisal forms a large part of the chaparral of our mountain slopes, +and when not in bloom gives to them much the aspect imparted to the Scotch +Highlands by the heather. It is an evergreen shrub, with small clustered, +needle-like leaves. In late spring it is covered with large, feathery +panicles of tiny white blossoms, which show with particular effectiveness +against the rich olive of its foliage, and furnish the bees with valuable +honey material for a considerable season. When interspersed with shrubs of +livelier greens, it gives to our hill-slopes and mountain-sides a +wonderfully rich and varied character. In the summer of a season when it +has flowered freely, the cinnamon-colored seed-vessels blending with the +olives of the foliage lend a rich, warm bronze to whole hillsides, forming +a charming contrast to the straw tints and russets of grassy slopes, and +adding another to the many soft harmonies of our summer landscape. It is +most abundant in the Coast Ranges, where, in some localities, it covers +mile after mile of hill-slopes, with its close-cropped, uniform growth. + +When the chaparral, or dense shrubby growth of our mountain-sides, is +composed entirely of _Adenostoma_, it is called chamisal. + +Another species, _A. sparsifolium_, Torr., found in the south, and somewhat +resembling the above, may be known from it by its lack of stipules, its +scattered, not clustered leaves, which are obtuse and not pointed, and its +somewhat larger flowers, each one pediceled. + +This is commonly known among the Spanish-Californians as "Yerba del +Pasmo," literally the "herb of the convulsion," and among them and the +Indians it is a sovereign remedy for many ailments, being considered +excellent for colds, cramps, and snakebites, and an infallible cure for +tetanus, or lockjaw. The foliage fried in grease becomes a healing +ointment. + +The bark of this species is reddish and hangs in shreds. + + +HOLLY-LEAVED CHERRY. ISLAY. + +_Prunus ilicifolia_, Walp. Rose Family. + + Evergreen shrubs or small trees; eight to thirty feet high. + _Leaves._--Alternate; holly-like; an inch or two long. + _Flowers._--White; three lines across; in racemes eighteen + lines to three inches long. _Calyx._--Five-cleft. + _Petals._--Five; spreading. _Stamens._--Twelve to twenty-five. + _Ovary._--Solitary; one-celled. Style terminal. _Fruit._--A + dark red cherry, becoming black; six lines in diameter. + _Hab._--Coast Ranges, San Francisco into Lower California. + +The holly-leaved cherry is a very ornamental shrub, with its shining, +prickly evergreen leaves, and it is coming more and more into favor for +cultivation, especially as a hedge-shrub. In its natural state it attains +its greatest perfection in the mountains near Santa Barbara and southward. +On dry hills it is only a shrub, but in the rich soil of canyon bottoms it +becomes a tree. Some of the finest specimens are to be found in the gardens +of the old missions, where they have been growing probably a century. + +Dr. Behr tells us that the foliage, in withering, develops hydrocyanic +acid, the odor of which is quite perceptible. The leaves are then poisonous +to sheep and cattle. + +The shrubs are especially beautiful in spring, after they have made their +new growth of bright green at the ends of the branches, and put forth a +profusion of feathery bloom. The blossoms have the pleasant, bitter +fragrance of the cultivated cherry, and attract myriads of bees, who make +the region vocal with their busy hum. The fruit, which ripens from +September to December, is disappointing, owing to its very thin pulp, +though its astringent and acid flavor is not unpleasant. + +It was used by the aborigines as food, however, and made into an +intoxicating drink by fermentation. The meat of the stones ground and made +into balls constituted a delicate morsel with them. + + +YERBA BUENA. + +_Micromeria Douglasii_, Benth. Mint Family. + + Aromatic trailing vines. _Stems._--Slender; one to four feet + long. _Leaves._--One inch long; round-ovate. + _Flowers._--Solitary; axillary; white or purplish. + _Calyx._--Five-toothed; two lines long. _Corolla._--Five lines + long; bilabiate. _Stamens._--Four; in pairs on the corolla. + _Ovary._--Of four seedlike nutlets. Style filiform. Stigma + unevenly two-lipped. _Hab._--Vancouver Island to Los Angeles + County. + +The yerba buena is as dear to the Californian as the Mayflower to the New +Englander, and is as intimately associated with the early traditions of +this Western land as is that delicate blossom with the stormy past of the +Pilgrim Fathers. Its delicious, aromatic perfume seems in some subtle way +to link those early days of the Padres with our own, and to call up visions +of the long, low, rambling mission buildings of adobe, with their +picturesque red-tiled roofs; the flocks and herds tended by gentle +shepherds in cowls; and the angelus sounding from those quaint belfries, +and vibrating in ever-widening circles over hill and vale. + +Before the coming of the Mission Fathers, the Indians used this little +herb, placing great faith in its medicinal virtues, so that the Padres +afterward bestowed upon it the name of "yerba buena"--"the good herb." It +is still used among our Spanish-Californians in the form of a tea, both as +a pleasant beverage and as a febrifuge, and also as a remedy for +indigestion and other disorders. + +They designate this as "Yerba Buena del Campo"--_i.e._ the wild or field +yerba buena,--to distinguish it from the "Yerba Buena del Poso"--"the herb +of the well,"--which is the common garden-mint growing in damp places. + +Aside from its associations and medicinal virtues, this is a charming +little plant. In half-shaded woods its long, graceful stems make a trailing +interlacement upon the ground and yield up their minty fragrance as we +pass. + +[Illustration YERBA BUENA--_Micromeria Douglasii_.] + + +MATILIJA POPPY. + +_Romneya Coulteri_, Harv. Poppy Family. + + _Stems._--Numerous; two to fifteen feet high. + _Leaves._--Alternate; petioled; the lower pinnatifid; the upper + pinnately cut into long narrow segments; glaucous; three to + five inches long; smooth. _Flowers._--Solitary; six to nine + inches across. _Sepals._--Three; strongly arched, covered with + bristly appressed hairs; caducous. _Petals._--Six; white. + _Stamens._--Very numerous. Filaments filiform; yellow, purple + below. _Ovary._--Seven- to eleven-celled. Stigmas several. + _Hab._--Santa Barbara to San Diego. + +The Matilija poppy (pronounced ma-til'li-ha) must be conceded the queen of +all our flowers. It is not a plant for small gardens, but the fitting +adornment of a large park, where it can have space and light and air to +rear its imperial stems and shake out its great diaphanous flowers. It is +one of the most wonderful of wild flowers, and it is difficult to believe +that nature, without the aid of a careful gardener, should have produced +such a miracle of loveliness. It is justly far-famed, and by English +gardeners, who now grow it successfully, it is regarded as a priceless +treasure, and people go from many miles around to see it when it blooms. It +is to be regretted that our flowers must go abroad to find their warmest +admirers. + +This plant was named in honor of Dr. Romney Robinson, a famous astronomer. +Its common name was given it because it grows in particular abundance in +the Matilija canyon, some miles above Ventura in the mountains. Many people +have the mistaken idea that it grows only in that region. It is not common, +by any means; but it is found in scattered localities from Santa Barbara +southward into Mexico. It is very abundant near Riverside, and also upon +the southern boundary and below in Lower California, where the plants cover +large areas. It not only grows in fertile valleys, but seeks the seclusion +of remote canyons, and nothing more magnificent could be imagined than a +steep canyon-side covered with the great bushy plants, thickly sown with the +enormous white flowers. + +The round buds (which, however, are sometimes pointed) are closely wrapped +in three overlapping hairy sepals. These gradually open, and at dawn the +buds unfurl their crumpled petals to the day, exhaling a pleasant +fragrance. The blossoms remain open for many days. + +[Illustration MATILIJA POPPY--_Romneya Coulteri_.] + +These plants have long been in use among the Indians of Lower California, +who esteem them highly for their medicinal qualities. The seeds require a +long period for germination, and they have been known to come at the end of +two years. The better method of propagation is from root-cuttings. + +The plant has been called "Mission poppy" and "Giant Californian white +poppy," but the pretty Indian name cannot be improved upon. + + +WHITE SAGE. GREASEWOOD. + +_Audibertia polystachya_, Benth. Mint Family. + + Shrubby, three to ten feet high; many-stemmed. + _Leaves._--Opposite; lanceolate; narrowing into a petiole; + several inches long. _Flowers._--White or pale lavender, in + loose panicles a foot or two long. _Calyx._--Tubular; + bilabiate. _Corolla._--About six lines long, with short tube + and bilabiate border. Upper lip small; erect. Lower lip + three-lobed; the middle lobe large. _Stamens._--Two; jointed. + _Ovary._--Of four seedlike nutlets. Style slender. Stigma + two-cleft. _Hab._--Santa Barbara to San Diego. + +The classic honey of Hymettus could not have been clearer or more wholesome +than that distilled by the bees from the white sage of Southern California, +which has become justly world-renowned. The plants cover extensive reaches +of valley and hill-slopes, and are often called "greasewood." + +Certain it is that the white stems have a very greasy, gummy feel and a +rank, aggressive odor. In spring the long, coarse, sparsely leafy branches +begin to rise from the woody base, often making the slopes silvery; and by +May these have fully developed their loose, narrow panicles of pale flowers +and yellowish buds. + +The structure of these blossoms is very interesting. The long, prominent +lower lip curves downward and upward and backward upon itself, like a +swan's neck, while the two stamens rising from its surface lift themselves +like two long horns, and the style curves downward. + +A bee arriving at this flower naturally brushes against the stigma, leaving +upon it some of the pollen gained from another flower. Then alighting upon +the lower lip, his weight bends it downward, and he grasps the stamens as +convenient handles, thus drawing the anthers toward his body, where the +pollen is dusted upon his coat as he probes beneath the closed upper lip +for the honey in the depths of the tube. The various sages of the south +have a very interesting way of hybridizing. + + +CASCARA SAGRADA. CALIFORNIA COFFEE. + +_Rhamnus Californica_, Esch. Buckthorn Family. + + _Shrubs._--Four to eighteen feet high. _Leaves._--Alternate; + elliptic to oblong; denticulate or entire; leathery; one to + four inches long; six to eighteen lines wide. + _Flowers._--Clustered; greenish white; small. + _Calyx._--Five-toothed. _Petals._--Five; minute; on the sinuses + of the calyx; each clasping a stamen. _Ovary._--Two- to + four-celled. Style short. _Fruit._--Berry-like; black; four to + six lines long; containing two or three nutlets, like + coffee-beans. _Hab._--Throughout California. + +Long before the advent of the Spanish, the medicinal virtues of this shrub +were known to the Indians, who used it as a remedy for rheumatism and, +according to Dr. Bard, to correct the effects of an acorn diet. The Mission +Fathers afterward came to appreciate its worth so highly that they bestowed +upon it the name _Cascara sagrada_, or the "sacred bark." Since those early +days the fame of it has spread the world around. No more valuable laxative +is known to the medical world to-day, and every year great quantities of it +are exported from our shores. Though the shrub is found as far south as San +Diego, the bark is not gathered in any quantity south of Monterey, as it +becomes too thin southward. The shrub goes under a variety of names, +according to the locality in which it is found. + +In Monterey County it is known as "yellow-boy" or "yellow-root," and in +Sonoma County it becomes "pigeon-berry," because the berry is a favorite +food of the wild pigeons, and lends to their flesh a bitter taste. + +Some years ago quite an excitement prevailed in the State when some +visionary persons believed they had found a perfect substitute for coffee +in the seeds of this shrub. To be sure, they do somewhat resemble the +coffee-bean in form, but the resemblance goes no further; for upon a +careful analysis they revealed none of the qualities of coffee, nor upon +roasting did they exhale its aroma. After much discussion of the matter and +the laying out in imagination of extensive, natural coffee-plantations upon +our wild hill-slopes, these hopeful people were destined to see their +project fall in ruins. + +This shrub is very variable, according to the locality where it grows. +Under shade, the leaves become herbaceous and ample, and as we go northward +that becomes the prevailing type, and is then called _R. Purshiana_, DC. It +is then often very large, having a trunk the size of a man's body. In +Oregon it is known as "chittemwood" and "bitter bark," and also as "wahoo" +and "bear-wood." The _var. tomentella_, Brew. and Wats., is densely +white-tomentose, especially on the under surfaces of the leaves. + + +EVERLASTING FLOWER. CUDWEED. LADY'S TOBACCO. + +_Gnaphalium decurrens_, Ives. Composite Family + + Viscid-glandular under the loose hairs. _Flower-heads._--In + densely crowded, flattish clusters. _Involucre._--Campanulate; + of very numerous, scarious, yellowish-white, oval scales. + (Otherwise similar to _Anaphalis Margaritacea_.) _Hab._--From + San Diego through Oregon. + +The common everlasting flower, or cudweed, is plentiful upon our dry hills, +blooming in early summer, where its white clusters are conspicuous objects +amid the drying vegetation. In our rural districts it is believed that +sleeping upon a pillow made of these flowers will cure catarrhal +affections. + +_G. Sprengelii_, Hook. and Arn., may be known from the above by its densely +gray, woolly herbage, which is not glandular-viscid. It is also common +throughout the State. + +The beautiful edelweiss of the Alps is a species of _Gnaphalium_, _G. +leontopodium_. + + +CALIFORNIAN BUCKEYE. CALIFORNIAN HORSE-CHESTNUT. + +_AEsculus Californica_, Nutt. Maple or Soapberry Family. + + Shrubs or trees ten to forty feet high. _Leaves._--Opposite; + petioled; with five palmate, stalked leaflets. + _Leaflets._--Oblong; acute; three to five inches long; + serrulate. _Flowers._--White; in a thyrse a foot long; many of + them imperfect. _Calyx._--Tubular; two-lobed. _Petals._--Four + or five; six lines or more long; unequal. _Stamens._--Five to + seven; exserted. Anthers buff. _Ovary._--Three-celled. + _Nuts._--One to three inches in diameter; usually one in the + pod. _Hab._--Coast Ranges of Middle California; also the Sierra + foothills. + +Our Californian buckeye is closely allied to the horse-chestnuts and +buckeyes of the eastern half of the continent. It is usually found upon +stream-banks or the side-walls of canyons, and reaches its greatest +perfection in the valleys of our central Coast Ranges. It usually branches +low into a number of clean, round, light-gray limbs, which widen out into a +broad, dense, rounded head. Its leaves are fully developed before the +flowers appear. When in full bloom, in May, it is considered one of the +most beautiful of all our American species. Its long, white flower-spikes, +sprinkled rather regularly over the green mound of foliage, are very +suggestive of a neat calico print. Early to come, the leaves are as early +to depart, and by midsummer the beautiful skeleton is often bare, its +interlacing twigs making a delicate network against the deep azure of the +sky. + +Though lavish in its production of flowers, usually but one or two of the +large cluster succeed in maturing fruit. By October and November the +leathery pods begin to yield up their big golden-brown nuts, which are +great favorites among the squirrels. The Indians are said to resort to +these nuts in times of famine. Before using them, they roast them a day or +two in the ground, to extract the poison. + +The inner wood of the root, after being kiln-cured for several weeks, +becomes very valuable to the cabinet-maker. It is then of an exquisite +mottled green, and when highly polished can hardly be distinguished from a +fine piece of onyx. + + +PUSSY'S-PAWS. + +_Spraguea umbellata_, Torr. Purslane Family. + + _Radical-leaves._--Spatulate or oblanceolate; six lines to four + inches long. _Stem-leaves._--Similar, but smaller, often + reduced to a few bracts. _Scapes._--Several; two to twelve + inches high. _Flowers._--In dense spikes. _Sepals._--Two; + orbicular; thin; papery; two to four lines across; whitish; + equaling the petals. _Petals._--Four; rose-color. + _Stamens._--Three. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style bifid. + _Hab._--The Sierras, from the Yosemite to British Columbia. + +Pussy's-paws is a very plentiful plant in the Sierras, usually growing upon +dry, rocky soil. It varies much in aspect, sometimes sending up a stout, +erect flower-scape, and again growing low and matlike with its prostrate +flower-stems radiating from the center. It blooms from early summer onward, +often almost covering the ground with its blossoms. The flower-clusters +grow in a bunch, much like the pink cushions on pussy's feet, whence the +pretty common name. + + +SPANISH BAYONET. OUR LORD'S CANDLE. + +_Yucca Whipplei_, Torr. Lily Family. + + Without a trunk. _Leaves._--All radical in a bristling + hemisphere; sword-like. _Flower-panicles._--Distaff-shaped; + three or more feet long; at the summit of a leafless bracteate + scape, ten or fifteen feet high. _Perianth._--Rotately + spreading; waxen-white (sometimes rich purple), often green- or + purple-nerved. _Filaments._--Clavate; pure white. Anthers + transverse; yellow. Style very thick; three-angled. Stigma + stalked; green; covered with tiny prominences. _Fruit._--A dry + capsule. (Structure otherwise as in _Y. Mohavensis_.) + _Hab._--Monterey to San Diego and eastward. + +In spring and early summer the chaparral-covered hillsides of Southern +California present a wonderful appearance when hundreds of these Spanish +bayonets are in bloom. From day to day the waxen tapers on the distant +slopes increase in height as the white bells climb the slender shafts. At +length each cluster reaches its perfection, and becomes a solid distaff of +sometimes two--yes, even six--thousand of the waxen blossoms! + +[Illustration PUSSY'S-PAWS--_Spraguea umbellata_.] + +A friend writing of them, once said: "Nearly every poetaster in the country +has sung the praises of the yellow poppies and the sweet little +_Nemophilas_, but not one, so far as I know, has ever written a stanza to +these grand white soldiers and their hundred swords." There is, indeed, +something glorious and warlike about them, as they marshal themselves to +the defense of our hillsides. + +This surpasses all known species in the height and beauty of its +flower-panicles; but, once the season of flowering and fruiting has been +consummated, its life mission is fulfilled, and the plant dies. The dead +stalks remain standing sometimes for years upon the mountain-sides. + +The seeds of this species, as well as those of the tree-yucca, are made +into flour by the Indians; and from the leaves they obtain a soft, white +fiber, which they use in making the linings of the coarse saddle-blankets +they weave from _Yucca Mohavensis_. The undeveloped flowering shoots they +consider a great delicacy, either raw or prepared as mescal. They gather +great numbers of the plants when just at the right stage, and strip off the +leaves, leaving round masses. These they prepare after the manner of a +clam-bake, and when the pile is pulled to pieces and the mescal is taken +out, it has a faint resemblance to a baked sweet apple, and is of about the +same consistency. The whole mass is a mixture of sweet, soft pulp and +coarse white fibers much like manilla rope-yarn. + + +RUBY LILY. CHAPARRAL LILY. REDWOOD LILY. + +_Lilium rubescens_, Wats. Lily Family. + +_Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from Marin County to Humboldt County. + +This is the most charming of all our Californian lilies, even surpassing in +loveliness the beautiful Washington lily; and it is said to be the most +fragrant of any in the world. It resembles the Washington lily; but its +flowers are fuller in form, with wider petals and shorter tube, and it has +a smaller bulb. It sends up a noble shaft, sometimes seven feet high, with +many scattered whorls of undulate leaves, and often bears at the summit as +many as twenty-five of the beautiful flowers. These are at first pure +white, dotted with purple, but they soon take on a metallic luster and +begin to turn to a delicate pink, which gradually deepens into a ruby +purple. Mr. Purdy mentions having seen a plant with a stalk nine feet high, +bearing thirty-six flowers. + +[Illustration RUBY LILY--_Lilium rubescens_.] + +The favorite haunts of this lily are high and inaccessible ridges, among +the chaparral, or under the live-oak or redwood. Comparatively few people +know of its existence, though living within a few miles of it, because they +rarely ever visit these out-of-the-way fastnesses of nature. + +Mr. Burroughs has somewhere said: "Genius is a specialty; it does not grow +in every soil, it skips the many and touches the few; and the gift of +perfume to a flower is a special grace, like genius or like beauty, and +never becomes common or cheap." Certainly these blossoms have been richly +endowed with this charming gift, and their delicious fragrance wafted by +the wind often betrays their presence upon a hillside when unsuspected +before, so that one skilled in woodcraft can often trace them by it. + + +THISTLE-POPPY. CHICALOTE. + +_Argemone platyceras_, Link and Otto. Poppy Family. + + _Stems._--One to two and one half feet high; hispid throughout, + or armed with rigid bristles or prickles. Sap yellow. + _Leaves._--Thistle-like; three to six inches long. + _Flowers._--White; two to four inches in diameter. + _Sepals._--Three; spinosely beaked. _Petals._--Four to six. + _Stamens._--Numerous. Filaments slender. _Ovary._--Oblong; + one-celled. Stigma three- or four-lobed. Capsule very prickly. + _Hab._--Dry hillsides from Central California southward. + +The thistle-poppy would be considered in any other country a surpassingly +beautiful flower, with its large diaphanous white petals and its thistly +gray-green foliage, but in California it must yield precedence to the +Matilija poppy. It resembles the latter very closely in its flower, and is +often mistaken for it. It may be known by its yellow juice, its prickly +foliage, and its very prickly capsules. I believe the flowers are somewhat +more cup-shaped than those of _Romneya_. + +It affects dry hill-slopes and valleys, often otherwise barren, where it +grows luxuriantly, and sometimes attains a height of six feet, being in +full bloom in May. There, where one is unprepared for such a sight, it +becomes an object of startling beauty. + + + * * * * * + +_Malacothrix saxatilis_, Torr. and Gray. Composite Family. + + _Stems._--Stout; a foot or two high; woody. + _Leaves._--Lanceolate to spatulate; one or two inches long; + entire or pinnatifid; somewhat succulent. + _Flower-heads._--Terminating the paniculate branches; large; + two inches or so across; white, changing to rose or lilac; of + ray-flowers only. _Involucre._--Campanulate or hemispherical; + six lines high, with many imbricated scales passing downward + into loose, awl-shaped bracts. _Hab._--The Coast, from Santa + Barbara southward. + +This beautiful plant is a dweller upon the ocean cliffs, and may be seen in +abundance from the car-windows just before the train reaches Santa Barbara +going north. The stems are woody and very leafy, and the plants are usually +covered all over the top with the showy flower-heads. + +_M. tenuifolia_, Torr. and Gray, is a very tall, slender, sparsely leafy +plant with fragile, airy white flowers. This is common along the dusty +roadsides of the south in early summer. + + +SALAL. WINTERGREEN. + +_Gaultheria Shallon_, Pursh. Heath Family. + + Shrubby, and one to three or more feet high or prostrate. + _Leaves._--Alternate; short-petioled; ovate to elliptical; + pointed; two to four inches long; leathery; bristle-toothed + when young; evergreen. _Flowers._--Manzanita-like; slenderer; + glandular-viscid; white or pinkish. _Ovary._--Five-celled. + Style single. _Fruit._--Black; berry-like; aromatic; edible. + (Otherwise like _Arctostaphylos Manzanita_.) _Hab._--Coast + woods, from Santa Barbara County to British Columbia. + +The floor of the redwood forest in our northern coast counties is often +carpeted with this little undershrub, while in other places one can wade +waist-deep in it. It grows much larger north of us, and upon Vancouver +Island it forms dense, impenetrable thickets. Its dark-purple berries have +a very agreeable flavor, and form an important article of diet among the +Oregon Indians, who call them "salal." + + +CALIFORNIAN SPIKENARD. + +_Aralia Californica_, Wats. Ginseng Family. + + _Root._--Thick; aromatic. _Stems._--Eight to ten feet high. + _Leaves._--Bipinnate; or the upper pinnate, with one or two + pairs of leaflets. _Leaflets._--Cordate-ovate; four to eight + inches long; serrate. _Flowers._--White; two lines long; in + globular umbels, arranged in loose panicles a foot or two long. + Pedicels four to six lines long. _Calyx._--Five-toothed or + entire. _Petals and Stamens._--Five. _Ovary._--Two- to + five-celled. Styles united to the middle. _Fruit._--A purple + berry. _Hab._--Widely distributed; on stream-banks. + +In moist, cool ravines, where the sun only slants athwart the branches and +a certain dankness always lingers, the Californian spikenard scents the air +with its peculiar odor. It closely resembles _A. racemosa_ of the Eastern +States, but it is a larger, coarser plant in every way. It throws up its +tall stems with a fine confidence that there will be ample space for its +large leaves to spread themselves uncrowded. Its feathery panicles of white +flowers are followed by clusters of small purple berries, and are rather +more delicate than we should expect from so large a plant. + + +YERBA MANSA. + +_Anemopsis Californica_, Hook. Yerba Mansa Family. + + Rootstock creeping. _Radical-leaves._--Long-petioled; elliptic + oblong; two to ten inches long. _Stems._--Six inches to two + feet high. _Flowers._--Without sepals and petals, sunk in a + conical spike; six to eighteen lines long; a small white bract + under each flower. _Spikes._--Subtended by from five to eight + white petal-like bracts, six to fifteen lines long. + _Stamens._--Three to eight. _Ovary._--Apparently one-celled. + Stigmas one to five. _Hab._--Southern to Central California. + +Just as the fervid glow of the sun is beginning to transform the green of +our southern hill-slopes to soft browns, the still vividly green lowland +meadows suddenly bring forth myriads of white stars, which in their green +setting become grateful resting-points for the eye. These are the blossoms +of the famous _Yerba Mansa_ of the Spanish-Californians. Among these people +the plant is an infallible remedy for many disorders, and so highly do they +prize it, that they often travel or send long distances for it. + +[Illustration YERBA MANSA--_Anemopsis Californica_.] + +The aromatic root, which has a strong, peppery taste, is very astringent, +and when made into a tea or a powder, is applied with excellent results to +cuts and sores. The tea is also taken as a blood-purifier; and the plant, +in the form of a wash or poultice, is used for rheumatism, while the wilted +leaves are said to reduce swellings. In the medical world it is beginning +to be used in diseases of the mucous membrane. + + +SHEPHERD'S PURSE. + +_Capsella Bursa-pastoris_, Medic. Mustard Family. + +Among our commonest and most harmless weeds is the shepherd's purse, which +has been introduced from Europe in the past. It may be easily recognized by +its tiny white cruciferous flowers and its shapely little triangular, flat +pods, which have a peppery taste. It is used medicinally, and valued as a +remedy for many different maladies. In Europe, a common name for the plant +is "mother's heart," and Mr. Johnston says that children play a sort of +game with the seed-pouch. "They hold it out to their companions, inviting +them to 'take a haud o' that.' It immediately cracks, and then follows a +triumphant shout, 'You've broken your mother's heart!'" + +Equally common is the _Lepidium_, or pepper-grass, the small round, flat +pods of which also have a peppery taste. Both of these belong to the great +Mustard family. + + +MARIPOSA TULIP. + +_Calochortus venustus_, Benth. (and varieties). Lily Family. + + _Stems._--A foot or two high; branching. _Leaves._--Narrow; + grasslike; channeled; glaucous; decumbent. _Flowers._--Erect; + cup-shaped; white, lilac, pink, claret, magenta, purple, or + rarely light yellow; of uniform color or shaded; plain or + variously oculated, stained, or blotched. _Petals._--One or two + inches long; slightly hairy below. _Gland._--Large; roundish; + densely hairy. _Capsule._--Lanceolate; four or five lines + broad. (See _Calochortus_.) _Hab._--Dry sandy soil, in the + Coast Ranges and Sierra foothills, from Mendocino County to Los + Angeles. + +[Illustration MARIPOSA TULIP--_Calochortus venustus_.] + +I once emerged from the dense chaparral of a steep hillside upon a grassy +slope, where myriads of these lovely flowers tossed their delicate cups +upon the breeze. As I passed from flower to flower, I noticed many insect +guests regaling themselves upon the nectar. Bees and flies jostled one +another and crawled amid the hairs below, and beautifully mottled +butterflies hovered over them. + +As originally described, this flower was white or pale lilac, with a more +or less conspicuous, usually reddish, stain, or blotch, near the top, a +brownish spot bordered with yellow in the center, and a brownish striate +base. But it varies so widely from this type, in both color and spots, that +neither is a reliable character from which to determine the species. Some +of the oculated forms of _C. luteus_ are so similar that they are readily +confused with this, but a careful examination of the gland and the form of +the capsule, together with the character of the soil in which the plants +grow, will identify the species. + + +COMMON NIGHTSHADE. + +_Solanum nigrum_, L. Nightshade Family. + + _Hab._--Along streams near the coast. + +This may be easily distinguished from _S. Xanti_ by its very small white +flowers, whose corollas are but three or four lines across, and much more +deeply and pointedly lobed, the lobes having a tendency to turn backward as +the flowers grow older; also by its thinner, duller leaves, and much +smaller, black berries, the size of peas. + +It is considered a violent narcotic poison, both berries and leaves having +caused death when eaten. It is used in the medical world, in the form of a +tincture for various maladies, and it is said that in Bohemia the +blossoming plant is hung over the cradles of infants to induce sweet +slumber; while in Dalmatia the root is fried in butter and eaten to produce +sleep, and is also used as remedy for hydrophobia. + +_Solanum Douglasii_, Dunal, is a similar species, with larger flowers, +which are usually white, though sometimes light blue. + + +BUTTERFLY TULIP. + +_Calochortus luteus, var. oculatus_, Wats. Lily Family. + + _Hab._--Sierras and Coast Ranges, from Fresno County to Oregon. + +Of all our lovely Mariposa tulips, this charming form is perhaps the most +like the insect for which it is named. Its creamy or purplish flowers have +an exquisitely tinted dark-maroon eye, surrounded by yellow, and it is +often streaked in marvelous imitation of the insect's wing. It was +doubtless this form Miss Coolbrith had in mind when she wrote the beautiful +lines below: + + "Insect or blossom? Fragile, fairy thing, + Poised upon slender tip and quivering + To flight! a flower of the fields of air; + A jeweled moth, a butterfly with rare + And tender tints upon his downy wing + A moment resting in our happy sight; + A flower held captive by a thread so slight + Its petal-wings of broidered gossamer + Are, light as the wind, with every wind astir, + Wafting sweet odor, faint and exquisite. + O dainty nursling of the field and sky! + What fairer thing looks up to heaven's blue, + And drinks the noontide sun, the dawning's dew? + Thou winged bloom! thou blossom butterfly!" + + +WESTERN BOYKINIA. + +_Boykinia occidentalis_, Torr. and Gray. Saxifrage Family. + + _Stems._--Slender; a foot or two high. + _Leaves._--Round-reniform; palmately three- to seven-lobed; one + to three inches broad; the lobes coarsely toothed. + _Flowers._--In long-peduncled, loose panicles; white; four + lines across; parts in fives. _Calyx._--With acute teeth. + _Petals._--On the sinuses of the calyx. _Stamens._--On the + calyx, opposite its teeth. Filaments short. _Ovary._--With its + two cells attenuate into the slender styles. _Hab._--Coast + Ranges, from Santa Barbara to Washington. + +The tufted leaves, and exquisitely delicate saxifrage-like clusters of the +_Boykinia_, fringe our streams in early summer. + + +SOAP-PLANT. AMOLE. + +_Chlorogalum pomeridianum_, Kunth. Lily Family. + + _Bulb._--One to four inches in diameter; densely brown-fibrous. + _Leaves._--Six to eighteen inches long. _Scape._--One to five + feet high; bearing a loosely spreading panicle. + _Perianth._--White; of six spreading, recurved segments nine + lines long. _Stamens._--Six; shorter than the segments. + _Ovary._--Three-celled. Style filiform. Stigma three-lobed. + _Hab._--Widely distributed. + +The leaves of the soap-plant have been with us all the spring, increasing +in length as the season has advanced. You can easily recognize them, as +they resemble a broad, wavy-margined grass, usually lying flat upon the +ground, with some of the ragged brown fibres of the bulb showing +aboveground, like the fragment of an old manilla mat. + +In early summer, from their midst begins to shoot a slender stalk. When the +process of its growth is complete, it stands from two to five feet high, +with slender, widespreading branches and rather sparsely scattered flowers. + +If you would find its flowers open, you must seek it in the afternoon. At a +little distance, it appears as though the truant summer wind had lodged a +delicate white feather here and there upon the branches. In themselves, +these blossoms are not ill-favored, with their slender, recurved petals; +but to us the root is the most interesting part of the plant. This the +early Spanish-Californians used extensively in lieu of soap, and esteemed +greatly as a hair tonic, and it was known by them as "amole." Even now it +is much used among their descendants, and we know of one aged senora over +ninety who refuses to use anything else for washing. Her grandsons keep her +supplied with the bulbs, which they dig by the sackful from the neighboring +hill-slopes and mesas. She takes her linen down to the brookside, and +there, in primitive fashion, upon her knees she scours and rinses it till +it is as white as the driven snow. + +The Indians of the Sierra foothills have a curious use for the bulb. After +the June freshets have subsided, many fish are usually left in small pools +in the streams. The squaws go to these pools with an abundance of +soap-root, and kneeling upon the banks, rub up a great suds with it. The +fish soon rise to the surface stupefied, and are easily taken. + +[Illustration SOAP-PLANT--_Chlorogalum pomeridianum_.] + +We are told that in the early days of the gold excitement, when commodities +were scarce and brought fabulous prices, the fibrous outer coats of the +bulb were used for stuffing mattresses. + +The inner portion of the bulb, when reduced to a paste, is said to be an +excellent remedy for oak-poisoning, applied as a salve. + +This is not the only plant popularly known as soap-plant among us. Several +others share the title, among them the goose-foot, the yucca, and the +California lilac. There are several other species of _Chlorogalum_. + + +MOUNTAIN BIRCH. WHITE TEA-TREE. SOAP-BUSH. + +_Ceanothus integerrimus_, Hook. and Arn. Buckthorn Family. + + Shrubs or small trees; five to twelve feet high; with + cylindrical, usually warty, branches. _Leaves._--Alternate; on + slender petioles two to six lines long; ovate to ovate-oblong; + one to three inches long; entire or rarely slightly + glandular-serrulate; thin. _Flowers._--White; sometimes blue; + in a thyrse three to seven inches long, one to four thick. + _Fruit._--Not crested. (See _Ceanothus_.) _Hab._--Mountains + from Los Angeles to the Columbia River. + +When in flower, this is one of the most attractive of all our _Ceanothi_. +It often covers great mountain-sides with its white bloom as with drifted +snow. The trip to the Yosemite is often diversified by this beautiful +spectacle, which comes as an exhilarating surprise. + +Among the mountaineers this shrub is highly valued as forage for their +cattle, which they turn upon it after the lowland pastures have dried up. + +The young twigs and leaves have the spicy fragrance of the black birch of +the Eastern States. The foliage is deciduous, and of rather a pale though +bright green. The bark of the root of this shrub is becoming celebrated as +a remedy for various disorders, such as malaria, catarrh, and liver +trouble. + + +COMMON WHITE LUPINE. + +_Lupinus densiflorus_, Benth. Pea Family. + + _Stems._--Stout; simple below; parted in the middle into + numerous widespreading branches; two feet high; succulent; + sparsely villous. _Flowers._--In long-peduncled racemes; six to + ten inches long; with usually five or six dense whorls. Bracts + bristle-like, from a broad base. _Calyx._--Upper lip scarious; + deeply cleft; lower long, toothed. _Corolla._--White or + rose-color; seven lines or so long; the standard dark dotted. + _Pod._--Two-seeded. _Hab._--Widespread; Sacramento Valley + southward. + +In the days when we went fishing in the brook with a pin for minnows, a +company of these pretty white lupines in a field represented to our +childish fancy so many graceful dames in flounced skirts dancing in a +sylvan ballroom. + + +MEADOW-SWEET. + +_Spiraea discolor_, Pursh. Rose Family. + + Shrubs two to six feet high. _Leaves._--Alternate; + short-petioled; an inch or two long; oval or ovate; crenately + lobed above; the lobes often toothed; silky pubescent beneath. + _Flowers._--White; two lines across; in feathery panicles + several inches long. _Calyx._--Five-parted; petaloid. + _Petals._--Five; equaling the sepals. _Stamens._--About twenty. + _Pistils._--Five; distinct; one-celled. _Hab._--Coast Ranges, + mostly from Monterey County northward. + +Not until midsummer is upon us does the common meadow-sweet make itself +noticeable by its large feathery clusters of minute white flowers, which +have a pleasant odor, reminiscent of slippery-elm. + +We have two species of _Spiraea_ with pink flowers--_S. Douglasii_, Hook., +the Californian hardhack, having its blossoms in long clusters, (found in +Northern California,) and _S. betulifolia_, Pall., having flat-topped +flower-clusters, (found in the Sierras). + +Another shrub closely resembling the _Spiraeas_ is _Neillia opulifolia_, +Benth. and Hook., the wild bridal-wreath, or ninebark. Indeed, this has +been classed by some authorities among the _Spiraeas_. It may be easily +recognized by its hemispherical clusters of white flowers. These clusters +are an inch or two across. Though the shrub is quite showy when in bloom, +it is almost equally attractive when its carpels are beginning to redden. + + +CALIFORNIAN AZALEA. + +_Rhododendron occidentale_, Gray. Heath Family. + + Shrubs two to twelve feet high. _Leaves._--Clustered at the + ends of the branches; obovate to lanceolate; two to four inches + long; herbaceous. _Flower-clusters._--Large, from a special + terminal bud. _Calyx._--Deeply five-cleft. _Corolla._--With + funnel-form tube, and five-cleft border; white; the upper lobe + blotched with corn-color; sometimes tinged with pink; + glandular-viscid without. _Stamens._--Five. Anthers two-celled, + opening terminally. _Ovary._--Five-celled. _Capsule._--Very + woody. _Hab._--Stream-banks throughout the State. + +One of the most deservedly admired of all our shrubs is the lovely +Californian azalea. In June and July, the borders of our mountain streams +are covered for miles with the bushes, whose rich green foliage is often +almost obscured from view by the magnificent clusters of white and yellow, +or sometimes pinkish, flowers. Its delicious, spicy perfume is always +subtly suggestive of charming days spent with rod and line along cool +streams, or of those all too brief outings spent far from the haunts of +men, in some sequestered mountain-cabin among redwood groves or by rushing +waters. + +In Oregon it is commonly known as "honeysuckle," and there in the autumn +its life ebbs away in a flood of glory, showering the forest floor with +flecks of scarlet and crimson. Its root is said to contain a strong +narcotic poison, and the leaves are also reputed to be poisonous if eaten, +but they are not at all harmful to the touch. + +[Illustration CALIFORNIAN AZALEA--_Rhododendron occidentale_.] + + +AMERICAN BARRENWORT. + +_Vancouveria parviflora_, Greene. Barberry Family. + + _Stems._--One or two feet high. _Leaves._--All radical; twice + to thrice ternately compound. _Leaflets._--One to two inches + broad; rich shining green; persisting; undulate and + membrane-margined. _Flowers._--Twenty-five to fifty, in loose + panicles; small; with six to nine sepal-like bracts. Parts in + sixes all in front of one another. _Sepals._--Petaloid; two + lines long. _Petals._--White to lavender. _Stamens._--Erect; + closely appressed to the pistil. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style + stoutish. _Hab._--Coast Ranges of Central California. + +There is no more exquisite plant in our coast woods than the American +barrenwort. Its delicate threadlike stems, which are yet strong and wiry, +hold up its spreading evergreen leaves, every leaflet in its own place. +There is a likeness in these leaves to the fronds of our Californian +maidenhair, and one could easily imagine the maidenhair amplified, +strengthened, and polished into this form. The leaflets are also somewhat +ivy-like in form. + +In June its delicate, airy panicles of small white blossoms appear. These +are especially interesting as belonging to the Barberry family, where all +the floral organs stand in front of one another, and the anthers open by +cunningly contrived little uplifting valves. These plants are said to grow +upon bushy hillsides, in masses sometimes several feet across. But I have +never seen it with other than an exclusive and rather solitary habit, +growing in shaded forests. We have one or two other species. + + +SERVICE-BERRY. JUNE-BERRY. + +_Amelanchier alnifolia_, Nutt. Rose Family. + + Deciduous shrubs, three to eight feet high. + _Leaves._--Alternate; petioled; from rounded to oblong-ovate; + serrate usually only toward the apex; six to eighteen lines + long. _Flowers._--White, in short racemes. + _Calyx-tube._--Campanulate; limb five-parted. _Petals._--Five; + oblong; six lines or so long. _Stamens._--Twenty; short. + _Ovary._--Three- to five-celled. Styles three to five. + _Fruit._--Small; berry-like; dark purple. _Hab._--Throughout + the State and northward; also eastward to the Western States. + +[Illustration AMERICANBARRENWORT--_Vancouveria parviflora_.] + +The service-berry seems to be at home throughout our borders, but it +reaches its greatest perfection north of us, on the rich bottom-lands of +the Columbia River. In spring the bushes are beautiful, when snowily laden +with masses of ragged white flowers; and from June to September they are no +less welcome, when abundantly hung with the black berries, which usually +have a bloom upon them. These berries are an important article of food +among our Western Indians, who make annual pilgrimages to the regions of +their growth, gathering and drying large quantities for winter use. The +drying they effect by crushing them to a paste, which they spread upon bark +or stones in the sun. It is said that many a party of explorers, lost in +the woods, has been kept alive by this little fruit. + +Almost the same shrub in the Atlantic States is called "shad-bush," because +it blooms at about the season when the shad are running up the streams. + + +CHRISTMAS-BERRY. CALIFORNIAN HOLLY. TOYON. + +_Heteromeles arbutifolia_, Roemer. Rose Family. + + Shrubs four to twenty-five feet high. _Leaves._--Alternate; + short-petioled; oblong; serrate; leathery; two to four inches + long. _Flowers._--Small; white; four lines across; in dense + terminal panicles. _Calyx._--Five-toothed. _Petals._--Five; + roundish; spreading. _Stamens._--Ten; on the calyx. Filaments + awl-shaped; flat. _Ovaries._--Two; one-celled. Styles slender. + _Berries._--Red; four lines in diameter; in large clusters. + _Hab._--Coast Ranges, from San Diego to Mendocino County. + +Christmas could hardly be celebrated among us without our beautiful +Californian holly. Florists' windows and the baskets of street-venders at +that season are gay with the magnificent clusters of rich cardinal berries, +which are really ripe by Thanksgiving. The common name, "Californian +holly," refers more to the berries than to the leaves, as the latter have +not the form of holly-leaves. We have often seen the venders mix the +berries with the prickly foliage of the live-oak, to make them seem more +like holly. + +The large clusters of spicy white flowers appear in July and August. +Nothing in all our flora yields a finer contrast of lavish scarlet against +rich green. The berries have a rather pleasant taste, somewhat acid and +astringent, and are eaten by the Indians with great relish. The +Spanish-Californians used them in the preparation of an agreeable drink. + +This is a very handsome shrub in cultivation. + + +VIRGIN'S BOWER. CLEMATIS. + +_Clematis ligusticifolia_, Nutt. Buttercup or Crowfoot Family. + + Nearly smooth. _Stems._--Woody; sometimes climbing thirty feet. + _Leaves._--Opposite; long-petioled; five-foliolate. + _Leaflets._--Ovate to lanceolate; eighteen lines to three + inches long; three-lobed and coarsely toothed; rarely entire or + three-parted. _Flowers._--Dioecious; in axillary panicles. + _Sepals._--Four; petaloid; four to six lines long; thin. + _Petals._--Wanting. _Stamens._--Numerous. _Pistils._--Many; + becoming long-tailed, silky akenes. _Hab._--Widely distributed. + +The virgin's bower usually looks down upon us from among the branches of +some tree, where it entwines itself indistinguishably with the foliage of +its host. It climbs by means of the stalks of its leaflets, which wrap +themselves about small twigs. This species is not so noticeable during the +season of its blossoming as it is later, when the long plumes of its seed +have twisted themselves into silvery balls, making feathery masses. Mrs. +Blochman writes that among the Spanish-Californians, it is called "yerba de +chivato," and valued as a remedy for barbed-wire cuts in animals. It is +used in the form of a wash, and remarkable cures are effected. + +Another widespread species--_C. lasiantha_, Nutt.--is far more showy than +the above. It is found in the Coast Ranges, from Los Angeles to Napa County +at least, and in the Sierras to Plumas County. Its long-peduncled flowers +are solitary; but they are so numerous and grow so closely together, that +they make dense masses of white, conspicuous at a long distance. The +flowers are larger, the sepals being an inch long, and covered with a silky +pubescence, which makes them like soft cream-colored velvet. The three +ovate leaflets are also silky. + + +LADIES' TRESSES. + +_Spiranthes Romanzoffianum_, Cham. Orchis Family. + + _Roots._--Fascicled tubers. _Stems._--Stout; four to eighteen + inches high. _Leaves._--Oblong-lanceolate to linear. + _Spikes._--One to even ten inches long. _Perianth._--Yellowish + white; four lines long. Upper sepal and two petals coherent. + Lip recurved, bearing a small protuberance on each side at + base. _Anther._--On the face of the short column. + _Ovary._--One-celled. _Hab._--Through the mountains from Los + Angeles northward. + +The twisted spikes of these little orchids are interesting, because their +ranks remain so clearly defined as they wind about the stem. The plants +vary greatly in different seasons as to size, and are usually found in +moist places. + + +TARWEED. MOUNTAIN MISERY. + +_Chamaebatia foliolosa_, Benth. Rose Family. + + Shrubby; a foot or two high; branching freely; glandular + pubescent throughout; fragrant. _Leaves._--Alternate; finely + dissected; ovate or oblong in outline; two or three inches + long. _Flowers._--White; few in terminal cymes. + _Calyx._--Five-lobed. _Petals._--Five; spreading; three or four + lines long. _Stamens._--Very numerous; short. + _Ovary._--Solitary. Style terminal. _Fruit._--A leathery akene. + _Hab._--The Sierras, from Mariposa County to Nevada County. + +One of the most conspicuous plants to be met on the way to the Yosemite is +the _Chamaebatia_. It is exceedingly abundant, covering considerable areas +and filling the air with its balsamic fragrance, strongly suggestive of +tansy, though to many not so agreeable as the latter. It is a beautiful +plant, with its feathery leaves and strawberry-like flowers; but by the +roadside, where its viscid leaves and stems have caught the dust, it is +often but a travesty of itself. + +Mrs. Brandegee writes of it: "Along the line of the railroad in Placer +County it is often called 'bear-clover,' perhaps in accordance with our +felicitous custom of giving names, because it bears not the least +resemblance to clover, and the bear will have nothing to do with it." + +[Illustration LADIES' TRESSES--_Spiranthes Romanzoffianum_.] + + +LARGE-FLOWERED DOGWOOD. + +_Cornus Nuttallii_, Audubon. Dogwood Family. + + Shrubs or trees, fifteen to seventy feet high. + _Leaves._--Opposite; obovate; acute at each end; three to five + inches long. _Flowers._--Numerous; small; greenish; in a head + surrounded by an involucre of four to six large, yellowish or + white bracts, often tinged with red, and eighteen lines to + three inches long. _Calyx._--Four-toothed. _Petals and + Stamens._--Four. _Ovary._--Two-celled. _Fruit._--Scarlet; five + or six lines long. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges and Sierras, from + Monterey and Plumas Counties to British Columbia. + +Our large-flowered dogwood more nearly resembles the Eastern _C. florida_ +than any other species, but it is a much handsomer shrub than the latter. +It reaches its maximum size in Northern Oregon and Washington, where, in +the season of its blossoming, it is a sight never to be forgotten. Its +masses of large white flowers, like single Cherokee roses, contrast finely +with the deep, rich greens of the fir forests, in which it often grows. In +its northern range, its leaves turn beautifully, and it becomes one of the +most brilliant masqueraders in the autumn pageant. + +The wood is very hard, close-grained, and tough, and is used as a +substitute for boxwood in the making of bobbins and shuttles for weaving, +and also in cabinet-work. + + +MILK-WHITE REIN-ORCHIS. + +_Habenaria leucostachys_, Wats. Orchis Family. + + _Root._--A fusiform tuber. _Stems._--One to four feet high; + leafy throughout. _Leaves._--Lanceolate; diminishing upward. + _Flowers._--Bright white, in a spike. _Perianth segments._--Two + or three lines long. _Lip._--Four lines long, with a slender + spur four to six lines long. _Anther._--On the column just + above the stigma. _Ovary._--One-celled. _Hab._--Mountains + throughout California. + +From July to September we may look for the milk-white rein-orchis in moist +meadows. It is especially abundant in the Sierras, where its charmingly +fragrant, pure-white spikes are particularly effective against the lush +green of the alpine meadows. + +[Illustration MILK-WHITE REIN-ORCHIS--_Habenaria leucostachys_.] + + +JAMESTOWN-WEED. JIMSON-WEED. THORN-APPLE. COMMON STRAMONIUM. + +_Datura Stramonium_, L. Nightshade Family. + + _Stems._--Two or three feet high; stout. _Leaves._--Alternate; + ovate; coarsely angled; long-petioled. _Flowers._--In the forks + of the stem; short-pediceled; white. _Calyx._--Tubular; angled; + five-toothed; over an inch long. _Corolla._--Funnel-form; three + inches long; with an expanded five-angled border. + _Stamens._--Five; included. Filaments long and slender; adnate + to the corolla below. Style long. _Ovary._--Two-celled; each + cell nearly divided again. _Fruit._--Larger than a walnut; + prickly. _Hab._--Waste grounds near habitations; introduced. + +The jimson-weed, which is a native of Asia, has become quite common in +waste places. It is a rank, ill-smelling, nauseating weed, possessing +narcotic, poisonous qualities, but its flowers are rather large and showy. +The leaves and seeds are made into the drug called "stramonium," which is +used as a remedy in neuralgia, spasmodic cough, and other disorders. + +As the plant usually grows by roadsides or in the vicinity of dwellings, +children are not infrequently poisoned by its fruit and leaves. The poison +manifests itself in dryness of the throat, rapid pulse, and delirium; and +even death may ensue, preceded by convulsions and coma. + +This plant is also called "mad-apple," "apple of Peru," and "Devil's +apple." + +It has a near relative--_D. suaveolens_, HBK.,--a large shrub with +dark-green leaves and very large, pendulous white flowers. This is common +in Californian gardens, and is known popularly as "floriponda," or "angels' +trumpets." It sheds a powerful fragrance upon the air at night, which is +not noticeable by day. + + +YARROW. MILFOIL. + +_Achillea Millefolium_, L. Composite Family. + + _Stems._--A foot or two high. _Leaves._--Alternate; sessile; + twice-pinnately parted into fine linear, acute, three- to + five-cleft lobes; lanceolate in outline; two to four inches + long; strong-scented. _Flower-heads._--Crowded in a flat + cluster; white, sometimes pink; four lines across, including + the rays; made up of white disk-flowers and obovate white rays. + _Hab._--All around the Northern Hemisphere. + +The yarrow, which is a common weed in most countries of the Northern +Hemisphere, has long been known to botanists and herbalists, and was +formerly in high repute for its many virtues. The leaves steeped in hot +water are still considered very healing applications to cuts or bruises; +and among the Spanish-Californians the fresh plants are used for stanching +the blood in recent wounds. + +This plant received the name _Achillea_, because the great hero of the +Trojan war was supposed to have been the first to discover its virtues. + +In Sweden it is used as a substitute for hops in the brewing of beer. Among +the superstitious, even of the present day, it is regarded as a most potent +love-charm, when plucked by a love-lorn maiden from the grave of a young +man, while repeating the proper formula. + +In the spring, the plants first develop a rosette of finely dissected, +feathery leaves, which lie flat upon the ground. Later, when these are well +grown, it sends up its tall flower-stalks, crowned with close, flat +clusters of small white blossoms. + +M. Naudin, who has an intimate knowledge of the plants of dry countries, +recommends the yarrow for lawn-making where irrigation is impossible. "It +grows freely in the driest of weather, and makes a handsome turf. It must +be frequently cut, however, to prevent it from throwing up flower-stems. It +will not succeed on a lime-impregnated soil." + +Among children the yarrow is commonly known as "old man." + + +RATTLESNAKE PLANTAIN. + +_Goodyera Menziesii_, Lindl. Orchis Family. + + _Leaves._--Two or three inches long; leathery; dark green, + veined with white. _Scape._--Six to fifteen inches high, with + scattered lanceolate bracts. _Spike._--Many-flowered. + _Perianth._--White; two to four lines long; downy. Lateral + sepals deflexed; upper and two petals coherent. Lip erect, + saccate below, concave above, and narrowing into the recurved + summit. _Anther._--On the base of the column behind. + _Ovary._--One-celled. _Hab._--Mountains, from Mendocino and + Mariposa Counties to British Columbia. + +The rattlesnake plantain is frequently met under the coniferous trees of +our northern woods. Its common name comes from the mottling of its leaves, +which is similar to that of the rattlesnake's skin. In midsummer, or later, +the plant sends up a stalk of small but shapely little blossoms. These are +so modest, one would hardly suspect they belonged to the showy orchis +family. + + +BUTTON-BUSH. BUTTON-WILLOW. + +_Cephalanthus occidentalis_, L. Madder Family. + + Shrubs eight to ten feet high. _Leaves._--Opposite, or in + whorls of three or four; petioled; ovate to lanceolate; three + to five inches long. _Flowers._--Small; white; in spherical + heads an inch in diameter. _Calyx._--Four-toothed. + _Corolla._--Long funnel-form with four-cleft limb. + _Stamens._--Four; short; borne on the throat of the corolla. + _Ovary._--Two- to four-celled. Style long-exserted. Stigma + capitate. _Hab._--Throughout the State. + +The button-bush is a handsome shrub, found upon stream borders, often +standing where its roots are constantly under water. Its leaves are +willow-like, and its spherical flower-heads, poised gracefully at the ends +of the branches, resemble small cushions filled with pins. The blossoms +often have a jessamine-like fragrance. + +A tincture made of the bark is used by physicians as a tonic and laxative +and as a remedy for fevers and coughs. + +This shrub is especially abundant in the interior, on the lower reaches of +the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers, where it is in bloom from June to +August. + +[Illustration RATTLESNAKE PLANTAIN--_Goodyera Menziesii_.] + + +WHITE-VEINED SHINLEAF. + +_Pyrola picta_, Smith. Heath Family. + + _Leaves._--Leathery; dark green, veined with white; one or two + inches long. _Scape._--Four to nine inches high. + _Calyx._--Five-parted. _Petals._--Six lines or so long; white. + _Stamens._--Ten. Anthers opening terminally. + _Ovary._--Five-celled. Style long; curved. _Hab._--The Middle + Sierras and Mendocino County, and northward. + +The great coniferous forests of our higher mountains afford homes for many +interesting members of the Heath family. A trip to the Sierras in August +will yield many a prize to the flower-lover. _Pyrolas_, with waxen +clusters, vie with _Pipsissiwas_; the weird looking _Pterospora_ rears its +uncanny, gummy stems, clothed with small, yellowish bells, while an +occasional glimpse of a blood-red spike betrays the most wonderful of them +all--the snow-plant. + +Of the _Pyrolas_ we made the acquaintance of three in this region. These +pretty plants are called "shinleaf," because the leaves of some of the +species were used by the English peasantry as plasters which they applied +to bruises or sores. _Pyrola picta_, with its rich leathery, white-veined +leaves and clusters of whitish, waxen flowers, was quite plentiful and +always a delight to meet. _Pyrola dentata_, Smith, we often found growing +with it. This has spatulate, wavy-margined leaves; which are pale and not +veined with white, and its scapes are more slender. It never was so +attractive or vigorous a plant as the other. + +A ramble in the woods one day brought us to the brink of a charming stream, +whose pure, ice-cold waters babbled along most invitingly. Following its +course, we found ourselves in a delightfully cool, moist thicket, where, +nestling in the deep shade, we found the beautiful, rich, glossy leaves of +_Pyrola rotundifolia, var. bracteata_, Gray. The leaves are roundish, of a +beautiful, bright chrome green, highly polished, and the delicate flowers +are rose-pink. This is called "Indian lettuce" and "canker lettuce," and a +tincture of the fresh plant is used in medicine for the same purposes as +chimaphila. _P. aphylla_, Smith, is easily distinguished by the absence +of leaves. It has flesh-colored stems, and its flowers are sometimes of the +same color, and sometimes white. This is found in the Coast Ranges. + +[Illustration WHITE-VEINED SHINLEAF--_Pyrola picta_.] + + +PEARLY EVERLASTING FLOWER. + +_Anaphalis Margaritacea_, Benth. Composite Family. + + _Stems._--One to three feet high; leafy up to the flowers. + _Leaves._--Alternate; sessile; lanceolate or linear-lanceolate; + two to four inches long; white-woolly, at length becoming green + above. _Heads._--Of filiform disk-flowers only. + _Involucre._--Of many rows of pearly white, pointed scales, not + longer than the flowers, resembling ray-flowers. _Hab._--Widely + distributed over the northern parts of America and Asia. + +Our wild everlasting flowers are very difficult of determination, and are +comprised under at least three genera, _Gnaphalium_, _Anaphalis_, and +_Antennaria_. The word _Anaphalis_ is from the same root as the word +_Gnaphalium_, and the species have quite the aspect of _Gnaphalium_. + +The flowers of the pearly everlasting have a peculiarly pure pearly look +before they are entirely open, and their sharp-pointed little scales give +them a prim, set look, like very regular, tiny white roses. There is a hint +of green in them, but they are never of the dirty yellowish-white of the +cudweed, nor have they the slippery-elm-like fragrance of the latter. When +fully expanded, the centers are brown. The leaves, which at length become a +dark, shining green, make a fine contrast with the permanently white-woolly +stems. The flower-clusters are loosely compound. + + +WASHINGTON LILY. SHASTA LILY. + +_Lilium Washingtonianum_, Kell. Lily Family. + + _Hab._--Throughout the Sierras from three to six thousand feet + elevation. + +I shall never forget the thrill of delight I felt on first beholding this +noble white lily, some years ago, in an open fir forest near Mt. Shasta. I +had often heard of it, but never dared hope it would be my privilege to +gather it for myself in its own native haunts. + +The blossoms somewhat resemble those of the ruby lily, but the petals have +longer claws and are more loosely put together. They are fragrant, but +their perfume is not to be compared with that of the ruby lily. + +Mr. Purdy once saw, upon a single great mountain-side, ten thousand of +these wonderful plants, upbearing their beautiful, pure lilies--a sight +outrivaling the poet's vision of the golden daffodils. + +The Shasta lily is never found in the Coast Ranges. Another species, _L. +Parryi_, Wats., resembling this in the form of its flowers, is found in the +San Bernardino Mountains. This is known as the "lemon lily," and has clear +yellow flowers, dotted sparingly with deeper yellow. It is a charming +flower, and is always found in shaded, springy places in cool canyons. + + +LABRADOR TEA. + +_Ledum glandulosum_, Nutt. Heath Family. + + Shrubs two to six feet high. _Leaves._--Alternate; + short-petioled; oblong or oval; an inch or two long; + coriaceous; sprinkled beneath with resin-dots. + _Flowers._--White; in terminal and axillary clusters. + _Calyx._--Five-cleft. _Petals._--Five; three lines long; + rotately spreading. _Stamens._--Four to ten. Anthers opening + terminally. _Ovary._--Five-celled. Style filiform, persistent. + _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from Mendocino County northward, and + through the Sierras. + +Our Labrador tea is a comely shrub, found in the mountains at an elevation +of four thousand feet and upward. Its small, leathery leaves are miniature +copies of those of the Californian rhododendron, differing from them, +however, in the sprinkling of resin-dots upon the under surface. + +Upon seeing the flowers of this shrub for the first time, one is apt to +imagine it a member of the Rose family, something akin to the cherry, with +its clusters of small white flowers of a bitter fragrance; but a glance at +the anthers, with their terminal pores, tells the story quickly. + +A tea made from the leaves is, with many people, a valued remedy for +rheumatism. + +This little shrub is much dreaded by sheepmen, who claim that it poisons +their flocks. It has been suggested that it would be an excellent thing to +have it widely planted as a means of reducing these bands of "hoofed +locusts," as Mr. Muir terms them--these marauders who trample down so much +beauty, and leave desolation everywhere in their wake. + + +PIPSISSIWA. PRINCE'S PINE. + +_Chimaphila Menziesii_, Spreng. Heath Family. + + _Stems._--Six inches high. _Leaves._--Six to eighteen lines + long; dark green, sometimes variegated with white; leathery. + _Flowers._--One to three. _Calyx._--Five-parted; white. + _Petals._--Five; waxen-white or pinkish. _Stamens._--Ten. + Filaments enlarged and hairy in the middle. Anthers two-celled; + opening terminally. _Ovary._--Five-celled. Style short. Stigma + button-like. _Hab._--The Middle Sierras and Mendocino County. + +The prince's pine is a charming little plant, and may be found beneath the +undergrowth in the great coniferous woods of the Sierras, where it sits +demurely with bowed head, like some cloistered nun engaged with her own +meditations. It has an exquisite perfume, like that of the lily of the +valley. + +The common prince's pine of the Eastern States--_C. umbellata_--is more +rare with us, though it is found through somewhat the same range as the +above. It is a more vigorous plant than the other, has from four to seven +purplish flowers in the cluster, while its leaves are never spotted. + +In the East, from the leaves of this species is manufactured the drug +"chimaphila," which is valued as a tonic and astringent, also as a remedy +for cataract. + + +GROUNDSEL-TREE. + +_Baccharis pilularis_, DC. Composite Family. + + Evergreen dioecious shrubs, one to twelve feet high, with angled + or striate branches. _Leaves._--Alternate; sessile; obovate; + cuneate; obtuse; coarsely toothed; leathery; one inch or less + long. _Flower-heads._--Crowded at the ends of the branchlets; + four lines long; one or two across; without ray-flowers. + _Involucres._--Oblong; of many imbricated scales. _Sterile + heads._--With funnel-form, five-lobed corollas. _Fertile + heads._--With filiform corollas, mixed with a dense white silky + pappus, which soon elongates. _Hab._--All along the Coast. + +[Illustration PRINCE'S PINE--_Chimaphila Menziesii_.] + +In the fall, the dark-green foliage of the groundsel-tree is relieved by +its abundant small white flower-clusters. The flowers of the male shrub +are never very beautiful, being usually of a yellowish or dirty white; +indeed, so little resembling the other, as to appear like a separate +species. But when the white silk down of the female shrub is fully +expanded, its boughs are laden as with drifted snow. This lavish provision +of silk is designed by nature for the wafting abroad of the seed. + +It varies greatly in size and habit. Upon exposed, wind-swept sandhills it +is low and close-cropped, but in more favorable localities, where the soil +is rich and the climate more genial, it responds graciously to the changed +conditions, becoming one of our most picturesque shrubs. + +Growing and blooming at the same time with the above, may be found its near +relative--_B. Douglasii_, DC. This does not aspire to shrubhood, but its +tall stems, with their lanceolate, somewhat glutinous leaves, sometimes +reach four feet in height, bearing at summit their pretty Ageratum-like, +white flower-clusters. It loves the sandy soil of creek-banks and low +fields, and is abundant from San Francisco to Los Angeles. + + +LARGE WHITE MOUNTAIN DAISY. + +_Erigeron Coulteri_, T.C. Porter. Composite Family. + + _Stem._--Six to twenty inches high; leafy; bearing solitary or + rarely two or three large, slender-peduncled heads. + _Leaves._--Obovate to oblong; entire or with several sharp + teeth; thin. _Flower-heads._--Of yellow disk-flowers, and + usually pure white ray-flowers. _Disk._--Half an inch wide. + _Rays._--Fifty to seventy; narrowly linear; six lines or more + long. _Hab._--The Sierras; also the Rocky Mountains of + Colorado. + + "High on the crest of the blossoming grasses, + Bending and swaying, with face toward the sky, + Stirred by the lightest west wind as it passes, + Hosts of the silver-white daisy-stars lie." + +No fairer sight could be imagined than a mountain meadow filled with these +large, pure-white, feathery daisies. + +[Illustration BACCHARIS--_Baccharis Douglasii_.] + + +CALIFORNIAN FALSE HELLEBORE. + +_Veratrum Californicum_, Durand. Lily Family. + + _Stems._--Stout; three to seven feet high. _Leaves._--Oval; + narrowing to lanceolate; sessile; sheathing; four to twelve + inches long. _Flowers._--Greenish-white in a large panicle, + with usually ascending branches. _Stamens and pistils_ in the + same flowers, or in separate ones. _Pedicels._--About two lines + long. _Perianth segments._--Six; spreading; oblanceolate; their + bases thickened and green or brownish; upper margins sometimes + minutely toothed; three to eight lines long. _Stamens._--Six. + Anthers confluently one-celled. _Ovary._--Three-celled. Styles + three, divergent. _Hab._--The Middle Sierras and Mendocino + County northward to the Columbia; also eastward. + +The false hellebore may be found in midsummer in the mountains. It grows +along watercourses, and often covers rich, moist meadows, where its stems +rise from three to seven feet, with their coarsely ribbed, boat-shaped +leaves and large panicles of greenish-white flowers. When at its best it is +a rather fine, showy thing, but its leaves are often perforated by some +insect, and present a ragged, untidy appearance. + +The mountaineers commonly call this plant "skunk cabbage," a deplorable +misnomer, because it is in no sense merited; and, moreover, we have a plant +to which the title more rightfully belongs. The root and young shoots are a +violent poison, and are fatal to animals which are unfortunate enough to +crop them. + +Another species--_V. fimbriatum_, Gray--a smaller plant, is found upon the +plains in Mendocino County. It may be distinguished from the above by its +more slender leaves, its woolly flower-panicle, and its decidedly fringed +flower-petals. + + + + +II. YELLOW + + +[_Yellow or occasionally or partially yellow flowers not described in the +Yellow Section._ + + _Described in the White Section:--_ + + CALOCHORTUS VENUSTUS--Mariposa Lily, or Tulip. + LILIUM PARRYI--Lemon-Lily. + VIOLA OCELLATA--Heart's-ease. + + _Described in the Pink Section:--_ + + LESSINGIA GERMANORUM--Yellow Lessingia. + + _Described in the Blue and Purple Section:--_ + + FRITILLARIA PUDICA--Yellow Fritillary. + IRIS MACROSIPHON--Ground-Iris. + SISYRINCHIUM CALIFORNICUM--Golden-eyed Grass. + TRILLIUM SESSILE--Californian Trillium. + + _Described in the Red Section:--_ + + CASTILLEIA PARVIFLORA--Indian Paint-Brush. + CEREUS EMORYI--Velvet Cactus. + PENTSTEMON CENTRANTHIFOLIUS--Scarlet Bugler. + + _Described in the Miscellaneous Section:--_ + + CYPRIPEDIUM CALIFORNICUM--Californian Lady's Slipper.] + + +SUN-CUPS. + +_OEnothera ovata_, Nutt. Evening-Primrose Family. + + _Root._--A thick tap-root. _Leaves._--All radical; + oblong-lanceolate; smooth; ciliate. _Flowers._--Solitary in the + axils; bright golden yellow. _Calyx-tube._--Filiform; one to + five inches long; limb of four lanceolate, reflexed divisions. + _Petals._--Four; three to ten lines long. _Stamens._--Eight. + _Ovary._--Four-celled; underground. Style filiform. Stigma + capitate. _Fruit._--A ribbed capsule. _Hab._--Near the coast + from San Francisco to Monterey. + +This little evening primrose is an exceedingly interesting plant, although +it is not of very wide distribution. The flat rosettes of leaves sometimes +measure over a foot across, and are thickly sown with the bright golden +flowers, large in proportion to the size of the plants. A flower or bud is +found in the axil of every leaf, diminishing in size toward the center, one +plant sometimes having a hundred blossoms and buds. These flowers are +peculiarly fresh and winsome, and were they not so abundant where they grow +they would doubtless be considered very beautiful. + +A strange feature of the plant is its flower-stem, which is not a +flower-stem at all, but a very much prolonged calyx-tube, the seed-vessel +being just within the surface of the ground. + +We wonder how these imprisoned seeds are going to escape and find lodgment +to start new colonies elsewhere. Perhaps the moles and gophers could tell +something about it if they would. + +The leaves of these little plants are sometimes used for salads. + +These blossoms are often erroneously called "cow-slips." + + +COMMON BUTTERCUP. + +_Ranunculus Californicus_, Benth. Buttercup or Crowfoot Family. + + _Stems._--Slender; branching; six to eighteen inches high. + _Radical-leaves._--Commonly pinnately ternate; the leaflets cut + into three to seven usually linear lobes. Divisions of the + stem-leaves usually narrower. _Flowers._--Five to ten lines in + diameter; shining golden yellow. _Sepals._--Green; strongly + reflexed. _Petals._--Ten to fourteen; obovate; each with a + small scale at the base. _Stamens._--Numerous. _Pistils._ + Numerous; on a receptacle. Ovaries flattened. Stigmas + recurved. _Hab._--Throughout Western California into Oregon. + +[Illustration SUN-CUPS--_OEnothera ovata_.] + + "The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice; + And there's never a leaf nor a blade too mean + To be some happy creature's palace." + +The first clear, beautiful note of a lark has been heard; skies are blue +and fields are green; little frogs are filling the air with their +music;--and the buttercups are here. The fields are full of them, and their +bright golden eyes starring the meadows, bring a gladness to the face of +nature. The children wade knee-deep in their gold, filling their hands with +treasure; and yonder, where their golden masses cover the slopes, King +Midas may have passed, transforming the earth with his magical touch. + +Because some of the buttercups grow where frogs abound, Pliny bestowed the +Latin name _Ranunculus_, meaning "little frog." + +The Indians, who seem to have a use for everything, parch the seeds of our +common buttercup and beat them to a flour, which they eat without the +further formality of cooking. This flour is said to have the peculiar rich +flavor of parched corn. + +We have a number of other species of buttercup--some of them denizens of +marshy spots; but the common field buttercup is widest-spread and best +known. + + +CREAM-CUPS. + +_Platystemon Californicus_, Benth. Poppy Family. + + Delicate hairy herbs. _Stems._--A span or two high. + _Leaves._--Mostly opposite; sessile; two to four inches long. + _Flowers._--Axillary; long-peduncled; an inch or so across. + _Sepals._--Three; falling early. _Petals._--Six, in two rows; + cream-color, often with a yellow spot at base. + _Stamens._--Numerous. Filaments broad; petaloid. + _Pistils._--Six to twenty-five; united in a ring at first; + afterward separating. Stigmas terminal. _Hab._--Throughout + California. + +[Illustration CREAM-CUPS--_Platystemon Californicus_.] + +The cream-cups are delicate, hairy plants of the early springtime, which +often grow in masses and take possession of whole fields. They seem to be +more vigorous in the south, and produce larger flowers there than in the +north, often having as many as nine petals. The delicate, nodding green +buds (like miniature poppy-buds) soon throw off their outer wrappings, and, +emerging from captivity, gradually assume an erect position and unfurl +their lovely, pure, straw-colored petals to their widest extent. These +blossoms open for several successive days. + +The genus takes its name from the flat filaments. The numerous slender +pistils are so cleverly joined together into a cylinder, that they appear +like a hollow, one-celled ovary. But a cross-section will show the separate +ovaries under a glass. + +Some people like the odor of these flowers; but I must confess to a lack of +appreciation of it. I suspect its charm must exist in some pleasant +association. + + +COPA DE ORO. CALIFORNIA POPPY. TOROSA. + +_Eschscholtzia Californica_, Cham. Poppy Family. + + _Stems._--Twelve to eighteen inches high; branching. + _Leaves._--Alternate; finely dissected; glaucous. + _Flowers._--Two or three inches across; usually orange; but + ranging from that to white. Summit of the peduncle enlarging + into a cup-shaped torus or disk, upon the upper inner surface + of which are borne the calyx, corolla, and stamens. _Calyx._--A + pointed green cap, falling early. _Petals._--Four. + _Stamens._--Numerous, in four groups, in front of the petals. + Anthers linear. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style short. Stigmas four + to six; unequal. _Capsule._--Cylindrical; ten-nerved; two or + three inches long. _Hab._--Throughout California. + + Thy satin vesture richer is than looms + Of Orient weave for raiment of her kings! + Not dyes of olden Tyre, not precious things + Regathered from the long-forgotten tombs + Of buried empires, not the iris plumes + That wave upon the tropics' myriad wings, + Not all proud Sheba's queenly offerings + Could match the golden marvel of thy blooms. + For thou art nurtured from the treasure-veins + Of this fair land; thy golden rootlets sup + Her sands of gold--of gold thy petals spun. + Her golden glory, thou! On hills and plains, + Lifting, exultant, every kingly cup + Brimmed with the golden vintage of the sun. + + --INA D. COOLBRITH. + +[Illustration CALIFORNIA POPPY--_Eschscholtzia Californica_.] + +It is difficult to exaggerate the charms of this wonderful flower. When +reproduced in countless millions, its brilliant blossoms fairly cover the +earth; and far away upon distant mountain-slopes, bright patches of red +gold denote that league after league of it lies open to the sun. It revels +in the sunshine, and not until the morning is well advanced does it begin +to unfurl its tightly rolled petals. + +In the early days, when Spanish vessels sailed up and down the +newly-discovered coast, the mariners, looking inland, saw the flame of the +poppies upon the hills and called this "the land of fire." They said that +the altar-cloth of San Pascual was spread upon the hills, and, filled with +a devotional spirit, they disembarked to worship upon the shore. + +This flower is now cultivated in many parts of the world. But one can form +no conception of it, pale and languishing in a foreign garden. One must go +to its native hillsides to get any idea of its prodigal beauty. + +The common title, "California poppy," though it has been widely used, is +open to the objection that it belongs more properly to another flower, +_Papaver Californicum_. The generic name is dissonant and harsh. Why not +replace it by one of the more euphonious Spanish titles--"amapola," +"dormidera," "torosa," or, most charmingly appropriate of all, "copa de +oro,"--"cup of gold"? + +There are many forms of _Eschscholtzia_, and of late the original species, +_E. Californica_, has been divided into a number of new species, which are, +however, difficult of determination. + +The Indians of Placer County, it is said, boil the herbage, or roast it by +means of hot stones, lay it in water afterward, and then eat it as a green. +A drug made from this plant is used in medicine as a harmless substitute +for morphine and as a remedy for headache and insomnia, and it has an +especially excellent effect with children. The Spanish-Californians make a +hair-oil, which they prize highly, by frying the whole plant in olive oil +and adding some choice perfume. This is said to promote the growth of the +hair and to make it glossy. + + +MOCK-ORANGE. GOURD. CHILI-COJOTE. CALABAZILLA. + +_Cucurbita foetidissima_, HBK. Gourd Family. + + _Stems._--Long; coarse; trailing. _Leaves._--Alternate; + petioled; triangular-cordate; six to twelve inches long; acute; + rough. _Tendrils._--Three- to five-cleft. _Flowers._--Solitary; + yellow; three or four inches long; monoecious. + _Calyx-tube._--Six lines long, equaling the five linear lobes. + _Corolla._--Campanulate; five-cleft to the middle or lower; + with recurved lobes. _Stamens._--In the male flowers two with + two-celled anthers, and one with one; in the female all three + rudimentary. _Ovary._--Three-celled. Style short. Stigmas + three; two-lobed. _Fruit._--Orange-like, but with a hard rind. + _Syn._--_C. perennis_, Gray. _Hab._--San Diego to San Joaquin + County. + +The rough, ill-smelling foliage of the Chili-cojote is a common sight in +Southern California, where it may be seen trailing over many a field; but +woe to the negligent farmer who allows this pest to get a foothold--for it +will cost him a small fortune to eradicate it. It sends down into the earth +an enormous root, six feet or so long, and often as broad. When the gourds +are ripe, these vines look like the dumping-ground for numerous poor, +discarded oranges. + +Notwithstanding its unsavory character, the various parts of this vine are +put to use--specially among the Spanish-Californians and the Indians. The +root is a purgative more powerful than croton-oil. When pounded to a pulp, +it is used as soap by the Spanish-Californians, who aver that it cleanses +as nothing else can; but rinsing must be very thorough--for any particles +remaining in the garments prove very irritating to the skin. The leaves are +highly valued for medicinal purposes, and the pulp of the green fruit, +mixed with soap, is said to remove stains from clothing. The Indians eat +the seed, when ground and made into a mush. The early Californian women +used the gourds as darning-balls. + +This vine is a near relative of the pumpkins and squashes of our gardens. + +The flowers are said to be violet-scented. + + +WATER-HOLLY. MAHONIA. + +_Berberis nervosa_, Pursh. Barberry Family. + + _Stem._--Simple; a foot or so high; bearing at summit a crown + of large leaves, mixed with many dry, chaffy, persistent + bracts. _Leaves._--One or two feet long, with from eleven to + seventeen ovate, acuminate, prickly, somewhat palmately nerved + leaflets. _Flowers._--Yellow, in elongated, clustered racemes. + Bractlets, sepals, petals, and stamens six, standing in front + of one another. Anthers two-celled; opening by uplifting + valves. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style short or none. + _Fruit._--Dark-blue, glaucous berries; four lines in diameter. + _Hab._--Deep coast woods, from Monterey to Vancouver Island. + +The water-holly is one of the beautiful plants to be found in our deep +coast woods within the cool influence of the sea-fogs. The plants are very +symmetrical, with their crown of dark, shining leaves, with numerous +prickly leaflets, and in spring, when the long graceful racemes of yellow +flowers are produced in abundance, and hang amid and below the leaves, they +are very ornamental. The stems are densely clothed with numerous dry, +awl-shaped scales, an inch or more long. + +Another species--_B. repens_--the creeping barberry, or Oregon grape, is a +low, prostrate shrub, less than a foot high, with from three to seven +leaflets. These leaflets are pinnately veined, and have not the beautiful, +shining upper surface of those of the water-holly, and the few racemes of +yellow flowers which terminate the branches are quite short--only an inch +or two long. This is found throughout the State and northward upon rocky +hills. + + +TREE-POPPY. + +_Dendromecon rigidum_, Benth. Poppy Family. + + Shrubs two to eight feet high. _Leaves._--One to three inches + long; leathery. _Flowers._--Solitary; yellow; one to three + inches across. _Sepals._--Two; falling early. _Petals._--Four. + _Stamens._--Many. _Ovary._--Linear; one-celled. Stigma + two-lobed. _Capsule._--Eighteen to thirty lines long. + _Hab._--Dry hills from San Diego to Butte County. + +[Illustration TREE-POPPY--_Dendromecon rigidum_.] + +The tree-poppy is the only truly woody plant in the poppy family. Its pale +leaves are quite rigid, and resemble those of the willow in form. The +bright golden flowers are sometimes three inches across, and one can +readily imagine the fine effect produced when many of them are open at once +upon a hillside. Though found through quite a range, this shrub attains its +most perfect development in Santa Barbara County. + + +YELLOW PANSY. + +_Viola pedunculata_, Torr. and Gray. Violet Family. + + _Stems._--Leafy; two to six inches or more high. + _Leaves._--Alternate; long-petioled; ovate; cuneate; crenate; + with lanceolate stipules. _Flowers._--Large; long-peduncled; + deep golden yellow. _Calyx._--Five-parted. _Petals._--The two + upper tinged with brown outside; the three lower veined with + purple; the two lateral bearded; the lower one with a short + spur at base. _Stamens._--Five. Anthers nearly sessile; erect + around the club-shaped style. _Ovary._--One-celled. + _Hab._--Southern to Middle California. + + Pansies! Pansies! How I love you, pansies! + Jaunty-faced, laughing-lipped, and dewy-eyed with glee; + Would my song might blossom out in little five-leaved stanzas + As delicate in fancies + As your beauty is to me! + + But, my eyes shall smile on you and my hands infold you, + Pet, caress, and lift you to the lips that love you, so + That, shut ever in the years that may mildew or mold you, + My fancy shall behold you + Fair as in the long ago. + + --JAS. WHITCOMB RILEY. + +On wind-swept downs near the ocean, on the low hills of the Coast Ranges, +or upon the plains of the interior, this charming golden pansy spreads +itself in profusion in early spring. It is the darling of the children, who +on their way to school gather great handfuls of its brown-eyed blossoms. + +You may often see myriads of them dancing on their long stems in the +breeze, and showing glimpses of red-brown where their purplish outer petals +are turned toward you for the moment. In the shelter of quiet woodlands, +its stems are longer and more fragile. + +[Illustration YELLOW PANSY--_Viola pedunculata_.] + + +TWIN-BERRY. + +_Lonicera involucrata_, Banks. Honeysuckle Family. + + Shrubs eight to ten feet high. _Leaves.-_-Three inches long or + so. _Flowers._--A pair; at the summit of an axillary peduncle; + with a conspicuous involucre of four bracts, tinged with red or + yellow. _Calyx._--Adherent to the ovary; the limb minute or + obsolete. _Corolla._--Tubular; irregular; half an inch or more + long; viscid-pubescent; yellowish. _Stamens._--Five. + _Ovary._--Two- or three-celled. Style filiform. Stigma capitate. + _Berries._--Black-purple. _Hab._--Throughout the State; + eastward to Lake Superior. + +A walk through some moist thicket, or along a stream-bank in March, will +reveal the yellow flowers of the twin-berry amid its ample, thin green +leaves. These blossoms are always borne in pairs at the summit of the stem, +and are surrounded by a leafy involucre, consisting of two pairs of round, +fluted bracts. As the berries ripen and become black, these bracts deepen +to a brilliant red and make the shrubs much more conspicuous and ornamental +than at blossoming-time. + + +OREGON GRAPE. HOLLY-LEAVED BARBERRY. MAHONIA. + +_Berberis Aquifolium_, Pursh. Barberry Family. + + Shrubs two to six feet high; branching. _Leaves._--Alternate; + pinnate. _Leaflets._--Seven to nine; glossy; ovate to + oblong-lanceolate; one and one half to four inches long; + acuminate; sinuately dentate, with numerous spinose teeth; the + lowest pair distant from the stem. _Racemes._--Eighteen lines + to two inches long; clustered near the ends of the branches. + (Otherwise as _B. nervosa_.) _Hab._--Coast Ranges and Sierras + from Monterey and Kern County northward into Oregon. + +The holly-leaved barberry, or Oregon grape, is a very ornamental shrub and +one much prized in our gardens, where it is known as _Mahonia Aquifolium_. +In the spring, when yellow with its masses of flowers; or in its summer +dress of rich, shining green; or in the autumn, when its foliage is richly +touched with bronze or scarlet or yellow, amid which are the beautiful blue +berries, it is always a fine shrub. In its native haunts it affects greater +altitudes than our other species. + +[Illustration TWIN-BERRY--_Lonicera involucrata_.] + +Among our Californian Indians, a decoction made from the root is a +favorite tonic remedy, and it has become a recognized drug in the +pharmacopoeia of our Coast, being used as an alterative and tonic. The root +is tough and hard, of a bright golden yellow, and intensely bitter. The +bark of the root is the part that is used medicinally. + +The shrub is very plentiful in the woods of Mendocino County, where it +covers considerable areas. + + +SUNSHINE. FLY-FLOWER. + +_Baeria gracilis_, Gray. Composite Family. + + Six inches or so high; branching freely. _Leaves._--Mostly + opposite; linear; entire; an inch or so long. + _Flower-heads._--Yellow; of disk and ray-flowers. _Rays._--Ten + to fourteen; three or four lines long. + _Involucre._--Campanulate; of a single series of small + lanceolate, herbaceous scales. _Hab._--From San Francisco + southward. + +Considered singly, the blossom of this plant is a simple, unassuming little +flower; but when countless millions of its golden stars stud the nether +firmament, it becomes one of the most conspicuous of all our _Compositae_. +It literally covers the earth with a close carpet of rich golden bloom, and +other plants, such as scarlet paint-brushes, blue Phacelias, and yellow and +white tidy-tips, rise out of its golden tapestry. Mile after mile of it +whirls by the car-window as we journey along, or long stretches of it gild +the gently rounded hill-slopes of the distant landscape. + +There are several other species of _Baeria_, but this is the most abundant +and widespread. In some localities this little plant is so much frequented +by a small fly, which feeds upon its pollen, that it is called +"fly-flower." It then becomes a serious nuisance to horses and cattle, +which grow wild and restive under the persecution of this insect. + +In the Spanish deck of playing-cards in the early days, the "Jack of +Spades" always held one of these flowers in his hand. By the +Spanish-Californians it was called "Si me quieres, no me quieres"--"Love +me, love me not,"--because their dark-eyed maidens tried their fortunes +upon it in the same manner that our own maidens consult the marguerite. + +[Illustration PENTACHAETA--_Pentachaeta aurea_.] + +[Illustration SUNSHINE--_Baeria gracilis_.] + +Growing in brilliant beds by themselves, or intermingling their gold with +that of the _Baeria_, the charming feathery blossoms of _Pentachaeta +aurea_, Nutt., are found in midspring. They have from fifty to seventy +rays and their involucres consist of several rows of scarious-margined +bracts. + + +MEADOW-FOAM. + +_Floerkia Douglasii_, Baillon. Geranium Family. + + Smooth, succulent herbs. _Stems._--A foot or so long. + _Leaves._--Much dissected. _Flowers._--Axillary; solitary. + _Sepals._--Narrow; acute. _Petals._--Nine lines long or so; + yellow, sometimes tipped with white, white, or rose-tinged. + _Stamens._--Ten, in two sets; a gland at the base of those + opposite the sepals. _Ovary._--Of five carpels, becoming + distinct. Style five-cleft at the apex. _Syn._--_Limnanthes + Douglasii_, R. Br. _Hab._--Oregon to Southern California. + +When the spring is well advanced, our wet meadows are all a-cream with the +meadow-foam, whose dense masses blend exquisitely with the rich red of the +common sorrel, which is in blossom at the same time. + +This plant is a near relative of the redwood-sorrel, and its flowers are +similar in size and veining, and also in their habit of closing at night. +It is much admired and has long been in cultivation. + + +PIMPERNEL. POOR-MAN'S WEATHER-GLASS. + +_Anagallis arvensis_, L. Primrose Family. + + _Stems._--Prostrate; spreading. _Leaves._--Usually opposite; + sessile; ovate. _Flowers._--Solitary on axillary peduncles; + orange-vermilion (rarely blue or white); six lines or so + across. _Calyx_ and rotate corolla five-parted. + _Petals._--Rounded; purple at base. _Stamens._--Five; opposite + the petals. Filaments purple, bearded. _Capsule._--Globose; the + top falling off as a lid. _Hab._--Common everywhere. Introduced + from Europe. + +The little orange-vermilion flower of the pimpernel is a plain little +blossom to the unassisted eye, but it becomes truly regal when seen under a +glass, where its rich purple center displays itself in glistening splendor. +It is a forcible example of the infinite care bestowed upon all of Nature's +children, even to the humblest weeds. + +[Illustration MEADOW-FOAM--_Floerkia Douglasii_.] + +This little plant has come to us from Europe, and it makes itself perfectly +at home among us in many widely-differing situations. From the fact that it +furls its petals upon cloudy days, or at the approach of rain, it is called +in England "poor-man's weather-glass." + +The plant is an acrid poison and was extensively used in medicine by the +ancients. It seems to act particularly upon the nervous system, and was +used as a remedy for convulsions, the plague, gout, and hydrophobia. + + + * * * * * + +_Encelia Californica_, Nutt. Composite Family. + + Bushy; two to four feet high; strong-scented. _Leaves._--Mostly + alternate; short-petioled; ovate-lanceolate; an inch or two + long. _Flower-heads._--Solitary; long-peduncled; large. + _Disk._--Eight lines across; of black-purple, tubular flowers, + with deep-yellow styles. _Rays._--Sterile; over an inch long; + five lines wide; four-toothed. _Involucre._--Open-campanulate + of several series of coriaceous, imbricated scales. + _Hab._--Santa Barbara to San Diego. + +This shrubby _Composita_ is quite abundant in the south, and when covered +with its large yellow flowers with purple-brown centers is very showy. We +have seen mesas covered with the bushes, which have much the same spreading +habit as the white marguerite of the garden. It thrives particularly well +near the coast, but is also at home upon some of the hills of interior +valleys as well. It is quite strong-scented, but the flowers are very +handsome, rivaling in decorativeness many of the cherished plants of our +gardens. + + +YELLOW FORGET-ME-NOT. WOOLLY-BREECHES. + +_Amsinckia_, Lehm. Borage Family. + + Hispid annuals. _Leaves._--Alternate; oblong-ovate to linear. + _Flowers._--Small; yellow or orange, in coiled spikes or + racemes. _Calyx._--Five-parted; persistent. + _Corolla._--Salver-shaped, or somewhat funnel-form; with + five-lobed border; the throat naked or with minute hairy tufts + opposite the lobes. _Stamens._--Five. _Ovary._--Of four + seedlike nutlets. Style filiform. Stigma capitate. + +We have several species of _Amsinckia_, all of which have small yellow +flowers, resembling in form our little white forget-me-nots. The genus is a +Western American one, and the species are very difficult of determination. +They are all hispid plants, very disagreeable to handle, and are generally +of rank growth. They often occur in great masses, when they become rather +showy. + +The largest-flowered species, which is also the most common one in the +south, is _A. spectabilis_, Fisch. and Mey. The corolla of this is often +half an inch long and half an inch across, of an orange-yellow, with deeper +orange spots in the throat. + + +TREE-TOBACCO. + +_Nicotiana glauca_, Graham. Nightshade Family. + + Loosely branching shrubs, fifteen feet or so high. + _Leaves._--Alternate; petioled; ovate; smooth. + _Flowers._--Clustered at the ends of the branches. + _Calyx._--Campanulate; five-toothed. _Corolla._--Tubular; + eighteen lines long; with constricted throat; and border + shortly five-toothed. _Stamens._--Five, on the base of the + corolla, adnate to the tube below. Anthers with two diverging + cells. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style slender. Stigma capitate; + two-lobed. _Hab._--Throughout Southern California; introduced. + +The tall, loosely branching, spreading form of the tree-tobacco is a +familiar sight in the south about vacant lots and waste places. Its +clusters of long, greenish-yellow flowers hang gracefully from the ends of +the slender branches, and the ovate leaves are rather long-stalked. It is +supposed to have been introduced from Buenos Ayres, and old inhabitants +remember the time when but one or two plants were known. In thirty years it +has spread rapidly, and is now exceedingly common. + + +WIND-POPPY. BLOOD-DROP. FLAMING POPPY. + +_Meconopsis heterophylla_, Benth. Poppy Family. + + Smooth herbs. _Stems._--Slender; a foot or two high. + _Leaves._--Mostly petioled; pinnately divided into variously + toothed, oval to linear segments. _Flowers._--Solitary; on long + peduncles; orange-vermilion to scarlet. _Sepals._--Two; falling + early. Petals.--Four; two to twelve lines long. + _Stamens._--Numerous. Filaments filiform; purple. Anthers + yellow. _Ovary._--Top-shaped; ribbed; one-celled. Style short. + Stigma large; capitate; four- to eight-lobed. _Hab._--Throughout + Western California. + +The wind-poppy is an exceedingly variable flower. In the central part of +the State it is large and showy, its beautiful flame-colored blossoms +being two inches across; while in the south it is usually very small, +making tiny flecks of red in the grass, for which reason it is there called +"blood-drop." It is an exquisite thing. Its petals have the delicate satin +texture of the poppy; and their showy orange or scarlet blends suddenly at +the center into a deep maroon. The bright-green, top-shaped ovary stands up +in the midst of the slender stamens, whose yellow anthers show brilliantly +against the dark maroon of the petals. + +It blossoms in spring upon open hillsides, seeming to prefer those which +are shaded for at least part of the day. It is very fragile, and falls to +pieces at a touch, which makes it an unsatisfactory flower to gather. + + +WHISPERING BELLS. + +_Emmenanthe penduliflora_, Benth. Baby-eyes or Waterleaf Family. + + Six inches to a foot high; branched above; hairy; somewhat + viscid. _Leaves._--An inch or more long; pinnatifid. + _Flowers._--Straw-colored; at length pendulous. + _Corolla._--Campanulate; about six lines long. (Flower + structure as in _Phacelia_.) _Hab._--Lake County to San Diego. + +In midspring, when passing among the plants upon our dry, open hillsides, +our attention is often attracted by a certain delicate, rustling sound, +which we find emanates from the little papery bells of the dried blossoms +of the _Emmenanthe_, which retain the semblance of their first freshness +for many weeks. + +Though not at first apparent, a little examination will reveal the fact +that these plants are very closely related to the _Phacelias_, the chief +difference being in the yellow corollas. + + +YELLOW STAR TULIP. + +_Calochortus Benthami_, Baker. Lily Family. + + _Leaves._--Much elongated; two to five lines broad. + _Stems._--Slender; three to six inches high. _Buds._--Nodding. + _Flowers._--Erect; yellow. _Petals._--Six or seven lines long; + spreading; mostly obtuse; rather densely covered with yellow + hairs. _Gland._--Shallow; lunate. _Capsule._--Nodding; six to + nine lines long. _Hab._--Sierra Nevada foothills, throughout + their length. + +[Illustration WHISPERING BELLS--_Emmenanthe penduliflora_.] + +This is a very pretty little star tulip, with graceful, flexuous stems +and erect flowers, whose spreading petals are covered with hairs. Sometimes +there is a dark-brown, almost black, spot upon the petals, and when such is +the case the plant is called _C. Benthami, var. Wallacei_. + + +CREAM-COLORED WALL-FLOWER. + +_Erysimum grandiflorum_, Nutt. Mustard Family. + + _Stems._--Six to eighteen inches high. _Leaves._--Spatulate or + oblanceolate; entire, toothed or lobed; lower long-petioled. + _Sepals._--Four; one pair strongly gibbous at base. + _Petals._--An inch long; long-clawed; cream-color or yellowish. + _Stamens._--Six; two shorter. _Ovary._--One-celled; linear. + Style stout; short. Stigma capitate. _Pod._--Nearly flat; + thirty lines or less long. _Syn._--_Cheiranthus asper_, Cham. + and Schlecht. _Hab._--The seaboard from Los Angeles to Oregon. + +Growing along sandy stretches, or upon open mesas by the seashore, we may +find the showy blossoms of the cream-colored wall-flower from February to +May. These flowers are less stocky and much more delicate than the garden +species; and when seen numerously dotting a field carpeted with other +flowers, they stand out conspicuously, claiming the attention peculiarly to +themselves. They have not the delicious fragrance of the Western +wall-flower. At first yellowish, they become pale cream-color after +fertilization has taken place. + +_E. asperum_, DC., the Western wall-flower, is widely distributed, and may +be known from the above by its four-sided pods, and by its flowers, which +are usually orange-color--though they occasionally vary to yellow or +purple. These blossoms are especially abundant in the mountains and valleys +of the south, where their brilliant orange is conspicuous amid the lush +greens of springtime. They are very fragrant, and are favorites among our +wild flowers. + + +BUR-CLOVER. + +_Medicago denticulata_, Willd. Pea Family. + + _Stems._--Prostrate or ascending. _Leaves._--Trifoliolate. + _Leaflets._--Cuneate-obovate or obcordate; toothed above. + _Flowers._--Papilionaceous; small; yellow; two or three in a + cluster. _Stamens._--Nine united, one free. _Pods._--Coiled + into two circles; armed with hooked prickles. _Hab._--Common + everywhere; introduced. + +[Illustration CREAM-COLORED WALL-FLOWER--_Erysimum grandiflorum_.] + +The bur-clover is a little European weed which has become very widespread +and very much at home among us. It is an excellent forage-plant, and in +late summer, when our cattle have eaten everything else, they feed upon the +little burs, which are very nutritious in themselves. But these same little +coiled burs, with their numerous firm hooks, work great damage to wool, +imbedding themselves in it so firmly as to make it very difficult to remove +them without seriously injuring its quality. These plants invade our lawns, +where they become very troublesome. + + +COMMON MONKEY-FLOWER. + +_Mimulus luteus_, L. Figwort Family. + + Varying greatly in size. _Stems._--One to four feet high. + _Leaves._--Mostly smooth; ovate-oval or cordate; coarsely + notched. _Flowers._--Yellow. _Calyx._--Sharply five-angled; + unevenly five-lobed. _Corolla._--One or two inches long; lower + lip usually spotted with brown purple. _Stamens._--Four; in + pairs. Anthers with two divergent cells. _Ovary._--Two-celled. + Style long and slender. Stigma with two rounded lips. + _Hab._--Common throughout California. + +The bright canary-colored blossoms of the common monkey-flower are a +familiar sight upon almost every stream-bank. The plant varies greatly in +size, according to the locality of its growth. I once saw it flourishing in +the rich soil of a lake-shore, where its hollow stems were as large as an +ordinary cane, and its blossoms grotesquely large. + +_M. moschatus_, Dougl., the common musk-plant of cultivation, is usually +found along mountain-streams. It may be known by its clammy, musk-scented, +light-green herbage. Its flowers are larger than in cultivation. + +_M. brevipes_, Benth., is common from Santa Barbara to San Diego, upon +hillsides in spring. It has stems a foot or two high, lanceolate leaves one +to four inches long, and large, handsome yellow flowers, having a pair of +ridges running down their open throats. + +[Illustration COMMON MONKEY-FLOWER--_Mimulus luteus_.] + + + * * * * * + +_OEnothera bistorta_, Nutt. Evening-Primrose Family. + + From several inches to a foot or two high. _Leaves._--Three or + four inches long; denticulate; the upper mostly rounded at + base. _Petals._--Yellow; four to seven lines long; with usually + a brown spot at the base. _Stigma._--Large and spherical. + _Capsule._--Four to nine lines long; a line or so wide; + attenuate upward; contorted. (See _OEnothera_.) _Hab._--Ventura + to San Diego. + +This is a very common species of evening primrose in the south, and may be +found blooming until June. It is very variable in its manner of growth. In +moist, shaded localities it becomes an erect plant a foot or two high; +while upon open, exposed plains it is often only two or three inches high, +but seems almost to emulate the "sunshine" in its attempt to gild the plain +with its bright blossoms. It frequently grows in gravelly washes. Its +flowers have a peculiarly clean, brilliant, alert look, and may usually be +known by the brown spot at the base of the petals. The specific name is in +reference to its twice-twisted capsule. + +The "beach primrose," _OE. cheiranthifolia, var. suffruticosa_, Wats., +often grows in great beds upon the dry sands of the seashore, from Monterey +to San Diego. Its decumbent stems are thickly clothed with small, ovate, +stemless leaves, and its silvery foliage makes a beautiful setting for its +large golden flowers. + + +FAWN-LILY. DOG'S-TOOTH VIOLET. CHAMISE-LILY. + +_Erythronium giganteum_, Lindl. Lily Family. + + _Corm._--Usually elongated. _Leaves._--Oblong; six to ten + inches long; dark green, usually mottled in mahogany and dark + brown. _Scape._--One- to many-flowered. _Perianth._--Broadly + funnel-form, with six deciduous segments; at length revolute to + the stem. _Segments._--Straw-color, with orange base, with + often a transverse, brownish band across the base; broadly + lanceolate; eighteen lines or so long. _Stamens._--Six. + Filaments filiform. Anthers basifixed. _Ovary._--Three-celled. + Style slender. Stigma three-lobed. _Hab._--The interior of the + Coast Ranges, from Sonoma County to the Willamette Valley. + +[Illustration FAWN-LILY--_Erythronium giganteum_.] + +The dog's-tooth violets expand into larger, finer creations upon our shores +than were ever dreamed of elsewhere. They seem to imbibe new vigor in the +sweet life-giving air of our Coast Range forests. In Southern Oregon, they +reach their maximum development, manifesting themselves in numerous +beautiful species. With us the common title becomes still more +inappropriate than for the Atlantic species--for nothing could be farther +from a violet than these large pale flowers, which in reality look far more +like lilies. Indeed, in Mendocino County they are commonly known as +"chamise-lilies." Another name is "Adam and Eve," bestowed because the +plant often bears a large and a small flower at the same time. + +Personally, I am inclined to favor Mr. Burroughs' suggestion of +"fawn-lily." It is both appropriate and pretty. The two erect leaves are +like the ears of a fawn; their beautiful mottling is not without a hint of +the fawn's spots; and the blossom is lily-like. The plant is shy, too, +keeping to the seclusion of our deep canyons. In such situations we may find +them in groups of a few, or occasionally in beds of hundreds. No more +delightful surprise could be imagined than to come suddenly upon such a +garden far from the habitations of man. The pale flowers, with orange +centers, when fully open, roll their petals back to the stem, like those of +the leopard-lily; but in cloudy weather they often maintain a campanulate +outline. Plants have frequently been seen with from eight to sixteen +flowers upon a stem, the flowers three or four inches across! + +These are great favorites in gardens, and in cultivation are known as _E. +grandiflorum_. We have several species of _Erythronium_, all of them +beautiful. + + +STICKY MONKEY-FLOWER. + +_Mimulus glutinosus_, Wend. Figwort Family. + + Glutinous shrubs two to six feet high. _Leaves._--Narrowly + oblong to linear; one to four inches long; with margins at + length rolled backward. _Flowers._--Corn-color to red; eighteen + lines to three inches long. _Calyx._--Irregularly five-toothed. + _Corolla._--Funnel-form; five-lobed; the lobes gnawed. + _Stigma._--White. (See _Mimulus_.) _Hab._--San Francisco to San + Diego, and southward. + +[Illustration STICKY MONKEY-FLOWER--_Mimulus glutinosus_.] + +During a walk upon the hills, at almost any time of year, we may find the +corn-colored blossoms of the sticky monkey-flower, but they are most +abundant in spring and summer. When in full flower the small bushes are +very ornamental, as they are a perfect mass of bloom. They are said to be +especially handsome as greenhouse plants. + +The flowers vary through a wide range of color, from almost white to a rich +scarlet, but the commoner hue is the corn-color. The scarlet-flowered form, +found at San Diego, constitutes the _var. puniceus_, Gray. Another form, +with red-brown to salmon-colored flowers on very short pedicels, is the +_var. linearis_, Gray. The very long-flowered form is the _var. brachypus_, +Gray. The sensitive lips of the stigma close upon being touched or after +receiving pollen. + + +CREEPING WOOD-VIOLET. + +_Viola sarmentosa_, Dougl. Violet Family. + + _Stems._--Creeping. _Leaves._--Round-cordate; six to eighteen + lines broad; finely crenate; often rusty beneath; usually + punctate with dark dots. _Peduncles._--Slender. + _Flowers._--Small; light yellow without and within. (Flower + structure as in _V. pedunculata_.) _Hab._--Coast Ranges, from + Monterey to British Columbia. + +This modest little violet is found commonly in woods,--often in redwood +forests,--where it carpets the ground with its shapely little round leaves. + +Its specific name refers to its running habit. + + +COMMON BLACK MUSTARD. + +_Brassica nigra_, Koch. Mustard Family. + + _Stems._--Six inches to twelve feet high. _Lower + leaves._--Lyrate; with large terminal lobes. _Upper + leaves._--Lobed or entire. _Flowers._--Yellow. _Sepals._--Four. + _Petals._--Four; three to four lines long. _Stamens._--Six. + _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style long. _Pod._--Six to nine lines + long, with seeds in one row. _Hab._--Common everywhere; + introduced. + +I can give no truer idea of the manner of growth of this common plant in +California than by quoting Mrs. Jackson's charming description of it from +"Ramona":-- + +"The wild mustard in Southern California is like that spoken of in the New +Testament, in the branches of which the birds of the air may rest. Coming +up out of the earth, so slender a stem that dozens can find starting-point +in an inch, it darts up a slender, straight shoot, five, ten, twenty feet, +with hundreds of fine, feathery branches locking and interlocking with all +the other hundreds around it, till it is an inextricable network, like +lace. Then it bursts into yellow bloom, still finer, more feathery and +lacelike. The stems are so infinitesimally small and of so dark a green, +that at a short distance they do not show, and the cloud of blossoms seems +floating in the air; at times it looks like a golden dust. With a clear, +blue sky behind it, as it is often seen, it looks like a golden snowstorm." + +The tall stems are favorite haunts of the red-winged blackbird, who tilts +about among them, showing his scarlet wings and occasionally plunging into +the depths below, as though he found a spot there much to his mind. + +A very superior oil is made from the seed of the mustard, which is one of +the strongest antiseptics known. It is especially adapted to the needs of +the druggist, because it does not become rancid. The flour of mustard is +now much used by surgeons to render their hands aseptic. Tons of the seed +are exported from California every year. + + +ECHEVERIA. + +_Cotyledon lanceolata_, Benth. and Hook. Stonecrop or Orpine Family. + + Fleshy plants, with tufted radical leaves. _Leaves._--Narrowly + lanceolate; the outer ones two to four inches long; acuminate. + _Scapes._--Fifteen inches high; their lower leaves lanceolate; + becoming above broadly triangular-ovate, clasping, acute; + bearing on their summit a branching flower-cluster. + _Calyx._--Five-parted. _Corolla._--Cylindrical; of five almost + distinct, oblong, acute petals, four to six lines long, + reddish-yellow. _Stamens._--Ten. _Ovaries._--Five; distinct; + one-celled. _Hab._--Los Angeles to San Diego. + +These plants, which are of frequent occurrence in the south, usually affect +dry, sandy soils. The fleshy foliage is of a warm tone, owing to a +suffusion of pink in the leaves. These have a loose, erect habit, and are +not crowded in dense rosettes, as are those of some species, and they are +so weak that they pull apart easily. The tall flowering stems have but few +leaves, and are sometimes nearly naked. + +In early summer these plants put forth a strong effort, quickly sending up +several tall, vigorous flower-shoots, drawing upon the nourishment stored +in the fleshy leaves, which then become limp and shriveled. + +Growing upon the coast at San Diego is a very curious and interesting +species--_C. edulis_, Brew. This has cylindrical leaves, about the size of +a lead-pencil, which grow in tufts, often a foot or two across. Its flowers +are greenish-yellow. It is commonly known as "finger-tips." Its young +leaves are considered very palatable by the Indians, who use them as a +salad. + + +HEN-AND-CHICKENS. + +_Cotyledon Californicum_, Trelease. Stonecrop or Orpine Family. + + (For flower structure, see _Cotyledon lanceolata_.) + _Hab._--Central California. + +The word "cotyledon" signifies any cup-shaped hollow or cavity, and has +been applied to the plants of this genus on account of the manner of growth +of the leaves, which is usually in a hollow rosette. The fleshy leaves are +often covered with a bloom or a floury powder. These plants are familiar to +most of us, as some of the species are extensively cultivated in our +gardens as border-plants. Owing to their habit of producing a circle of +young plants around the parent, they are commonly called +"hen-and-chickens." We have several native species, which are usually found +upon warm, rocky hill-slopes, or upon rocks near the sea. + +_C. Californicum_ is a beautiful form, with pointed, ovate leaves, of a +light glaucous green, often tinged with pink. Its flowers are yellow, and +have their petals distinct almost to the base, and its carpels are +distinct. We are told that the Indians make soothing poultices of these +leaves. + +[Illustration HEN-AND-CHICKENS--_Cotyledon Californicum_.] + +Another species--_C. pulverulenta_, Benth. and Hook.,--found from Santa +Barbara to San Diego, is a very beautiful plant. It bears its leaves in a +symmetrical rosette, like a diminutive century-plant. These leaves are +usually covered with a dense white bloom, and the outer ones are spatulate, +abruptly pointed, and two to four inches broad at the tip, while the inner +are pointed. The plants are sometimes a foot and a half across, and send up +as many as eight of the leafy flowering stems, which look like +many-storied, slender Chinese pagodas. The blossoms are pale-red. + + +BLADDERPOD. + +_Isomeris arborea_, Nutt. Caper Family. + + Shrubby; evil-scented. _Leaves._--Alternate; compound, with + three leaflets. _Flowers._--With their parts in fours. + _Petals._--Yellow; five to eight lines long. _Stamens._--Eight; + of equal length. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style short. + _Pod._--Pendulous; inflated; pear-shaped; on a long stalk. + _Hab._--Santa Barbara to San Diego. + +This low shrub is somewhat plentiful upon the mesas of the south. Its +yellow flowers attract one to it, only to be repulsed by the dreadful odor +of its foliage. It certainly ought to have some compensating utility for so +repellent a characteristic. The ovary is so long-stalked, even in the +flower, that it looks like an abnormal, inflated stigma. + +This is the only species of the genus. + + +YELLOW GLOBE-TULIP. DIOGENES' LANTERN. GOLDEN LILY-BELL. + +_Calochortus pulchellus_, Dougl. Lily Family. + + _Stems._--Somewhat flexuous, with spreading branches; two + inches to a foot or more high. _Radical leaf._--Equaling or + exceeding the stem; four to twelve lines broad. + _Sepals._--Greenish or yellow; eight to twelve lines long. + _Petals._--Yellow; strongly arched; glandular ciliate. + _Gland._--A deep pit, conspicuously prominent on the outside of + the petals, covered within by appressed hairs. (See + _Calochortus_.) _Hab._--Coast Ranges, from Monterey to + Mendocino County. + +We have no more charmingly graceful flower than the yellow globe-tulip. A +single, long, grasslike leaf precedes the flexuous stem, with its quaintly +arched and delicately fringed blossoms. There is a certain quizzical look +about these flowers--something akin to the inquiring look of Diogenes, as +he thrust his lantern into all sorts of out-of-the-way places in broad +daylight. The margins of the petals look as though they had been snipped +into a very fine, delicate fringe, unlike the slender, tapering hairs of +_C. alba_. + +[Illustration DIOGENES' LANTERN--_Calochortus pulchellus_.] + +The Indians are fond of the bulbs, which they eat with great relish, +calling them "Bo." + + +YELLOW SAND-VERBENA. + +_Abronia latifolia_, Esch. Four-o'clock Family. + + _Stems._--Prostrate; rubbery. _Leaves._--Opposite; unequal; + roundish; an inch or so across; petioled; leathery; gummy. + _Flowers._--Yellow; five or six lines long; in dense clusters, + subtended by an involucre of five distinct bracts. + _Perianth._--Salver-shaped. Tube green; its base strongly + angled or winged. Limb yellow; four or five-lobed. + _Stamens._--Mostly five, within the perianth. + _Ovary._--One-celled. Style filiform. Stigma club-shaped. + _Hab._--The seashore from Vancouver Island to Monterey. + +The fragrant blossoms of the yellow sand-verbena may be found upon the +beach at almost any time of year. The stout root, which often becomes +several feet long, is sometimes eaten by the Indians. + + +SEA-DAHLIA. + +_Leptosyne maritima_, Gray. Composite Family. + + _Leaves._--Alternate; sometimes six inches long; two or three + times divided into rather sparse, linear divisions; quite + succulent. _Flower-heads._--Solitary; on naked peduncles from + six inches to two feet long; large; three or four inches + across; yellow; of disk- and ray-flowers. _Rays._--Narrowly + oblong; ten-nerved; three-toothed. _Involucre._--Double; the + outer part of several loose, leafy scales; the inner of eight + to twelve, erect, more chaffy ones. _Hab._--The seashore of San + Diego and the islands. + +On the cliffs overlooking the sea, where its merry yellow faces can watch +the white-crested breakers as they chase one another ashore in never-ending +succession, and where the pelicans sail lazily over in lines, and gulls +circle and scream, the sea-dahlia flaunts its large yellow flowers. They +closely resemble the yellow single dahlias of our gardens; but the foliage + is cut into long lobes, and has the appearance of a coarse, very open +lace. The odor of the flowers is not especially agreeable, but the plant +merits a place in the garden for its beauty. + +[Illustration YELLOW SAND-VERBENA--_Abronia latifolia_.] + + +FALSE LUPINE. + +_Thermopsis Californica_, Wats. Pea Family. + + _Stems._--Two feet tall. _Leaves._--With leafy stipules an inch + long. _Leaflets._--Three; obovate to oblanceolate; an inch or + two long; somewhat woolly. _Flowers._--Yellow; in + long-peduncled recemes. _Calyx._--Deeply five-cleft; the two + upper teeth often united. _Corolla._--Papilionaceous; eight + lines long. _Stamens._--Ten; all distinct. + _Ovary._--One-celled. _Pod._--Silky; six- to eight-seeded. + _Hab._--Marin County and southward. + +The false lupine very closely resembles the true lupines, but may be +distinguished from them by the stamens, which are all distinct, instead of +being united into a sheath. Its silvery foliage and racemes of rather large +canary-colored flowers are common upon open hill-slopes by April. + + +TIDY-TIPS. YELLOW DAISY. + +_Layia platyglossa_, Gray. Composite Family. + + _Stems._--A foot or so high; loosely branching. + _Leaves._--Alternate; sessile; the lower linear and pinnatifid, + the upper entire. _Flowerheads._--Solitary; terminal; of + disk- and ray-flowers. _Disk-flowers._--Yellow, with black + stamens. _Rays._--Bright yellow, tipped with white; six lines + long; four lines wide; three-lobed. _Hab._--Throughout Western + California; in low ground. + +Among the most charming of our flowers are the beautiful tidy-tips. In +midspring, countless millions of them lift themselves above the sheets of +golden _Baeria_ on our flower-tapestried plains. The fresh winds come +sweetly laden with their delicate fragrance. Were they not scattered +everywhere in such lavish profusion, we would doubtless cherish them in our +gardens. + +Growing among these blossoms is often found another flower, somewhat +similar to them. This is _Leptosyne Douglasii_, DC., the false tidy-tip. It +has not the clean, natty appearance of _Layia platyglossa_; for the gradual +blending of the light tips into the darker yellow below gives it an +indefinite, unattractive look. There is a difference in the involucre, +which has two series of bracts, and there are no touches of black among the +disk-flowers. + +[Illustration FALSE TIDY-TIPS--_Leptosyne Douglasii_. TIDY-TIPS--_Layia +Platyglossa_.] + + +GOLDEN BUTTERFLY-TULIP. + +_Calochortus clavatus_, Wats. Lily Family. + + _Hab._--Los Angeles County to San Luis Obispo and El Dorado + County. + +Of all our Mariposa tulips, this is the largest-flowered and +stoutest-stemmed, and once seen is not readily forgotten. Its magnificent +flowers are sometimes six inches across, though not usually so large, and +have the form of a broad-based cup. The sturdy, zigzagging stems and +glaucous leaves and bracts, combined with the large rich, canary-colored or +golden flowers, make a striking plant. The first glance within the cup +shows the ring of club-shaped hairs, characteristic of this species, and +the anthers radiating starlike in the center; and as the latter are often a +dark, rich prune-purple, the effect can readily be imagined. + +I saw this charming Mariposa blooming in abundance in May near Newhall, +where its golden cups were conspicuously beautiful against the soft browns +of the drying fields and hill-slopes. It is usually found growing upon lava +soil. + +_C. Weedii_, Wood., found from San Diego to San Luis Obispo, is a charming +species, somewhat similar to the above. Its flowers are yellow, purple, or +pure white, and it may be known by several characteristics. Its bulb is +heavily coated with coarse fibers; it has a single, long radical leaf, like +_C. albus_, but unusual among the Mariposas; and its cups are covered all +over within with silky hairs. + + + * * * * * + +_Malacothrix Californica_, DC. Composite Family. + + _Leaves._--All radical; pinnately parted into very narrow + linear divisions. _Scape._--Six inches to a foot high; bearing + a solitary, large, light-yellow head. _Flower-head._--Composed + of strap-shaped ray-flowers only; five-toothed at the apex. + _Involucres._--Of narrow acute scales in two or three series. + _Receptacle._--Nearly naked. _Hab._--San Francisco to San + Diego, and eastward. + +These beautiful _Compositae_ are conspicuous upon our open plains in late +spring, and are among the handsomest plants of the family. The fine flowers +seem to be sown like disks of light over the flower-carpet of the plain. + + +BUTTER-AND-EGGS. + +_Orthocarpus erianthus_, Benth. Figwort Family. + + Slender, with many erect branches; stems and bracts usually + dark-reddish; soft pubescent. _Corolla._--Deep sulphur-yellow; + the slender falcate upper lip dark purple; the tube very + slender, but the sacs of the lower lip large and deep, their + folds hairy within. (See _Orthocarpus_.) _Hab._--Monterey + County and northward; very common. + +There are many species of _Orthocarpus_, and they are more numerous in +Middle and Northern California and in the Sierras, few of them reaching the +south. They are very difficult of determination, and are not well +understood by botanists yet. A common name for the plants of this genus is +"owl's clover." + + +BRASS BUTTONS. + +_Cotula coronopifolia_, L. Composite Family. + + _Stems._--Six inches to a foot long. _Leaves._--Alternate; + lanceolate or oblong-linear; pinnatifid or entire. + _Flower-heads._--Solitary; yellow; three to six lines across; + without rays. _Involucre._--Of two ranks of nearly equal, + scarious-margined scales. _Hab._--Common everywhere. + +These little weeds are natives of the Southern Hemisphere, but are now +common everywhere. They affect wet places, and their little flowers, like +brass buttons, are very familiar objects along our roadsides. The foliage +when crushed gives out a curious odor, between lemon-verbena and camphor. + + +DEER-WEED. WILD BROOM. + +_Hosackia glabra_, Torr. Pea Family. + + Woody at base; two to eight feet high; erect or decumbent. + _Stems._--Many; slender; branching; reed-like. + _Leaves._--Sparse; short-petioled; mostly trifoliolate. + Leaflets three to six lines long; oblong to linear-oblong; + nearly glabrous. _Flowers._--In numerous small axillary umbels; + yellow; four lines long. _Calyx._--Less than three lines long; + five-toothed. _Corolla._--Papilionaceous. _Stamens._--Nine + united and one free. _Pod._--Elongated; exserted. Seeds two. + (See _Leguminosae_.) _Hab._--Common throughout the State. + +This graceful, willowy plant, whose slender branches are closely set with +small golden-yellow flowers, in which there is often a hint of red, is as +ornamental as any of the small-flowered foreign _Genestas_, or brooms, we +grow in our gardens; but because it is so very abundant throughout our +borders, we have become blind to its merits. It is especially beautiful and +symmetrical in the south, where the low, bushy plants often spread over +several feet of ground; and on the mesas of Coronado, the plants growing +not far removed from one another, lend to the natural scene the aspect of a +garden. There it is in full flower in April; but in the north the blossoms +are usually later in arriving, and it is often June before they show +themselves; then making whole hill-slopes dull-yellow among the chaparral. + +It is a great favorite with the bees, and for them holds untold treasure in +honey-making sweets. Among the mountaineers it is known as "deer-weed" and +"buck-brush," as both deer and stock are said to feed upon it and flourish, +when pasturage is scarce, though they rarely touch it when other food is +plenty. + + +TREFOIL SUMACH. FRAGRANT SUMACH. SQUAW-BERRY. + +_Rhus Canadensis, var. trilobata_, Gray. Poison-Oak or Cashew Family. + + Shrubs two to five feet high; spreading. + _Leaves._--Three-foliolate. _Leaflets._--Sessile; wedge-shaped; + six lines to an inch long; pubescent, becoming smooth. + _Flowers._--Yellowish; minute; borne in short, scaly-bracted + spikes preceding the leaves. _Fruit._--Viscid; reddish; two or + three lines in diameter; pleasantly acid. _Syn._--_R. + aromatica, var. trilobata_, Gray. _Hab._--Dakota to Texas, and + west to California and Oregon. + +[Illustration DEER-WEED.--_Hosackia glabra_.] + +The dense foliage of these little bushes has a strong odor, which is not +altogether agreeable, while their small fruit has a pleasant acid taste, +and is much relished by the Indians. + +Dr. Edward Palmer writes that this shrub furnishes the Indians of Utah, +Arizona, New Mexico, and Southern California with one of the most valuable +of basket materials. The young twigs, which are much tougher than those of +the willow, are soaked, scraped, and split. The baskets are then built up +of a succession of small rolls of grass, over which the split twigs are +closely and firmly bound. The baskets thus made are very durable, will hold +water, and are often used to cook in, by dropping hot stones into them till +the food is done. The wood exhales a peculiar odor, which is always +recognizable about the camps of these Indians, and never leaves articles +made from it. + +This is grown in England as an ornamental shrub. + + +GOLDEN STARS. + +_Bloomeria aurea_, Kell. Lily Family. + + _Bulb._--Six lines in diameter. _Leaf._--Solitary; about + equaling the scape; three to six lines broad. _Scape._--Six to + eighteen inches high. _Flowers._--Yellow; fifteen to sixty in + an umbel. _Perianth._--About an inch across. _Stamens._--Six; + with cup-shaped appendages. _Ovary._--Three-celled. Style + club-shaped. Stigma three-lobed. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from + Monterey to San Diego. + +Just as the floral procession begins to slacken a little before the +oncoming of summer, the fields suddenly blossom out anew and twinkle with +millions of the golden stars of the _Bloomeria_. These plants are closely +allied to the _Brodiaeas_, and by some authorities are classed as such. +They are especially characterized by the structure of the stamens, which +rise out of a tiny cup. Under a glass this cup is seen to be granular, +somewhat flattened, and furnished with two cusps, or points. The anthers +are a very pretty Nile or peacock green. + +[Illustration GOLDEN STARS--_Bloomeria aurea_.] + +Another species--_B. Clevelandi_, Wats.--is easily distinguished from the +above by its numerous narrow leaves and its green-nerved perianth. This is +found at San Diego, upon the mesas in midspring, growing abundantly in +spots which, earlier in the season, have been mud-holes. Its open flowers +are so outnumbered by the numerous undeveloped green buds, that, even +though it grows in masses, it is not very showy, but makes the ground a +dull yellow. But its flower-clusters are feathery and delicate. + +There is another plant which closely resembles the _Bloomerias_. This is +the "golden Brodiaea"--_Brodiaea ixioides_, Wats. But the filaments, +instead of having a cuplike appendage, are winged, with the little anthers +swinging prettily upon their summits. This is found in the Coast Ranges, +from Santa Barbara northward, also in the Sierras. It is a beautiful +flower; especially when seen starring the velvet alpine meadows in August. + +Another plant--_Brodiaea lactea_, Wats.--the "white Brodiaea" has flowers +similar to the above, but pure white (sometimes lilac), with a green +mid-vein. This is common in late spring from Monterey to British Columbia. + + +YELLOW SWEET CLOVER. + +_Melilotus parviflora_, Desf. Pea Family. + + _Hab._--Widely naturalized from Europe. + +In early summer the breezes come laden with fragrance from the sweet +clover. This is easily recognized by its tall stems, its fragrant leaves, +with three small, toothed leaflets, and its small crowded racemes of minute +yellow flowers a line long. + +A white form--_Melilotus alba_, Lam.--is found in the north. Its flowers +are vanilla-scented. + +This plant is a highly valued remedy in the pharmacopoeia for various +ailments, and its sweet-scented flowers have been used for flavoring many +products, such as Gruyere cheese, snuff, and tobacco. In Europe the +blossoms are packed among furs to give them a pleasant odor and keep away +moths. + + +CALIFORNIAN COMPASS-PLANT. SUNFLOWER. + +_Wyethia angustifolia_, Nutt. Composite Family. + + _Stems._--Six inches to two feet high. + _Leaves._--Long-lanceolate; pointed at both ends; the radical + and lower ones six to twelve inches long; the upper sessile, + shorter, and often broader. _Flower-heads._--Yellow; composed + of ray- and disk-flowers. Plume-like styles of the latter + conspicuous. _Ray flowers._--Numerous; one inch long; six lines + wide; early deciduous. _Involucre._--Broadly campanulate, of + numerous erect, loose, foliaceous, ciliate scales, in several + rows. _Hab._--Monterey, east to the Sierra foothills and north + to Oregon. + +In late spring our open plains and hillsides are often plentifully sown +with the large golden flowers of these Californian compass-plants, called +"sunflowers" by many people. There is a belief prevalent that their erect +leaves always stand with their edges pointing north and south, whence the +common name. This trait is said to be true of all the species. + +_W. helenioides_, Nutt., has large, broad leaves, which are white-woolly +when young. Its flower-heads are often four inches or more across. + +This plant is used as a common domestic remedy for coughs and colds by +Californian housewives, and goes under the unmerited name of "poison-weed." +It has also been adopted among physicians as an officinal drug. The root, +which is slightly bitter and aromatic, is made into a tincture and +administered for asthma, throat disorders, and epidemic influenza, with +excellent results. It blooms in early spring, and is common upon hillsides. + +Another species, very similar to the above, is _W. glabra_, Gray. This may +be known by its smooth green leaves, which are often very viscid. It is +found from Marin County southward, in the Coast Ranges, and probably +northward. + +_W. mollis_, Gray, or "Indian wheat," is very abundant in the Sierras, +growing all through the open woods, and covering great tracts of dry +gravelly soil. Its large, coarse, somewhat woolly radical leaves stand +erect and clustered, usually having a flower-stalk or two in their midst, +bearing some smaller leaves, and several yellow flower-heads, which +resemble small sunflowers with yellow centers. It has a strong odor, and +gives a characteristic smell to the region where it grows. The common name, +"Indian wheat," has been bestowed upon it not because it in the least +resembles wheat, but because the Indians gather the seed in great +quantities and grind it into a flour. + + +CALIFORNIAN SLIPPERY-ELM. + +_Fremontia Californica_, Torr. Hand-tree Family. + + Shrubs or trees from two to twenty feet high. + _Leaves._--Alternate; petioled; round-cordate to round-ovate; + moderately three- to five-lobed or cleft; woolly or whitish + beneath; the larger two inches wide. + _Flowers._--Short-peduncled on very short lateral branches; + numerous; one to three inches across; having three to five + small bractlets. _Calyx._--Corolla-like; brilliant gold, + five-cleft nearly to the base; the lobes having a rounded, + hairy pit at base. _Corolla._--Wanting. _Filaments._--United to + their middle; each bearing a linear, adnate, curved, two-celled + anther. _Ovary._--Five-celled. Style filiform. _Hab._--Dry + Sierra foothills, from Lake County southward. + +No more beautiful sight is often seen than a slope covered with the wild +slippery-elm in blossom. The bushes are almost obscured from view by the +masses of large golden flowers. This shrub takes on various forms; +sometimes sending out in every direction long slender branches, which are +solid wreaths of the magnificent blooms; and again assuming a more erect, +treelike habit. It has been hailed with delight in the gardens of our +Southern States, and heartily welcomed in France and England. Why do not +_we_ honor it with a place in our own gardens, instead of giving room to so +many far less beautiful exotics? + +It flowers in early summer, and its season of bloom is said to last only +about two weeks, but the brilliant hibiscus-like blossoms, drying upon +their stems, maintain for a long time a semblance of their first beauty. +The branches are tough and flexible, and are often cut for whips by +teamsters. Among the mountaineers it is generally known as "leatherwood." +But this name properly belongs to another entirely different plant, _Dirca +palustris_. + +[Illustration CALIFORNIAN SLIPPERY-ELM--_Fremontia Californica_.] + +The bark of the _Fremontia_ so closely resembles that of the slippery-elm +in taste and other qualities, that it is difficult to distinguish between +them; and it is used in the same manner for making poultices. + +We are told that this shrub thrives best upon a disintegrated granite soil, +and reaches its finest development upon the arid slopes bordering such +rainless regions as the Mojave Desert. It was first discovered by General +Fremont when crossing the Sierras, about half a century ago, and was named +in his honor. It is closely related to the mallows. + + +DODDER. LOVE-VINE. GOLDEN-THREAD. + +_Cuscuta_, Tourn. Morning-Glory Family. + + Leafless plants with filiform, yellow or orange-colored stems; + germinating in the soil; soon breaking off and becoming + parasitic upon other plants. _Flowers._--Small; white; densely + clustered. _Calyx._--Usually five-cleft or parted. + _Corolla._--Tubular or campanulate; four- or five-toothed or + lobed. _Stamens._--On the corolla, alternate with its lobes. + Filaments with fringed scales below. _Ovary._--Globose; + two-celled. Styles two. + + . . . "while everywhere + The love-vine spreads a silken snare, + The tangles of her yellow hair." + +Though popularly known as the love-vine, because of its clinging habit, it +must be confessed that this pernicious plant in no respect merits the +title. On the other hand, it might with propriety be called the octopus of +the plant world. If you break a branch from a plant which has become its +victim, you can see how it has twined itself about it, drawing its very +life-blood from it at every turn, by means of ugly, wartlike suckers. + +It is no wonder, however, that people are generally deceived as to the +moral character of this plant--for it is indeed a beautiful sight, when it +spreads its golden tangle over the chamisal, wild buckwheat, and other +plants, often completely hiding them from view. + +We have a number of species. _C. salina_ often covers our salt marshes with +brilliant patches of orange. + + +LARGE YELLOW LUPINE. + +_Lupinus arboreus_, Sims. Pea Family. + + Shrubby; four to ten feet high. _Flowers._--Large; in a loose, + whorled raceme; sulphur-yellow; very fragrant. + _Leaflets._--Four to eleven; generally about nine; narrowly + lanceolate; nine to twenty lines long. _Pods._--Two to three + inches long; ten- to twelve-seeded; silky pubescent. (See + _Lupinus_.) _Hab._--Common from the Sacramento to San Diego. + +The large yellow lupine is a common plant upon our wind-swept mesas, +growing in sandy soil. Its shrubby form, somewhat silvery foliage, and +large canary-colored, very fragrant flowers make it always a conspicuous +and beautiful plant. + +This species, together with _L. albifrons_, have been found most useful in +anchoring the shifting sands of the dunes near San Francisco. It was +accidentally discovered in a deep cutting that these lupines sent their +roots down sometimes twenty feet, and the idea was conceived of making use +of them in the above manner. Barley, which grows more rapidly than the +lupine, was sown to protect the plants while very young. In a single year +the lupines covered the sands with a dense growth, two or three feet high, +sufficient to prevent them from shifting during the severest storms, and to +allow of the subsequent planting of various pines, willows, and other +trees. Thus the way was prepared for one of the most beautiful of +pleasure-grounds--the Golden Gate Park of San Francisco which can hardly be +rivaled anywhere for natural situation and diversity of scene. + +One of our handsomest species is _L. Stiveri_, Kell., found in the +Yosemite. Its blossoms have yellow standards and rose-colored wings. + + +ST. JOHN'S-WORT. + +_Hypericum concinnum_, Benth. St. John's-wort Family. + + _Stems._--Three to eighteen inches high; branching from a woody + base. _Leaves._--Opposite; often in four ranks; linear to + oblong; six lines to an inch or more long; usually folded; + translucently dotted. _Flowers._--Golden yellow; over an inch + across. _Sepals._--Five. _Petals._--Five; margins black-dotted. + _Stamens._--Numerous; in three bunches. _Ovary._--Usually + three-celled. Styles three. _Hab._--Central California. + +Just as spring is merging into summer, we may look for the bright golden +flowers of our common St. John's-wort. The numerous stamens give these +blossoms a feathery appearance, and the leaves often group themselves +characteristically in four ranks upon the stems. + +All the plants of the genus are known as St. John's-wort, because certain +of the species were supposed to flower upon the anniversary of this saint. +Perhaps there are no other plants around which tradition has thrown such a +glamour. Mr. Dyer says, in his interesting book, "The Folk-Lore of Plants," +that the St. John's-wort was supposed to be an excellent amulet against +lightning, and that it had the magic property of revealing the presence of +witches; whence in Germany it was extensively worn on St. John's Eve, when +the air was supposed to be peopled with witches and evil spirits, who +wandered abroad upon no friendly errands. In Denmark it is resorted to by +anxious lovers who wish to divine their future. + + +GOLDEN DICENTRA. + +_Dicentra chrysantha_, Hook. and Arn. Bleeding-heart Family. + + _Stems._--Glaucous and smooth; two to five feet high. + _Leaves._--The larger ones a foot long or more; finely + dissected into small linear lobes. _Flowers._--Erect; yellow; + six to nine lines long; in a loose terminal panicle a foot or + two long. _Sepals._--Two; small; caducous. + _Corolla._--Flattened and cordate; of two pairs of petals; the + outer larger, saccate at base, and with spreading tips; the + inner much narrower, spoon-shaped, their tips cohering and + inclosing the anthers and stigma. _Stamens._--Six. + _Ovary._--One-celled. Style slender. Stigma two-lobed. + _Hab._--Dry hills, Lake County to San Diego. + +[Illustration ST. JOHN'S-WORT--_Hypericum concinnum_.] + +The arrangement of the essential organs in the genus _Dicentra_ is very +curious and interesting. The six stamens are borne in two companies of +three each, which stand in front of the outer petals, and have their +filaments more or less united at the base. The central stamen in each group +has a two-celled anther, while its neighbor on either hand has but a +one-celled anther. The stigma-lobes often bend downward prettily, like the +flukes of a little anchor. + +To this genus belongs the beautiful Oriental bleeding-heart of the garden; +and we have two or three interesting native species. + +_D. chrysantha_ is usually a somewhat coarse plant, lacking the grace of +_D. formosa_, the Californian bleeding-heart. The pale leaves, which are +minutely and delicately dissected, are suggestive of the fronds of certain +Japanese ferns. But the flower-stalks are often stiff and sparsely +flowered, and the blossoms, which are erect, not pendulous, have an +over-powering narcotic odor, much like that of the poppy. These plants may +be found upon dry hillsides or in sandy washes in early summer, where the +brilliant yellow blossoms are quite conspicuous. One view of these flowers +is not unlike the conventionalized tulip. + +This species is said to thrive well in cultivation and make a very +effective plant when grown in rich garden soil. + + +CALIFORNIAN DANDELION. + +_Troximon grandiflorum_, Gray. Composite Family. + + Herbs with woody tap-root and milky juice. _Leaves._--All + radical; lanceolate or oblanceolate; mostly laciniately + pinnatifid. _Scapes._--One to two and one half feet high. + _Heads._--Solitary; two inches or so across; of strap-shaped + yellow rays only. _Involucre._--Of several series of imbricated + scales, the outer foliaceous and loose. _Receptacle._--Mostly + naked; pitted. _Akenes._--Two lines long; tapering into a + filiform beak six or eight lines long, surmounted by a tuft of + silk. _Hab._--Washington to Southern California near the Coast. + +The common dandelion of the East has found its way into our lawns, but it +never adapts itself as a wild plant to the vicissitudes of our dry summer +climate. Nature has given us a dandelion of our own, of a different genus, +which is quite as beautiful, though its flowers are not so vivid a gold. +They are larger than those of the Eastern plant, and are borne upon taller +stems. In early summer the large, ethereal globes of the ripened seed are +conspicuous objects, hovering over our straw-tinted fields. + +Mr. Burroughs writes of the dandelion:--"After its first blooming, comes +its second and finer and more spiritual inflorescence, when its stalk, +dropping its more earthly and carnal flower, shoots upward and is presently +crowned by a globe of the most delicate and aerial texture. It is like the +poet's dream, which succeeds his rank and golden youth. This globe is a +fleet of a hundred fairy balloons, each one of which bears a seed which it +is destined to drop far from the parent source." + +If gathered just before they open and allowed to expand in the house, these +down-globes will remain perfect for a long time and make an exquisite +adornment for some delicate vase. + +We have several other species of _Troximon_, but this is our finest. + + + * * * * * + +_Hosackia bicolor_, Dougl. Pea Family. + + Smooth throughout; erect; two feet high. _Leaves._--With rather + large, scarious, triangular stipules; pinnate. + _Leaflets._--Five to nine; obovate or oblong; six to twelve + lines long. _Peduncles._--Three- to seven-flowered; naked or + with a small scarious, one- to three-leaved bract. + _Flowers._--Seven lines long. _Calyx-teeth._--Triangular; half + as long as the tube. _Standard._--Yellow; wings and keel white. + _Stamens._--Nine united; one free. _Pod._--Linear; nearly two + inches long; acute. _Hab._--Middle California to the State of + Washington. + +The yellow and white blossoms of this pretty _Hosackia_ are quite showy, +and are usually found upon low ground near the seaboard. + +Another similar species, also having a yellow standard and white wings and +keel, is _H. Torreyi_, Gray. This is more or less silky pubescent; its +wings are not spreading, its leaflets are narrower, and the bract of the +umbel is sessile. This is found along shaded stream-banks both in the +higher Coast Ranges and in the Sierras, and blooms in summer. + +_H. gracilis_, Benth., with the standard yellow and the widespreading wings +and shorter keel of rose-color, occurs in moist meadows along the coast +from Monterey to the Columbia. It blooms by the middle of April. + +_H. crassifolia_, Benth., a very large species, two or three feet high, +with greenish-yellow or purplish flowers, is abundant in the Yosemite +Valley about the borders of meadows. It is also common in the foothill +region. + + +SKUNK-CABBAGE. + +_Lysichiton Camtschatcensis_, Schott. Arum Family. + + _Rootstock._--Thick; horizontal. _Leaves._--All radical; + oblong-lanceolate; acute; one to three feet or more long; three + to ten inches broad; narrowed to a short petiole or sessile. + _Flowers._--Small, crowded on a spadix, at the summit of a + stout peduncle becoming six to twelve inches long. + _Spadix._--With an erect, spoon-shaped spathe, one and one-half + to two feet long; bright yellow. _Perianth._--Four-lobed. + _Stamens._--Four. Filaments short, flat. _Ovary._--Conical; + two-celled. Stigma depressed. _Fruit._--Fleshy, coalescent and + sunk in the rachis. _Hab._--Peat bogs; from Mendocino County + northward to Alaska; also, perhaps, in the Rocky Mountains. + +In our northwestern counties, before the frost is entirely out of the +ground, the leaves of the skunk-cabbage may be seen pushing their way up +through the standing water of marshy localities. They soon attain a great +size, and resemble the leaves of the banana-tree. They are of a rich +velvet-green, slightly mottled, and are said to rival some of the tropical +productions of our greenhouses. + +There seems to be a difference of opinion as to the disagreeableness of +these leaves. I suspect the odor lies mostly in the slimy, soapy sap, and +is not very noticeable if they are not bruised or cut. + +When the plants are in bloom, in May and June, they are very handsome, the +large spoon-shaped, golden spathes being conspicuous at some distance. As +this spathe withers away, the flower-stalk continues to grow, and its +little greenish-yellow blossoms become brown. + +[Illustration _Hosackia gracilis._] + +The peppery root is highly esteemed for medicinal purposes, and is +gathered and made into a salve, which is considered a specific for +ringworm, white swelling, inflammatory rheumatism, etc. The root is said to +enter largely into the composition of a patent medicine called "Skookum." + +Mr. Johnson, of the U.S. Forestry Department in Oregon, tells me that the +bears are very fond of this root, and dig industriously for it, often +making a hole large enough to bury themselves, and he mentions having seen +whole fields plowed up by them in their search for it. + +This plant belongs to the same family as the skunk-cabbage of the East and +the calla-lily. It has been found in the Santa Cruz Mountains. + + +BLAZING-STAR. + +_Mentzelia laevicaulis_, Torr. and Gray. Loasa or Blazing-star Family. + + _Stems._--Stout; two or three feet high; white. + _Leaves._--Alternate; sessile; lanceolate; sinuate-toothed; two + to eight inches long. _Flowers._--Sessile, on short branches; + light yellow or cream-color; three or four inches across. + _Calyx-tube._--Cylindrical; naked; limb five-cleft nearly to + the base. _Petals._--About ten; oblanceolate; acute. + _Stamens._--Numerous on the calyx; almost equaling the petals. + _Ovary._--One-celled; truncate at summit. Style three-cleft. + _Capsule._--Fifteen lines long. _Hab._--San Diego to the + Columbia River, and eastward to Wyoming. + +After most other flowers have departed, the magnificent blossoms of the +_Mentzelia_ come forth. It seems as though they had waited for the +firmament to be clear of other stars before bursting upon the sight. Their +enormous blossoms are crowned by the soft radiance of the long stamens, +"like the lashes of light that trim the stars." + +These plants are furnished with barbed hairs, which cause them to cling to +whatever they come in contact with. They are of tall and spreading habit, +and are often found in the dry beds of streams, where their flowers open in +the daytime--unlike those of _M. Lindleyi_, which open at night. + +[Illustration BLAZING-STAR--_Mentzelia Lindleyi_.] + +_M. Lindleyi_, Torr. and Gray, is one of the most brilliantly radiant of +all our flowers. Its charming blossoms, which open on the edge of evening, +are of a delicate silken texture, and of the richest gold. When the +flowers first open, the stamens lie flat upon the petals; but they +gradually rise up, forming a large tuft in the center of the flower. The +faded sepals crown the long seed-vessel, like the flame of the conventional +torch seen in old pictures. This grows in the Monte Diablo Range; and Niles +and Alum Rock are convenient places to find it. It is cultivated in Eastern +gardens under the name of _Bartonia aurea_. + + +STONECROP. + +_Sedum spathulifolium_, Hook. Stonecrop or Orpine Family. + + _Leaves._--Alternate; fleshy; spatulate; six to ten lines long; + sessile; crowded in rosettes at the ends of the decumbent + branches. _Scapes._--Four to six inches high. _Flowers._--In + compound, one-sided, loose cymes; their parts four or five; + pale-yellow. _Sepals._--United at base. _Petals._--Lanceolate; + three lines long. _Stamens._--Twice the number of the petals. + _Pistils._--Equaling the number of the petals; attenuate into + the short styles. _Ovaries._--One-celled. _Hab._--Middle + California to Vancouver Island. + +Blooming somewhat earlier than the "hen-and-chickens," but in similar +situations, the stonecrop often clothes rock-masses with beautiful color. +The common name, "orpine," was given on account of the yellow, or orpine, +flowers; and the name "stonecrop," from its always growing in stony places. + + +PRICKLY-PEAR. TUNA. + +_Opuntia Engelmanni_, Salm. Cactus Family. + + Erect, bushy, spreading shrubs without leaves, with flattened + stems produced in successive, compressed oval Joints. + _Joints._--Six to twelve inches long; studded sparsely with + bundles of stout spines. _Flowers._--Solitary; sessile; yellow + or red; about three inches across. _Sepals_, petals, and + stamens numerous in many series, their cohering bases coating + the one-celled ovary and forming a cup above it. + _Petals._--Spreading. Style one, with several stigmas. + _Fruit._--Purple; oval; pulpy; juicy; two inches long. + _Hab._--Southern California, Los Angeles, San Diego, etc. + +The genus _Opuntia_ is divided into two sections, consisting respectively +of flat-stemmed and cylindrical-stemmed plants, the former commonly known +as "prickly-pear," or "tuna," the latter as _Cholla cactus_. + +Of the former, _O. Engelmanni_ is our commonest wild species. It is the one +seen from the car-windows growing in great patches upon the Mojave Desert, +and it is abundant upon dry hills all through the south. There are two +varieties of it--_var. occidentalis_, Engelm., the form prevalent in the +interior, and _var. littoralis_, Engelm., found upon the sea-coast from +Santa Barbara to San Diego. + +These plants have a very leathery, impermeable skin, from which evaporation +takes place but slowly, which enables them to inhabit arid regions. The +fruit is sweet and edible, and the Indians, who are especially fond of it, +dry large quantities for winter use. They make of the fresh fruit a sauce, +by long-continued boiling, which they regard as especially nutritious and +stimulating after it is slightly fermented. They also roast the leaves in +hot ashes and eat the slimy, sweet substance which is left after the outer +skin and thorns have been removed. + +Cattle-men of the southern plains plant the different species as hedges +about their corrals, and feed the succulent joints to their stock after +burning off the spines. + +Several Mexican species were planted in the early days about the Missions +by the Padres, as defensive hedges, and remnants of these redoubtable +fortifications, ten to fifteen feet high, are still to be seen stretching +for miles through our southern fields. + +In Mexico the _Opuntia tuna_ is largely cultivated for the rearing of +cochineal insects. + + +VENEGASIA. + +_Venegasia carpesioides_, DC. Composite Family. + + Several feet high; leafy to the top. _Leaves._--Alternate; + slenderly petioled; cordate or ovate-deltoid; crenate; two to + four inches long; thin. _Flower-heads._--Large; two-inches + across, including the rays; yellow; slender-peduncled; composed + of ray- and disk-flowers. _Rays._--Over an inch long; six lines + wide; two- or three-toothed; fertile; about fifteen. + _Involucre._--Broad; of many roundish-green scales; becoming + scarious inward. _Hab._--Santa Barbara and southward. + +This plant, with its ample thin leaves and large yellow flowers, would +arrest the attention anywhere. It often grows under the shade of trees in +cool canyons, where its blossoms brighten the twilight gloom. It is an +admirable plant, and has but one drawback--its rather unpleasant odor. It +is the only species of the genus which was named in honor of an early +Jesuit missionary, Michael Venegas. It is especially abundant and beautiful +about Santa Barbara. + + +FALSE PIMPERNEL. + +_Hypericum anagalloides_, Cham. and Schlecht. St. John's-wort Family. + + _Stems._--Numerous; weak; low; spreading; rooting at the + joints. _Leaves._--Two to six lines long; oblong to round; + clasping. _Flowers._--Three or four lines across; + salmon-colored. _Stamens._--Fifteen to twenty. + _Capsule._--One-celled. _Hab._--Lower California to British + Columbia, eastward into Montana. + +In moist places the prostrate stems of this little plant often make dense +mats. + +Its specific name indicates its resemblance to the Anagallis, or pimpernel. +In fact, one might easily imagine it a pimpernel with salmon-colored +flowers. + + +CANCER-ROOT. NAKED BROOM-RAPE. + +_Aphyllon fasciculatum_, Gray. Broom-rape Family. + + Leafless parasitic plants. _Stems._--Scaly; thickened and + knotty below, and bearing on their summits few or many + clustered, one-flowered peduncles of about the same length. + _Flowers._--Yellowish; sometimes purplish or reddish outside. + _Calyx._--Slenderly five-toothed. _Corolla._--Tubular; over an + inch long, with five spreading lobes; somewhat bilabiate. + _Stamens._--Four; in pairs; included. _Ovary._--One-celled. + Style slender. Stigma two-lobed. _Hab._--Throughout California, + eastward to Lake Superior. + +There are about half a dozen species of cancer-root known upon our Coast, +all strange-looking, leafless plants, of very doubtful moral character--for +I fear it must be confessed they are thieves. Stealthily sending their +roots down and imbedding them in the roots of their victims, they draw from +them the nourishment needed for their sustenance. But they have been +overtaken by the proper retributive punishment--for having no longer any +need of organs for the elaboration of nourishment, they are denied green +leaves, the most beautiful adornment of many plants; and even the flowers +of some of them seem to us to have a sickly, unwholesome hue. However, it +must be acknowledged that these plants are quite interesting, despite their +evil ways. + +[Illustration CANCER-ROOT--_Aphyllon fasciculatum_.] + +_A. fasciculatum_ usually blooms in early summer, on dry, rocky hills, and +is parasitic upon the roots of sagebrush, wild buckwheat, etc. + + +YELLOW MARIPOSA TULIP. + +_Calochortus luteus_, Dougl. Lily Family. + + _Stems._--Four to twelve inches high; bearing a single bulblet + inclosed in the stem-sheath. _Leaves._--Very narrow; one to + three lines wide. _Flowers._--Erect; cup-shaped; yellow; small; + not oculated, but the petals striated with brown lines, + especially on the middle third. _Gland._--Transversely oblong + to lunate; densely hairy with orange-colored ascending hairs, + with scattered spreading hairs about it. _Capsule._--Broad at + the base; tapering upward. _Hab._--Clay soil; Coast Ranges from + Mendocino County to San Diego. + +The typical _C. luteus_, as described above, is the least beautiful of all +the Mariposa tulips, being lower of stature and smaller of flower than most +of the others; but among its varieties may be found some of the most +charming flowers of the genus, the true butterfly-tulips of the early +Spanish, often oculated and marked in a wonderful manner. In color and +marking they often run closely into forms of _C. venustus_, the only +constant characters by which to distinguish them being found in the shape +of the gland and the capsule and the character of the soil in which they +grow. + +There are two well-marked varieties--_citrinus_ and _oculatus_--besides +numerous other forms, where the species seems to have run riot in color and +marking. The _var. citrinus_ is a strong, vigorous-growing plant, with +flowers of a deep lemon-yellow, with a large, distinct, very dark maroon +eye on each petal. It is exceedingly beautiful. + + +SILVER-WEED. CINQUEFOIL. + +_Potentilla Anserina_, L. Rose Family. + + _Stems._--Prostrate. _Leaves._--All radical; a foot or so long; + pinnate, with seven to twenty-one leaflets with smaller ones + interposed. _Leaflets._--Sessile; oblong; toothed; shining + green; silvery beneath. _Flowers._--Bright yellow; + long-peduncled; solitary; an inch across. _Sepals._--Five; with + five bractlets between. _Petals._--Five. _Stamens._--Twenty to + twenty-five. _Pistils._--Numerous; on a hairy receptacle. + _Hab._--Throughout North America. + +The bright golden blossoms of the silver-weed are common in moist places, +haunting stream-banks, lingering about stagnant ponds, or even pushing +their way up amid the grasses of our salt marshes. The white under-surfaces +of the leaves are responsible for one of the common names of this plant. + +_P. glandulosa_, Lindl., is found upon dry hillsides. It is one or two feet +high, and is an ill-smelling, somewhat sticky plant, with glandular hairs. +The stems are leafy, and the small flowers, like pale-yellow +strawberry-blossoms, are produced in loose clusters. The corolla scarcely +exceeds the calyx. The leaves, which have from five to nine leaflets, have +not the silvery under-surface of those of _P. Anserina_. + + +COMMON EVENING PRIMROSE. + +_OEnothera biennis_, L. Evening-Primrose Family. + + _Stems._--Stout; usually simple; one to five feet high; more or + less hairy. _Leaves._--Mostly sessile; lanceolate to oblong; + two to six inches long; denticulate. _Flowers._--Golden yellow; + in a leafy spike; erect in the bud. _Calyx-tube._--Twelve to + thirty lines long. _Petals._--Six to nine lines long. + _Stigma-lobes._--Linear. _Capsule._--An inch or less long. (See + _OEnothera_.) _Hab._--Throughout the United States. + +The common evening primrose is a very widespread plant in the United +States, and it has long been in cultivation in Europe. Its flowers open +suddenly at night, and, according to tradition, with a popping noise. +Referring to this, the poet Keats speaks of-- + + "A turf of evening primroses, + O'er which the mind may hover till it dozes; + O'er which it well might take a pleasant sleep, + But that 'tis ever startled by the leap + Of buds into ripe flowers." + +These blossoms are said to be luminous at night, shining by the sunlight +they have stored during the daytime. + +The young roots, which are edible, are excellent, either pickled or boiled, +having a nutty flavor. In Germany and France these are used, either stewed +or raw, in salads, like celery; and the young mucilaginous twigs are also +used in the same way. A tincture of the whole plant is a valued remedy in +medicine for many disorders. Our Californian plants are mostly of the _var. +hirsutissima_, Gray, having very large flowers and a hairy capsule. + + +GUM-PLANT. RESIN-WEED. AUGUST-FLOWER. + +_Grindelia cuneifolia_, Nutt. Composite Family. + + Bushy; two to four feet high; smooth. + _Leaves._--Cuneate-spatulate to linear-oblong; leathery; three + or four inches long. _Flower-heads._--Solitary; terminating the + branches; yellow; composed of disk- and ray-flowers. + _Rays._--One inch long. _Involucre._--Hemispherical; of + numerous scales, with spreading tips. _Buds_.--Covered with a + milky gum. _Syn._--_Grindelia robusta, var. angustifolia_, + Gray. _Hab._--From Santa Barbara northward. + +The _Grindelias_ are especially characteristic of the region west of the +Mississippi River, and are all known as "gum-plant," or "resin-weed," owing +to the balsamic exudation which is found mostly upon the flower-heads. We +have several species, all of which are rather difficult of determination. + +Before the occupation of California by the whites, the value of these +plants was known to the Indians, who used them in pulmonary troubles, and +as a wash in cases of oak-poisoning or other skin-diseases. They are now +made into a drug by our own people, who use them in the same manner as the +aborigines. + +By the middle of August our salt marshes are gay with the bright yellow +flowers. + +Every year men are sent out to gather the plant. Only about five or six +inches of the tops of the branches are cut, as the resin is found mostly +there in the form of a white gum. Tons of these shoots are shipped East +annually, to be returned to us later in the form of the medicine called +"grindelia." + +[Illustration GUM-PLANT--_Grindelia cuneifolia_.] + +_Grindelia hirsutula_, Hook. and Arn., is a pretty species, flowering in +early summer upon hill-slopes. This may be known by its reddish stems and +more slender and fewer ray-flowers. + + +SULPHUR-FLOWER. + +_Eriogonum umbellatum_, Torr. Buckwheat Family. + + _Leaves._--All radical; obovate to oblong-spatulate; two inches + or less long; mostly smooth above; sometimes woolly below. + _Scapes._--Three to twelve inches high. + _Flowers._--Sulphur-yellow; two or three lines long; many + contained in each little top-shaped involucre, on threadlike + stems. _Involucres._--Two lines or so long; deeply cleft, the + lobes becoming reflexed. _Perianth._--Six-parted. + _Stamens._--Nine. _Ovary._--Triangular; one-celled. + _Styles._--Three. Stigmas capitate. _Hab._--Mountains of Middle + and Northern California, and eastward. + +Large companies of the sulphur-flower may be seen in the Sierras in July +and August, where it covers open, dry, rocky slopes, making brilliant +masses of color. + +Growing with this is often found another species--_E. ursinum_, Wats.--with +flowers of a beautiful translucent cream-color, often tinged with pink. + + +WILD BOUVARDIA. + +_Gilia grandiflora_, Gray. Phlox or Polemonium Family. + + _Stems._--Erect; a foot or two high. _Leaves._--Two or three + inches long; linear or oblong-lanceolate; sessile. + _Flowers._--Salmon-color; crowded at the summit of the stem. + _Calyx._--With obconic tube and broad, obtuse lobes. + _Corolla._--Narrowly funnel-form, with tube an inch long, and + five-lobed border almost as broad. (See _Gilia_.) + _Hab._--Widely distributed. + +This plant was formerly placed in the genus _Collomia_; but that genus was +not well founded, and all its species have now been transferred to _Gilia_. +From the resemblance of its showy buff or salmon-colored flowers to the +_Bouvardias_ of our gardens, these plants are popularly known as "wild +Bouvardia." The blossoms are found in early summer, and grow usually in dry +places, exposed to the sun. + +[Illustration SULPHUR-FLOWER--_Eriogonum umbellatum_.] + + +LITTLE ALPINE LILY. + +_Lilium parvum_, Kell. Lily Family. + + _Bulbs._--Small; of short, thick, jointed scales. + _Stem._--Slender; eighteen inches to six feet high. + _Leaves._--Scattered, or in whorls; two to five inches long; an + inch or less broad; rich green. _Flowers._--Orange-vermilion, + dotted with purple; two to fifty; scattered or somewhat + whorled. _Capsule._--Sub-spherical; six to nine lines long. + _Hab._--The High Sierras, from Yosemite Valley to Lake Tahoe. + +Passing from the parched and dusty plains of our central valleys in July +and August, we are transported as though upon the magic tapestry of Prince +Houssain into a heavenly region of springtime, where the streams, fed by +the snow lying in shadowy mountain fastnesses, gush through plushy emerald +meadows, starred with millions of daisies and bordered by luxuriant tangles +of larkspurs, columbines, monk's-hoods, lupines, and a thousand other +charming plants--a veritable flower-lover's paradise. + +Here from the thickets, standing with their roots in the rich, loamy soil +of the brookside, gleam the small orange blossoms of the little alpine +lily--little only in flower, for the slender stems often rise to a height +of six feet, producing several whorls of rich green leaves. These lilies +are but an inch or an inch a half long, with their perianth-segments yellow +or orange below and deeper orange-vermilion above, their tips only being +rolled backward. + + +GOLDEN YARROW. + +_Eriophyllum confertiflorum_, Gray. Composite Family. + + White-woolly plants, at length smooth. _Stems._--A foot or two + high. _Leaves._--Cuneate in outline; divided into three to + seven narrow linear divisions. _Flowers._--Golden yellow; in + densely crowded flat-topped clusters. _Heads._--Small; of + disk- and ray-flowers. _Rays._--Four or five; broadly oval or + roundish. _Involucre._--Oval; of about five thin bracts; two + lines long. _Hab._--From San Francisco to the Sierras, and + southward to San Diego. + +[Illustration LITTLE ALPINE LILY--_Lilium parvum_.] + +In early summer many a dry, rocky hill-slope is ablaze with the brilliant +flowers of the golden yarrow. The brown-mottled butterfly may often be +seen hovering over it, or delicately poising upon its golden table, fanning +his wings. + +_E. caespitosum_, Dougl., is a very handsome species with solitary golden +flower-heads an inch or so across. Its leaves are broader and not so finely +divided, and some of the upper ones are linear and entire. This is found +throughout California. + + +TARWEED. WILD COREOPSIS. + +_Madia elegans_, Don. Composite Family. + + Usually viscid throughout. _Stems._--Three to six feet high. + _Leaves._--Crowded at the base of the stem; six to ten inches + long; small above. _Flower-heads._--Of both ray- and + disk-flowers. _Rays._--Twelve to fifteen; one inch long; + three-lobed at the apex; yellow, sometimes with a dark-red + base. _Involucre._--With one series of scales, each clasping a + ray. _Hab._--Throughout California, and in Oregon and Nevada. + +This is one of the most beautiful of all our tarweeds. Its golden, +Coreopsis-like flowers open after sunset, and close at the first warmth of +the morning rays. + +All the _Madias_ are used medicinally by old Spanish settlers. + +_Madia sativa_, Molina, is one of our most troublesome species, because its +viscid secretion is so very abundant. The plants are tall, but the flowers +are inconspicuous, owing to the smallness or absence of the rays. It is +native of Chile as well as of California. + +An oil of excellent quality was made from its seeds in that country before +the olive was so abundant. + + +LEOPARD-LILY. TIGER-LILY. + +_Lilium pardalinum_, Kell. Lily Family. + + Bulbs consisting of forking rhizomes, covered with small, erect + imbricated scales; often forming matted masses. _Stems._--Three + to ten feet high. _Leaves._--Usually whorled, with some + scattered above and below; lanceolate; three to seven inches + long. _Flowers._--Few to many; long-pediceled. _Perianth + segments._--Six; two or three inches long; six to nine lines + wide; strongly revolute; with orange base and reddish or + scarlet tips; spotted or dotted with purple on the lower half. + _Stamens._--Six. Anthers versatile. _Ovary._--Three-celled. + Style club-shaped. Stigma capitate. _Capsule._--Eighteen lines + or more long. + +[Illustration TARWEED--_Madia elegans_.] + + _Hab._--The Coast Ranges and Sierras, from Santa Barbara County + to British Columbia, and eastward. + +No more magnificent sight could be imagined than a canyon-side covered with +a mass of these red and gold blossoms nodding on their tall stems. The +plants often grow in clumps and colonies of several hundred, and are always +found in the rich soil of stream-banks or of wet, springy places. Most of +us have been familiar with these spotted beauties from our childhood, with +their delicately swinging anthers full of cinnamon-colored pollen. + +A friend writing us from near Mt. Shasta, one July, said: "I wish you could +have seen the _grove_ of tiger-lilies we saw near the place where we rested +and lunched. They sprang from a velvet bed of mosses and ferns, under the +shadow of a great rock, that towered at least a hundred feet above them. +Out of the rock sprang two streams of living water, ice-cold, which crossed +the trail and dashed over a rock below. Upon one plant we counted +twenty-five buds and blossoms, while a friend counted thirty-two upon +another." + +Under extraordinarily favorable conditions, this lily has been known to +reach a height of ten feet. + + +YELLOW POND-LILY. + +_Nuphar polysepalum_, Engelm. Water-Lily Family. + + _Leaves._--Six to twelve inches long; three fourths as wide; + obtuse; deeply cleft at base; floating or erect. + _Flowers._--Floating; three to five inches across. + _Sepals._--Eight to twelve; petaloid; bright yellow, sometimes + greenish without. _Petals._--Twelve to eighteen; small; about + equaling the stamens, and resembling them. + _Stamens._--Numerous; red; recurved in age; pollen yellow. + _Ovary._--Large; eight- to twenty-celled. Stigma button-shaped; + many-rayed; four lines to an inch across. _Hab._--From Colorado + to Central California, and northward to Alaska. + +Most of us are familiar with the yellow water-lily, and have seen its +pretty shield-shaped leaves floating upon the surface of some glassy pond, +starred with its large, golden flowers. The latter are sometimes five +inches across and quite showy. Sometimes entire marshes are covered with +the plants. The large seeds are very nutritious, and form an important +article of diet among the northern Indians. + + +HUMBOLDT'S LILY. TIGER-LILY. + +_Lilium Humboldtii_, Roezl and Leichtlin. Lily Family. + + _Bulbs._--Large; often weighing over a pound; with scales two + or three inches long. _Stems._--Stout; purplish; three or four + feet high; eight- or ten-flowered, or more. + _Leaves._--Wavy-margined; roughish; _Flowers._--Large; six to + eight inches in diameter; golden yellow; spotted with pale + purple, turning to red or brown. _Segments._--Having papillose + prominences near the base. (Otherwise like _L. pardalinum_.) + _Hab._--The foothills of the Sierras; southward to San Diego. + +This wonderful lily, at first glance, resembles the common leopard- or +tiger-lily--_L. pardalinum_--and it is found sometimes in the same regions +as the latter, but never in the same kind of localities. It affects the +loose soil of dry, upland woods, but never grows in wet or boggy places. +Its flowers are larger than those of _L. pardalinum_, and have more of a +golden hue and less of red in them. + +By July this lily is in full bloom and a magnificent sight. A plant was +once known which had fifty buds and blossoms, thirty of which were open at +once! + + +COMMON SUNFLOWER. + +_Helianthus annuus_, L. Composite Family. + + Hispid, coarse plants. _Stems._--Several feet high. + _Leaves._--Mostly alternate; petioled; deltoid-ovate to + ovate-lanceolate; acuminate; three to seven inches long; + three-ribbed at base. _Flower-heads._--Large; three or four + inches across, including the rays; solitary; composed of yellow + ray-flowers and purple-brown, tubular disk-flowers. + _Involucre._--Of several series of imbricated, ovate, acuminate + scales. _Disk._--An inch or so across. _Hab._--Throughout + California. + +The stately form of the sunflower is a common sight in the south, where +whole fields are often covered with the plants. Their season of blossoming +is supposed to be in the autumn, but we have seen them blooming just as +gayly in March. This wild sunflower of the plains is believed to be the +original parent of the large sunflower of our gardens. + +Its seeds are used by the Indians as food and in the preparation of +hair-oil. + +Popular tradition makes this blossom a worshiper of the sun, and it is +believed to follow him with admiring glances. + + "The lofty follower of the sun, + Sad when he sets, shuts up her hollow leaves, + Drooping all night, and when he warm returns, + Points her enamored bosom to his ray." + +Another species--_H. Californicus_, DC.--found from San Francisco Bay +southward, along streams, has something the same habit as the above, but +may be known from it by its slender, smooth stems, leafy to the top, the +long, sprawling, awl-shaped bracts of its involucre, and its more delicate +flowers, about two and a half inches across. The disk-corollas are slightly +pubescent below. This species has a rather strong balsamic odor. + + +PINE-DROPS. + +_Pterospora andromedea_, Nutt. Heath Family. + + _Stems._--One to three feet high. _Bracts._--Crowded at base; + scattered above. _Calyx._--Five-parted. _Corolla._--Three lines + long; yellowish. _Stamens._--Ten. Anthers tailed; opening + lengthwise. _Ovary._--Five-celled. Style short. Stigma + five-lobed. _Hab._--Throughout California, and across the + continent. + +In our walks in the mountains, we occasionally encounter the flesh-colored +wands of this curious plant. The colorless leaves are reduced to mere +bracts, and the stems are densely clothed above with the little yellowish +waxen bells. The whole plant is very viscid and disagreeable to handle. + +Though rare, it is found all across the continent. In the East it grows +only under pine-trees, upon whose roots it is supposed to be parasitic, +while in California it is said to be found under both oaks and pines. + +There is but a single species in this genus. The seed is furnished with a +broad membranous wing, which has given rise to the name _Pterospora_, +derived from two Greek words, meaning _wing_ and _seed_. + +[Illustration PINE-DROPS--_Pterospora andromedea_.] + + +TARWEED. + +_Hemizonia luzulaefolia_, DC. Composite Family. + + Glandular, strong-scented plants. _Stems._--Loosely branching; + slender; six inches to two feet high. _Leaves._--Linear; very + small above; elongated and withering early below. + _Flower-heads._--White or light yellow; composed of ray- and + disk-flowers. _Rays._--Six to ten; two to five lines long; + three-lobed. _Scales._--of the involucre each clasping a ray. + _Hab._--Common throughout the western part of the State. + +Under the common designation of "tarweed," plants belonging to two +different genera--_Madia_ and _Hemizonia_--and comprising thirty or forty +species, may be found. They are mostly annuals or biennials, with viscid, +heavily scented foliage, which make themselves conspicuous in late summer +and through the autumn. The _Hemizonias_ are distinctively Californian; +while the _Madias_ we have in common with Chile. Their viscid exudation is +particularly ruinous to wool and clothing, but alcohol is a solvent for it, +and will generally remove it. + +We wonder how these plants, which flourish in our driest seasons, can +extract so much moisture from the parched earth, and of what practical use +this resinous secretion can be in their economy. Though some of them are +described as having a disagreeable odor, many of them have a very pleasant +balsamic fragrance, which gives our summer and autumn atmosphere a peculiar +character of its own. Whole fields and hillsides are tinged with their warm +olive foliage, or are yellow with their golden flowers, which appear like a +fall revival of the buttercups. The flowers open mostly at night or in +early morning, closing in bright sunshine. + +_Hemizonia luzulaefolia_ is a common species, whose flowers are redolent of +the odor of myrrh. + +[Illustration TARWEED--_Hemizonia luzulaefolia_.] + + +CALIFORNIAN GOLDENROD. + +_Solidago Californica_, Nutt. Composite Family. + +_Stem._--Rather stout; low or tall. _Leaves._--Oblong, or the upper +oblong-lanceolate, and the lower obovate. _Flowers._--In a dense, pyramidal +panicle, four to twelve inches long, with mostly erect racemose branches. +_Heads._--Three or four lines long; yellow. _Rays._--Small; seven to +twelve; about as many as the disk-flowers. _Hab._--Throughout California, +to Nevada and Mexico. + +Our State is not so rich in goldenrods as New England, yet we have several +rather pretty species. _Solidago Californica_ is found upon dry hills, and +blooms from July to October. It is said to thrive well under cultivation. + +It differs from the "Western goldenrod" in having its flowers in a +pyramidal cluster. + + +MOTH-MULLEIN. + +_Verbascum Blattaria_, L. Figwort Family. + +_Stem._--Tall and slender. _Leaves._--Alternate; oblong; crenate-toothed; +nearly smooth; the upper ovate, acute, clasping. _Flowers._--Yellow or +white; purple-tinged; an inch or so across; in a terminal raceme; the +pedicels much exceeding the calyx-lobes. _Calyx._--Five-parted. +_Corolla._--Wheel-shaped, with five rounded, somewhat unequal lobes. +_Stamens._--Five. Filaments violet-bearded. Anthers confluently one-celled. +Pollen orange-colored, copious. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style slender. +_Hab._--The Upper Sacramento Valley, etc.; naturalized from Europe. + +The mulleins are natives of Europe, which have found their way across the +water to us. Two or three species are now common in some localities. The +moth-mullein is so called because its blossoms have the appearance of a +number of delicate moths resting upon the stem. This is a tall, green +plant. + +Another species--_V. Thapsus_, L.--is also quite common. In the Sacramento +Valley its tall, woolly tapers may be seen leaning in every direction, +giving the fields a disorderly appearance. This plant abounds throughout +Europe and Asia, and was well known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who +made lampwicks of its dried leaves and utilized its stalks, dipped in +tallow, for funeral torches. In medieval Europe it was called "hag-taper," +because it was employed by witches in their incantations. In Europe at the +present time it is known as the "American velvet-plant," because of a +mistaken idea that it is a native of this country. + + +WESTERN GOLDENROD. + +_Solidago occidentalis_, Nutt. Composite Family. + + Smooth throughout. _Stems._--Paniculately branched; two to six + feet high. _Leaves._--Linear; entire; obscurely three-nerved; + two to four inches long; one to three lines wide. + _Flower-heads._--In numerous small, flat clusters, terminating + the slender branchlets; three lines long; yellow. + _Rays._--Sixteen to twenty not surpassing the eight to fourteen + disk-flowers. _Involucre._--Of imbricated scales; the outer + successively shorter. _Hab._--Near the Coast, from Southern + California to British America. + +The Western goldenrod, with its slender, willowy stems and small +flower-clusters, may be found in wet places in late summer and early +autumn. Its blossoms are acacia-scented. + + +CREOSOTE-BUSH. GOBERNADORA. HIDEONDO. + +_Larrea Mexicana_, Moricand. Creosote-Bush Family. + + Ill-smelling, resinous shrubs, four to ten feet high; diffusely + branched. _Leaves._--Opposite; with two unequal leaflets. + _Leaflets._--Three to six lines long; pointed; sessile. + _Flowers._--Solitary; yellow. _Sepals._--Five; silky; + deciduous. _Petals._--Five; three or four lines long. + _Stamens._--Ten; on a small ten-lobed disk. Filaments winged + below. _Ovary._--Five-celled; Style slender. _Hab._--Inland + deserts of the southern part of the State. + +The most plentiful shrub growing in our southern desert regions is the +creosote-bush, so called because its sticky leaves burn with a black smoke +and a rank odor, between creosote and carbolic acid. + +These shrubs often cover vast tracts of arid soil, and in places are the +only growth to be seen. The evergreen foliage is of a warm olive tone, and +is borne at the ends of many slender, grayish branches. The small, +stemless, opposite leaves, each divided almost to its base into two +leaflets, spread butterfly-like upon the slender branchlets. The leaf-nodes +are swollen into small, warty prominences, which are especially resinous. + +In many localities, especially in Arizona, the branches of this shrub are +thickly incrusted with a certain gummy substance, which careful examination +has proved to be almost identical with the East Indian shellac of commerce. +This is caused by an insect of the genus _Coccus_, who stings the young +twigs, at the same time laying its eggs in them, causing them to exude the +gum. Could this gum be collected in sufficient quantities, it would +doubtless prove a valuable article of commerce, probably not inferior to +the East Indian lac. Dr. Edwd. Palmer writes that it is extensively used by +our Indians as a cement with which to fasten their flint arrowheads to the +shafts, to mend broken pottery, and to make water-tight their baskets, +woven of grass and roots. The plant yields a greenish-yellow dye, with +which they paint their persons and color their fabrics; but garments so +dyed are said to emit a disagreeable odor always upon being heated. + +A lotion made by steeping the branches in water is said to be an excellent +remedy for sores; while the leaves dried and reduced to powder are +effectively used for the same purpose. Some of our pharmacists say that the +plant is a valuable remedy for rheumatism. + +By the Spanish-Californians this shrub is known as "gobernadora" and +"hideondo"; and by the American settlers of the desert it is known by +several uncomplimentary names, among them the meaningless one of +"greasewood." + +It blossoms in early summer. + + + + +III. PINK + + +[_Pink or occasionally or partially pink flowers not described in the Pink +Section._ + +_Described in the White Section_:-- + + ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM--Yarrow. + CALOCHORTUS VENUSTUS--Mariposa Tulip. + CHIMAPHILA MENZIESII--Prince's Pine. + CONVOLVULUS LUTEOLUS--Wild Morning-glory. + GAULTHERIA SHALLON--Salal. + LATHYRUS TORREYI. + LATHYRUS VESTITUS--Common Wild Pea. + LAYIA GLANDULOSUM--White Daisy. + LILIUM RUBESCENS--Ruby Lily. + MALACOTHRIX SAXATILIS. + MESEMBRYANTHEMUM CRYSTALLINUM--Ice-Plant. + OENOTHERA CALIFORNICA--White Evening Primrose. + ORTHOCARPUS VERSICOLOR--White Owl's Clover. + PYROLA APHYLLA. + RHODODENDRON OCCIDENTALE--Californian Azalea. + RUBUS SPECTABILIS--Salmon-Berry. + SPIRAEA BETULIFOLIA--Pink Spiraea. + SPIRAEA DOUGLASII--Californian Hardhack. + SPRAGUEA UMBELLATA--Pussy's-Paws. + +_Described in the Yellow Section_:-- + + HOSACKIA GRACILIS. + +_Described in the Blue and Purple Section_:-- + + CALOCHORTUS SPLENDENS--Mariposa Tulip. + CALOCHORTUS UNIFLORUS. + TRILLIUM SESSILE--Californian Trillium. + +_Described in the Red Section_:-- + + GILIA AGGREGATA--Scarlet Gilia. + +_Described in the Miscellaneous Section_:-- + + CYPRIPEDIUM CALIFORNICUM--Californian Lady's Slipper. + GOMPHOCARPUS TOMENTOSUS--Hornless Woolly Milkweed. + RUMEX HYMENOSEPALUS--Wild Pie-Plant; Canaigre.] + + +RED-STEMMED FILAREE. ALFILERILLA. CLOCKS. PIN-CLOVER. + +_Erodium cicutarium_, L'Her. Geranium Family. + + _Leaves._--Chiefly radical in a depressed rosette; six to ten + inches long; dissected into narrow toothed lobes. Stem-leaves + smaller. _Flowers._--Pink; four to eight in an umbel; parts in + fives. _Petals._--Four lines long. _Stamens._--Five perfect, + with flattened filaments; five reduced to mere scales. + _Carpels_ and styles one or two inches long; separating upward + from a central axis into twisted, bearded tails. + _Hab._--Throughout the State. + +The name "alfilerilla" is Spanish, coming from _alfiler_, a needle, and +refers to the long, slender beak of the carpels. By corruption it has +become "filaree." + +This plant is found in abundance everywhere, and is one of our most +valuable forage-plants. It varies greatly in size, and becomes very rank in +growth where the soil is rich. Ordinarily, it makes its appearance soon +after the beginning of the rainy season, as a rosette of leaves lying upon +the ground, and later it sends up its reddish stems. Its seed-vessels look +like a group of fantastic, long-billed storks, and the long beaks of the +carpels, as they separate from the central axis, begin to curl about any +convenient object. They are thus widely disseminated in the hair of animals +and the clothing of people. Children call them "clocks," and love to stand +the seed up in their clothing and watch the beaks wind slowly about, like +the hands of a timepiece. + +We have several other species of _Erodium_. _E. moschatum_, L' Her., is a +coarser plant whose foliage has a musky fragrance, especially when wilted. +It is also a valuable forage-plant and is commonly known as "musky filaree" +or "green-stemmed filaree." + +_E. Botrys_, Bertoloni, is a very abundant plant. Its flowers are larger, +six lines across, and are pink, strongly veined with wine-color. The beaks +of its carpels are sometimes four inches long. + +[Illustration RED-STEMMED FILAREE--_Erodium cicutarium_.] + + +REDWOOD-SORREL. + +_Oxalis Oregana_, Nutt. Geranium Family. + + Herbs with sour juice. _Leaves._--With three leaflets; petioles + two to even twelve inches long. Leaflets one or two inches + broad; usually light-blotched. _Scapes._--One to six inches + long; one-flowered. _Sepals._--Five. _Petals._--Five; nine to + twelve lines long; white or rose-colored, often veined with + darker color; usually having an orange spot at base. + _Stamens._--Ten. _Ovary._--Five-celled. Styles five. + _Hab._--Coast woods, from Santa Cruz to Washington. + +In deep woods, "where no stir nor call the sacred hush profanes," the +beautiful leaves and delicate flowers of the redwood-sorrel cover the +ground with an exquisite tapestry, which catches the shimmer of the +sunlight as it sifts down through the tall trees. If the goddess Nanna in +passing left the print of her pretty fingers upon the clover, perhaps some +wood-nymph may have touched the leaves of this charming plant. Each day as +twilight deepens, the leaflets fold gently together and prepare to sleep. + +The small yellow oxalis--_O. corniculata_, L.--becomes a troublesome weed +in our lawns. + + +ROCK-CRESS. + +_Arabis blepharophylla_, Hook. and Arn. Mustard Family. + + _Stems._--Four to twelve inches high. + _Radical-leaves._--Broadly spatulate; one or two inches long. + _Cauline-leaves._--Oblong; sessile. _All._--Ciliate. + _Flowers._--Purplish-pink. _Sepals._--Four; generally colored. + _Petals._--Four; six to nine lines long; clawed. + _Stamens._--Six; two shorter. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Stigma + button-shaped. _Pod._--Linear; an inch or more long; flattened. + _Hab._--The Coast, from San Francisco to Monterey. + +The bright magenta-colored blossoms of the rock-cress may be looked for in +early spring along the hills of the Coast Ranges. This plant is said to be +very beautiful in cultivation. The generic name was bestowed because many +of the well-known species are natives of Arabia, while the formidable +specific name means "eyelash-leaved," referring to the ciliate leaves. + +[Illustration REDWOOD-SORREL--_Oxalis Oregana_.] + + +WILD HOLLYHOCK. + +_Sidalcea malvaeflora_, Gray. Mallow Family. + + _Stems._--Several; eight inches to two feet long. + _Leaves._--Round in outline; variously lobed and cut. + _Flowers._--Pink; in terminal racemes. _Calyx._--Five-cleft; + without bractlets. _Petals._--Five; united at base; one inch + long. _Stamens._--United in a column; in two series. Anthers + one-celled. _Ovaries._--Three to ten in a ring; separating at + maturity. Styles as many; filiform. _Hab._--The Coast from San + Diego to Mendocino County. + +In early spring the graceful sprays of the _Sidalcea_ bend over our meadows +everywhere, making them bright with their pink blossoms, which the children +call "wild hollyhocks." The stamens of these flowers are especially pretty +and interesting if examined with a glass. By a careful dissection, the +stamen-column is found to be double, its outer part bearing five bunches of +stamens. The anthers are one-celled and of a beautiful rose-pink. They may +be seen best by pulling apart one of the unopened buds. + +There are two kinds of these plants, one having large pale-pink flowers, +which are perfect; the other bearing smaller deep rose-pink blossoms, in +which the anthers are only rudimentary. + +There are quite a number of species of _Sidalcea_ in California, but they +are very difficult of determination for the non-botanist. + + +REDBUD. JUDAS-TREE. + +_Cercis occidentalis_, Torr. Pea Family. + + Small trees or shrubs. _Leaves._--Alternate; slender-petioled; + round-cordate; palmately veined; smooth; about two inches in + diameter. _Flowers._--Rose-color; papilionaceous; clustered in + the axils. _Petals._--Four lines long; the standard smaller and + inclosed by the wings. _Stamens._--Ten; all distinct. + _Ovary._--One-celled. _Pods._--Two or three inches long; thin. + _Hab._--Mt. Shasta to San Diego. + +By April, or earlier, our interior hills and valleys begin to show the rosy +blossoms of the Judas-tree. The leafless branches are wreathed with the +abundant flowers, which gives the shrub the appearance of a garden +fruit-tree. When seen later, in its full summer foliage, it is almost +equally attractive. Its shapely leaves are then diversified by the +clusters of long purple pods, which hang gracefully among them. + +[Illustration WILD HOLLYHOCK--_Sidalcea malvaeflora_.] + +The Indians find the slender twigs of this shrub very useful in their +basket-making. By means of the thumb-nail or flints, they split them into +threads, which they use as woof. + +A closely allied species of _Cercis_, growing in Palestine, had, according +to tradition, white flowers, until the arch-traitor Judas hanged himself +from its limbs, when it blushed pink for very shame. + +In medieval Europe the Judas-tree was believed to be a favorite rendezvous +for witches, and it was considered dangerous to approach one at nightfall. + + +HUCKLEBERRY. + +_Vaccinium ovatum_, Pursh. Heath Family. + + Evergreen shrubs, three to eight feet high. _Leaves._--Ovate to + oblong-lanceolate; leathery; smooth and shining. _Flowers._--In + axillary clusters: small; pinkish. _Calyx._--Minutely + fine-toothed. _Corolla._--Campanulate; two or three lines long. + _Stamens._--Ten; anthers opening terminally. _Ovary._--Globose; + five-celled. Style filiform. _Berries._--Small; reddish, + turning black. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges from Monterey to + Vancouver Island. + +When in bloom our Californian huckleberry is a delightful shrub. Its +leaves, which are of a particularly rich, shining green, are set at a +characteristic angle to the red stems, contrasting finely with their warm +tones; and the effect is heightened by the clusters of small pink and white +waxen bells scattered here and there amid the foliage. + +The huckleberry is at its best upon the high ridges of the Coast Ranges, +where it becomes especially luxuriant in the fog-nurtured region of the +northern portion of the redwood belt. There its abundant berries become +juicy and delicious, and are much sought for preserving and pie-making. Its +branches, when cut, keep admirably in water and are favorite greens for +household decoration. + +[Illustration HUCKLEBERRY--_Vaccinium ovatum_.] + + +STAR-FLOWER. CHICKWEED-WINTERGREEN. + +_Trientalis Europaea, var. latifolia_, Torr. Primrose Family. + + _Root._--Tuberous. _Stem._--Four to eight inches high; with a + whorl of oval-pointed leaves one to four inches long. + _Flowers._--White or pink; eight lines across. _Calyx_ and + rotate corolla seven-parted, sometimes six- to nine-parted; + divisions pointed. _Stamens._--As many as the corolla-lobes, + and opposite them. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style filiform. + _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from Monterey northward. + +In April and May, as we walk through shaded woods, we begin to notice a +trim little plant three or four inches high, with very slender stem, +bearing at its summit a number of pretty leaves of varying size. A little +later, we find among them one or two delicate pink, starry flowers on very +slender, threadlike stems. + +The generic name is from the Latin _triens_, and is in allusion to the +height of the plant, which is the third part of a foot. + + +CLINTONIA. + +_Clintonia Andrewsiana_, Torr. Lily Family. + + _Leaves._--Radical; oblong; six inches to one foot long; two to + four wide. _Flower-stem._--One or two feet high; with one leafy + bract. _Flowers._--Pink; many; in a terminal compound cluster + on pedicels an inch or less long. _Perianth._--Campanulate; + four to seven lines long. _Segments._--Six; gibbous at the + base. _Stamens._--Six. _Ovary._--Two- or three-celled. + _Fruit._--Beautiful, large, dark-blue berries. _Hab._--The + Coast Ranges, from Santa Cruz to Humboldt County. + +This is one of the most distinguished-looking plants of our deep coast +woods. Its large leaves, of a rich polished green, arrange themselves +symmetrically around the short stem, seeming to come from the ground--and +so fine are they, that if no blossom appeared, we should feel the plant had +fulfilled its mission of beauty. But in April a blossom-stalk shoots up +from their midst, bearing upon its summit a cluster of deep rose-colored, +nodding bells. These are succeeded later by a bunch of superb dark-blue +berries, which might be made of lapis lazuli or the rarest old delft china. +I remember a beautiful spot upon the Lagunitas Creek, where the stream, +flowing over a brown, pebbly bottom, passes among the redwoods where their +tall shafts make dim cathedral aisles,-- + + ... "forest-corridors that lie + In a mysterious world unpeopled yet." + +Here little yellow violets and the charming wood-sorrel carpet the ground, +the fetid adder's-tongue spreads its mottled leaves, while groups of the +lovely _Clintonia_ put the finishing touches to an already beautiful scene. + + +LEMONADE-BERRY. MAHOGANY. + +_Rhus integrifolia_, Benth. and Hook. Poison-oak or Cashew Family. + + Evergreen shrubs two to six feet high, becoming small trees + southward. _Leaves._--Alternate; short-petioled; one to three + inches long; rigid; leathery. _Flowers._--Of two sexes, also + some perfect; in short, dense terminal clusters one to three + inches long; rose-colored or white. _Sepals_, petals, and + stamens four to nine; usually five. _Petals._--Rounded; + ciliate; one or two lines across. _Ovary._--One-celled. Stigmas + three. _Fruit._--Flat; one-seeded; six lines across; red; + viscid and acid. _Hab._--The Coast from Santa Barbara to San + Diego. + +Growing everywhere upon the southern coast in great abundance, this shrub +forms low, dense, wind-shorn thickets. Farther inland it rises to a height +of several feet, with tough, India-rubber-like branches, and in Lower +California it becomes a small tree. In its better estate it is very +ornamental, especially in spring, when sprinkled with its clusters of small +pink flowers. The little drupes are covered with an acid, oily substance, +and have long been used by the Indians and Mexicans in the preparation of a +lemonade-like drink. These people are so fond of this fruit that they dry +it for winter use, grinding and roasting it as we do coffee. The wood of +these shrubs is of a dark-red color, which is responsible for the common +name, "mahogany." + +Another _Rhus_ very common in the valleys of Southern California is _R. +laurina_, Nutt., usually called "sumach." It is an evergreen shrub, with +smooth, lanceolate leaves, two or three inches long, exhaling a rather +strong odor, considered by some like bitter almonds, and bearing dense +clusters of small white flowers in midsummer. Its small drupes are only a +line or two across. They are also coated with a waxen substance, and yield +a pungent oil. + +In the mountains from Santa Barbara to San Diego is found another +species--_R. ovata_, Wats. This has large leathery, pointed leaves, and is +known as "lemonade-and-sugar-tree," as the acid berries are coated with a +sweet, waxen substance, which the Indians value as sugar. Its leaves +resemble in form those of the lilacs of our gardens. + + +SHOOTING-STARS. WILD CYCLAMEN. MAD VIOLETS. + +_Dodecatheon Meadia_, L. Primrose Family. + + _Leaves._--All radical; tufted; from obovate to lanceolate. + _Scape._--Three to fifteen inches high; umbel two- to + twenty-flowered. _Calyx._--Deeply five-cleft, the divisions + reflexed in flower, erect in fruit. _Corolla._--With extremely + short tube, and an abruptly reflexed five-parted limb; white, + rose-color, or purple. _Stamens._--Five; opposite the + corolla-lobes. Filaments short; united. Anthers standing erect + around the long style, forming a beak; violet. + _Ovary._--One-celled. _Hab._--Throughout the continent; + exceedingly variable. + +The shooting-star is one of our prettiest spring flowers, which arrives a +little before the baby-eyes and just as the brakes are unrolling their +green crosiers. There is something particularly pleasing in these blossoms. +It seems as though Nature had taxed her ingenuity to produce something +original when she fashioned them. The name _Dodecatheon_, from the Greek, +is entirely a fanciful one, and means "the twelve gods." + +Formerly _D. Meadia_, L., was considered the only species, embracing many +widely varying forms; but of late botanists have made several of the forms +into separate species. + +_D. Hendersoni_ (Gray), Ktz., is the species prevalent in our central and +northern Coast Ranges. This has ovoid or obovoid, very obtuse, entire +leaves, with broad petiole, equaling the blade, two inches long. Its +flower-stem is from eight to twelve inches high, bearing a cluster of +bright rose-purple flowers. The corolla has a short, dark-maroon tube, +encircled by a band of yellow, sometimes merging into white. A variety of +this with very slender stems and the flower parts in fours is common in the +Bay region, and southward possibly to Santa Barbara. This is called _var. +cruciata_. Its blossoms have a strong odor, suggestive of a tannery. In +this species the capsule opens at the top, splitting into a number of +little teeth, which soon turn downward. + +[Illustration SHOOTING-STARS--_Dodecathceon Hendersoni var. cruciata_.] + +_D. Clevelandi_, Greene, is a beautiful species found in the south. It +sends up a tall shaft, crowned with a large cluster of beautiful blossoms, +varying from a delicate lilac to pure white. The petals are ringed below +with pale yellow, and the beak of the flower is a rich prune-purple. There +is a certain generous, fine look about these flowers, although they are +exquisitely delicate. Their charm is completed by a delicious perfume, like +that of the cultivated cyclamen. + +Among the children the various forms are known by a number of names, such +as "mad violets," "prairie-pointers," "mosquito-bills," and +"roosters'-heads." The latter is said to be the designation of prosaic +little boys who see in these blossoms gaming possibilities, and who love to +hook them together and pull to see which head will come off first. + + +PRICKLY PHLOX. + + _Gilia Californica_, Benth. Phlox or Polemonium Family. + + _Stems._--Woody; two or three feet high. _Leaves._--Palmately + three- to seven-parted, with spreading, needle-like divisions, + two to four lines long. _Flowers._--Solitary, at the ends of + the branchlets; rose-pink or lilac, with a white eye. + _Calyx._--Five-toothed. _Corolla-limb._--An inch and a half + across. (See _Gilia_.) _Hab._--Dry hills from Monterey to San + Bernardino. + +I hardly know how to describe these delightful flowers. At a little +distance the plant-stems have almost the look of a cactus, so densely are +they clothed with the small, rigid leaves. Nor does a closer acquaintance +serve to lessen the likeness--for in our breathless haste to take +possession of the beautiful blossoms we are quite certain to have their +prickly character impressed upon the hands as well as upon the sight. The +texture of the flowers is of the finest silk, with an exquisite sheen; +and they have a delicate fragrance. Growing at the tips of the numerous +branchlets, they often form large masses of rich rose-colored bloom, which +are especially brilliant and showy against the warm foliage. + +[Illustration PRICKLY PHLOX--_Gilia Californica_.] + +In some localities they are called "rock-rose," an unfortunate name in two +respects: it has long belonged to a yellow flower of an entirely different +family--_Helianthemum_; and these blossoms do not in the least resemble a +rose. + + +CALIFORNIAN FOUR-O'CLOCK. + +_Mirabilis Californica_, Gray. Four-o'clock Family. + + _Stems._--From a woody base; a foot or two long. + _Leaves._--Ovate; six to fifteen lines long; rather thick. + _Flowers._--Magenta-colored; one to three in a campanulate, + calyx-like, five-toothed involucre. Involucres nearly sessile. + _Perianth._--Six lines long; open funnel-form; five-lobed. + _Stamens._--Five. Anthers yellow. _Ovary._--Globose; + one-celled. Style filiform. Stigma capitate. _Hab._--Southern + California and eastward. + +When the heat of the day is over and the morning-glories are folding +together their faded chalices, the bright little four-o'clocks begin to +open their myriad magenta-colored eyes upon the closing day, and they, +together with the evening primroses, will keep the vigils of the night. +These diaphanous little flowers, with their long stamens resting on the +lower side of the perianth, are like diminutive azaleas. + +They are very puzzling, and the part that baffles the young botanist is the +calyx, which, as it sometimes has two or three corollas within it, cannot +be considered a calyx at all, but must be called an involucre. In reality +the corolla is absent, and the calyx, which is colored like a corolla, is +called a perianth. This appears to sit upon the top of the round ovary, but +in reality a green continuation of it is drawn down tightly over the +ovary. + +[Illustration CALIFORNIAN FOUR-O'CLOCK--_Mirabilis Californica_.] + + +BEACH MORNING-GLORY. + +_Convolvulus Soldanella_, L. Morning-glory Family. + + _Stems._--A foot or less long; trailing. + _Leaves._--Kidney-shaped; long-petioled; leathery; an inch or + two broad. _Flowers._--Pink to lavender; one to nearly three + inches across, with a pair of thin bracts just below the calyx, + partly enveloping it. (Otherwise as _C. luteolus_.) _Hab._--The + seashore from Puget Sound to San Diego. + +The beach morning-glory trails its stems over the shifting sands of the +seashore, making clusters of beautiful foliage, over which the large, +delicate flowers raise their exquisite satin funnels. + + +CALYPSO. + +_Calypso borealis_, Salisb. Orchis Family. + + _Bulb._--Small; solid. _Stem._--Three to six inches high. + _Leaf._--An inch or two long. _Sepals_ and petals light to deep + rose-color; six to nine lines long. _Lip._--Brownish pink, + mottled with purple. _Style._--Petaloid, oval, and concave, + bearing the hemispherical anther on its summit underneath. + _Hab._--The northern Coast Ranges; also across the continent. + +It has never been my good fortune to find this rare and exquisite little +orchid, but beautiful specimens have been sent from the redwoods of Sonoma +County and from Oregon. The books speak of it as growing in bogs; but I am +told by those who gathered them that the little plants sit lightly upon the +layer of needles that carpet the forest-floor. The roots scarcely penetrate +the soil, so that the plants are easily disengaged without digging. + +Nature produced a perfect work when she fashioned this little plant, so +simple, so charming in every way, with its one dainty leaf and one unique +blossom. The form of the column is peculiarly interesting, being that of a +curving concave petal, bearing the anther, in the shape of a hollow +hemisphere, on its upper edge. + +[Illustration CALYPSO--_Calypso borealis_.] + + +WILD PORTULACA. + +_Calandrinia caulescens_, HBK.; _var. Menziesii_, Gray. Purslane Family. + + Decumbent, branching herbs, mostly smooth. + _Leaves._--Alternate; linear to oblanceolate; one to three + inches long. _Flowers._--In loose racemes; rose-color or + magenta; about an inch across. _Sepals._--Two; keeled. + _Petals._--Mostly five. _Stamens._--Four to eleven. + _Ovary._--One-celled. Style slender. Stigma three-cleft. Seeds + black, shining, lens-shaped. _Hab._--From Lower California to + Vancouver Island. + +The wild portulaca is very abundant, and in seasons favorable to its +development is a very noticeable little plant. Its succulent stems have a +spreading habit and bear many satiny flowers of a deep purplish-pink, which +open in the bright sunshine. The petals, which are veined with a slightly +darker color, become white toward the center, and the little anthers are +full of orange-colored pollen. These blossoms have a delicate, somewhat +musky perfume. + +Cattle are fond of the herbage, and the plants are considered excellent as +potherbs and for salads. The seeds, which are a favorite food of the wild +dove are very pretty, being lens-shaped, black and shining, with a granular +surface. + + +THE PRIDE OF CALIFORNIA. + +_Lathyrus splendens_, Kell. Pea Family. + + _Stem._--Climbing; six to ten feet. _Leaflets._--About eight; + scattered; very variable; linear to lanceolate or oblong; + acute; mucronate; strongly three- to five-nerved. + _Tendrils._--Two- to five-parted. _Stipules._--Small; + semi-sagittate. _Peduncles._--Stout; usually seven- to + ten-flowered. _Flowers._--Very large; brilliant crimson. + _Calyx._--Five-toothed; eighteen-nerved. _Standard_ and keel an + inch or more long. _Pods._--Three inches long; smooth; + compressed; ten- to twenty-seeded. _Hab._--Parts of San Diego + County, and southward. + +Clambering over our wild shrubs, this wonderful pea gives them the +appearance of being loaded with a magnificence of bloom quite unwonted. The +blossoms are the richest and most gorgeous of crimsons throughout, and have +such a superb air that it is difficult to believe they are not the product +of centuries of careful selection by the gardener. The long standard turns +back over the stem, continuing the gracefully outlined keel in a long +compound curve. The blossoms hang from the stem in charming abandon, like a +flock of graceful tropic-birds poising upon the wing before taking flight, +or like a fleet of gayly decked pleasure-barges, with canopies thrown back, +fit for the conveyance of a Cleopatra. + +[Illustration WILD PORTULACA--_Calandrinia caulescens_.] + + +CALIFORNIAN WILD CURRANT. INCENSE-SHRUB. + +_Ribes glutinosum_, Benth. Saxifrage Family. + + Shrubs six to fifteen feet high. _Leaves._--Three- to + five-lobed; glutinous when young; three to five inches broad. + _Flowers._--Rose-pink to pale pink; in long drooping racemes. + _Calyx._--Petaloid; five-lobed. _Petals_ and stamens five on + the calyx. _Ovary._--One-celled. Styles two; more or less + united. _Berries._--Blue, with a dense bloom; glandular-hispid. + _Syn._--_Ribes sanguineum_, Pursh. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges; + more common southward. + +In early winter in the south, and somewhat later northward, the wild +currant becomes a thing of beauty hardly to have been expected. The young +foliage, of a clear brilliant green, is gayly decked with the long clusters +of peculiarly fresh pink blossoms, which seem like the very incarnation of +the spirit of Spring, producing a certain _eblouissement_, which quickens +our sense into an anticipation of beauty on every side. + +We are made aware of a strong, heavy fragrance emanating from this shrub, +for which its numerous glands are responsible, and which has gained for it +the popular name of "incense-shrub" in some localities. + +The fruit, which ripens toward fall, is dry and bitter, or insipid. + +The genus _Ribes_ includes the currant and the gooseberry, and furnishes us +with several charming shrubs in California. + +[Illustration CALIFORNIAN WILD CURRANT--_Ribes glutinosum_.] + + +GROUND-PINK. FRINGED GILIA. + +_Gilia dianthoides_, Endl. Phlox or Polemonium Family. + + One to six inches high. _Leaves._--Six lines or so long; linear + to filiform. _Flowers._--Rose or lilac, blending inward to + white, with darker color or yellow in the throat. + _Calyx._--Five-cleft. _Corolla._--Nine to twelve lines across; + fringed. (See _Gilia_.) _Hab._--From Santa Barbara to San + Diego. + +In March our southern meadows and hill-slopes are all aglow with the lovely +flowers of this charming little _Gilia_. The plants are tiny, often no more +than an inch high, but are ambitious out of all proportion to their size, +covering themselves with blossoms exquisitely delicate in texture, form, +and coloring, which literally carpet the earth with an overlapping mosaic. + +It is a wonderful thought that upon every one of these countless millions +of little flowers that clothe the fields Nature has bestowed such care that +each is a masterpiece in itself. + + +COMMON FLEABANE. + +_Erigeron Philadelphicus_, L. Sunflower Family. + + Hairy, perennial herbs. _Stems._--One to three feet high; leafy + to the top. _Root-leaves._--Spatulate or obovate. + _Stem-leaves._--Oblong; sessile, with broad clasping base; + irregularly toothed. _Flower-heads._--In a loose corymb. + _Disks._--Yellow; three or four lines across. + _Rays._--Innumerable; very narrow; flesh-color to rose-purple; + about three lines long. _Hab._--Widely distributed on the + Pacific and Atlantic Coasts. + +The feathery, daisy-like flowers of the common fleabane are of frequent +occurrence in moist meadows or along the roadsides in spring. The +ray-flowers are so narrow as to form a delicate fringe around the disk. + +The common name arose from the belief that these plants were harmful to +fleas. + +[Illustration GROUND-PINK--_Gilia dianthoides_.] + + +TURKISH RUGGING. + +_Chorizanthe staticoides_, Benth. Buckwheat Family. + + A foot high or more, with widely spreading branches. + _Leaves._--All radical; oblong; obtuse; twelve to thirty lines + long, including petioles. _Involucres._--Loosely clustered; + sessile; one-flowered; campanulate; with six bristle-like + teeth. _Perianth._--Pink; two lines long; six-lobed; not + fringed. _Stamens._--Mostly nine; on the perianth. + _Ovary._--One-celled. Styles three. Stigmas capitate. + _Hab._--From Monterey to San Diego. + +In late spring the dry, open hills of the south are overrun with the soft +lavender of the _Chorizanthe_. The flowers are small, but the whole plant +is purplish, and the stems are quite as productive of color as the +blossoms. In fact, the whole plant seems to consist of a scraggly +interlacement of slender branches and small flowers, as the leaves, which +nestle close to the ground, are not very noticeable. + + +CANCHALAGUA. CALIFORNIAN CENTAURY. + +_Erythraea venusta_, Gray. Gentian Family. + + Six inches to two feet high. _Leaves._--Six to twelve lines + long; pale apple-green. _Calyx._--Usually five-parted. + _Corolla._--Bright pink, with yellow or white center; an inch + or so across. _Stamens._--Five; anthers spirally twisted after + shedding the pollen. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style slender. + Stigmas two. _Hab._--From Plumas County southward; more + abundant southward. + +Just as our attention has been called afresh to the fields by the sudden +appearance of the "golden stars," or _Bloomeria_, in late spring, we find, +as we stoop to gather them, a charming pink flower nestling close to the +earth amid the grasses. Though low of stature, these firstlings of the +season atone for it by brilliancy of color, and their pink blossoms have a +peculiarly clean, fresh, wide-awake appearance, reminding one of a +rosy-faced country wench. + +While enjoying their bright beauty, we do not for a moment suspect that we +are paying homage to the famous "canchalagua" of the Spanish-Californians. +No well-regulated household among these people is without bundles of these +herbs strung upon the rafters--for they are considered by them an +indispensable remedy for fevers; also, an excellent bitter tonic, and are +said to possess rare antiseptic properties. + +[Illustration CANCHALAGUA--_Erythraea venusta_.] + + +FALSE MALLOW. + +_Malvastrum Thurberi_, Gray. Mallow Family. + + Shrubby at base; three to fifteen feet high; densely tomentose. + _Leaves._--An inch or two across; thick. _Flowers._--Clustered + in the axils of the leaves; or in an interrupted naked spike. + _Calyx._--Five-lobed; with one to three bractlets. + _Petals._--Five, about six lines long; rose-purple. + _Stamens._--United in a column. _Ovaries._--Numerous; united in + a ring. Styles united at base. Stigmas capitate. _Hab._--The + southern Coast Ranges and islands of the Coast. + +Upon the mesas of the south we often see a shrubby member of the mallow +family, with long, wandlike branches ornamented with closely set, pink +flowers, of delicate texture and pleasant perfume. This is the false +mallow. It is a very handsome and noticeable shrub when in full bloom. The +anthers are golden brown, and the stigmas are spherical instead of +filiform. Upon the seashore it blooms much earlier than in the valleys +inland. + + +MESEMBRYANTHEMUM. FIG-MARIGOLD. + +_Mesembryanthemum aequilaterale_, Haworth. Fig-marigold Family. + + Succulent plants. _Stems._--Elongating; forming large mats. + _Leaves._--Opposite; sessile; fleshy; three-angled; two inches + or more long; oblong. _Flowers._--Terminal; solitary; fifteen + lines to two inches across; pink. _Calyx._--With top-shaped + tube and five-lobed border. _Petals._--Very numerous; linear. + _Stamens._--Innumerable. _Ovary._--Four- to twenty-celled. + Stigmas six to ten. _Hab._--The Coast, from Point Reyes + southward. + +The fig-marigold is a very common plant upon our seashore. It seems to +flourish best toward the south, where it covers large tracts of sand with +its succulent foliage, making mats of pleasant verdure in otherwise sandy +wastes. Its stems often trail many yards down the cliffs, making beautiful +natural draperies, decked with myriads of the pink blossoms. Because it is +capable of withstanding the drouth in the most remarkable manner, it has +been planted to produce verdure where irrigation is impossible. The very +numerous slender petals give the flower the appearance at first sight of a +_Composita_. The fruit is pulpy and full of very small seeds, like the fig, +and has a suggestion of the flavor of the Isabella grape. + +[Illustration FALSE MALLOW--_Malvastrum Thurberi_.] + +Many species of _Mesembryanthemum_ are cultivated in our gardens, mostly as +border-plants. The genus is a large one, most of the species being native +of Southern Africa, and it is supposed that the three species now common +upon our Coast were introduced in the remote past without the agency of +man. + + + * * * * * + +_Gilia androsacea_, Steud. Phlox or Polemonium Family. + + _Stems._--Three to twelve inches high; erect; spreading. + _Leaves._--Opposite; sessile; palmately five- to seven-parted; + seemingly whorled. _Flowers._--In terminal clusters. + _Corolla._--Salver-shaped; rose-pink, lilac, or white, with a + yellow or dark throat; its tube filiform, about an inch long; + limb eight to ten lines across. Filaments and style slender; + exserted. (See _Gilia_.) _Hab._--Throughout the western part of + the State; into the Sierra foothills. + +The delicate flowers of this little plant may be found nestling amid the +grasses of dry hill-slopes in late spring, often making charming bits of +color. It is usually rather a low plant, but in specially favorable +situations it rises to a foot in height. Its fragile flowers vary from pure +white to lilac and a lovely rose-pink, and look like small phloxes. + + + * * * * * + +_Mimulus Douglasii_, Gray. Figwort Family. + + Flowering at half an inch high; later becoming a span high. + _Leaves._--Ovate or oblong; three- to five-nerved at base; + narrowed into a short petiole. _Flowers._--Rich maroon, with + deeper color in the throat and some yellow below. + _Calyx._--Five-toothed. _Corolla._--An inch to eighteen lines + long; with dilated throat. Lower lip much shorter than the + ample, erect, upper one; sometimes almost wanting. (See + _Mimulus_.) _Hab._--Throughout California. + +This little _Mimulus_ is quite common upon gravelly or stony hills. Its +pert little maroon flowers, with their very long tubes and erect lobes, so +ridiculously out of proportion to the size of the tiny plant, give it the +look of some very important small personage. + +[Illustration _Gilia Androsacea._] + + +BITTER-ROOT. SPAT'LUM. TOBACCO-ROOT. + +_Lewisia rediviva_, Pursh. Purslane Family. + + _Root._--Very thick. _Leaves._--Clustered; linear-oblong; one + or two inches long. _Scapes._--One-flowered; one or two inches + long; jointed in the middle, with a whorl of five to seven + scarious bracts at the joint. _Sepals._--Six to eight; six to + nine lines long; scarious-margined. _Petals._--Twelve to + fifteen; rose-color, sometimes white; oblong; eight to sixteen + lines long; rotately spreading in sunshine. _Stamens._--Forty + or more. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style three- to eight-parted + nearly to the base. _Hab._--The mountains of California, + northward and eastward. + +Within our borders this little plant is not abundant, but must be sought +upon mountain heights. Formerly it was supposed not to occur south of Mt. +Diablo, but it has since been found in the mountains of the southern part +of the State and at intermediate points. It is very abundant in Montana, +where it has been adopted as the State flower. + +The plants are very small, being but an inch or two high, but the flowers +are handsome and showy, and the delicate, rose-colored corollas, which are +often two inches across, are of an exquisite silken texture. The root is +remarkably large and thick for so small a plant, and it contains a +nutritious, farinaceous matter, much esteemed by the Indians for food. +Among them it is known as "spat'lum," and they gather large quantities of +it, which they store in bags for future use. + +This was the "racine-amere," or "bitter-root," of the early French +settlers. It is also known as "tobacco-root," because when boiled it has a +tobacco-like odor. + +The specific name, _rediviva_, was bestowed because of the wonderful +vitality of these plants. It is known upon good authority that specimens +which had been drying for two years in an herbarium continued to produce +leaves, and at last, when taken out and planted, went on growing and +blossomed! + +This genus is an exception to the other members of the Purslane family, in +having more than two sepals. + + +SPINELESS TUNA. + +_Opuntia basilaris, var. ramosa_, Parish. Cactus Family. + + Low; spreading; branching freely above. _Joints._--Flat; + smooth; without large spines, but with close tufts of minute + bristles; obovate or fan-shaped; five to eight inches long; + nearly as wide at the top. _Flowers._--Large; brilliant + rose-magenta; two or three inches long. _Fruit._--Dry; + sub-globose. (Flower-structure as in _O. Engelmanni_.) + _Hab._--The southern deserts and San Bernardino Mountains. + +In the arid regions of the southern interior, this _Opuntia_ is a very +common one, and its large, brilliant rose-magenta flowers attract the +attention wherever seen. They are very tempting blossoms, and it is hard to +resist them, even though we know the penalty will be the conversion of +thumbs and fingers into pin-cushions for innumerable, minute, tormenting +thorns. + + +SNOW-BERRY. + +_Symphoricarpos racemosus_, Michx. Honeysuckle Family. + + Shrubs two to four feet high. _Leaves._--Opposite; + short-petioled; cuneate to oblong; entire or lobed; nine to + eighteen lines long. _Flowers._--Small; mostly in terminal + clusters. _Calyx._--Adnate to the ovary; with five-toothed + border. _Corolla._--Campanulate; five-lobed; three lines long; + waxen; pinkish; very hairy within. _Stamens._--Five; on the + corolla. _Ovary._--Four-celled. _Berries._--Waxen-white; six + lines in diameter. _Hab._--Widely distributed. + +In early winter the pure-white clusters of the snow-berry, on their almost +leafless stems, make flecks of light through the dun woods. At this season +of few woodland attractions, these berries, together with the trailing +sprays of the fragrant yerba buena and the long graceful leaves of the +iris, are about the only trophies to be obtained upon a walk. In early +spring, when their slender twigs first begin to leaf out, these little +shrubs are among the most delicate and airy of growing things, and make a +tender veil of green through the shadowy woodland. The blossoms, which +arrive rather late, are inconspicuous. + + +TREE-MALLOW. + +_Lavatera assurgentiflora_, Kell. Mallow Family. + + _Shrubs._--Six to fifteen feet high. _Leaves._--Three to nine + inches across. _Flowers._--Pink, veined with maroon. + _Calyx._--Five-cleft, with an involucel below, like a second + calyx. _Petals._--Twelve to eighteen lines long. + _Filaments._--Numerous; united in a column. + _Styles._--Numerous; filiform. _Carpels._--One-seeded, in a + ring around an axis; separating at maturity. _Hab._--The + islands off the Coast; cultivated on the mainland north to + Mendocino County. + + +The _Lavateras_ are Old-World plants, with the exception of a few species +which are natives of the islands of our southern coast. In the early days +the Padres planted the above species (_L. assurgentiflora_) plentifully +around the old Missions, and thence it has spread and become spontaneous in +many localities. It can be seen in San Francisco, planted as wind-break +hedges about the market-gardens, where it thrives luxuriantly as long as it +is protected from cattle. + +The leaves and twigs abound in mucilage, and are very fattening and +nutritious food for sheep and cattle, who are very fond of it. + + +WILD HONEYSUCKLE. + +_Lonicera hispidula_, Dougl. Honeysuckle Family. + + Woody; climbing and twining. _Leaves._--Opposite; + short-petioled; oval; pale; one to three inches long; the upper + pairs uniting around the stem. _Flowers._--Pink; in spikes of + several whorls. _Calyx._--Minute; growing to the ovary; border + five-toothed. _Corolla._--Tubular; six lines to an inch long; + bilabiate; the lips strongly revolute; the upper four-lobed, + the lower entire. _Stamens._--Five; much exserted. + _Ovary._--Two- or three-celled. Style slender. Stigma capitate. + _Berries._--Scarlet; translucent. _Hab._--Throughout the State. + +In early summer the climbing honeysuckle with its pale foliage flings its +long arms over neighboring trees and shrubs, showing glimpses here and +there of small pinkish flowers. But it is far more noticeable in the fall, +when its long pendulous branches are laden with the fine clusters of +translucent, orange-red berries. It is quite variable and has many forms, +which are all considered varieties of the one species. + +[Illustration TREE-MALLOW--_Lavatera assurgentiflora_.] + + +PINK PAINT-BRUSH. ESCOBITA. + +_Orthocarpus purpurascens_, Benth. Figwort Family. + + _Stems._--Six to twelve inches high. _Leaves._--Variously + parted into filiform divisions. _Bracts._--About equaling the + flowers; tipped with crimson or pale pink. _Corolla._--About an + inch long; the lower lip only moderately inflated and + three-saccate; the upper long, hooked, bearded, crimson. + _Stigma._--Large. (See _Orthocarpus_.) _Hab._--Widely + distributed. + +The bright-magenta tufts of the pink paint-brush are often so abundant that +they give the country a purplish hue for miles at a stretch. The +Spanish-Californians have a pretty name for these blossoms, calling them +"escobitas," meaning "little whisk-brooms." + +_O. densiflorus_, Benth., is a very similar species; but its corolla has a +straight upper lip, without hairs. + + +CLARKIA. + +_Clarkia elegans_, Dougl. Evening-Primrose Family. + + _Stems._--One to six feet high; simple or branching. + _Leaves._--Alternate; broadly ovate to linear; dentate; an inch + or more long. _Petals._--About nine lines long; with long, + slender claws and rhomboidal blades; pink. _Stamens._--Eight; + all perfect. Filaments with a hairy scale at base. + _Stigma._--Four-lobed. _Capsule._--Six to nine lines long; + sessile. (Otherwise as _C. concinna_.) _Hab._--Widely + distributed. + +This plant is a very common one along our dusty roadsides in early summer, +and it shows a facility in adapting itself to quite a range of climate and +condition. It grows from six inches to six feet high, is nearly smooth or +quite hairy, and has rather large flowers or quite small ones. Its scarlet +stamens, purple-pink petals, and often deeper purple sepals make an odd +combination of color. It often grows in showy masses, making patches of +glowing color under the shade of trees. + +[Illustration PINK PAINT-BRUSH--_Orthocarpus purpurascens_.] + + +CHAPARRAL PEA. + +_Pickeringia montana_, Nutt. Pea Family. + + Evergreen, much branched, spiny shrubs, four to seven feet + high. _Leaves._--With from one to three leaflets. + _Leaflets._--Three to nine lines long. + _Flowers._--Magenta-colored; solitary; sessile; seven to nine + lines long; papilionaceous. _Stamens._--All ten distinct. + _Pod._--One-celled; two inches long. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, + from Lake County to San Diego. + +Upon wild mountain-slopes where are heard the fluting notes of a certain +shy bird that rarely comes near habitations, the chaparral pea often makes +dense, impenetrable thickets. It would be impossible to mistake it for any +other shrub, with its solitary magenta-colored pea-blossoms, which often +cover the bushes with a mass of color. Its green branchlets terminate in +long, rigid spines, which are often clothed with small leaves nearly to the +end. + +Woe to him who tries to penetrate the chaparral when it is composed of this +formidable and uncompromising shrub! The result is quite likely to be a +humiliating progress upon hands and knees before he can extricate himself, +probably with torn garments and scratched visage. + + +HEDGE-NETTLE. + +_Stachys bullata_, Benth. Mint Family. + + Rough, pubescent herbs. _Stem._--Ten to eighteen inches high; + four-angled. _Leaves._--Opposite; ovate or ovate-oblong; + cordate; coarsely crenate; wrinkly veined; petioled; an inch or + two long. _Flowers._--Pinkish; in a narrow, interrupted spike. + _Calyx._--Five-cleft. _Corolla._--Eight lines long; bilabiate. + Upper lip erect; lower deflexed, of three unequal lobes, + spotted with purple. _Stamens._--Four. Filaments hairy. Anthers + divergently two-celled. _Ovary._--Of four seedlike nutlets. + Style filiform. Stigma two-cleft. _Hab._--Throughout the State. + +The hedge-nettles are common weeds, of which we have several species. _S. +bullata_, so called on account of its leaves, which look as though +blistered, is the most widespread. It is quite variable in aspect, and we +are constantly meeting it in new guises and being deceived into believing +it something finer than it really is, through some subtle change in its +usually homely little pink flowers. + +[Illustration CHAPARRAL PEA--_Pickeringia montana_.] + + +TWINING HYACINTH. + +_Brodiaea volubilis_, Baker. Lily Family. + + Coated corm about one inch in diameter. _Leaves._--All radical; + broadly linear; a foot or more long. _Scape._--Twining; two to + even twelve feet long; naked. _Umbel._--Many-flowered. + _Perianth._--Five to eight lines long; rose-color without, + whitish within. _Stamens._--Three; alternating with three + notched staminodia. Filaments winged; very short. + _Ovary._--Three-celled. Style short. Stigma capitate. + _Syn._--_Stropholirion Californicum_, Torr. _Hab._--Sierra + foothills, from Mariposa County northward. + +In this plant we see the _Brodiaea_ disporting itself in a very odd manner, +having vinelike aspirations. It produces several long leaves, which lie +prostrate upon the ground, and then the stem puts in its appearance and +commences a wonderful series of evolutions not to be outdone by any +contortionist. It twists and clambers and climbs, reaching a height of five +or six feet, often having expended twice that amount of stem in its +convolutions. + +During this remarkable process, which consumes from two to four weeks, the +terminal bud has remained dormant. But it now commences to grow, and in a +couple of weeks the flower-cluster is complete in all its beauty. It is +sometimes six inches across. + +It often happens that before the flower has blossomed, the stem is broken +off at the ground. Strangely enough, this seems not to matter at all, for +it grows on and perfects its flowers just as though nothing had occurred. +People often bring the stem indoors and allow it to climb up over the +curtains, where they can watch the interesting process of its growth. + +[Illustration TWINING HYACINTH--_Brodiaea volubilis_.] + + +CALIFORNIAN ROSE-BAY. + +_Rhododendron Californicum_, Hook. Heath Family. + + Evergreen shrubs three to fifteen feet high. _Leaves._--Four to + six inches long; leathery. _Flowers._--Rose-pink; in large + clusters. _Calyx._--Small; with rounded lobes. + _Corolla._--Broadly campanulate; two inches or so across; + slightly irregular; with wavy, margined lobes; the upper + spotted within. _Stamens._--About equaling the corolla. Style + crimson. Stigma funnel-form. (Otherwise as _R. occidentale_.) + _Hab._--From British Columbia to Marin County. + +In our northern counties the rugged mountain-sides are often densely +covered with the lovely rose-bay, which in early summer presents an +appearance it would be impossible to rival. When the foliage, which is very +rich in both quality and hue, is thickly massed with the great glowing +flower-clusters, the sight is worth a pilgrimage to see. It is a shrub so +beautiful, we marvel it is not generally cultivated in gardens. + +The bees are very fond of the blossoms, but popular tradition ascribes a +poisonous quality to the honey made from them. + +We have noticed no perfume in these flowers, but the leaves are often quite +pleasantly fragrant. + + +COMMON WILD ROSE. + +_Rosa Californica_, Cham. and Schlecht. Rose Family. + + Erect shrubs three to eight feet high. Prickles few; stout; + recurved; mostly in pairs beneath the entire stipules. + _Leaves._--Alternate; pinnate; with five to seven leaflets. + _Leaflets._--Ovate or oblong; serrate. _Flowers._--Few to many + in clusters; pale-pink. _Calyx._--With urn-shaped tube and + five-cleft border, whose lobes are foliaceously tipped. + _Petals._--Five; six to nine lines long. _Stamens._--Very + numerous. _Ovaries._--Several; bony; in, but free from, the + calyx-tube. _Hips._--Many; four or five lines through. + _Hab._--From San Diego to Oregon. + +The wild rose is one of the few flowers that blooms cheerfully through the +long summer days, lavishing its beautiful clusters of deliciously fragrant +flowers as freely along the dusty roadside as in the more secluded thicket. +In autumn it often seems inspired to a special luxuriance of blossoming, +and it lingers to greet the asters and mingle its pink flowers and +brilliant scarlet hips with their delicate lilacs. + +[Illustration CALIFORNIAN ROSE-BAY--_Rhododendron Californicum_.] + +_R. gymnocarpa_, Nutt., "the redwood-rose," is exquisitely dainty. This is +found in shady places under the trees. It blooms earlier than the common +species, and is neither so abundant nor so fragrant. Its flowers are barely +an inch across and of a bright pink. The prickles are straight, and the +calyx-lobes are without leafy tips, while the leaflets are small and +shapely. + + +BEAUTIFUL CLARKIA. + +_Clarkia concinna_ (F. and M.), Greene. Evening-Primrose Family. + + _Stems._--Several inches to two feet high. _Leaves._--One or + two inches long. _Flowers._--Axillary; sessile; parts in fours. + _Calyx._--Red-pink; tube an inch or more long. + _Petals._--Rose-pink; six lines to over an inch long. + _Ovary._--Four-celled. _Syn._--_Eucharidium concinnum_, Fisch. + and Mey. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from Santa Barbara to + Mendocino County. + +In June these charming blossoms may be found in the company of the +maidenhair fern fringing the banks of shady roads, or standing in glowing +masses under the buckeye-trees. In them nature has ventured upon one of +those rather daring color combinations of which we would have hardly +dreamed, and the result is delightful. The petals are bright rose-pink, +while the sepals are of a red pink. + + +SPREADING DOGBANE. + +_Apocynum androsaemifolium_, L. Dogbane Family. + + Erect; one to three feet high; spreading. _Leaves._--Opposite; + short-petioled; ovate or roundish; an inch or two long. + _Flowers._--Clustered; pink. _Calyx._--Five-cleft. + _Corolla._--Campanulate; three or four lines long; with five + revolute lobes; having a small scale at base, opposite each + lobe. _Stamens._--Five; on the corolla. Filaments short. + Anthers erect around the stigma. Style none. _Ovaries._--Two; + becoming a pair of long pods. Seeds silky-tufted. + _Hab._--Widely distributed in the United States. + +[Illustration BEAUTIFUL CLARKIA--_Clarkia concinna_.] + +The small pink flowers of the spreading dogbane may be found all through +the summer, often upon our driest hillsides. The shapely little blossoms +are of a flesh-tint without, richly veined with deeper pink within, and +quite fragrant. The plants have a milky juice and a tough fiber in the +stem, similar to that in the American-Indian hemp. The plant was formerly +supposed to be poisonous to dogs, from which fact it received its generic +name, which translated gives the common English name, "dogbane." It is used +in medicine as a remedy for rheumatic gout. The very long pods seem +absurdly out of proportion to the small flowers. + +_A. cannabinum_, L., the American-Indian hemp, is also found within our +borders, but it grows along stream-banks and in marshy places. It has +oblong, pointed leaves, and small greenish-white flowers, only two lines +long, whose close cylindrical corollas hardly surpass the calyx. The +yellowish-brown bark of this plant is very tough and fibrous, and at the +same time soft and silky. Our Indians have always found it of the utmost +value in the making of ropes, lariats, nets, mats, baskets, etc., and +before the coming of the white man they even made certain articles of +clothing of it. A tincture made from the root is a recognized drug in the +pharmacopoeia. Professor Thouin, of Paris, says that a permanent dye may be +obtained from a decoction of it, which is brown or black, according to the +mordant used. + + +FIRECRACKER FLOWER. + +_Brodiaea coccinea_, Gray. Lily Family. + + _Leaves._--Grasslike, a foot or two long. _Scape._--One to + three feet high; six- to fifteen-flowered. _Perianth._--An inch + or two long; rich crimson; the limb of six green or yellowish + oblong lobes. _Stamens._--Three; on the perianth. Filaments + adnate to its tube. Anther tips exserted. _Staminodia._--Three; + broad; short; white; on the throat of the perianth, alternating + with the stamens. _Ovary._--Three-celled. Style exserted. + Stigma three-lobed. _Syn._--_Brevoortia coccinea_, Wats. + _Hab._--The mountains from Mendocino County to Shasta County. + +[Illustration FIRECRACKER FLOWER--_Brodiaea coccinea_.] + +When our northern valleys have become parched by the first heat of +summer, many beautiful flowers are still to be found in deep canyon +retreats, where the streams, overarched by great shadowing oaks, gush +downward through leafy copses of hazelwood and thimble-berry by beds of +moss and fern. Upon the walls of such charming gorges the firecracker +flower rears its slender stem and shakes out its bunch of brilliant +crimson blossoms. These are a prophetic symbol of our national holiday +rather than an aid to its celebration--for they have often passed away +before the Fourth of July. + + +GODETIA. FAREWELL TO SPRING. + +_Godetia viminea_, Spach. Evening-Primrose Family. + + _Stems._--One to three feet high; sometimes stout. + _Leaves._--Linear to linear-lanceolate; entire; an inch or two + long; distant. _Flowers._--Nodding in the bud. + _Calyx-tube._--Two to four lines long. _Petals._--Deep + rose-color, sometimes yellowish at base with a dark spot; nine + to fifteen lines long. _Capsules._--Smoothish; eight to + eighteen lines long; its sides two-ribbed; sessile or + short-pediceled. (See _Godetia_.) _Hab._--From the Columbia + River southward to Ventura. + +In early summer the rosy flowers of this _Godetia_ make bright masses of +color along dry banks and hill-slopes. Its blossoms are very variable as to +marking. Sometimes the petals have a bright crimson blotch at the base and +sometimes they are without it, both forms often occurring upon the same +plant. In some seasons all the flowers are without the blotch. + +_G. grandiflora_, Lindl., found in Humboldt and Mendocino Counties, is +probably the most showy species we have. The plants are a foot or two high +and covered all over with the wonderful flowers, which are often four +inches across. These are delicate pink, blotched with rich crimson. + +_G. Bottae_, Spach., is an exquisite species found in the Coast Ranges, +from Monterey to San Diego. Its very slender stems lift the fragile, +satiny cups above the dried grasses in charming companies. These blossoms +also vary much. Among the prettiest forms is one which is pale rose or +lilac, blending to white at the center, delicately striate with +purple-dotted lines, and having a rich purple spot in the center. This +often grows with the lilac butterfly-tulip, _Calochortus splendens_, and +at a little distance is so similar, it is difficult to distinguish it from +the lily. But the lily rarely or never grows in throngs. The capsules of +this species have pedicels from three to nine lines long. + +[Illustration FAREWELL TO SPRING--_Godetia viminea_.] + + +BLEEDING-HEART. + +_Dicentra formosa_, DC. Bleeding-heart Family. + + _Leaves._--Ternately dissected, with toothed leaflets. + _Scapes._--Six inches to two feet high. + _Flowers._--Rose-colored to pale pink, sometimes almost white + or yellowish; nodding. (Floral structure as in _D. + chrysantha_.) _Hab._--The Coast Ranges and Sierras, from Middle + California to British Columbia. + +The bleeding-heart is a rather shy flower, and never makes itself common +enough to dull our enthusiasm for it. It fully merits its specific name, +for it is a plant of elegant form throughout, from its shapely divided +leaves to its graceful clusters of pendent hearts. It is found in the woods +of our Coast Ranges, but may be seen to best advantage when nestling amid +the lush grasses of Sierra meadows. + + +INDIAN RHUBARB. UMBRELLA-PLANT. + +_Saxifraga peltata_, Torr. Saxifrage Family. + + _Rootstock._--Thick; creeping. _Leaves._--Radical; + long-petioled; a foot or more across when mature; nine- to + fourteen-lobed; centrally depressed. _Scapes._--One to three + feet high. _Calyx._--Five-lobed. _Petals._--Five; roundish; + three lines or more long; purplish-pink. _Stamens._--Ten. + _Ovaries._--Two; distinct. Stigmas capitate or reniform. + _Hab._--The Sierras, from Mariposa County to Mt. Shasta; also + Mendocino County. + +Upon the borders of our swift-flowing mountain streams, where the +water-ouzel flies up and down all day, sometimes filling the air with +melody as he passes, may be seen the large lotus-like leaves of this great +Saxifrage. They stand with their dark, warm stems in the water; or, poising +upon the brink, they lean gracefully over it, making myriad reflections in +the brown depths below, while every passing breeze awakens a quick response +among them. + +Early in the season, before the coming of the leaves, these plants send up +tall stems with dense, branching clusters of handsome purplish-pink +flowers. The leaves, small at first, continue to grow until late summer, +when they have reached their perfection; after which they begin to deepen +into the richest of autumn hues. + +[Illustration BLEEDING-HEART--_Dicentra formosa_.] + +This plant is commonly called "Indian rhubarb," because the Indians are +extravagantly fond of the stalks of the leaves and flowers. It is now +cultivated in Eastern gardens. + + +GREAT WILLOW-HERB. FIREWEED. + +_Epilobium spicatum_, Lam. Evening-Primrose Family. + + _Stems._--Often four to seven feet high. _Leaves._--Scattered; + willow-like. _Flowers._--Purplish-pink; an inch or more across. + _Calyx-tube._--Linear; limb four-parted; often colored. + _Stamens._--Eight. Anthers purplish. _Ovary._--Four-celled. + Seeds silky-tufted. _Syn._--_E. angustifolium_, L. _Hab._--The + Sierras; eastward to the Atlantic; also in the North Coast + mountains. Found also in Europe and Asia. + +This plant has received one of its English names, because its leaves are +like those of the willow and its seeds are furnished with silken down, like +the fluff on the willow. + +It is our finest and most showy species of _Epilobium_, and is also found +in the Eastern States, where it is still known by a former name--_E. +angustifolium_, L. Owing to the fact that it grows with special luxuriance +in spots which have been recently burned over, it is commonly known as +"fireweed." It may be found in perfection in the Sierras in August, where +its great spikes of large pink flowers make showy masses of color along the +streams and through the meadows, commanding our warmest admiration. + +In the fall the tall, pliant, widely branching stems of the "autumn +willow-herb"--_E. paniculatum_, Nutt.--stand everywhere by the roadside. +The small pink flowers, half an inch across, terminate the almost leafless +stems, and later are replaced by the dry, curled remains of the opened +capsules and the feathery down of the escaping seeds. + +[Illustration GREAT WILLOW-HERB--_Epilobium spicatum_.] + + +ALPINE HEATHER. + +_Bryanthus Breweri_, Gray. Heath Family. + + Dwarf evergreens; six inches to a foot high; woody. + _Leaves._--Alternate; linear; three to seven lines long. + _Flowers._--Purplish-rose; on glandular pedicels. + _Calyx._--Five-toothed; small. _Corolla._--Saucer-shaped; six + lines or so across. _Stamens._--Seven to ten. Anthers + two-celled; opening terminally. _Ovary._--Five-celled. Style + slender. Stigma capitate. _Hab._--The High Sierras. + +This little plant, to which Mr. Muir fondly alludes in his charming book, +"The Mountains of California," may be found blooming in July and August in +the Sierras. Sometimes it nestles in rocky crevices in the cool drip of the +snow-banks, and again it ventures boldly out into the openings, where it +spreads its rich carpet, covered with a wealth of rosy bloom. From the +abundance of this little heathling about its shores, one of our mountain +lakes has received the name of "Heather Lake." + + + * * * * * + +_Silene Gallica_, L. Pink Family. + +Hairy. _Stems._--Generally several. _Leaves._--Spatulate; six to eighteen +lines long. _Flowers._--In terminal, one-sided racemes; four or five lines +long; short-pediceled. _Petals._--Pale rose-color or almost white; barely +exceeding the calyx. (Flower-structure as in _S. Californica_.) + +This little weed has come to us from Europe, and it is now so widely +distributed, both near the sea and inland, that it is hard to believe it is +not native. The slender racemes are from two to four inches long, and the +little flowers vary from white to pale pink. They can boast none of the +showy beauty of their relatives, the Indian pink and the Yerba del Indio. + +[Illustration ALPINE HEATHER--_Bryanthus Breweri_.] + + +ALPINE PHLOX. + +_Phlox Douglasii_, Hook. Phlox or Polemonium Family. + + Plants forming cushion-like tufts; three or four inches high. + _Leaves._--Needle-like; six lines or less long; with shorter + ones crowded in the axils. _Flowers._--Pink, lilac, or white; + sessile; terminating the branchlets. _Calyx._--Five-cleft. + _Corolla._--Salver-form; with five-lobed border. + _Stamens._--Five; on the tube of the corolla. + _Ovary._--Three-celled. Style three-lobed. _Hab._--The Sierras, + from Mariposa County northward and eastward. + +This delightful little flower may be found in the Sierras at an altitude of +from five to ten thousand feet. It loves the open sunshine of the cool +mountain heights, and with its cushiony tufts clothes many a bit of granite +soil with beauty. It seems undaunted by its stern surroundings, and lifts +its innocent eyes confidingly to the skies which bend gently over it--those +skies + + "So fathomless and pure, as if + All loveliest azure things have gone + To heaven that way--the flowers, the sea,-- + And left their color there alone." + + +PINK MONKEY-FLOWER. + +_Mimulus Lewisii_, Pursh. Figwort Family. + + _Stems._--Slender; eighteen inches or so high. + _Leaves._--Sessile; oblong-ovate to lanceolate; denticulate; + somewhat viscid. _Peduncles._--Elongated. _Corolla._--Eighteen + lines to two inches long; with tube exceeding the calyx and + five ample spreading ciliate lobes; rose-color or paler, with + usually a darker stripe down the center of each lobe. Ridges of + lower lobe yellow and spotted; bearded. _Stamens._--Included. + (See _Mimulus_.) _Hab._--The Sierras, from Central California + northward and eastward to Montana. + +One of the most beautiful of all our monkey-flowers is this charming +species, which is found along the cold streams of the Sierras. Its large +flowers have a fragile, delicate look, and the light stems and leaves are +of an exquisite green. + +I remember coming upon a delightful company of these blossoms, in a little +emerald meadow upon the margin of one of those alpine lakelets which nestle +among the granite crags. They seemed the most fitting flowers for just such +a high, pure atmosphere. + +[Illustration ALPINE PHLOX--_Phlox Douglasii_.] + + +SIERRA PRIMROSE. + +_Primula suffrutescens_, Gray. Primrose Family. + + _Leaves._--Wedge-shaped, an inch or so long; clustered at the + ends of the branches. _Flower-stems._--Several inches high. + Umbel several-flowered. _Calyx._--Five-cleft. + _Corolla._--Salver-shaped; an inch or less across; deep + rose-color, with a yellow eye. _Stamens._--High on the + corolla-throat opposite its lobes. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style + slender. _Hab._--The Sierras. + +If one takes his alpenstock in hand and climbs to the snow line in late +summer, he is apt to be rewarded by the charming flowers of the Sierra +primrose. The little plants grow in the drip of the snow-banks, where the +melting ice gradually liberates the tufts of evergreen leaves. The glowing +flowers look as though they might have caught and held the last rosy +reflection of the sunset upon the snow above them. + + +PRIDE OF THE MOUNTAINS. + +_Pentstemon Menziesii, var. Newberryi_, Gray. Figwort Family. + + _Stems._--Six inches to a foot high; woody at base. + _Leaves._--Ovate, obovate, or oblong; an inch or less long; + leathery. _Peduncles._--Usually one-flowered, forming a short, + glandular-pubescent raceme. _Corolla._--Bright rose-pink; an + inch long. _Anthers._--White-woolly; with divergent cells. (See + _Pentstemon_.) _Hab._--The High Sierras of Central California. + +This charming _Pentstemon_ is one of the most gracious flowers to be found +in the Sierras in late summer. Upon banks overhanging the streams, or +growing at great heights under the open sky, it makes many a rock-shelf gay +with its brilliant pink blossoms. + +We wonder how it can possibly subsist upon the hard, glittering granite; +but there the mystery of its life continues from day to day, and there it +cheerfully produces its masses of bright flowers, which gladden the weary +climber to these snowy heights. + +This species of _Pentstemon_ is well marked by its white-woolly anthers, +which almost fill the throat. Northward it passes into the typical _P. +Menziesii_, which has flowers from violet-blue to pink-purple. + +[Illustration SIERRA PRIMROSE--_Primula suffrutescens_.] + + +LESSINGIA. + +_Lessingia leptoclada_, Gray. Composite Family. + + Finely white-woolly. _Stems._--From a few inches to two feet + high, with numerous, almost filiform branchlets, bearing few or + solitary heads of pink or white flowers. _Lower + leaves._--Spatulate; sparingly toothed; withering early. _Upper + leaves._--Lanceolate, or linear and entire; sessile; uppermost + diminished into remote, subulate bracts. _Heads._--Five- to + twenty-flowered. Of tubular disk-flowers only. Outer flowers + much larger. _Involucre._--Silky hairy; broadly campanulate; + with imbricated, appressed bracts. _Hab._--Widespread. + +In late summer the pink _Lessingia_ is apparent along dry roadsides or +embankments, where its blossoms make charming masses of soft color. It is +quite abundant in the Yosemite, especially in the lower end of the valley. + +_L. Germanorum_, Cham., found plentifully from San Diego to San Francisco, +has yellow flowers. + + +ELEPHANTS' HEADS. + +_Pedicularis Groenlandica_, Retz. Figwort Family. + + _Stems._--Tall and slender; smooth. _Leaves._--Alternate; + lanceolate in outline; pinnately parted into linear-lanceolate, + serrate divisions; diminishing upward into the flower-bracts. + _Flowers._--Pink; in a dense spike several inches long. + _Calyx._--Five-toothed. _Corolla._--With short tube and + bilabiate limb. Upper lip with a long beak, like an elephant's + trunk; lower three-lobed, deflexed. _Stamens._--Four. Filaments + and style filiform; sheathed in the beak. _Ovary._--Two-celled. + _Hab._--The Sierras from King's River northward; and eastward + to Hudson's Bay. + +No more curious flower could be found than this little denizen of our +alpine meadows. Its tall pink spikes attract one from a distance, and +astonish one upon nearer acquaintance by the wonderful resemblance of their +blossoms to many small elephants' heads. The forehead, the long ears +hanging at the sides of the head, and the long, slender, curving trunk are +all perfectly simulated. + +These flowers have a pleasant perfume. + +Another species--_P. attollens_, Gray--often found growing with the above, +is similar to it in general structure, but its leaves are more dissected, +its flower-spike is rather woolly, and its beak is only two or three lines +long. These blossoms bear no resemblance to the elephant. + +[Illustration LESSINGIA--_Lessingia leptoclada_.] + + +ALPINE WILLOW-HERB. ROCK-FRINGE. + +_Epilobium obcordatum_, Gray. Evening-Primrose Family. + + _Stems._--Decumbent; three to five inches long. + _Leaves._--Opposite; ovate; sessile; four to ten lines long. + _Flowers._--One to five; bright rose-pink; over an inch across. + _Calyx._--With linear tube and four-cleft limb. + _Petals._--Four; erect and spreading; obcordate. + _Stamens._--Eight; four shorter. Filaments slender; exserted. + _Ovary._--Linear, four-celled. Style filiform; much exserted. + Stigma four-lobed. Seeds silky-tufted. _Hab._--The Sierras from + Tulare County northward. + +Though low of stature, this little willow-herb is a charming plant, with +large rosy flowers. At an elevation of eight thousand feet or more in the +mountains, it nestles amid the rocks, fringing their crevices with a +profusion of brilliant bloom. Though it often costs a hard climb up rocky +crags to secure it, we feel well repaid by its bright beauty. + + * * * * * + +_Hosackia Purshiana_, Benth. Pea Family. + + Soft-woolly throughout. _Stems._--Erect or loosely spreading + over the ground. _Leaves._--Sessile. _Leaflets._--One to three; + ovate to lanceolate; three to nine lines long. + _Flowers._--Yellowish-pink; solitary; two or three lines long. + Peduncles usually exceeding the leaves; with a single leaflet + below the flower. _Calyx-teeth._--Linear; much exceeding the + tube, about equaling the corolla. _Pod._--Narrow; twelve to + eighteen lines long; five- to seven-seeded. (See _Hosackia_.) + _Hab._--Throughout the State. + +This little plant is very abundant and widespread. It makes its appearance +after the drouth sets in, and often spreads over the ground in considerable +patches. Its woolly or silky foliage has a pale cast, and its small, +solitary, pinkish flowers, which are quite numerous, are not unattractive. + + + + +IV. BLUE AND PURPLE + + +[_Blue or purple or occasionally or partially blue or purple flowers not +described in the Blue and Purple Section._ + +_Described in the White Section_:-- + + ANTIRRHINUM COULTERIANUM--Coulter's Snapdragon. + AUDIBERTIA POLYSTACHYA--White Sage. + CALOCHORTUS LUTEUS OCULATUS--Butterfly Tulip. + CALOCHORTUS VENUSTUS--Mariposa Tulip. + CEANOTHUS INTEGERRIMUS--Mountain Birch; Tea-Tree; Soap-Bush. + ERIODICTYON GLUTINOSUM--Yerba Santa. + ERIODICTYON TOMENTOSUM--Yerba Santa. + LATHYRUS VESTITUS--Common Wild Pea. + MALACOTHRIX SAXATILIS. + MICROMERIA DOUGLASII--Yerba Buena. + SOLANUM DOUGLASII--Nightshade. + SPHACELE CALYCINA--Pitcher-Sage. + VIOLA BECKWITHII--Mountain Heart's-ease. + +_Described in the Yellow Section_:-- + + ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS--Pimpernel. + CALOCHORTUS WEEDII--Mariposa Lily, or Tulip. + HOSACKIA CRASSIFOLIA. + +_Described in the Pink Section_:-- + + CONVOLVULUS SOLDANELLA--Beach Morning-glory. + DODECATHEON MEADIA--Shooting-Stars. + ERIGERON PHILADELPHICUS--Common Fleabane. + GILIA ANDROSACEA. + GILIA CALIFORNICA--Prickly Phlox. + GILIA DIANTHOIDES--Ground Pink. + PENTSTEMON MENZIESII--Pride of the Mountains. + PHLOX DOUGLASII--Alpine Phlox. + +_Described in the Red Section_:-- + + AQUILEGIA COERULEA. + +_Described in the Miscellaneous Section_:-- + + DARLINGTONIA CALIFORNICA--Californian Pitcher-Plant. + DIPSACUS FULLONUM--Teasel.] + + +FETID ADDER'S-TONGUE. + +_Scoliopus Bigelovii_, Torr. Lily Family. + + _Leaves._--Two; oval-elliptical to narrowly oblanceolate; four + to fifteen inches long; blotched with brown. _Flowers._--Three + to twelve; on lax pedicels three to nine inches long. + _Sepals._--Whitish, veined with purple; spreading. + _Petals._--Erect; narrowly linear; wine-color without. + _Stamens._--Three. _Ovary._--One-celled; three-angled. Stigma + three-lobed. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges from Marin to Humboldt + County. + +When the first white blossoms of the toothwort are making their appearance +in moist woodlands, we may be sure that the fetid adder's-tongue is already +pushing its shining green leaves aboveground away up in the cold canyons of +north hill-slopes; and unless we hasten, we shall be too late to see its +curious flowers. I have often arrived only in time to find its fruit, which +resembles a beechnut in shape. When the flowers first open they stand +erect, held in the shining chalice formed by the two sheathing green +leaves. Later the leaves open out, showing their beautiful blotched +surfaces, and the three-angled flower-stems become limp and twisted. The +petals stand erect, and are so slender as to resemble three linear stigmas. +The little oval anthers are green before opening, but soon become golden +with the discharging pollen. + +These flowers are elegant in appearance, and suggestive of orchids; but +unfortunately they have a very offensive odor, like that of the star-fishes +found upon our beaches, which makes us quite content to leave them +ungathered. But the large yellow slug has no such aversion to them, and we +have often seen him banqueting upon them. Indeed, he is so fond of them +that the flowers are often entirely gone from the stems. + +[Illustration FETID ADDER'S-TONGUE--_Scoliopus Bigelovii_.] + + +HOUND'S-TONGUE. + +_Cynoglossum grande_, Dougl. Borage Family. + + _Stem._--Two feet or so high. _Leaves._--Alternate; + long-petioled; ovate-oblong; pointed; usually rounded at base; + often a foot long. _Flowers._--Bright blue; in a terminal + panicle. _Calyx._--Deeply five-cleft. _Corolla._--Rotate; with + short tube and five-lobed border; having five beadlike crests + in the throat. _Stamens._--Five; on the corolla, alternate with + its lobes. _Ovary._--Four-lobed. Style undivided. + _Fruit._--Four prickly nutlets. _Hab._--From Marin County to + Washington. + +Among the first plants to respond to the quickening influence of the early +winter rains, is the hound's-tongue, whose large, pointed leaves begin to +push their way aboveground usually in January. At first these are often +quite velvety beneath and of a pinkish hue, and hold hidden within their +midst the well-formed buds which a few warm, sunny days will call forth. +The flowers, at first pink, become bright blue after fertilization has +taken place. + +The favorite haunts of this welcome blossom are half-shaded woods, where it +rears its tall stalk in almost sole possession at this early season. + +The common name is a translation of the generic name, which is derived from +two Greek words, signifying _dog_ and _tongue_, bestowed because of the +shape of the leaves. In the olden times a superstition was rife that if a +person laid the hound's-tongue beneath his feet it would prevent dogs from +barking at him. + +The distribution of the seed is most cunningly provided for, as the upper +surfaces of the nutlets are covered with tiny barbs, which a +magnifying-glass reveals to be quite perfect little anchors, admirably +adapted for catching in the hair of animals. + + +CALIFORNIA LILAC. SOAP-BUSH. + +_Ceanothus divaricatus_, Nutt. Buckthorn Family. + + Tall, almost arborescent shrubs; with very divergent and rigid + branches. Twigs cylindrical; smooth; mostly very pale. + _Leaves._--Alternate; short-petioled; ovate; four to ten lines + long; three-nerved; somewhat leathery. _Flowers._--In a + narrowly oblong, dense cluster two or three inches long; pale + blue to white. _Capsule._--Two or three lines in diameter; not + lobed; scarcely crested. (See _Ceanothus_.) + _Hab._--Chiefly the southern Coast Range. + + + + +[Illustration HOUND'S-TONGUE--_Cynoglossum grande_.] + +This species of California lilac is very abundant in the south, and is +specially characterized by its widely branching habit and its round, +pale-green twigs. The flowers are usually light blue; but in some +localities they are pure white. Near Santa Barbara, in January, the +mountain-slopes are often snowy with them. + +Dr. Gregg, of San Diego, while hunting one day in Lower California, just +over the border, had his attention called to the wild lilac by his old +Mexican guide, who assured him that the blossoms in themselves were +excellent soap. Taking a handful of them down to the stream, he rubbed them +vigorously between his wet hands, and found to his astonishment that they +made an excellent lather, with a pleasant fragrance of wintergreen. I have +since proved the fact for myself. A more delightful way of performing one's +ablutions can hardly be imagined than at the brookside with so charming a +soap. It is very cleansing and leaves the skin pleasantly soft. + +It was probably the blossoms of _C. integerrimus_ he used, as that shrub is +called "soap-bush" in that region; but I have since tried the experiment +upon _C. divaricatus_ and some other species with perfect success, from +which I suspect this may be a generic characteristic. + + +CALIFORNIAN TRILLIUM. + +_Trillium sessile, var. Californicum_, Wats. Lily Family. + + _Rootstock._--Like a small turnip. _Stems._--Usually several + from the same root; a foot or so high. _Leaves._--Three at the + top of the stem; three to eight inches long. _Flowers._--White + to deep wine-color. _Petals._--One to four inches long. + (Otherwise as _T. ovatum_.) _Hab._--From San Luis Obispo to + Oregon. + +[Illustration CALIFORNIAN TRILLIUM--_Trillium sessile, var. Californicum_.] + +We begin to look for the Californian _Trillium_ early in the spring. Little +companies of the plants may be seen upon low flats under the trees, where +the soil is rich. The small, turnip-like tubers usually send up several +stems, which lean gracefully away from one another. The large leaves are +often like pieces of decorated china that have been several times through +the kiln. They have various superimposed blotchings, the latest of which +are dark, sharp, cuneiform characters, mysterious hieroglyphs of Nature, +which might reveal wondrous secrets, could we but decipher them. The +blossoms have a strong, heavy fragrance, and are exceedingly variable in +color, ranging from pure white to lilac, deep wine, and even black-purple. +These plants are much admired in the East and in Europe, where they are +cultivated in the garden. + + +BRODIAEA. CLUSTER-LILY. WILD HYACINTH. + +_Brodiaea capitata_, Benth. Lily Family. + + _Corm._--Small; scaly-coated. _Leaves._--Linear; a foot or more + long; passing away early. _Scapes._--Four inches to over two + feet high. _Flowers._--Deep violet to white; six to ten lines + long. _Bracts._--Sometimes deep, rich purple. _Perianth._--With + oblong tube and campanulate, six-parted limb. _Stamens._--Six; + on the corolla; the inner with an appendage on each side; the + outer naked. _Ovary._--Three-celled. Style stout. Stigma + three-lobed. _Hab_.--Throughout California. + +This beautiful _Brodiaea_ grows all over the hills in early spring, and +steals into cultivated fields, where it luxuriates in the freshly stirred +soil and lifts its fine violet-colored clusters above the waving grain. It +holds quite as warm a place in our affections as the more gorgeous poppy. +These blossoms will keep a long time after being gathered, and are used +every year in lavish profusion in the decorations of the flower carnivals. + +The little bulbs, eaten raw, are quite palatable, and are eagerly sought by +the children, who call them "grass-nuts." The early Spanish-Californians +also appreciated them, and knew them as "saitas." They have a number of +other common names, such as "Spanish-lily," "cluster-lily," "wild +hyacinth," and "hog-onion"; but I must protest against the injustice of +this latter, and beg all flower-lovers to discountenance it. + +[Illustration BRODIAEA--_Brodiaea capitata_.] + +Closely resembling the above, is _B. multiflora_, Benth. It has, however, +but three stamens, the other three being represented by staminodia, which +are entire and of the same length as the stamens. + +_B. congesta_, Smith, another similar species, is often four feet tall. It +also has three stamens and three staminodia; but the latter are deeply +cleft and exceed the anthers. This is called "ookow" by the Indians. + + +BROWN LILY. MISSION-BELLS. BRONZE-BELLS. RICE-ROOT. + +_Fritillaria lanceolata_, Pursh. Lily Family. + + _Stem._--A foot or two high. _Leaves._--In scattered whorls; + lanceolate; two to five inches long. _Flowers._--One to + several; open campanulate; greenish or black-purple; variously + checkered or mottled. _Perianth-segments._--Strongly arched, + with a large oblong nectary. _Stamens._--Six. + _Ovary._--Three-celled. _Hab_.--The Coast Ranges, from British + Columbia to Santa Cruz. + + "'Neath cloistered boughs each floral bell that swingeth + + * * * * * + + Makes Sabbath in the fields, and ever ringeth + A call to prayer." + +One of the oddest and most beautiful flowers of our rich woodlands is the +brown lily, or _Fritillaria_. It is unrivaled in elegance, for every line +of its contour is a study in grace. Nor do its charms cease with stem and +leaf and flower; for, hidden away in the rich leaf-mold, is one of its most +beautiful features, its bulb. This is pure, shining white, conical in form, +and surrounded by many tiny bulblets, like grains of rice, which crumble +away from it at a touch. If you go into the woods in early spring, you will +often see certain handsome, broad, shining, solitary leaves, close to the +ground, and you will wonder what they are. Often near them there are many +tiny leaves of the same sort pushing their way aboveground; and sometimes +among them all there is a solitary strong scape, with unfolding leaves and +a promise of flowers. This is a colony of the beautiful brown lilies. The +tiny leaves are the product of the little rice-grains, and are probably now +seeing the light for the first time. Between these and the large leaves +the breadth of the hand, are many sizes, in all stages. The broad leaves +may be from bulbs four or five years old, but they will send up no +blossom-stalk this year; for there is rarely or never a radical-leaf and a +blossom-stalk from the same bulb at once. + +[Illustration BROWN LILY--_Fritillaria lanceolata_.] + +When the plant is about to flower, the bulb sends up a tall stalk, with +here and there a whorl of shining leaves, hanging at the summit its string +of pendent bronze-bells. These are mottled and checkered, and are of +varying shades, from dull green to black-purple, and often have a beautiful +bloom upon them. Their modest colors blend so nicely into the shadowy scene +about, that it is difficult to see them unless the eye is somewhat +practiced. + +Following the inflorescence comes a beautiful and unique seed-vessel, +curiously winged and angled, and of a delicate, papery texture when mature. +It contains the thin, flat seeds, neatly packed in six ranks. + +The flowers are usually an inch long, though they are sometimes two inches +long. A plant was once found three and a half feet high, with a chime of +nineteen bells. + + +BLACK LILY. CHOCOLATE-LILY. + +_Fritillaria biflora_, Lindl. Lily Family. + + _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from San Diego to Mendocino County. + +We have a number of species of _Fritillaria_, most of them with beautiful +flowers. They fall naturally into two groups, according to the character of +the bulb; _F. lanceolata_ and _F. biflora_ being types of the two groups. + +_F. biflora_, the black, or chocolate, lily, is the species common in the +south, and blooms early. It closely resembles _F. lanceolata_, but can +always be distinguished by its bulb, which is composed of several erect, +short, easily separable scales. Its specific name is an unfortunate one; +for, far from being confined to two flowers, it often has as many as ten. + +_F. pluriflora_, Torr., found upon the upper Sacramento, has flowers of a +uniform reddish-purple, without mottling or spots. It has a comparatively +large bulb, an inch or so long, formed of separate scales. + +_F. pudica_, Spreng., found on the eastern slopes of the Sierras, has +solitary yellow flowers. + +_F. liliacea_, Lindl., is our only white species. This is found upon the +hills of San Francisco and in the Sacramento Valley. It has a whorl of +leaves near the ground and two or three greenish-white, nodding flowers. It +is exceedingly local. + + +LARGE-FLOWERED PHACELIA. + +_Phacelia grandiflora_, Gray. Baby-eyes or Waterleaf Family. + + Coarse, glandular-viscid plants; one to three feet high. + _Leaves._--Round-ovate; irregularly toothed; sometimes three or + four inches long. _Flowers._--Lavender to white; variously + streaked and veined with purple. _Corolla._--Rotate; two inches + across; without scalelike appendages in the throat. + _Filaments._--Long; purple. Anthers large; versatile. Style + two-cleft. (See _Phacelia_.) _Hab._--From Santa Barbara to San + Diego. + +This is the largest-flowered of all our _Phacelias_. Its tall stems are +abundantly covered above with the fine-looking blossoms. These are very +attractive to the uninitiated, who usually rushes forward in breathless +haste to possess himself of these new-found treasures and is rarely +satisfied with less than a large bunch of them. But woe lies in wait for +him. The innumerable glands, covering the whole plant, readily yield up +their viscid fluid, which in a few moments turns everything with which it +comes in contact to a deep red-brown, like iron-rust. If he escape with +ruined clothing, and hands the color of a red Indian, he will have come off +well--for the plant poisons some people. + +Another species--_P. viscida_, Torr.--found in about the same range as the +above, resembles it closely. It is a foot or so high, branching from the +base, and has blue flowers, with purple or white centers, and only half the +size of the above. + + +VIOLET NIGHTSHADE. + +_Solanum Xanti_, Gray. Nightshade Family. + + Herbaceous nearly to the base; viscid-pubescent, with jointed + hairs. _Stems._--Several feet high. _Leaves._--Two inches or + less long; sometimes with lobes at the base; thin. + _Flowers._--An inch or so across. _Calyx._--Five-parted. + _Corolla._--Violet, with green spots ringed with white at the + base. _Stamens._--Five. Filaments short. Anthers erect; opening + terminally. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style filiform; exserted. + _Berries._--Purple; six lines in diameter. _Hab._--Throughout + California. + +These plants are especially abundant in the south, where one encounters +them upon every roadside. The clusters of violet flowers are very handsome, +and often have the perfume of the wild rose. + +Another species--_S. umbelliferum_, Esch.--is so nearly like the above as +to be often confounded with it. But it has smaller, thicker leaves, the +hairs are branched, and it is more woody below, with shorter flowering +branches. + +We once saw, in an ideal Japanese villa among the redwoods, a rustic arbor +over which had been trained the rough, woody stems of one of these +nightshades. The genius of these wise little people, who had adapted this +pretty woodland climber to sylvan cultivation, seemed to us worthy of +emulation. + + +GREEN-BANDED MARIPOSA. NOONA. + +_Calochortus macrocarpus_, Dougl. Lily Family + +Nature has sent this, one of the finest and most elegant of all our +_Mariposas_, to beautify the arid sagebrush deserts of our northeastern +boundary. In Europe it is admired beyond all our other species, and there +is a great demand for the bulbs. Its large flowers are of a beautiful +lilac, similar in tone to the Marie Louise violet, and each pointed petal +has a green band running down its center. + +[Illustration VIOLET NIGHTSHADE--_Solanum Xanti_.] + +Among the Indians of their native region the rather large bulbs of these +plants are known as "noonas," and regarded as a priceless delicacy. Even +those who have never experienced the bliss of tasting them know them by +reputation as the acme of all that is delicious. When Mr. Johnson, of +Astoria, wished to secure a number of the bulbs for the European market, he +hired the squaws to dig them, but found that they ate them as fast as they +dug them; and it was only by offering them most liberal stores of bacon and +flour he could induce them to restrain their appetites and part with the +treasure. + + +SKULLCAP. + +_Scutellaria tuberosa_, Benth. Mint Family. + + _Stems._--Several inches high, or at length trailing, and a + foot long; from small tubers. _Leaves._--One inch long and + less; not aromatic. _Flowers._--Axillary; blue-purple. + _Calyx._--Bilabiate. _Corolla._--Six lines or more long; + tubular; bilabiate. _Stamens._--Four; in pairs; ascending; + contained in the helmet. _Ovary._--Of four seedlike nutlets. + Style filiform. _Hab._--Hillsides, from San Diego northward; + probably throughout the State. + +The bright-green herbage and the rich purple-blue flowers of the little +skullcap may be looked for early in February. In the north they grow upon +dry, stony hill-slopes under the chaparral, while southward they often +affect the walls of canyons, among moist, luxuriant vegetation. + +Though borne in the axils of the opposite leaves, the pretty blossoms, by a +twist of their pedicels, stand side by side in pairs, in a very sociable +way. The curious little two-lipped calyx resembles an old-fashioned Quaker +bonnet. + +Another species--_S. angustifolia_, Pursh.--has linear to oblong leaves, an +inch long; flowers an inch or more long, the lower lobe of whose corolla is +hairy within, and the root is not tuberous. It is otherwise like the above. + +_S. Californica_, Gray, is very similar to the last species, but has +cream-white flowers. This is found in early summer upon dry banks. + +[Illustration SKULLCAP--_Scutellaria tuberosa_.] + + +CORAL-ROOT. + +_Corallorhiza Bigelovii_, Wats. Orchis Family. + + Leafless plants, with coral-like roots. + _Scapes._--Flesh-colored; six to twenty-four inches high, with + two to four scarious, sheathing bracts. _Flowers._--Few to + many; sessile. _Perianth._--Of six segments. The five upper + yellowish, striped with purple. The lip yellowish, tipped with + deep red-purple. _Anther._--One; resting upon the column like a + lid; falling early. _Ovary._--One-celled. _Hab._--Central and + northern Coast Ranges and Sierras. + +The coral-root is very rare in some localities, and one may not meet it +more than a few times. But there are favored spots where its flesh-colored +stems rear themselves luxuriantly. One year I saw a magnificent bunch of +them in the hands of some friends who were taking them to San Francisco to +furnish a rare and costly decoration for some festive occasion. Some of the +stems were two feet tall and thickly covered above with the odd flowers, +making a cluster which it would be difficult to equal for quiet elegance of +coloring. + +The plants are often found in redwood groves or upon wooded hill-slopes of +north exposure, where the dull stems and flowers blend so nicely into the +dead needles and leaves upon the ground that it is difficult to detect +their presence. + +As its name indicates, the root is the counterpart of a spray of branching +coral. + +Another species--_C. multiflora_, Nutt.--has stems of a colder purple; and +the lip of the flower is white, spotted with purple, somewhat fan-shaped +and three-lobed. + +[Illustration CORAL-ROOT--_Corallorhiza Bigelovii_.] + + +CALIFORNIA LILAC. BLUE MYRTLE. BLUE-BLOSSOM. + +_Ceanothus thyrsiflorus_, Esch. Buckthorn Family. + + Varying from small, prostrate shrubs in exposed places, to + erect shrubs or small trees. _Branches._--Strongly angled; not + spiny. _Leaves._--Elliptical; twelve to eighteen lines long; + three-nerved; smooth and shining above. _Flowers._--Bright to + pale blue, rarely white; in dense clusters about three inches + long, terminating the usually elongated, somewhat leafy + peduncles. _Capsules._--Globose; two lines in diameter; smooth, + not crested; slightly lobed. (See _Ceanothus_.) _Hab._--Near + the coast, from Monterey northward into Oregon. + +In the spring our chaparral-covered slopes begin to take on a bluish tinge, +like the misty smoke of distant camp-fires, for which the blossoms of the +California lilac are responsible. This is a graceful evergreen shrub, with +rich, shining leaves, among which the abundant feathery clusters of tiny +blue flowers find a charming setting. The blossoms are deliciously +fragrant, filling the cool air with perfume. + +This shrub is never found far away from the coast, and it reaches its +greatest beauty in Mendocino County, where it becomes a tree, sometimes +thirty-five feet high. Its wood is exceedingly brittle. In early days it +used to be cultivated in San Francisco gardens before it was crowded out by +foreign shrubs, often far less worthy. + +It is known in some localities as "blue myrtle," and in others as +"blue-blossom." The name "California lilac," by which it is most often +known, is more generally and more appropriately applied to this species of +_Ceanothus_ than to any of the others. + +The dark seeds are a favorite food of the quail. + +[Illustration CALIFORNIA LILAC--_Ceanothus thyrsiflorus_.] + + +BLUE LARKSPUR. ESPUELA DEL CABALLERO. + +_Delphinium_, Tourn. Buttercup or Crowfoot Family. + +California is rich in beautiful larkspurs, but the species are very +difficult of determination and not well defined as yet. We have two +well-marked scarlet species; but confusion still reigns among the blue and +the white. Some of the latter are poisonous to sheep and cattle, causing +great losses to the herds every year in some localities. + +Among the blue larkspurs are some of our handsomest spring flowers. Their +slender wands, covered with magnificent large blossoms, rise abundantly on +every side upon some of the mesas of our seashore, making charming +flower-gardens upon the plains. They are so lavishly bestowed that every +comer may gather his fill and still none be missed. In color they are +matchless--of the richest of Mazarin blue and purple-blue. + +Other species are to be found upon the slopes of interior valleys and +scattered all through the Coast Ranges and the Sierra foothills. In +midsummer, which is the vernal springtime of the mountains, many lovely +species deck the alpine meadows and brooksides. + +The Spanish-Californians have a pretty title for these blossoms--"espuela +del caballero"--"the cavalier's spur." + +[Illustration BLUE LARKSPUR.] + + +CAT'S-EARS. PUSSY'S-EARS. + + _Calochortus Maweanus_, Leichtlein. Lily Family. + + _Hab._--The Coast Ranges and Sierras, from San Francisco and + Butte County to the Willamette Valley. + +This is an exceedingly pretty little _Calochortus_, much resembling _C. +Benthami_ in form, but having pure-white or purplish-blue flowers, which +are also covered with hairs and delicately fringed with hairs on the +margin. Its stems are low, slender, and graceful, without bulblets at the +base; and the gland upon the petals has a transverse scale covering its +upper portion. + +This plant belongs to the section of _Calochortus_ whose species are known +as "star-tulips." In the Coast Ranges, in early spring, the blossoms are +found in moist meadows near the sea, where they nestle amid the grasses. + +The children are specially fond of them, and know them as "cat's-ears" and +"pussy's-ears." + +_C. uniflorus_, Hook. and Arn., found in wet meadows from San Francisco +northward, has lilac to rose-purple flowers. Its petals are hairy on the +lower third, and its stems bear small bulblets at the base underground. + +_C. umbellatus_, Wood., is very similar to _C. Maweanus_; but its +pure-white petals are almost without hairs, and its stem is without +bulblets. This is found blooming in March and April on the low mountains of +Contra Costa and Marin Counties. + + +PURPLE NEMOPHILA. + + _Nemophila aurita_, Lindl. Baby-eyes or Waterleaf Family. + + _Stems._--One to three feet long; square; angled; weak; very + brittle; with backward-pointing, hooked bristles. + _Leaves._--All with a dilated, clasping, eared base or winged + petiole; above deeply pinnatifid into five to nine oblong or + lanceolate, downward-pointing lobes. _Corolla._--Violet; an + inch or so across. (Otherwise as _Nemophila insignis_.) + _Hab._--From San Francisco to San Diego. + +[Illustration _CAT'S-EARS--Calochortus Maweanus._] + +The purple _Nemophila_ is most abundant in the south, growing everywhere in +early springtime upon hillsides partially shaded. Its long, coarse, +hispid stems run riot over small undershrubs or dead or unsightly +brushwood, often completely covering them with a mound of foliage thickly +sown with the dull-purple flowers. + +At first it is difficult to realize that this plant of coarse habit belongs +to the sisterhood of baby-eyes, those delicate, ethereal favorites of the +springtime. In fact, one's first impression of it is that it is some new +species of nightshade. One learns, however, to have a fondness for these +blossoms and a growing desire to gather them; but their tangling, +quarrelsome habit forbids one, if any other flowers are in question. + +It is said that the dark-eyed senoritas of early days decked their +ball-dresses with sprays of this flower, which clung gracefully to the thin +fabrics. + + +GROUND-IRIS. + + _Iris macrosiphon_, Torr. Iris Family. + + Almost stemless plants, often forming mats. + _Rhizome._--Slender. _Radical-leaves._--Grasslike; six to + fifteen inches long. _Buds._--One or two; borne in sheathing + bracts. _Flowers._--On short pedicels; deep purple-blue, marked + with white. _Perianth._--With slender tube one to three inches + long. _Stamens._--Three; borne under the petaloid divisions of + the style. _Ovary._--Three-celled. _Capsule._--Oblong-ovoid; + shortly acute at each end; one inch long. Seeds in two rows in + each cell; compressed and angled. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, + from San Mateo to Trinity County. + +When spring is at its height, this charming little _Iris_ may be found upon +sunny, open hillsides among the unrolling crosiers of the common brake. +There is something peculiarly captivating about these blossoms, with their +satisfying richness of hue and perfect symmetry of form, added to which is +a sweet, delicate perfume, an ideal exhalation of the springtime. + +As the buds unfold beautifully in water, it is better to gather buds than +flowers, as the latter are too fragile to carry without breaking. + +[Illustration GROUND-IRIS--_Iris macrosiphon_.] + +_I. longipetala_, Herb., is the common bog-iris of our central coast. It +grows in large clumps in wet places, and while not a delicate flower, it +has a certain brave, hardy look as it stands out upon the wind-swept +downs of the Coast. Its stems are rather stout, a foot or two high, and +have from three to five large lilac flowers. The sepals are veined with +deeper lilac and blotched with orange. + + +WILD HELIOTROPE. VERVENIA. + + _Phacelia tanacetifolia_, Benth. Baby-eyes or Waterleaf Family. + + _Stems._--One to three feet high; rough and hairy. + _Leaves._--Much divided. _Flowers._--Bright violet to blue; in + clustered, scorpioid racemes. _Calyx-lobes._--Linear or + linear-spatulate. _Corolla._--Six lines long. Style two-cleft. + (See _Phacelia_.) _Hab._--Throughout the western part of the + State. + +The wild heliotrope is one of the most abundant flowers of midspring, +especially in the south. It affects the gravelly banks of streams or the +sandy soil of mesas; or grows all along the railroad embankments, making +great mounds of foliage, thickly sown with the bright violet-blue blossoms; +or it may often be seen clambering up through small shrubs, seeming to seek +the support of their stiff branches. It is needless to say that this is not +a true heliotrope, but belongs to the closely allied genus, _Phacelia_. + +The specific name, _tanacetifolia_, meaning with tansy-like leaves, is +more applicable to the _var. tenuifolia_, Thurber. Among the +Spanish-Californians it is known as "vervenia." + +It is a very important honey-plant. + +_P. Douglasii_, Torr., is a species with lavender corolla with much the +aspect of the baby-blue-eyes. This is common in the western part of the +State, south of Monterey, and is found sparingly north of that point. + +[Illustration WILD HELIOTROPE--_Phacelia tanacetifolia_.] + + +BLUE-EYED GRASS. AZULEA. VILLELA. + +_Sisyrinchium bellum_, Wats. Iris Family. + +_Leaves._--Radical; grasslike; shorter than the stems. _Stems._--Flat; +clustered; six to eighteen inches high. _Flowers._--Four to seven; +contained in two nearly equal sheathing bracts. _Perianth._--Six-parted; +purplish-blue, with yellow center; six lines to an inch across. +_Stamens._--Three. Filaments united. _Ovary._--Three-celled. Style +filiform. Stigma spindle-shaped; three-cleft after fertilization. +_Hab._--Throughout California. + +The blue-eyed grass is such a modest flower, one would never suspect it to +be closely allied to the regal _Iris_. In late spring its quiet stars are +found in our meadows everywhere. In the south it grows so luxuriantly and +so determinedly that it has become a serious pest to the farmer, crowding +more useful plants from the pasture. + +Owing to the quaint manner in which its petals kink up when they fade, +these blossoms are called "nigger-babies" by the children. Among the +Spanish-Californians the plant is known as "azulea" and "villela," and is +made into a tea, which is considered a valuable remedy in fevers. It is +thought that a patient can subsist for many days upon it alone. + +_S. Californicum_, Ait., the "golden-eyed grass," with bright yellow +flowers, is found in wet places all up and down the Coast. + + +BABY-EYES. BLUE-VEINED NEMOPHILA. + + _Nemophila intermedia_, Bioletti. Baby-eyes or Waterleaf + Family. + + _Leaves._--With petioles somewhat widened at base and ciliate; + the upper all opposite. _Corolla._--Nine to twelve lines wide; + light blue to white; distinctly blue-veined or more or less + sown with purple dots. Scales of the corolla long, narrow, + hairy, with expanded tips extending nearly to the sinuses. + _Ovary._--Rounded; with twelve to twenty-four ovules. + (Otherwise as _N. insignis_.) _Syn._--_Nemophila Menziesii_, + Hook. and Arn. _Hab._--Rather widespread. + +[Illustration BLUE-EYED GRASS--_Sisyrinchium bellum_.] + +This beautiful _Nemophila_ is a more fragile flower than its sister, the +baby-blue-eyes. Its delicate corolla is usually white in the center, +blending to azure-blue upon the rim, and dotted and veined with the same. +At its best, it is an inch across. It affects the borders of moist +woodlands, rarely venturing far out into the openings. There it nestles +amid the tender herbage, often producing its ethereal flowers in such +profusion that it seems as though bits of the sky had fallen to earth. In +the south these blossoms do not seem so truly at home--for they are never +so large nor so fine. + + +CALIFORNIAN MILKWORT. + + _Polygala Californica_, Nutt. Milkwort Family. + + _Stems._--Two to eight inches high. _Leaves._--Six to twelve + lines long. _Flowers._--Rose-purple. _Sepals._--Five; two of + them large and spreading like wings; six lines or less long. + _Petals._--Three; united to each other and to the stamen-tube; + the middle one hooded above and beaked. _Stamens._--Eight. + Filaments united into a sheath, which is open above. Anthers + one-celled; opening terminally. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style + enlarging upward; curved like a button-hook. _Pod._--Rounded; + flat; three or four lines across. _Syn._--_P. cucullata_, + Benth. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges southward to Santa Barbara and + beyond. + +In late spring the little flowers of the milkwort are common upon dry +hill-slopes in the shade of the trees. The small plants have a very +grown-up look, as though their age might be greater than indicated by their +stature. At first glance, one is quite certain to mistake these plants for +members of the pea family, as the blossoms have wings and a keel like the +papilionaceous flower. But a careful counting of sepals, petals, and +stamens will reveal their separate identity. + +A curious feature of this plant is the fact that it bears another kind of +flower near the root. This is without petals, and is destined, for some +strange reason, to bear the seed. The upper flowers seem mostly for show, +though one does occasionally mature fruit. + +_P. cornuta_, Kell., found in the Sierras, is a larger plant, with +greenish-white flowers. + +[Illustration CALIFORNIAN MILKWORT--_Polygala Californica_.] + + +WILD CANTERBURY-BELL. + + _Phacelia Whitlavia_, Gray. Baby-eyes or Waterleaf Family. + + A foot or so high; very hairy and glandular. + _Leaves._--Alternate; petioled; ovate or deltoid; toothed; + twelve to eighteen lines long. _Flowers._--Purple. + _Calyx._--Five-parted. _Corolla._--An inch or more long. + _Stamens._--Five; on the base of the corolla; appendaged at + base; long-exserted, with the two-cleft style. + _Ovary._--Two-celled. _Syn._--_Whitlavia grandiflora_, Harv. + _Hab._--From Los Angeles to San Bernardino. + +The wild Canterbury-bell is one of the most charming flowers to be found +anywhere. It affects the rich soil of half-shaded hill-slopes in the +vicinity of streams, where it opens its beautiful fragile bells. Its stems +are very brittle, and the blossoms fall early, the lower ones usually +having passed away before the upper buds have emerged from the coil. The +exceedingly long stamens and style give these blossoms an elegant, airy +look. + +_P. Parryi_, Torr., is another beautiful species, found from Los Angeles to +San Diego. It resembles the above in foliage, color of blossoms, and the +long stamens; but the form of the flowers is that of the _Nemophila_. + + +BIRD'S-EYES. + + _Gilia tricolor_, Benth. Phlox or Polemonium Family. + + _Stems._--Slender; branching; six inches to a foot or more + high. _Leaves._--Twice pinnately parted into narrow linear + lobes. _Corolla._--Six lines long; with yellow tube; + funnel-form throat, marked with deep violet-purple; and lilac + or white limb. (See _Gilia_.) _Hab._--Throughout Western + California. + +Whole slopes are often carpeted with this dainty _Gilia_, producing an +effect which has been described as like light chinchilla. The little +blossoms have a peculiarly fresh and winsome look, and are called +"bird's-eyes" by the children. The corollas are delicate lilac, blending +into white toward the center, while the throat has five purple spots +within, which give way to bright gold below. + +[Illustration WILD CANTERBURY-BELL--_Phacelia Whitlavia_.] + + +BABY-BLUE-EYES. CALIFORNIAN BLUEBELLS. MARIANAS. + + _Nemophila insignis_, Dougl. Baby-eyes or Waterleaf Family. + + Tender, more or less hairy herbs. _Stems._--Branching; six to + twelve inches long. _Leaves._--Pinnately parted into five to + nine small, oblong, entire or two- to five-lobed divisions. + _Calyx._--Five-parted, with five extra, alternating, reflexed + lobes. _Corolla._--An inch or more across; from azure-blue, + with a large, well-defined white center, more or less dotted, + to deep blue. The throat furnished with ten short, wide, hairy + scales, or plates. _Stamens._--Five; on the corolla. + _Ovary._--One-celled. Style two-cleft. _Hab._--Throughout + California. + +When skies are smiling and the earth is already clothed with a luxuriant +and tender herbage, we find upon some balmy morning that the baby-eyes have +opened in gentle surprise upon the lovely world. The spring breezes blow +over no more beautiful and ethereal flowers than these. Companies of them +open together, dotting the sward and luring us on from one to another, the +one just beyond always seeming a little brighter blue or a little more +captivating than those near at hand, till we are beguiled into filling our +hands with them. + +These delicate blossoms vary greatly in size and color. The largest and +finest I ever saw grew upon the flower-sprinkled slopes of Lake Merced, +near San Francisco. There the perfect azure corollas were an inch and a +half across, with the large white circle in the center well defined. + +Under southern skies it becomes a deep Yale blue, with the texture of +tissue-paper, and with dark red-brown anthers. + +From the campanulate, half-opened buds, it has been called "Californian +bluebell," and among the Spanish-Californians it is known as "Mariana." + +[Illustration BABY-BLUE-EYES--_Nemophila insignis_.] + + +LILAC SAND-VERBENA. WILD LANTANA. + +_Abronia villosa_, Wats. Four-o'clock Family. + +Plants with more or less glandular-villous pubescence. _Stems._--Prostrate. +_Leaves._--Rarely an inch long. _Peduncles._--One to three inches long; +five- to fifteen-flowered. _Involucral bracts._--Lanceolate; three or four +lines long. _Perianth._--Lilac; four or five lines across; with obcordate +lobes. (Otherwise as _A. latifotia_.) _Hab._--San Diego and eastward; also +in southern deserts. + +The charming flowers of the lilac sand-verbena are not found upon the +immediate sea-beach, but always a little withdrawn from it, where the soil +is more firmly established, yet within sight and sound of the waves. The +blossoms have a delicate beauty, not shared by our other species of +_Abronia_, and somewhat resemble our garden verbenas. They are sometimes +called "wild lantana." + +_A. umbellata_, Lam., is common all up and down our coast, often making +masses of deep pink on the beach; while _A. maritima_, Nutt., is found from +Santa Barbara to San Diego. The latter is a very stout, coarse, viscid +plant, with small, very deep magenta flowers. + + +CAMASS. KAMASS. WILD HYACINTH. + + _Camassia esculenta_, Lindl. Lily Family. + + Bulbs coated. _Leaves._--Radical; six or eight; grasslike; + three to eight lines broad; usually shorter than the scape. + _Scape._--Twelve to twenty-four inches high; loosely ten- to + twenty-flowered. Pedicels three to twelve lines long. + _Flowers._--From dark blue to nearly white; seven to fifteen + lines long or more; an inch or so across. _Perianth._--Of six + distinct, oblanceolate, three- to seven-nerved segments. + _Stamens._--Six; shorter than the segments. Anthers yellow. + _Ovary._--Three-celled. Style filiform; about equaling the + perianth; slightly three-cleft at the summit. _Hab._--From + Central California to Washington. + +In some localities these plants are found covering meadows and marshy +tracts in great profusion. They bear beautiful clusters of showy blue +flowers, somewhat like the hyacinth in habit, and have long been favorites +in European gardens. We are especially interested in them, however, on +account of the bulbs, which are about an inch in diameter and very +nutritious. + +Grizzly bears, when more plentiful in the early days, were particularly +fond of them; and the northern Indians to-day value them very highly as an +article of diet, calling them "kamass." Indeed, the Nez Perce Indian war in +Idaho was caused by encroachments upon the territory which was especially +rich in these bulbs. The plants are more abundant north of us than with us. + +Mr. Macoun gives a most interesting account in "Garden and Forest" of the +preparation of kamass among the Indians, which is a very important and +elaborate performance. He says, in substance: For some days beforehand the +squaws were busily engaged in carrying into camp branches of alder and +maple, bundles of skunk-cabbage (_Lysichiton_), and a quantity of a black, +hairlike lichen, which grows in profusion upon the western larch. A hole +ten feet square and two feet deep was then dug, and a large fire was made +in this, in which they heated a great many small boulders to the glowing +point. They then piled maple and alder boughs over these to the depth of a +foot or more, tramped them down, and laid over them the leaves of the +skunk-cabbage. Thin sheets of tamarack bark were spread over the steaming +green mass, and upon these were placed the bulbs in large baskets. The +black lichen was laid over the uncovered bark, and the remaining bulbs were +spread on this. The whole was then covered with boughs and leaves as +before, and sand was sprinkled on to the depth of four or five inches, and +on the top of the whole a larger fire than before was built. The sun was +just setting when this was lighted, and it burned all night. The oven was +left for a day to cool. When opened, the bulbs in the baskets were +dissolved to a flour, from which bread could be made; while those on the +lichen had become amalgamated with it, forming a substance resembling +plug-tobacco, which could be broken up and kept sweet a long time. + +When boiled in water, the bulbs yield a very good molasses, much prized by +the Indians, and used by them upon important festival occasions. + +There is a white-flowered form of this same species, whose bulb is said to +be poisonous. + + +INNOCENCE. COLLINSIA. + +_Collinsia bicolor_, Benth. Figwort Family. + +_Stems._--A foot or so high. _Leaves._--The lower oblong; the upper +ovate-lanceolate. _Calyx._--Unequally five-cleft. _Corolla._--Nine lines +long. Upper lip lilac or white; lower of three lobes; the middle folded +into a keeled sac containing the stamens and style; the two lateral +rose-purple. _Stamens._--Four; in two pairs on the corolla. Upper filaments +bearded. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style filiform. _Hab._--Throughout Western +California. + +Where spreading trees cast a dense shade and the moisture still lingers, +companies of lovely _Collinsias_ stand amid the fresh green grasses, their +delicate, many-storied blossoms swaying upon the idle breezes. In the north +these are in the rear guard of spring flowers, and make their appearance +just before the _Godetias_ bid farewell to spring; but in the south they +come earlier. They vary much in color, from the typical rose-purple and +white or lilac to all white. + +We have a number of species; but _C. bicolor_ is the most showy and +widespread. + + +BLACK SAGE. BALL-SAGE. + + _Audibertia stachyoides_, Benth. Mint Family. + + Shrubby; three to eight feet high; with herbaceous flowering + branches. _Leaves._--Opposite; oblong-lanceolate; tapering into + a petiole; crenate. _Flowers._--In interrupted spikes, having + from three to nine dense, rather remote, headlike, bracteate + whorls. _Calyx._--Bilabiate; each lip with two or three awned + teeth. _Corolla._--Lavender; six lines long; bilabiate. Upper + lip erect; emarginate; lower deflexed; three-lobed. + _Stamens._--Two sterile; two perfect on jointed filaments. + _Ovary._--Of four seedlike nutlets. Style slender. Stigma + two-cleft. _Hab._--From San Francisco Bay to San Diego. + +We have but two or three true sages, or _Salvias_, in California; but the +plants of the closely allied genus _Audibertia_ are with perfect propriety +called sages, as they manifest all the characteristics of that genus, +differing only in the structure of the stamens. There are a number of +species of _Audibertia_, all of them important honey-plants. They are +particularly abundant in the south, where they form a characteristic +feature in the landscape, often covering whole hill-slopes. + +[Illustration COLLINSIA--_Collinsia bicolor_.] + +_A. stachyoides_ frequently forms dense thickets over vast reaches of +mountain-side, and when in full bloom is very noticeable. Its specific name +is a happy one, denoting its resemblance to the _Stachys_, or hedge-nettle. +But its pointed leaves, shrubby habit, and rank odor, together with its +more numerous flower-whorls, proclaim its separate identity. + +_A. nivea_, Benth., found from Santa Barbara to San Diego, has larger +spikes of rich, warm lilac flowers. Nothing could be more charming than the +soft lavender billows of it undulating over slope after slope of wild +mountain-side. + + +BLUE GILIA. + +_Cilia Chamissonis_, Greene. Phlox or Polemonium Family. + +_Stems._--About a foot high. _Leaves._--Alternate; dissected into linear +segments. _Flowers._--In capitate clusters an inch and a half across; deep +blue. _Calyx._--Five-toothed. _Corolla._--Four lines long; with five obtuse +lobes. _Stamens._--Exserted. Anthers nearly white. (See _Gilia_.) +_Hab._--The Coast of Central California. + +This pretty _Gilia_ is quite common about San Francisco in springtime, and +often makes masses of bright deep blue over the fields. + +_G. capitata_, Dougl., is a closely allied species, found in the Coast +Ranges from Central California northward. This is in every way a more +delicate plant. Its stems are taller and more slender; its flower-heads are +less than an inch across, and composed of very small light-blue flowers, +with feathery, exserted stamens. + +_G. achilleaefolia_, Benth., is a beautiful form, closely related to both +the above, but quite variable in habit. Its flowers are light +lavender-blue, six lines or so long, and are borne in larger clusters, +often two inches across, on long, naked peduncles. At a little distance +these blossoms somewhat resemble the clusters of _Brodiaea capitata_. + +[Illustration BLUE GILIA--_Gilia Chamissonis_.] + + +CHIA. SAGE. + +_Salvia Columbariae_, Benth. Mint Family. + + _Stems._--Six inches to two feet high. _Leaves._--Wrinkly; one + to several inches long. _Flowers._--Blue; in interrupted + whorls. _Whorls._--Twelve to eighteen lines in diameter; + subtended by numerous, ovate-acuminate bracts. + _Calyx._--Bilabiate; upper lip arching, and tipped with two + short bristles; lower, of two awn-like teeth. _Corolla._--Three + or four lines long; bilabiate. Upper lip erect; notched or + two-lobed. Lower deflexed; with three lobes, the central much + larger. _Stamens._--Two. Filaments two; short; apparently + forked--_i.e._ bearing on their summit a cross-bar having on + one end a perfect anther-cell and on the other a dwarfed or + rudimentary one. _Ovary._--Of four seedlike nutlets. Style + slender. _Hab._--Throughout the State, specially southward. + +This rough-leaved sage is quite common, especially southward, and grows +upon dry hillsides or in sandy washes, where it blossoms in early spring. +Its small bright-blue flowers are borne in an interrupted spike, consisting +of from one to four button-like heads. Each of these heads has below it a +number of leafy bracts, which are often of a bright wine-color, and form a +rather striking combination with the blue flowers. + +After the blossoms have passed away, the dried stems and heads remain +standing all over the hills, shaking out the little gray seed in abundance. +These seeds have been for centuries an article of economic importance to +the aborigines and their descendants. Dr. Rothrock writes that among the +Nahua races of ancient Mexico the plant was cultivated as regularly as +corn, and was one of their most important cereals. Quantities of the seed +have been found buried beneath groves which must be at least several +hundred years old. It was in use among the Indians of California before the +occupation of the country by the whites, being known among them as "chia." + +Dr. Bard writes of these seeds: "They were roasted, ground, and used as +food by being mixed with water. Thus prepared, it soon develops into a +mucilaginous mass, larger than its original bulk. Its taste is somewhat +like that of linseed meal. It is exceedingly nutritious, and was readily +borne by the stomach when that organ refused to tolerate other aliment. An +atole, or gruel, of this was one of the peace offerings to the first +visiting sailors. One tablespoonful of these seeds was sufficient to +sustain for twenty-four hours an Indian on a forced march. Chia was no less +prized by the native Californian, and at this late date it frequently +commands six or eight dollars a pound." + +[Illustration CHIA--_Salvia Columbariae_.] + +When added to water, the seeds make a cooling drink, which has the effect +of assuaging burning thirst--a very valuable quality on the desert. + + +BLUE-AND-WHITE LUPINE. + +_Lupinus bicolor_, Lindl. Pea Family. + + _Stems._--Stoutish; six to ten inches high; silky. + _Leaves._--Alternate; with small stipules. _Leaflets._--Five to + seven; linear-spatulate; one inch long. _Flowers._--Four or + five lines long; blue and white; the white changing to + red-purple after fertilization. Upper calyx-lip bifid; lower + twice as long; entire. _Keel._--Falcate; acute; ciliate toward + the apex. _Pod._--Small; about five-seeded. (See _Lupinus_.) + _Hab._--Western Central California. + +In late spring the open fields about San Francisco take on a delicate, +amethystine tinge, due to the blossoms of the blue-and-white lupine. After +fertilization has taken place, the white in these blossoms turns to deep +red, and this admixture gives the general lilac tone to the mass. + + +DOUGLAS IRIS. + +_Iris Douglasiana_, Herb. Iris Family. + + _Rhizomes._--Stoutish; clumps not dense. + _Radical-leaves._--Strongly ribbed underneath; dark, shining + green above; one to three feet long; three to eight lines + broad; flexile; rosy pink at base. _Stems._--Simple; two- or + three-flowered. Flowers.--On pedicels six to eighteen lines + long; deep reddish-purple, lilac, or cream. + _Perianth-tube._--Six to twelve lines long. + _Capsule._--Narrowly oblong; acutely triangular; twenty lines + long. Seeds nearly globular. (Otherwise as _I. macrosiphon_.) + _Hab._--The Coast, from Santa Cruz to Marin County. + +On account of the bright and varied hues of its flowers, the genus _Iris_ +was named for the rainbow-winged messenger of the gods. In France it is +known as "fleur-de-lis," a name whose origin has caused endless discussion +and has been accounted for in many ways. There are many species, all of +them beautiful. Orris-root is the product of the lovely white Florentine +_Iris_. + +[Illustration BLUE-AND-WHITE LUPINE--_Lupinus bicolor_.] + +In California we have several comparatively well-known species, and a +number of others which are without names as yet; but the Douglas _Iris_ is +probably our most beautiful. It thrives well upon open mesas or upon +well-drained hill-slope in the shelter of the chaparral. But it is found at +its best in the rich soil of moist woodlands, whose seclusion seems the +most fitting abode for so aristocratic a flower. There, surrounded by the +delicate greenery of fern-fronds and a hundred other tender, springing +things, it seems to hold a sylvan court, receiving homage from all the +other denizens of the wood. There is a certain marked and personal +individuality about these flowers which makes encountering them seem like +meeting certain distinguished personages. + + +ITHURIEL'S SPEAR. BLUE MILLA. + +_Brodiaea laxa_, Wats. Lily Family. + + _Corm._--Small; fiber-coated. _Leaves._--Usually two; radical; + linear channeled. _Scapes._--Six inches to two feet high. + _Umbels._--Of ten to thirty or more purple or violet, or even + white, flowers. _Pedicels._--One to three inches long. + _Perianth._--Twelve to twenty lines long. _Stamens._--Six; in + two rows; the upper opposite the inner lobes of the perianth. + _Ovary._--Three-celled; on a stalk six lines long. _Hab._--From + Kern County to Northern Oregon. + +After the delicate _Collinsias_ have stolen away, the beautiful flowers of +Ithuriel's spear begin to claim our attention in open grassy spots on the +borders of rich woodlands. The common name is a happy one; for there is +something commanding about this tall blossom-crowned shaft. It will perhaps +be remembered that the angel Ithuriel possessed a truth compelling spear. +When Satan, disguised, went to the Garden of Eden to tempt Eve, Ithuriel +and Zephon were sent to expel him. + +[Illustration ITHURIEL'S SPEAR--_Brodiaea laxa_.] + + ... "him there they found, + Squat like a toad, close at the ear of Eve, + Assaying by his devilish art to reach + The organs of her fancy, and with them forge + Illusions as he list, phantasms, and dreams; + + * * * * * + + Him thus intent Ithuriel with his spear + Touched lightly; for no falsehood can endure + Touch of celestial temper, but returns + Of force to its own likeness: up he starts + Discovered and surprised." + + +BEACH-ASTER. + +_Erigeron glaucus_, Ker. Composite Family. + + Six to twelve inches high, having a tuft of radical leaves and + some ascending stems. _Leaves._--Obovate or spatulate-oblong; + one to four inches long; pale; somewhat succulent; slightly + viscid. _Flower-heads._--Composed of dull-yellow disk-flowers + and bright-violet ray-flowers. _Disk._--Eight lines or so + across. _Rays._--Six or eight lines long; narrow; numerous; in + several rows. _Hab._--The Coast, from Oregon to Southern + California. + +Almost anywhere upon our Coast, "within the roar of a surf-tormented +shore," we can find the beautiful blossoms of the beach-aster. We may know +them by their resemblance to the China asters of our gardens, though they +are not so large. They present a most delightful combination of color in +their old-gold centers, violet rays, and rather pale foliage. + + +TOAD-FLAX. + +_Linaria Canadensis_, Dumont. Figwort Family. + + _Stems._--Slender; six inches to two feet high. + _Leaves._--Mostly alternate on the flowering stems, but smaller + and broader ones often opposite or whorled on the procumbent + shoots; linear; smooth. _Flowers._--Blue; in terminal racemes; + like those of _Antirrhinum_, but the tube furnished with a + long, downward-pointing spur at base. _Hab._--Throughout + California. + +The delicate blue flowers of the toad-flax are not uncommon in spring, and +the plants are usually found in sandy soil. The little blossoms are very +ethereal and have a sweet perfume. I once saw a deep blue band upon a mesa +near San Diego, which vied in richness with the ultramarine of the sea just +beyond. It stretched for some distance, and at last curved around and +crossed the road over which I was passing, when it proved to be made up of +millions of these delicate flowers. The color effect seemed cumulative, for +the mass was so much richer and deeper than the individual flowers. + +[Illustration BEACH-ASTER--_Erigeron glaucus_.] + + +CATALINA MARIPOSA TULIP. + +_Calochortus Catalinae_, Wats. Lily Family. + + _Stems._--Two feet high; loosely branching; bulbiferous. Leaves + and bracts linear-lanceolate. _Flowers._--Erect; eighteen lines + or so long. _Sepals._--Green without; scarious-margined; + whitish within; with purple spot at base; one inch long; acute. + _Petals._--White; with garnet base; bearing a round gland + covered with hairs. Filaments garnet. _Capsule._--Narrowly + oblong; three-sided; obtuse; an inch or two long. Seeds flat; + horizontal. (See _Calochortus_.) _Hab._--From San Luis Obispo + County to San Bernardino; and the islands off the Coast. + +This is one of the earliest _Mariposas_ to bloom in the south. Its +beautiful, stately white cups have a garnet base within, and this, with its +oblong, obtuse capsule and horizontal seeds, clearly identifies it. These +blossoms are favorite resting-places for the bees, who are often beguiled +in them from their labors and lulled to a gentle slumber. We have +frequently startled the little truants from these siestas, and with +amusement watched them struggling for a moment before regaining +consciousness and whizzing away once more upon their round of duties. + +This may be designated our maritime _Calochortus_, as it is found mostly +near the Coast or upon its islands. + +_C. splendens_, Dougl., found in the Coast Ranges from Lake County to San +Diego, is sometimes confused with the above. It is a beautiful flower, +whose petals are a clear rose-lilac without spots or marks, with long, +whitish, cobwebby hairs on their middle third. Its anthers are purple or +lilac, three to six lines long. + + +DOG-VIOLET. + +_Viola canina, var. adunca_, Gray. Violet Family. + + _Stems._--Leafy; several from the rootstocks. _Leaves._--Ovate; + often somewhat cordate at base; acute or obtuse; six to + eighteen lines long; obscurely crenate. Stipules foliaceous; + narrowly lanceolate; lacerately toothed. _Flowers._--Violet or + purple; rather large. Lateral petals bearded. Spur as long as + the sepals; rather slender; obtuse; hooked or curved. + (Otherwise as _V. pedunculata_.) _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from + San Francisco to Washington. + + ... "violets + Which yet join not scent to hue + Crown the pale year weak and new." + +Nestling amid the grasses on many a moist mesa by the sea, the modest +flowers of the dog-violet may be found at almost any time of year. They +vary greatly in the length of their stems, according to the season and the +locality of growth. + + +THISTLE-SAGE. + +_Salvia carduacea_, Benth. Mint Family. + + _Leaves._--All radical; thistle-like; with cobwebby wool. + _Stems._--Stout; a foot or two high. _Flower-whorls._--An inch + or two through. _Calyx._--Bilabiate; with five spiny teeth. + _Corolla._--Lavender; an inch long. Upper lip erect; two-cleft. + Lower fan-shaped; white-fringed. _Stamens._--On the lower lip. + Proper filaments very short, with one short and one long fork, + each bearing an anther-cell. (Otherwise like _S. Columbariae_.) + _Hab._--Western and Southern California. + +Upon the dry, open plains of the south, the charming flowers of the +thistle-sage make their appearance by May. Upon the train we pass myriads +of them standing along the embankments, and seeming to beckon mockingly at +us, well knowing the train almost never stops where we can get them. + +These plants present the most remarkable blending of the rigid, +uncompromising, touch-me-not aspect and the ethereal and fragile. In each +of the several stories of the flower-cluster there are usually a number of +the exquisitely delicate flowers in bloom at once, standing above the +hemisphere of densely crowded, spiny calyx-tips. Nothing more airy or +fantastic could well be imagined than these diaphanous blossoms. The upper +lip of the corolla stands erect, its two lobes side by side, or crossed +like two delicate little hands. The lower lip has two small and +inconspicuous lateral lobes and one large central one, which is like the +ruff of a fantail pigeon and daintily fringed with white. The color +combination in these blossoms is charming. To the sage green of the foliage +and the lilac of the blossoms is added the dash of orange in the anthers +that puts the finishing touch. The whole plant has a heavy, dull odor of +sage. + +This species is also sometimes called "chia," and its seeds are used in the +same manner as those of our other _Salvia_, but to no such extent. + + +VIOLET BEARD-TONGUE. + +_Pentstemon heterophyllus_, Lindl. Figwort Family. + + Woody at base; many-stemmed. _Stems._--Two to five feet tall. + _Leaves._--Lanceolate or linear; or the lowest + oblong-lanceolate; diminishing into narrow floral bracts. + _Panicle._--Narrow. Pedicels one- to three-flowered; short and + erect. _Corolla._--Rose-purple, or violet suffused with pink; + an inch or more long; ventricose-funnel-form above the narrow, + slender tube. (See _Pentstemon_.) _Hab._--Western California, + specially southward. + +The beautiful flowers of the violet beard-tongue are often seen among the +soft browns of our dusty roadsides in early summer. They are truly charming +flowers, and we marvel how any one can pass them by unnoticed. I have seen +them especially showy in the southern part of the State, in Santa Barbara +and Ventura Counties, where the plants often spread over two or three feet, +sending up innumerable slender flower-covered wands. The undeveloped buds +are of a characteristic greenish-yellow tone, making an unusual contrast to +the expanded flowers and the rather pale foliage. The structure of the +anthers is quite interesting, each cell consisting of a little bag with +bristly margins, the two together being heart-shaped in outline. + +_P. azureus_, Benth., or the "azure beard-tongue," is very similar to the +above, growing from one to three feet high; but it is smooth and glaucous; +its leaves are inclined to have a broader base, and its flowers are usually +larger, azure blue, approaching violet, sometimes having a red-purple +tube, while its border is often an inch across. This is found throughout +the State, but is more common in the interior and in the Sierras. Its buds +are not yellow. + +[Illustration AZURE BEARD-TONGUE--_Pentstemon heterophyllus_.] + + +WILD GINGER. + +_Asarum caudatum_, Lindl. Birthwort Family. + + _Rootstocks._--Creeping; aboveground. _Leaves._--Alternate; two + to four inches long; heart-shaped; not mottled; shining green. + _Flowers._--Raisin-colored. _Perianth._--With spherical tube + and three long-pointed lobes, thirty lines long. + _Stamens._--Twelve. Filaments more or less coherent in groups, + adherent to the styles, and produced beaklike beyond the + anthers. _Ovary._--Six-celled. Styles united; equaling the + stamens. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges from Santa Cruz to British + Columbia. + +The beautiful long-stemmed leaves of the wild ginger stand upon the borders +of many a shaded canyon stream, seeming to enjoy the gossiping of the brook +as it gurgles by. The leaves and roots of these plants are aromatic, and +the former when crushed emit a pleasant fragrance, similar to that of the +camphor-laurel. The branching rootstocks, creeping along the surface of the +ground, grow from their tips; which are swathed in the undeveloped silky +leaves. + +In the spring a warm hue comes among these closely-folded leaves, and +presently a curious dull-colored bud begins to protrude its long tip from +their midst. This bud looks as though some worm had eaten off its end; but +we soon see that its blunt appearance is due to the fact that the long +prongs of the sepals are neatly folded in upon themselves, like the jointed +leg of an insect. It must require considerable force in the flower to +unfurl them. When at length expanded, these blossoms have the look of some +rapacious, hobgoblin spider, lurking for its prey. + +Another species--_A. Hartwegi_, Wats.--the "Sierra wild ginger," is easily +distinguished from the above by its white-mottled leaves, which grow in +clusters, and by its smaller flowers. It blooms later than the other, its +flowers lasting into July. These plants are closely related to the +"Dutchman's pipe." + +[Illustration WILD GINGER--_Asarum caudatum_.] + + +COMMON MILKWEED. SILKWEED. + +_Asclepias Mexicana_, Cav. Milkweed Family. + + _Stems._--Three to five feet high; slender. _Leaves._--Mostly + whorled and fascicled; linear-lanceolate; short-petioled; two + to six inches long. _Peduncles._--Erect; slender; often in + whorls. _Flowers._--Very small and numerous; in umbels; white + and lavender. _Corolla-lobes._--Two lines long. + _Anthers._--Twice the filament column. _Horns._--Awl-shaped; + arising from below the middle of the ovate hoods, and + conspicuously curved over the stigma. _Pods._--Slender; + spindle-shaped. (Structure otherwise as in _Gomphocarpus_.) + _Hab._--Throughout the State, and beyond its borders. + +This is one of our most widely distributed milkweeds, and may be found +blossoming along our dusty roadsides and through the fields in early +summer. Its stems are tall and wandlike with long, narrow leaves, and its +little blossoms are very trim. Its distaff-shaped pods, with their +beautiful silken down, are familiar objects, much beloved by the children, +and are sought by older people who utilize them in many dainty ways. + + +CHICORY. SUCCORY. WILD BACHELOR'S-BUTTON. + +_Cichorium Intybus_, L. Composite Family. + + _Stems._--Two to five feet high; much branched. + _Leaves._--Alternate; the lower oblong or lanceolate, partly + clasping, sometimes sharply incised; the upper reduced to + bracts. _Flower-heads._--Bright blue; sessile; two or three + together in the axils of the leaves or terminal; of ray-flowers + only. _Rays._--Ten lines long; about two wide; notched at the + tip. Bracts of the involucre in two series; green. + _Hab._--Escaped from cultivation in many places. + +The most careless observer will some day have his attention startled into +activity by a certain tall, fine plant growing along the roadside, bearing +beautiful, ragged blue flowers closely set to its stem. This is a stranger +from over the seas, whose native home is England; and, like all English, it +is an excellent colonist, having pushed its way into most parts of the +civilized world. It has become quite plentiful among us in the last few +years, and whole fields may often be seen covered with its lovely +bright-blue blossoms, which are known as "ragged sailors," and "wild +bachelor's-buttons." They open in the early morning, closing by midday. +In Europe a popular belief is rife that they open at eight o'clock in the +morning and close at four in the afternoon. + +[Illustration COMMON MILKWEED--_Asclepias Mexicana_.] + + "On upland slopes the shepherds mark + The hour when, to the dial true, + Cichorium to the towering lark + Lifts her soft eye, serenely blue." + +The plant is useful in several ways. Its root is boiled and eaten as a +vegetable; the leaves, when blanched, make an excellent salad; and the +whole plant was formerly employed in medicine, and is still considered a +valuable remedy for jaundice. But the most common use of it is as a +substitute for coffee, or as an adulterant of it. The fleshy, milky root is +dried, ground, and roasted, and though it has neither the essential oil nor +the delicious aroma of coffee, it is not an unpleasant beverage, and its +cheapness brings it within the reach of the very poor. + +The chicory industry has grown to be of considerable importance in +California of late. The plants are grown in reclaimed tule land near +Stockton, where there is a factory for the conversion of the root into the +commercial article. + + +CALIFORNIAN LOBELIA. + +_Downingia pulchella_, Torr. Lobelia Family. + + _Stems._--Three to six inches high. _Leaves._--Alternate; + sessile; linear; obtuse; passing into flower-bracts above. + _Flowers._--Racemose; blue. _Calyx-tube._--Very long and + slender; adnate to the ovary; its limb of five slender + divisions. _Corolla._--With short tube and bilabiate border. + The smaller lip of two narrow spreading or recurved divisions; + the larger three-lobed; broader than long; nine or ten lines by + five or six lines. All the lobes intense blue; the large + centers mostly white. _Stamens._--Five; united into a curved + tube. _Capsule._--Splitting at the sides. _Hab._--Nearly + throughout the State. + +These little lobeliaceous plants are very common, especially upon the +plains of the interior, and may be found growing in wet places, where they +often make the ground blue. The showy, white-centered flowers are familiar +along the roadsides upon the borders of puddles. The blossoms, which are +really stemless, appear to have stems of considerable length, owing to the +very long, slender ovary and calyx-tube. They are cultivated for ornament +under the name of _Clintonia pulchella_. + +We have one other species in the northern part of the State. It is a larger +plant, sometimes a foot tall, with ovate to lanceolate leaves. This is _D. +elegans_, Torr. + + +FALSE INDIGO. LEAD-PLANT. + +_Amorpha Californica_, Nutt. Pea Family. + + Shrubs three to over eight feet high. _Leaves._--Mostly + alternate; with stipules; pinnate. _Leaflets._--One inch long; + five to nine or more pairs. _Flower-spikes._--Two to six inches + long. _Flowers._--Black-purple; two and a half lines long. + _Calyx._--Half as long. _Corolla._--With only one petal! (the + standard); this erect and folded. _Stamens._--Slightly united + at base; exserted. _Ovary._--One-celled. _Pod._--Three lines + long. (See _Leguminosae_.) _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from Marin + County to San Diego. + +This shrub or small tree is remarkable for its sickeningly fragrant +foliage. The small blossoms, taken individually, are inconspicuous, but +when seen in masses, sprinkling the foliage with black and gold, they are +quite effective. + + +BLUE-CURLS. + +_Trichostema lanceolatum_, Benth. Mint Family. + + One or two feet high; branching from the base. + _Leaves._--Opposite; sessile; crowded; lanceolate or + ovate-lanceolate; gradually acuminate; densely pubescent; + several-nerved; an inch or more long. _Flowers._--Blue; in + axillary, short-peduncled, dense clusters. + _Calyx._--Five-cleft. _Corolla._--Six lines long; with filiform + tube; and border with five almost similar lobes. + _Stamens._--Four; of two lengths. Filaments filiform; + long-exserted and curled. _Ovary._--Of four seed like nutlets. + Style long; filiform; two-cleft at the tip. _Hab._--Throughout + Western California. + +Of all the plants of our acquaintance, the common blue-curls is the most +aggressive and ill-smelling. Its odor is positively sickening. Some years +ago, when it was first new to me, I brought some of it down from Sonoma +County upon the train, and, even though it had been carefully wrapped, I +was obliged to deposit it in the wood-box, as far as possible from the +passengers. + +The generic name comes from two Greek words, signifying _hair_ and +_stamen_, and was bestowed on account of the capillary filaments. The +common name also refers to the long, curling blue stamens. + +This species blossoms late in summer, and grows upon very dry ground, where +it seems almost a miracle for any plant to thrive. + + +ROMERO. WOOLLY BLUE-CURLS. + +_Trichostema lanatum_, Benth. Mint Family. + + Shrubby; two to five feet high. _Leaves._--Opposite and + fascicled in the axils; an inch or so long; green above; + white-woolly beneath. _Flowers._--Blue; in terminal clusters + sometimes a foot long; covered with dense violet wool. + _Calyx._--Five-toothed. _Corolla._--Nearly an inch long; with + tube half its length and border violet-shaped. _Stamens and + Style._--Two inches long. _Ovary._--Of four seedlike nutlets. + _Hab._--From San Diego to Santa Barbara. + +When the first scorching winds of the desert have withered and laid low the +lovely flowers of the southern plains, the Romero is just coming into bloom +upon dry hillsides. Its shrubby form, with densely crowded leaves, becomes +conspicuous by reason of its long spikes of purple-woolly buds and +blossoms. This inflorescence is an exquisite thing, more like the +production of a Paris milliner than a guileless creation of nature. The +individual blossoms have much the look of alert little blue violets wearing +long, elegant lilac aigrets. Both leaf and flower have a pleasant aromatic +fragrance, entirely unlike the dreadful odor of the common blue-curls. + +Among the Spanish-Californians it is known altogether by the musical name +of "Romero," and is one of their most highly valued medicinal herbs, being +considered a panacea for many troubles. Fried in olive oil, it becomes an +ointment which alleviates pain and cures ulcers; dried and reduced to +powder, it is a snuff very efficacious for catarrh; and made into a +tincture, it is used as a liniment. This plant is also sometimes called +"black sage." + +[Illustration ROMERO--_Trichostema lanatum_.] + + +HARVEST BRODIAEA. LARGE-FLOWERED BRODIAEA. + +_Brodiaea grandiflora_, Smith. Lily Family. + + _Corm._--Fibrous-coated. _Leaves._--Narrowly linear; somewhat + cylindrical. _Scape._--Four to twelve inches high. + _Pedicels._--Three to ten, rarely one; unequal. + _Perianth._--Violet; waxen; ten to twenty lines long; broadly + funnel-form; six-cleft; lobes recurving. _Stamens._--Three; + opposite the inner segments. _Staminodia._--Three; + strap-shaped; entire; white; erect; about equaling the stamens. + _Ovary._--Sessile; three-celled. Style stout. Stigma + three-lobed. _Hab._--From Ventura to the British boundary in + the Coast Ranges and Sierras. + +In the latter part of May and early in June, just as the grain is mellowing +in the fields, the dry grasses of our hill-slopes and roadsides begin to +reveal the beautiful blossoms of the "harvest Brodiaea." Seen at its best, +this is one of our finest species. It sends up a scape a foot high, bearing +from five to ten of the large, lily-like, violet flowers. They are +somewhere described as varying to rose. I have never seen them of this +color, though a flash of them caught when riding by a field is often +suggestive of a pink flower. + +These plants vary considerably in size, in some localities blooming when +but an inch or two high, and in others having their tall scape crowned with +as many as ten of the fine blossoms. These have their segments nerved with +brown upon the outside. The clear-white stamens stand opposite the outer +segments, alternating with the white staminodia. The leaves have dried away +before the coming of the blossoms. + +_B. terrestris_, Kell., common throughout Central California, is always +found in sandy soil. Its perianth is less than an inch long, and its +staminodia are yellow, with inrolled edges. This is clearly distinguished +by these characteristics, added to the fact that its flower-cluster has no +common stalk or scape, but seems to sit upon the ground, giving the +separate flowers the appearance of coming from the ground. + +[Illustration HARVEST BRODIAEA--_Brodiaea grandiflora_.] + + +VIOLET SNAPDRAGON. + +_Antirrhinum vagans_, Gray. Figwort Family. + + Herbs with prehensile branchlets. _Leaves._--Alternate; + short-petioled; lanceolate to oblong-ovate; entire; an inch + long. _Flowers._--Six lines long; lavender. _Sepals._--Five; + upper one large; oblong; the others small, linear. + _Stamens._--Four; in pairs; on the corolla. Filaments slender. + Anthers with two diverging cells. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style + awl-shaped. _Hab._--Throughout the western part of the State. + +When the first dryness of summer is beginning to make itself felt, the tall +wandlike sprays of the little lilac snapdragon begin to appear along our +dusty roadsides. A curious feature of this plant is to be found in the long +threadlike branchlets produced in the axils of the leaves. These are like +so many little arms, apparently waving about in aimless abandon, but in +reality vigilant of any opportunity to grasp some convenient object of +support. + +Another species--_A. glandulosum_, Lindl.--is common from Santa Cruz +southward. This may be known by its pink and yellow flowers, its very +viscid, leafy stems, three to five feet tall, and its lack of prehensile +branchlets. This has somewhat more the look of the familiar garden species. +Its anthers are arranged like teeth in the roof of its mouth, and the +children, by slightly pinching the sides of its funny little countenance, +can make it open its mouth in quite a formidable manner. + +Sir John Lubbock, writing of the fertilization of flowers, says: "Thus the +_Antirrhinum_, or snapdragon, is completely closed, and only a somewhat +powerful insect can force its way in. The flower is in fact a strong-box, +of which the humble-bee only has the key." + +[Illustration VIOLET SNAPDRAGON--_Antirrhinum vagans_.] + + +CALIFORNIAN HAREBELL. BELLFLOWER. + +_Campanula prenanthoides_, Durand. Harebell or Campanula Family. + + _Stems._--Several inches to two feet high. + _Leaves._--Alternate; ovate-oblong to lanceolate; one inch or + less long. _Flowers._--Blue; on recurved pedicels. + _Calyx._--Growing to the ovary below; with five awl-shaped + teeth. _Corolla._--Five to eight lines long; with short tube + and slender, spreading, recurved lobes. _Stamens._--Five. + _Ovary._--Three- to five-celled. Style club-shaped; much + exserted. Stigma becoming three-lobed. _Hab._--Coast woods from + Monterey to Mendocino County, and through the northern Sierras. + +The fragile blossoms of the harebell lurk in the seclusion of our cool +canyons or peer down at us from the banks of shaded mountain roads toward +the end of July. We almost wonder that this ethereal flower dares delay its +coming so long when outside its cool retreat all is parched and dry. It +forms a delicate contrast to its more robust English sister, the harebell +so often celebrated by the poets. + + +SELF-HEAL. HEAL-ALL. + +_Brunella vulgaris_, L. Mint Family. + + _Stems._--Six to fifteen inches high. _Leaves._--Opposite; + petioled; ovate or oblong. _Flowers._--In a dense, short spike, + with broad, leafy bracts; purple, violet, or rarely white. + _Calyx._--Bilabiate; upper lip with three short teeth; the + lower two-cleft. _Corolla._--Bilabiate; upper lip arched, + entire; lower three-lobed; deflexed. _Stamens._--Four; in + pairs. Filaments two-forked; one fork naked, the other bearing + the two-celled anther. _Ovary._--Of four seedlike nutlets. + Style filiform; two-cleft above. _Hab._--Widely distributed + over the Northern Hemisphere. + +From April to July the purple blossoms of the self-heal, or heal-all, may +be found in the borders of woods or in open grounds. + +The generic name is thought to come from the old German word, _braune_, a +disease of the throat, for which this plant was believed to be a cure. +According to the old doctrine of signatures, plants by their appearance +were supposed to indicate the diseases for which nature intended them as +remedies, and in England the _Brunella_ was considered particularly +efficacious in the disorders of carpenters and common laborers, because +its corolla resembled a bill-hook. Hence it was commonly called +"carpenter's herb," "hook-heal," and "sicklewort." + +[Illustration CALIFORNIAN HAREBELL--_Campanula prenanthoides_.] + + +PENNYROYAL. POLEO. + +_Monardella villosa_, Benth. Mint Family. + + _Stems._--Woody; branching from below; a foot or two high. + _Leaves._--An inch or less long; toothed or entire; veins + conspicuous. _Flowers._--White to deep lilac; in a dense head + subtended by a number of ovate, green bracts. + _Calyx._--Tubular; five-toothed; four lines long. + _Corolla._--Nine lines long; with filiform tube and bilabiate + border. Upper lip two-cleft; lower cleft into three linear + divisions. _Stamens._--Four; in pairs; exserted. Anther cells + divergent. _Ovary._--Of four seedlike nutlets. + _Hab._--Throughout the State; common. + +Owing to their resemblance to the _Monarda_, or horsemint of the East, +these Western plants have been given the diminutive of its +name--_Monardella_. + +In early summer the blossoms, which are generally purple, are conspicuous +in our drying woods. The herbage is pleasantly fragrant. The more hairy +form, which suggested the specific name, is found in the south. + +Another species--_M. lanceolata_, Gray--common in the Sierras and south to +San Diego, is a very handsome plant with lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, +entire leaves, an inch or two long, and having its bright rose-colored or +purple corollas sometimes dark-spotted. This is known among the +Spanish-Californians as "poleo" (pennyroyal), and is valued as a remedy for +various ailments. + +_M. odoratissima_, Benth., found abundantly in the Sierras, and known as +"wild pennyroyal," is a bushy, many-stemmed plant, whose flowers usually +have a faded lavender hue. But the plant is exceedingly fragrant, perfuming +the air all about. + +[Illustration PENNYROYAL--_Monardella villosa_.] + + +LUCERN. ALFALFA. CHILEAN CLOVER. + +_Medicago sativa_, L. Pea Family. + + Perennials, with roots sometimes reaching down eight or ten + feet. _Stems._--Two to four feet high. _Leaflets._--Three; + toothed above. _Flowers._--Violet. _Calyx._--Five-toothed. + _Corolla._--Papilionaceous; six lines long. _Stamens._--Nine + united; one free. _Pod._--Spirally coiled; without spines. + _Hab._--Usually escaped from cultivation. + +The value of this little plant has been known for many centuries. It was +introduced into Greece from Media, whence it received the name _Medicago_, +and was cultivated several centuries before Christ. It has reached us +through Mexico and Chile, where it is called "alfalfa" and "Chilean +clover." + +It is but sparingly naturalized among us, but on account of its very +nutritious herbage it is largely cultivated for feed. Its very deep root +enables it to seek moisture from perennial sources, and to thus withstand +the dryness of our summers. It requires considerable care to start the +plants; but once established, the roots will continue under favorable +circumstances to produce crops of herbage almost indefinitely. When grown +upon good soil and irrigated, it will yield several crops a year. When +cured for hay, it is cut just before flowering. But it is of greatest value +for feeding green to dairy cows and other animals. An alfalfa field is a +beautiful and grateful sight amid the drouth of our late summer. In Chile +sprays of this plant are laid about in the houses to drive away fleas. + + +SQUAW'S CARPET. MAHALA MATS. + +_Ceanothus prostratus_, Benth. Buckthorn Family. + + Hardy, evergreen, trailing shrubs, carpeting the ground. + _Leaves._--Opposite; short-petioled; obovate or spatulate; + cuneate; leathery; several-toothed above; three to twelve lines + long. _Flowers._--Bright blue; in loose clusters on stout + peduncles. _Fruit._--With thick, often red, flesh; with three + large wrinkled, somewhat spreading horns from near the apex, + and low intermediate crests. (See _Ceanothus_.) _Hab._--The + Sierras and northern Coast Ranges. + +[Illustration ALFALFA--_Medicago sativa_.] + +Upon half-shaded slopes in the Sierras, where great firs rear their +noble shafts, forming an open forest, this little trailing shrub makes a +clean, delightfully springy carpet underfoot. Early in the season it is +an exquisite thing, when covered with its delicate clusters of +bright-blue flowers, and it is no less attractive in late summer, when +its odd scarlet fruit studs the rich green foliage. + +The children of our mountain districts know it as "squaw's carpet" and +"mahala mats." Among the Digger Indians the word "Mahala" is applied as a +title of respect to all the women of the tribe indiscriminately, and they +always refer to one another as "Mahala Sally," "Mahala Nancy," etc. + + +ACONITE. MONK'S-HOOD. FRIAR'S-CAP. BLUEWEED. + +_Aconitum Columbianum_, Nutt. Buttercup or Crowfoot Family. + + _Stems._--Two to six feet high. _Leaves._--Alternate; palmately + three- to five-cleft, three to five inches across. + _Flowers._--From blue to almost white; in a terminal cluster. + _Sepals._--Five; petaloid; very irregular; the upper one + helmet-shaped. _Petals._--Two to five; the upper two + stamen-like, concealed within the helmet; the lower three + minute or obsolete. _Stamens._--Numerous. Filaments short. + _Pistils._--Usually three; becoming divergent follicles. + _Syn._--_A. Fischeri_, Reichb. _Hab._--The Sierras and the + northern Coast Ranges. + +The blossoms of the monk's-hood, or aconite, may be found with those of the +tall blue larkspur and the little alpine lily along our mountain streams in +late summer. Owing to the shape of the upper sepal, these flowers have +received several of their common names, such as "helmet-flower," +"friar's-cap," and "monk's-hood." + +The genus _Aconitum_ has been known from remote times and noted for the +poisonous qualities of its species. From the roots and leaves of _A. +napellus_, the officinal species, supposed to be native of Britain, is made +the powerful drug, aconite. Our own species is also poisonous, and among +the mountaineers it is called "blueweed," and remembered only for its +disastrous effect upon their sheep, who are sometimes driven to eat it when +other feed is scare. The helmet varies greatly in breadth and length. + +[Illustration MONK'S-HOOD--_Aconitum Columbianum_.] + + +BLUE GENTIAN. + +_Gentiana calycosa_, Griseb. Gentian Family. + + _Stems._--Six to twelve inches high. _Leaves._--Eighteen lines + to less than an inch long. _Flowers._--Deep, rich blue. + _Corolla._--An inch or two long; plaited into folds between the + lobes; the sinuses with two long, toothlike appendages; the + lobes green-dotted. _Stamens._--Five; alternate with the + corolla-lobes. Filaments flattened and adnate to the corolla + below. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style awl-shaped. Stigma + two-lobed. _Hab._--The Sierras. + +This genus was named for Gentius, an ancient king of Illyria, who is said +to have discovered the medicinal virtues of these plants. The drug called +"gentian," a bitter tonic, is made from the root of a German species--_G. +lutea_--with yellow flowers. + +All the Gentians are natives of the cooler portions of the world, +inhabiting northern latitudes and mountain heights. We have several fine +species, which are found in the Sierras and the northern Coast Ranges. + +_G. calycosa_ is a truly beautiful flower, rivaling the sky with its deep +blue blossoms, which are to be found in the fall in many an alpine meadow, +called by Mr. Muir "gentian-meadows." + + +TALL MOUNTAIN LARKSPUR. + +_Delphinium scopulorum, var. glaucum_, Gray. + +Buttercup or Crowfoot Family. + + Mostly smooth; more or less glaucous. _Stems._--Two to six feet + high. _Leaves._--Palmately five- to seven-parted; the divisions + slashed into sharp-pointed lobes. _Flowers._--Blue; in narrow, + slender racemes; on rather short, slender pedicels. + _Sepals._--Rather narrow; six lines long or less; minutely + tomentose. Spur crapy; rather slender. _Ovaries._--Smooth. + (Flower-structure as in _D. nudicaule_.) _Syn._--_D. + scopulorum_, Gray. _Hab._--The Sierras, at about six thousand + feet; from the San Bernardino Mountains to the Yukon River. + +[Illustration BLUE GENTIAN--_Gentiana calycosa_.] + +By July and August the slender spires of the tall mountain larkspur are +conspicuous along the watercourses of the Sierras, where they are usually +found in the company of their near relatives, the monk's-hoods and the gay +scarlet columbines. A ramble down one of these mountain streams affords a +succession of most delightful surprises. Willow copses, alternating with +tangles of larkspur, great willow-herb, and monk's-hood, are followed by +open, velvety meadows, starred by white and blue daisies, or diversified by +the pure spikes of the milk-white rein-orchis, or the lovely blossoms of +the pink mimulus; while further down, the stream perchance suddenly narrows +and deepens, flowing by some jutting rock-wall, resplendent with crimson +pentstemons or brilliant sulphur-flowers. + + +COMMON ASTER. + +_Aster Chamissonis_, Gray. Composite Family. + +_Stems._--Two to five feet high; loosely branching. _Leaves._--Alternate; +sessile; lanceolate; three to six inches long; the upper becoming small or +minute. _Flower-heads._--Five or six lines long; composed of yellow +disk-flowers and violet or purple rays. _Rays._--Twenty to twenty-five; +half an inch long. _Involucre._--Campanulate; of many small imbricated +scales. _Hab._--Throughout California. + +We have not as many species of _Aster_ as are found in the Eastern States, +but we have some very beautiful ones. _A. Chamissonis_ is one of our +commonest and most widespread species. Its blossoms begin to appear in late +summer and linger along through the fall. Many species of _Erigeron_ (very +closely allied to _Aster_) are called "asters" among us, and comprise some +of our most charming flowers. These are found chiefly in the mountains, +though _E. glaucus_ is found upon the sea-beach and ocean cliffs. + + +LAVENDER MOUNTAIN DAISY. + +_Erigeron salsuginosus_, Gray. Composite Family. + + _Stems._--A foot or two high. _Radical and lower + leaves._--Spatulate to nearly obovate; tapering into a margined + petiole. _Upper leaves._--Ovate-oblong to lanceolate; sessile. + _Uppermost leaves._--Small and bract-like. + _Flower-heads._--Solitary; large; of yellow disk-flowers and + lavender rays. _Disk._--Over half an inch across. + _Rays._--Fifty to seventy; six lines or more long; rather wide. + _Bracts_ of the involucre numerous; loosely spreading. + _Syn._--_Aster salsuginosus_, Richardson. _Hab._--Sierra + meadows, at an altitude of from six to ten thousand feet. + +[Illustration COMMON ASTER--_Aster Chamissonis_.] + +Of all the beautiful flowers of the Sierras, not one lingers so fondly in +the memory, after our return to the lowlands, as this exquisite lavender +daisy. Late in the summer it stars the alpine meadows with its charming +flowers, or stands in sociable companies on those natural velvet lawns of +the mountains. It resembles the feathery, white mountain daisy, and grows +in the same region; but its rays are wider and give the blossoms a somewhat +more substantial look. + + +BLUE FORGET-ME-NOT. STICKSEED. + +_Echinospermum floribundum_, Lehm. Borage Family. + + _Stems._--Two feet or so high. _Leaves._--Oblong to + linear-lanceolate; two to five inches long. _Flowers._--In + numerous, slender-panicled racemes; on short, slender pedicels. + Racemes often in pairs. _Calyx._--Five-parted; minute. + _Corolla._--Sky-blue (rarely white); salver-form, with short + tube and spreading, five-lobed border; two to five lines + across, with conspicuous arching crests in the throat. + _Stamens._--Five; included; on the corolla. _Ovary._--Of four + nutlets; each having a deltoid, keeled disk and margined by + long, flat prickles. _Hab._--From California to British + Columbia and eastward. + +The beautiful blossoms of the wild blue forget-me-not will be readily +recognized by all lovers of flowers. They may be found in the Sierras in +midsummer. The tall stems rise amid the lush grasses upon the sides of +steep canyons, where the air is humid and vegetation is rank. The flowers +are unfortunately followed by very troublesome burs, which are much dreaded +by sheep-herders. + + + + +V. RED + + +[_Red or occasionally or partially red flowers not described in the Red +Section._ + +_Described in the Yellow Section_:-- + + ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS--Pimpernel. + MECONOPSIS HETEROPHYLLA--Wind-Poppy. + MIMULUS GLUTINOSUS--Sticky Monkey-Flower. + OPUNTIA ENGELMANNI--Prickly Pear.] + COTYLEDON PULVERULENTA. + + +INDIAN WARRIOR. + +_Pedicularis densiflora_, Benth. Figwort Family. + + Root woody. _Stems._--Six to twenty inches high. + _Leaves._--Alternate; oblong-lanceolate; pinnate; leaflets + lobed and toothed; diminishing into the flower-bracts. + _Calyx._--Campanulate; five-toothed. _Corolla._--Club-shaped, + bent downward above the calyx and oblique to it; one inch long; + the two upper lobes united and containing the stamens; the + three lower mere teeth. _Stamens._--Four. Style filiform; + exserted. _Ovary._--Two-celled. _Hab._--Throughout Western + California. + +These blossoms, which come early in the season, seem "warmed with the new +wine of the year." They often stand in little companies in openings among +the trees, and the rays of the afternoon sun slanting in upon them brighten +and vivify them into a rich, warm claret-color. The leaves, finely +dissected, like certain fern-fronds, are often of a bronze tone, which +harmonizes finely with the flowers. + +To the casual observer, this flower resembles the Indian paint-brush. In +reality, it belongs to a closely allied genus. But in this blossom the +bracts do not constitute the brilliant part of the inflorescence, and the +calyx, instead of being the showy, sheathing envelop it is in the +paint-brush, is quite small and inconspicuous. + +Mrs. Blochman has quaintly and aptly alluded to the corolla of this flower +as a long and slender mitten, just fit for some high-born fairy's hand. + +Among the children of our mountain districts this flower is known as +"Indian warrior." + +[Illustration INDIAN WARRIOR--_Pedicularis densiflora_.] + + +WILD GOOSEBERRY. + +_Ribes Menziesii_, Pursh. Saxifrage Family. + + Shrubs two to six feet high, with naked glandular-bristly or + prickly branches and stout triple thorns under the fascicled + leaves. _Peduncles._--With one or two drooping, Fuchsia-like + flowers. _Calyx._--Half an inch long; garnet; the five oblong + lobes somewhat longer than the tube, but hardly longer than the + stamens, which surpass the five white petals with inrolled + edges. Styles exserted. Anthers sagittate. _Berry._--Four to + six lines in diameter; thickly covered with long prickles. + (Otherwise as _Ribes glutinosum_.) _Hab._--From San Diego to + Humboldt County; also in the Sierras. + +The wild gooseberry, considered as a fruit, is very disappointing, as its +large, prickly berries are composed mostly of skin and seeds. But as an +ornamental shrub it is very pleasing. In February its long, thorny branches +are densely clothed with small but rich green leaves, under which hang the +perfect little miniature red and white Fuchsias. + +A closely allied species--_R. subvestitum_, Hook. and Arn.,--has long +exserted filaments and glandular-prickly berries. + + +FUCHSIA-FLOWERED GOOSEBERRY. + +_Ribes speciosum_, Pursh. Saxifrage Family. + + Shrubs six to ten feet high, with spreading branches, armed + with large triple thorns. _Leaves._--Evergreen; three- to + five-lobed; an inch or so long. _Flowers._--Bright cardinal; an + inch long. _Calyx._--Petaloid; its tube adnate to the ovary; + the limb is usually five-cleft (sometimes four). _Petals._--On + the sinuses of the calyx. _Stamens._--As many as the petals; + twice the length of the calyx. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style + two-cleft. _Fruit._--A dry, densely glandular berry. + _Hab._--From Monterey to San Diego. + +One of the most charming shrubs to be found in the southern part of the +State is the Fuchsia-flowered gooseberry. Early in the season the long +sprays of its spreading branches are thickly hung with the beautiful +drooping cardinal flowers, which gleam against the rich green of the glossy +leaves. The stems often rival the flowers in brilliance of coloring, but +they harbor a multitude of formidable thorns which serve to cool our +impetuous desire to possess ourselves of the blossoms. Though far more +brilliant than the flowers of _R. subvestitum_, these are not so truly +counterparts in miniature of the garden Fuchsia as they. + +[Illustration FUCHSIA-FLOWERED GOOSEBERRY--_Ribes speciosum_.] + + +WILD PEONY. + +_Paeonia Brownii_, Dougl. Buttercup or Crowfoot Family. + + Coarse, leathery herbs, with woody roots. _Stems._--Stout; + branched; ten to eighteen inches high. _Leaves._--Alternate; + once- or twice- ternately compound; the leaflets ternately lobed. + _Flowers._--Solitary; _Sepals._--Green; often with leaflike + appendages. _Petals._--Five to ten; dark red. + _Stamens._--Numerous. _Pistils._--Two to five; becoming + leathery follicles. _Hab._--Almost throughout California. + +Our wild peony, which is the only species of North America, grows through a +wide range of territory, from the hot plains of the south to the region of +perpetual snow in the mountains of the north. As might be expected, it +manifests considerable variation in form and character. Indeed, some +authors have thought these variations sufficiently marked to warrant the +division of the species into two. + +After the first rains in the south, the plant pushes up its broad, +scarlet-tipped leaves, and by January, or earlier, produces its flowers, +which are deep red, shading almost into black, an inch or so across, and +quite fragrant. These blossoms are at first erect; but as the seed-vessels +mature, the stems begin to droop, till the fruit rests upon the ground. + +The Spanish-Californians consider the thick root an excellent remedy for +dyspepsia, when eaten raw; while the Indians of the south use it, powdered +or made into a decoction, for colds, sore throat, etc. In the north its +leaves are reputed to be poisonous to the touch. + +In some localities it is known as "Christmas-rose," and in others the +children call its dark, round flowers "nigger-heads." In the mountains it +blossoms in June and July near snow-banks. + +[Illustration WILD PEONY--_Paeonia Brownii_.] + + +CALIFORNIAN FIGWORT. CALIFORNIAN BEE-PLANT. + +_Scrophularia Californica_, Cham. Figwort Family. + + _Stems._--Two to five feet high; angled. + _Leaves._--Oblong-ovate or oblong-triangular; two or more + inches long. _Flowers._--Small; dull red; three to five lines + long; in loose terminal panicles. _Calyx._--Five-lobed. + _Corolla._--Bilabiate; upper lip four-lobed; lower of one lobe. + _Stamens._--Four perfect; in pairs; and a fifth scalelike, + rudimentary one. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style exserted. + _Hab._--Almost throughout the State. + +The tall stems of the Californian figwort are common along roadsides, and +become especially rank and luxuriant where the soil has been freshly +stirred. The plants are so plentiful and so plebeian in appearance, that we +are apt to class them in the category of weeds; but the fact that their +little corollas are almost always stored abundantly with honey for the +bees, saves them from this reproachful title. + +They are cultivated by the keepers of bees. The odd, little dull-red or +greenish flowers have a knowing look, which is enhanced by two of the +stamens, which project just over the lower rim of the corolla, like the +front teeth of some tiny rodent. + + +FALSE ALUM-ROOT. + +_Tellima grandiflora_, R. Br. Saxifrage Family. + + _Radical-leaves._--Long-petioled. _Stem-leaves._--With shorter + petioles, round-cordate; variously lobed and toothed; very + hairy, with coarse, bristle-like hairs; two to four inches + across. _Stems._--One to three feet high. _Flowers._--In long + racemes; on short pedicels; green or rose-color. + _Calyx._--Campanulate; five-toothed; ribbed; three to six lines + long; adnate to the ovary below. _Petals._--Five; short-clawed; + slashed above; two or three lines long; on the calyx. + _Stamens._--Ten; very short. _Ovary._--One-celled; with a + disklike summit, tapering into two stout styles with large + capitate stigmas. _Hab._--From Santa Cruz to Alaska. + +This robust plant bears no resemblance to its delicate relative, _T. +affinis_. It is far more like the alum-root in habit and appearance, and +its leaves are prettily blotched in the same manner. It grows along rich +banks by shaded roads, and blooms from early spring onward. Its tall +racemes of either rose-colored or greenish, obscure flowers look rather +like the promise of something to come than a present fulfillment. The +petals are small and inconspicuous at a distance; but when closely +examined, reveal a delicacy and beauty of form entirely unsuspected. + +[Illustration CALIFORNIAN BEE PLANT--_ScrophulariaCalifornica_.] + + +INDIAN PAINT-BRUSH. SCARLET PAINT-BRUSH. + +_Castilleia parviflora_, Bong. Figwort Family. + + Hairy, at least above; six inches to two feet high. + _Leaves._--Laciniate-cleft or incised; sometimes entire; two + inches or so long; mostly alternate. _Flowers._--With + conspicuous colored bracts. _Calyx._--Tubular; about equally + cleft before and behind; tinged with scarlet or yellow. + _Corolla._--Tubular; six lines to over an inch long; the upper + lip equaling the tube; the lower very short; three-toothed; the + whole tinged with red or yellow. _Stamens._--Four; inclosed in + the upper lip. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style long; exserted. + _Hab._--Throughout California. + +Scarlet flowers are so rare, and nature is so chary of that beautiful hue, +that these blossoms are especially welcome. Their dense tufts make +brilliant dashes of color, which are very noticeable amid the vivid greens +of springtime. Strange to say, most of their brilliancy is due not to the +corollas, but to the large petal-like bracts under the flowers and to the +calyxes. In the vicinity of the seashore these blossoms may be found at +almost any time of the year, while inland they have their season of bloom +in the spring, resting for the most part during the summer. + +They are known in some localities as "Indian plume." The specific name is a +very misleading one--for these flowers, far from being small, are in +reality comparatively large and fine. The species was probably first named +from poor or depauperate specimens. It is in every way a larger, more showy +flower than the closely allied species--_C. coccinea_, Spreng.--of the +East, commonly known as the "painted cup." + +We have a number of species closely resembling one another. _C. foliolosa_, +Hook. and Arn., may be easily recognized by its white-woolly stems and +foliage. + +[Illustration INDIAN PAINT-BRUSH--_Castilleia parviflora_.] + + +NORTHERN SCARLET LARKSPUR. CHRISTMAS-HORNS. + +_Delphinium nudicaule_, Torr. and Gray. Buttercup or Crowfoot Family. + + _Stems._--A foot or two high; naked or very few-leaved. + _Leaves._--One to three inches in diameter; deeply three- to + five-cleft, or barely parted into obovate or cuneate divisions. + _Flowers._--Scarlet; in loose, open racemes; on pedicels two to + four inches long. _Sepals._--Five; petaloid; the upper + prolonged upward into a spur containing the smaller spurs of + the two upper petals. Spur six to nine lines long. + _Petals._--Usually four; the two lateral small, not spurred. + _Stamens._--Many. _Pistils._--Mostly three; becoming divergent + follicles. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges from San Luis Obispo to + Oregon. + +Though not so intensely brilliant and striking as the southern scarlet +larkspur, this is a delightful flower, the sight of which gracing some +rocky canyon-wall or making flecks of flame amid the grass, gives us a +thrill of pleasure. It would require no great stretch of the imagination to +fancy these blossoms a company of pert little red-coated elves clambering +over the loose, slender stems. In our childhood we used to hear them called +"Christmas-horns." + + +SCARLET FRITILLARY. + +_Fritillaria recurva_, Benth. Lily Family. + + Bulb as in _F. lanceolata_. _Stems._--Eight to eighteen inches + high; one- to nine-flowered. _Flowers._--Scarlet outside; + yellow, spotted with scarlet, within. _Perianth._--Campanulate; + urn-shaped. _Segments._--Twelve to eighteen lines long; with + recurved tips. _Stamens_ and style not quite equaling the + segments. _Capsule._--Rather obtusely angled. (Otherwise as _F. + lanceolata_.) _Hab._--The Sierras, from Placer County northward + into Oregon. + +The scarlet fritillary is without doubt the most beautiful of all our +species. It is a wonderful blossom, which seems as much of a marvel to us +every time we behold it as it did at first. Usually there are from one to +nine of the brilliant bells; but the effect can be imagined when as many as +thirty-five have been seen upon a single stem! + +_F. coccinea_, Greene, is another beautiful scarlet-and-yellow species, +found in the mountains of Sonoma and Napa Counties. This has from one to +four flowers, which are an inch long, with simple campanulate outline, +without recurving tips. + +[Illustration NORTHERN SCARLET LARKSPUR--_Delphinium nudicaule_.] + + +COLUMBINE. + + _Aquilegia truncata_, Fisch. and Mey. Buttercup or Crowfoot + Family. + + _Stems._--One to three feet high; very slender. + _Leaves._--Mostly radical; divided into thin, distant leaflets. + _Flowers._--Scarlet; tinged with yellow; eighteen to + twenty-four lines across. Parts in fives. _Sepals._--Petaloid; + rotately spreading. _Petals._--Tubular; produced into long + spurs or horns. _Stamens._--Numerous on the receptacle; much + exserted. _Pistils._--Five; simple. _Hab._--Throughout + California. + + Sprung in a cleft of the wayside steep, + And saucily nodding, flushing deep, + With her airy tropic bells aglow,-- + Bold and careless, yet wondrous light, + And swung into poise on the stony height, + Like a challenge flung to the world below! + Skirting the rocks at the forest edge + With a running flame from ledge to ledge, + Or swaying deeper in shadowy glooms, + A smoldering fire in her dusky blooms; + Bronzed and molded by wind and sun, + Maddening, gladdening every one + With a gypsy beauty full and fine,-- + A health to the crimson columbine! + + --ELAINE GOODALE + +To enjoy the exquisite airy beauty of this lovely flower, we must seek it +in its own haunts--for there is a touch of wildness in its nature that will +not be subdued; nor will it submit to being handled or ruthlessly +transported from its own sylvan retreat. + +Fringing the stream, peering over the bank, as if to see its own loveliness +reflected there, or hiding in the greenest recesses of the woodland, it is +always a welcome blossom, and the eye brightens and the pulse quickens upon +beholding it. + +This species is at home throughout our borders; but there is another +form which is said to be found occasionally in our very high +mountains--_A. coerulea_, James. This is plentiful in the Rocky +Mountains, and is the State flower of Colorado. Its blossoms, which are +blue or white, are large and magnificent, with slender spurs an inch and +a half or two inches long. + +[Illustration COLUMBINE--_Aquilegia truncata_.] + + +CLIMBING PENTSTEMON. SCARLET HONEYSUCKLE. + +_Pentstemon cordifolius_, Benth. Figwort Family. + + Woody at base, with long, slender branches, which climb over + other shrubs. _Leaves._--Cordate or ovate; an inch or less + long. _Calyx._--Campanulate; five-parted. _Corolla._--Bright + scarlet; eighteen lines long. Sterile stamen bearded down one + side. (See _Pentstemon_.) _Hab._--From Santa Barbara to San + Diego. + +In spring we notice in the borders of southern woodlands and along the +roadsides certain long, wandlike branches with beautiful heart-shaped +leaves, which are suggestive of those of the garden Fuchsia. Our curiosity +is naturally aroused and we wonder what blossom is destined to grace this +elegant foliage. Early summer solves the mystery by hanging the tips of +these wands with brilliant scarlet blossoms, in every way satisfying the +earlier promise. + +These flowers often look down at us in a sort of mocking, Mephistophelian +manner, as they hang amid the rich greens of other shrubs and trees. Seen +with a glass, they are quite glandular. The fifth stamen looks like a very +cunning little golden hearth-brush. + + +HUMMING-BIRD'S SAGE. + +_Audibertia grandiflora_, Benth. Mint Family. + + Coarse plants, with woolly stems; one to three feet high. + _Leaves._--Opposite; wrinkly; white-woolly beneath; crenate; + the lower three to eight inches long; hastate-lanceolate; on + margined petioles; upper sessile; pointed. + _Inflorescence._--Over a foot long, with many large, widely + separated whorls of crimson flowers. _Corollas._--Eighteen + lines long. Stamens and style much exserted. + _Flower-bracts._--Ovate; sharp-pointed; often crimson-tinged. + (Otherwise as _A. stachyoides._) _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from + San Mateo southward. + +[Illustration CLIMBING PENTSTEMOM--_Pentstemon cordifolius_.] + +This, the largest-flowered of all our _Audibertias_, becomes especially +conspicuous by April and May in southern woodlands, where its large, dark +flower-clusters may be seen in little companies amid the shadows. The +leaves and bracts are quite viscid, and have a rather rank, unpleasant +odor; but the flowers are not without a certain comeliness. The long, +crimson trumpets are arranged in whorls about the stems, projecting from +many densely crowded bracts. Tier after tier of these interrupted whorls, +sometimes as many as nine, mount the stems. The bracts and stems are +usually of a rich bronze, which harmonizes finely with the color of the +flowers. The joint in the filament is quite conspicuous in this species. + + "Humming-birds that dart in the sun like green and golden arrows" + +seem to be the sole beneficiaries of the abundant nectar in these deep +tubes. + + +CALIFORNIAN SWEET-SCENTED SHRUB. + +WESTERN SPICE-BUSH. + + _Calycanthus occidentalis_, Hook. and Arn. Sweet Shrub Family. + + _Shrubs._--Six to twelve feet high. _Leaves._--Ovate to + oblong-lanceolate; three to six inches long; dark green; + roughish. _Flowers._--Wine-colored (sometimes white); solitary; + two inches or so across. _Sepals_, petals, and stamens + indefinite, passing into each other; all coalescent below into + the cuplike calyx-tube, on whose inner surface are borne the + numerous carpels. _Petals._--Linear-spatulate, usually + tawny-tipped. Carpels becoming akenes. _Hab._--From the lower + Sacramento River northward. + +This is one of our most beautiful shrubs. Upon the banks of streams, or +often upon a shaded hillside where some little rill trickles out from a +hidden source, it spreads its branches and lifts its canopy of ample +leaves. There is a pleasant fragrance about the whole shrub, and the +leaves, when crushed, are agreeably bitter. From April to November the +charming flowers, like small wine-colored chrysanthemums, are produced; and +these are followed by the prettily veined, urn-shaped seed-vessels, which +remain upon the bushes until after the next season's flowers appear, by +which time they are almost black. It is from these cuplike seed-vessels +that the genus takes its name, which is derived from two Greek words, +meaning _flower_ and _cup._ + +[Illustration CALIFORNIAN SWEET-SCENTED SHRUB--_Calycanthus +occidentalis_.] + + +INDIAN PINK. + +_Silene Californica_, Durand. Pink Family. + + _Root._--Deep. _Stems._--Several; procumbent or sub-erect; + leafy. _Leaves._--Ovate-elliptic or lanceolate; eighteen lines + to four inches long. _Flowers._--Brilliant scarlet; over an + inch across. _Calyx._--Five-toothed. _Petals._--Five; + long-clawed; the blades variously cleft, and with two erect + toothlike appendages at the throat. _Stamens._--Ten; exserted + with the three filiform styles. _Ovary._--One-celled. + _Hab._--Widely distributed. + +The Indian pink is one of the most beautiful of our flowers, and it appeals +to the aesthetic sense in a way few flowers do. Its brilliant scarlet +blossoms brighten the soft browns of our roadsides in early summer, and +gleam amid the green of thickets like bits of fire. Its corolla is +elegantly slashed, and it is altogether a much finer flower than the +southern form, _S. laciniata_. Its rather broad leaves are often quite +viscid to the touch, in which respect it shares in the character from which +the genus was named in allusion to Silenus, the companion of Bacchus, who +is described as covered with foam. + +_S. laciniata_, Cav., is a similar species found from Central California +southward. It is usually a taller plant, with many stems and narrow leaves. +It is also quite viscid, and many small insects, mostly ants, are almost +always to be seen ensnared upon its stems. We are at a loss to account for +this until we remember what Sir John Lubbock says in this connection. He +suggests that ants are not very desirable visitors for promoting +cross-fertilization among plants, as their progress is slow, and they +cannot visit many plants far apart. On the other hand, winged insects, such +as bees, butterflies, and moths, making long excursions through the air, +are admirably adapted for bringing pollen from distant plants. Hence plants +spread their attractions for such insects, while they often contrive all +sorts of ingenious devices for keeping undesirable ones, like ants, away +from their flowers. + +The Spanish-Californians call this plant "Yerba del Indio," and make it +into a tea which they esteem as a remedy for all sorts of aches and +pains, and use as a healing application to ulcers. + +[Illustration INDIAN PINK--_Silene Californica_.] + +Another species--_S. Hookeri_, Nutt.--is easily known by its large pink +flowers, often two and a half inches across, and delicately slashed. This +is found in our western counties, growing upon wooded hillsides, where its +charming flowers show to excellent advantage. + + +COAST LILY. + +_Lilium maritimum_, Kell. Lily Family. + + _Bulb_.--Conical; twelve to eighteen lines thick, with closely + appressed scales. _Stem._--One to three feet high; slender. + _Leaves._--Seldom, if at all, whorled; linear or narrowly + oblanceolate; obtuse; one to five inches long. _Flowers._--One + to five; deep blood-red; spotted with purple; long-pediceled; + horizontal. _Perianth-segments._--Six; lanceolate; eighteen + lines long; the upper third somewhat recurved. _Hab._--Near the + Coast, from San Mateo to Mendocino County. + +The little Coast lily is found most abundantly in the black peat bogs of +Mendocino County, though it ranges southward to San Mateo County and +northward to Humboldt County. + +Mr. Purdy says of it: "It is seldom seen farther than two miles from the +ocean. On the edges of the bogs the lily is often a dwarf, blossoming at +three or four inches. In the bogs it roots itself in the tufts, and becomes +a lovely plant five feet high with ten or fifteen fine blossoms." + +The leaves are dark, glossy green and the blossoms are more cylindrical +than funnel-form, the three inner segments spreading more than the outer, +which remain almost erect. The little oval anthers, with cinnamon-colored +pollen, almost fill the narrow tube and conceal the fact that the segments +are yellow below and more decidedly spotted. + + +CHOLLA-CACTUS. + +_Opuntia prolifera_, Engelm. Cactus Family. + + Leafless, spiny, arborescent shrubs, three to ten feet high, + with elongated, cylindrical joints, covered with oblong + tubercles which bear from three to eight spines. Longest spines + twelve to eighteen lines long. _Stems._--Two to seven inches + thick. _Flowers._--Purplish-red; densely clustered at the ends + of the branches. _Sepals_, petals, and stamens, many. + _Ovary._--One-celled. Style one. Stigmas several. _Fruit._--Green; + obovate; concave on the top; having no spines, only bristles; + usually sterile; often producing other flowers. _Hab._--From + Ventura to San Diego and southward. + +Upon dry hills, even as far north as Ventura, the cholla cactus is a +familiar feature of the landscape. In many places it forms extensive and +impassable thickets, which afford an asylum to many delicate and tender +plants that retire to it as a last refuge from sheep and cattle. + +The young joints, which are clustered at the ends of the branches, are from +three to nine inches long. By means of their barbed spines, these adhere to +any passing object, and as they break off very readily, they are thus often +transported to a distance. As they root easily, this seems to afford a +means of propagation, in the absence of seed--for the fruit is usually +seedless. + +The spines are quite variable in length, the longest being sometimes an +inch and a half. Each one is covered by a papery sheath, which slips off +easily. + +Upon the ground about these shrubs may usually be found the skeletons of +old branches. These are hollow cylinders of woody basket-work, which are +quite symmetrical and pretty. + +_O. serpentina_, Engelm., found at San Diego, and often growing with the +above, resembles it somewhat, but may be known by its much longer spines, +which are from three to nine inches long, and by its greenish-yellow +flowers. The plants are usually found near the seashore and +scattered--_i.e._ never forming thickets. + +Upon the sea-coast at San Diego is found another plant similar to the +above--_Cereus Emoryi_, Engelm.--the "velvet cactus." Instead of being +covered with tubercles, these plants have from sixteen to twenty vertical +ribs, upon which are borne the bunches of slender spines. These spines are +from a quarter of an inch to one and three quarters inches long, and +without barbs. The flowers are greenish-yellow, and not particularly pretty +or attractive. + + +SCARLET BUGLER. + +_Pentstemon centranthifolius_, Benth. Figwort Family. + + Very glaucous and smooth. _Stem._--One to three feet high. + _Leaves._--Ovate-lanceolate; mostly sessile; the upper + cordate-clasping; thick. _Panicles._--Narrow; a foot or two + long. _Corolla._--Bright scarlet; an inch or more long; hardly + bilabiate. (See _Pentstemon_.) _Hab._--From Monterey to Los + Angeles. + +The tall spires of the scarlet bugler are such familiar sights along +southern roadsides and sandy washes that people almost forget the +enthusiastic admiration their bright beauty first elicited. It is said that +acres of mountain lands are sometimes a solid mass of vermilion during the +blooming season of this lovely plant. + +The panicle is often two feet long, with its string of scarlet horns. The +individual flowers bear quite a likeness to those of the honeysuckle, +common in Eastern gardens, and by those who encounter the plant for the +first time, it is usually spoken of as "honeysuckle." The blossoms are +sometimes yellow near San Bernardino. + +_P. Bridgesii_, Gray, met more frequently in the Yosemite than elsewhere, +though it occurs in the Sierras from the Yosemite southward, is a very +similar plant to the above. But it differs in having its corolla quite +distinctly bilabiate, though of the same general tubular, funnel-form +shape. + + +LARGE VETCH. + +_Vicia gigantea_, Hook. Pea Family. + + Climbing. Stems.--Five to fifteen feet long. + _Leaves._--Alternate; pinnate; terminated by a tendril. + _Leaflets._--Ten to thirteen pairs; linear-oblong; obtuse; + mucronulate; one or two inches long. _Stipules._--An inch long; + semi-sagittate. _Racemes._--Dense; one-sided; five to + eighteen-flowered. _Flowers._--Dull red. + _Corolla._--Papilionaceous. Petals not spreading. + _Stamens._--Nine united; one free. _Style._--Hairy all around + under the stigma. _Pod._--An inch or so long. (See + _Leguminosae_.) _Hab._--From San Francisco Bay northward to + Sitka. + +This vine is usually found in moist places. Its blossoms are never +attractive for they have a faded, worn-out look, even when they are fresh. +The pods are black when ripe, and the seeds are said to be edible. + +[Illustration SCARLET BUGLER--_Pentstemon centranthifolius_.] + + +SCARLET GILIA. + +_Gilia aggregata_, Spreng. Phlox or Polemonium Family. + + _Stems._--One to three feet high. _Leaves._--Pinnately parted + into seven to thirteen linear, pointed divisions. Upper leaves + more simple. _Flowers._--In a loose panicle. _Calyx._--Deeply + five-cleft; glandular. _Corolla._--Scarlet, pink, or rarely + even white; with funnel-form tube, one inch long; and rotately + spreading five-lobed border. Lobes three to six lines long. + (See _Gilia_.) _Hab._--Throughout the Sierras. + +The scarlet _Gilia_ is a familiar flower in the Sierras in late summer, +growing everywhere in dry places. It may be easily recognized by its rich, +glossy, flat, green leaves, pinnately divided into linear divisions, its +tall, loosely branching habit, and its bright, delicate scarlet flowers, +standing out horizontally from the stem. The corolla-lobes are often +flesh-pink or yellowish within, splashed or streaked with scarlet. The +whole plant is quite viscid. + + +SCARLET MONKEY-FLOWER. + +_Mimulus cardinalis_, Dougl. Figwort Family. + + Stout; viscid; hairy. _Stems._--One to five feet high. + _Leaves._--Sessile; ovate to ovate-lanceolate; ragged-margined; + several-nerved; two or three inches long. _Peduncles._--Three + inches long. _Corolla._--Scarlet; two inches or more long. + Upper lip erect; its two lobes turned back. Lower lip + three-lobed; reflexed. _Stamens._--Exserted. (See _Mimulus_.) + _Hab._--Throughout Oregon and California along watercourses. + +One day in June, when riding upon the shores of Bolinas Bay, I came upon a +spot where a canyon stream flowed out upon a little flat at tide-level, +making a small fresh-water marsh, in which mint, bulrushes, and scarlet +_Mimulus_ were striving for the mastery. But the _Mimulus_ was the most +wonderful I ever saw. It stood four or five feet high--a patch of +it--strong and vigorous, and covered with its handsome, large scarlet +flowers, a sight to be remembered. This species is often cultivated in +gardens. + +[Illustration SCARLET GILIA--_Gilia Aggregata_.] + + +SNOW-PLANT. + +_Sarcodes sanguinea_, Torr. Heath Family. + + Fleshy, glandular-pubescent plants; six inches to over a foot + high; bright red; without green foliage; having, in place of + leaves, fleshy scales, with glandular-ciliate margins. + _Flowers._--Short-pediceled. _Sepals._--Five. _Corolla._--Six + lines long; campanulate; with five-lobed limb. _Stamens._--Ten. + Anthers two-celled; opening terminally. _Ovary._--Five-celled; + globose. Style stout. Stigma capitate. _Hab._--Throughout the + Sierras, from four to nine thousand feet elevation. + +I shall never forget finding my first snow-plant. It was upon a perfect +August day in the Sierras. Following the course of a little rill which +wound among mosses and ferns through the open forest where noble fir shafts +rose on every hand, I came unexpectedly upon this scarlet miracle, standing +in the rich, black mold in a sheltered nook in the wood. A single ray of +strong sunlight shone upon it, leaving the wood around it dark, so that it +stood out like a single figure in a _tableau vivant_. There was something +so personal, so glowing, and so lifelike about it, that I almost fancied I +could see the warm life-blood pulsing and quivering through it. I knelt to +examine it. In lieu of leaves, the plant was supplied with many overlapping +scalelike bracts of a flesh-tint. These were quite rigid below and closely +appressed to the stem, but above they became looser and curled gracefully +about among the vivid red bells. + +I had heard that the plant was a root parasite; so it was with much +interest and great care I dug about it with my trowel. But I failed to find +its root connected with any other. I have since learned that it is now +considered one of those plants akin to the fungi, which in some mysterious +way draw their nourishment from decaying or decomposing matter. + +I carried my prize home, where it retained its beauty for a number of days. +I afterward found many of them. They gradually follow the receding snows up +the heights; so that late in the season one must climb for them. + +[Illustration SNOW-PLANT--_Sarcodes sanguinea_.] + +The name "snow-plant" is very misleading, because from it one naturally +expects to find the plant growing upon the snow. But this is rarely or +never the case, for it is _after_ the melting of the snow that it pushes +its way aboveground. + +Late in the season the plant usually has one or more well-formed young +plants underground at its base. These are all ready to come forth the next +season at the first intimation that the snow has gone, which easily +accounts for its marvelously rapid growth. By the end of August, the +seed-vessels are well developed, and as large as a small marble, but +flattened; and by that time the plants have lost their brilliant coloring, +and become dull and faded. + +It is said that the stems have been boiled and eaten, and found quite +palatable; but this would seem to the lover of the beautiful like eating +the showbread from the ark of Nature's tabernacle. + + +SOUTHERN SCARLET LARKSPUR. + +_Delphinium cardinale_, Hook. Buttercup or Crowfoot Family. + + _Stems._--Three to ten feet tall. Leaves.--Large; five- to + seven-lobed nearly to the base, the lobes three- to five-cleft, + with long-pointed segments. _Flowers._--Large. + _Sepals._--Lanceolate; eight lines or more long; rotately + spreading; the spur an inch or more long; pointed. _Upper + petals._--Orange, tipped with red; pointed; standing + prominently forward. (Otherwise as _D. nudicaule_.) _Hab._--The + mountains, from Ventura County to San Diego. + +During all the long springtime, Nature has been quietly making her +preparations for a grand floral _denouement_ to take place about mid-June. +If we go out into the mountains of the south at that season, we shall be +confronted with a blaze of glory, the like of which we have probably never +witnessed before. This is due to the brilliant spires of the scarlet +larkspur, which sometimes rise to a height of ten feet! + +One writer likens the appearance of these blossoms, as they grow in dense +masses, to a hill on fire; and Mr. Sturtevant writes: "To come upon a large +group of these plants in full bloom for the first time, is an event never +to be forgotten. I first saw a mass of them in the distance from the top of +a hill. Descending, I came upon them in such a position that the rays of +the setting sun intensified the brilliancy of their fiery orange-scarlet +color. I gathered a large armful of stalks, from three to seven feet high, +and placed them in water. They continued to expand for several weeks in +water." + +There is a general resemblance between this and the northern scarlet +larkspur, but the clusters of this are far larger and denser, and the +individual flowers are finer. The half-opened buds more resemble the open +flowers of _D. nudicaule_; but the fully expanded flowers have the form of +some of the finest of the blue larkspurs. + +The plants affect a sandy soil or one of decomposed granite. + + +WESTERN CARDINAL-FLOWER. + +_Lobelia splendens_, Willd. Lobelia Family. + + _Stems._--Two to four feet tall; slender, smooth or nearly so. + _Leaves._--Alternate; mostly sessile; lanceolate or almost + linear; glandular-denticulate. _Flowers._--In an elongated, + wandlike raceme; cardinal red. _Calyx._--Five-cleft. + _Corolla._--With straight tube, over an inch long and split + down the upper side; border two-lipped; upper lip with two + rather erect lobes; lower spreading and three-cleft, with lobes + three to six lines long. _Stamens._--Five; united into a tube + above. Anthers somewhat hairy. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style + simple. Stigma two-lobed. _Hab._--San Diego, San Bernardino, + and Los Angeles Counties, and eastward to Texas. + +The Western cardinal-flower quite closely resembles _L. cardinalis_ of the +East, differing from it in a few minor points only. I have never been +fortunate enough to see it; but I am told that it is a magnificent plant, +and that from July to September many a wet spot in our southern mountain +canyons is made gay with its brilliant blossoms. + +Of the Eastern plant Mr. Burroughs writes: "But when vivid color is wanted, +what can surpass or equal our cardinal-flower? There is a glow about this +flower, as if color emanated from it as from a live coal. The eye is +baffled and does not seem to reach the surface of the petal; it does not +see the texture or material part as it does in other flowers, but rests in +a steady, still radiance. It is not so much something colored as it is +color itself. And then the moist, cool, shady places it affects usually, +where it has no rivals, and where the large, dark shadows need just such a +dab of fire! Often, too, we see it double, its reflected image in some dark +pool heightening its effect." + + +HUMMING-BIRD'S TRUMPET. CALIFORNIA FUCHSIA. + +_Zauschneria Californica_, Presl. Evening-Primrose Family. + +Woody plants, more or less villous. _Stems._--Much branched; ascending or +decumbent; one to three feet long. _Leaves._--Mostly alternate; sessile; +narrowly lanceolate to ovate; six to eighteen lines long. +_Flowers._--Bright scarlet; in a loose spike; funnel-form; twenty lines +long. _Calyx._--Scarlet; four-cleft. _Petals._--Four; obcordate; borne on +the calyx-tube. _Stamens._--Eight. Filaments and style more or less +exserted. _Ovary._--Four-celled; inferior. Stigma four-lobed. _Hab._--From +Plumas County to Mexico; and the Rocky Mountains east of the Great Basin. + +In late summer and through the autumn, the brilliant blossoms of the +California Fuchsia brighten the sombre tones of our dry, open hill-slopes. +Its aspect is one of gay insouciance, which would drive away melancholy +despite oneself, and though other plants have been put to rout, one by one, +by the sun's fierce glare, nothing daunted, it puts on its brightest hues, +like a true apostle of cheerfulness. It has been cultivated for some time, +and is highly prized in Eastern gardens, where it has earned for itself the +pretty title of "humming-bird's trumpet." It is not confined to our limits, +but extends southward into Mexico, and eastward to Wyoming. We have seen it +flourishing in the Sierras, where it is particularly beautiful. + +It is called "balsamea" by the Spanish-Californians, who use a wash of it +as a remedy for cuts and bruises. + +It varies greatly in the size and hairiness of its leaves, in the form of +its flowers, which are broadly or narrowly funnel-form, and in the +exsertion of the stamens and style. The _var. microphylla_ has a woolly +pubescence, linear leaves often very small, three or four lines long, and +other small leaves crowded in their axils. This is found in the south. + +[Illustration CALIFORNIA FUCHSIA--_Zauschneria Californica_.] + + + + + There is no glory in star or blossom + Till looked upon by a loving eye; + There is no fragrance in April breezes + Till breathed with joy as they wander by. + + --WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. + + + + +VI. MISCELLANEOUS + + +MUILLA. + +_Muilla maritima_, Benth. Lily Family. + + _Root._--A small membranous-coated corm. _Leaves._--Radical; + linear; equaling the slender scape. _Scapes._--Three to twelve + inches high, bearing an umbel of small greenish-white flowers, + subtended by several small lanceolate to linear bracts. + _Pedicels._--Five to fifteen; two to twelve lines long. + _Perianth._--Almost rotate; of six segments; two or three lines + long. _Stamens._--Six. _Ovary._--Globose; three-celled. + _Hab._--The Coast, from Marin County to Monterey; also inland. + +The generic name of this little plant is _Allium_ reversed. + +Though it has a coated bulb like the onion, it has none of its garlic +flavor. It differs from the other umbellate-flowered genera of the Lily +family in not having its flowers jointed upon their pedicels. It thus seems +to be a link between the onion, on the one hand, and the beautiful +_Brodiaeas_ and _Bloomerias_, on the other. It is not at all an attractive +plant, though its blossoms are pleasantly fragrant. + +It is found on the borders of salt marshes and in subsaline soils in the +interior, as well as upon high hills in stony soils. + +Another species--_M. serotina_, Greene--common upon inland hills in the +south, is quite a delicate, pretty flower. Its greenish-white blossoms, +with dainty Nile-green anthers, are nearly an inch across, and each segment +has a pale-green mid-nerve. The plant has a number of very long, slender +leaves, and its flower-stems are sometimes two feet tall and very slender. + + +SILK-TASSEL TREE. QUININE-BUSH. + +_Garrya elliptica_, Dougl. Dogwood Family. + + Shrubs five to eight feet high. _Leaves._--Leathery; + white-woolly beneath; wavy-margined. _Flowers._--Of two kinds + on separate shrubs; in solitary or clustered catkins; and + without petals. _Staminate catkins._--Two to ten inches long, + consisting of a flexile chain of funnel-form bracts, depending + one from another; each having six flowers like clappers. These + flowers with four hairy sepals and four stamens with distinct + filaments. _Pistillate catkins._--Of similar structure but + stouter, more rigid. Their flowers without floral envelopes; + pistils two; fleshy and hairy; stigmas filiform; dark. + _Hab._--Near the Coast from Monterey County to Washington. + +This shrub might easily be mistaken for one of our young live-oaks, with +its leathery leaves and gray bark; but the leaves are opposite, and not +alternate, as with the oaks. The bark and leaves have an intensely bitter +principle, similar to quinine and equally efficacious. + +Early in February, after the first spell of balmy weather, the bushes put +forth their flowers, and then they are exceedingly beautiful. The long +pale-green chains at the ends of all the branches hang limp and flexile, +shaken with every breath of wind, or, falling over other branches, drape +and festoon the whole shrub exquisitely. The catkins of the female shrub +are stouter and more rigid than those of the male; but when the fruit is +mature, they lengthen out into beautifully tinted clusters of little +papery-coated grapes, which are quite attractive in themselves. This is +cultivated as an ornamental shrub in England. + +_G. Fremonti_, Torr., another species, is distinguished by having its +leaves pointed at both ends, not wavy-margined, and not permanently woolly; +and also by its solitary catkins. This is the shrub usually spoken of as +"quinine-bush," "fever-bush," etc., and whose leaves were used as a +substitute for quinine in the early days among the miners. It is said that +its roots, left in the ground after the cutting of the shrub, become +marbled with green, and are then very beautiful for inlaying in ornamental +woodwork. + +[Illustration SILK-TASSEL TREE--_Garrya elliptica_.] + + +CALIFORNIA LAUREL. + +_Umbellularia Californica_, Nutt. Laurel Family. + + Shrubs or trees, ten to one hundred feet high. + _Leaves._--Alternate; short-petioled; lanceolate-oblong; two to + four inches long; smooth, shining green; very aromatic. + _Flowers._--In clusters. _Sepals._--Six; greenish-white; two + and a half lines long. _Petals._--None. _Stamens._--Nine; in + three rows; the filaments of the inner row having on either + side, at base, a stalked orange-colored gland. + _Anthers._--Four-celled; the cells opening by uplifting lids. + _Ovary._--One-celled. Style stout. Stigma lobed. + _Fruit._--Olive-like; an inch long; becoming purple. + _Hab._--From Oregon to San Diego. + +Early in February we usually have some of our loveliest days. Life is then +pulsing and throbbing everywhere at full tide. The clear sunshine, the +murmur of streams, the odor of the freshly turned sod, the caroling of +larks all are eloquent of the springtime. The whole air is filled with a +strange, spicy fragrance which makes it a delight to breathe. The +California laurel is shaking out a delicious, penetrating odor from its +countless blossoms. + +Mr. Sargent refers to this tree as one of the stateliest and most beautiful +inhabitants of the North American forests, and one of the most striking +features of the California landscape. + +In France it is now much appreciated and cultivated in parks and gardens. + +In Southern California it is only a shrub; but in the central and northern +counties it becomes a magnificent tree, a hundred feet in height and from +four to six feet in diameter. It thrives best in the rich soil along +stream-banks, though it grows also upon hillsides. It would be impossible +to mistake this tree for any other; for its leaves, when crushed, give out +a peculiar pungent odor which, if inhaled too much, will cause headache. +The odor is something like that of bay-rum. The Indians, as well as our own +people, acting upon the homeopathic principle, use them as a remedy for +headache. The oil is also used effectively in toothache, earache, etc., and +enters into the composition of certain patent medicines. + +The wood of the laurel is one of the most beautiful employed by the +cabinet-maker, and it is largely used in the manufacture of choice +furniture. The olive-like fruit is ripe by July, and would remain upon the +tree until the next year were not the squirrels so fond of it. + +This tree is known in different localities by a variety of names, such as +"spice-bush," "balm of heaven," "sassafras laurel," "cajeput," "California +bay-tree," "California olive," "mountain laurel," and "California laurel." +But the last of these is the one prevalent where its finest forms are +found. + + +MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY. + +_Cercocarpus parvifolius_, Nutt. Rose Family. + + Shrubs two to twenty feet high; branching from a thick base. + _Leaves._--Alternate; short-petioled; cuneate; serrate across + the summit; more or less silky above; densely hoary-tomentose + beneath; six to eighteen lines long. _Flowers._--Mostly + solitary; axillary. _Calyx._--Narrowly tubular, with a + deciduous campanulate five-lobed limb. _Petals._--None. + _Stamens._--Fifteen to twenty-five; on the calyx. + _Ovary._--One-(rarely two-) celled. Style simple. _Fruit._--An + akene with a silky tail, at length becoming three or four + inches long. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges from Lake County to + Southern California. + +The mountain mahogany is a common shrub upon the interior hills of the +Coast Ranges; and when one has once made its acquaintance, it is always +easily recognized by its wedge-shaped, dark-green leaves, prominently +veined and notched at the summit. Its flowers, having no petals, are green +and inconspicuous; but the long, solitary plumes of its little fruit are +very noticeable and pretty. Its wood is the heaviest and hardest we have. + +Mr. Greene says that its leafy twigs have a sweet, birchy flavor, rendering +them excellent food for cattle in late summer. + + +DUTCHMAN'S PIPE. PIPE-VINE. + +_Aristolochia Californica_, Torr. Birthwort Family. + + _Stem._--Woody; climbing. _Leaves._--Alternate; short-petioled; + large; ovate-cordate, two to four inches long. + _Flowers._--Greenish, veined with purple. + _Perianth._--Pipe-shaped; the lobes of the lip leather-colored + within. _Anthers._--Six; sessile; adnate in pairs to the thick + style under the broad lobes of the stigma; vertical. + _Stigma._--Three-lobed. _Ovary._--Inferior; six-angled; + six-celled. _Fruit._--A large, leathery pod two inches long. + _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from Monterey to Marin County. + +This odd flower is found rather sparingly in our middle Coast Ranges from +February to April, and in some parts of the Sierra foothills, reaching even +to the Yosemite. As it flowers before the large leaves come out, and the +blossoms are much like dead leaves in color, it requires keen eyes to find +it. It usually grows on low ground, in a tangle of shrubs under the trees, +often festooning gracefully from branch to branch. Before the flowers are +fully open, the buds resemble ugly little brown ducks hanging from the +vine. + +The common blue-black butterfly is often seen hovering over this vine, and +it is said that its caterpillar is so fond of the fruit that it rarely +permits one to ripen. + +Later in the season, the large cordate leaves are quite conspicuous, and +cause people to wonder what may have been the flower of so fine a vine. + + +TURK'S-HEAD CACTUS. TURBAN CACTUS. + +_Echinocactus viridescens_, Nutt. Cactus Family. + + Depressed, hemispherical, fleshy, leafless plants, with from + thirteen to twenty-one prominent, vertical ribs, bearing groups + of rigid spines; usually less than a foot in diameter. + _Spines._--Straight or recurved; stout; reddish; transversely + ribbed or ringed. _Flowers._--Sessile; borne about the + depressed woolly center; yellowish-green; about eighteen lines + long. _Sepals._--Many; closely imbricated; merging into the + numerous, oblong, scarious petals; sometimes nerved with red. + _Stamens._--Very many. _Ovary._--One-celled. Stigmas twelve to + fifteen; linear. _Berry._--Pulpy; green; scaly. _Hab._--From + San Diego inland. + +The Turk's-head cactus looks very much like the end of a watermelon +protruding from the ground, if one could imagine a watermelon deeply +furrowed and furnished with very formidable spines. + +[Illustration DUTCHMAN'S PIPE--_Aristolochia Californica_.] + +This plant is abundant near San Diego, growing all over the mesas; and it +is marvelous that horses and cattle are not more often injured by stepping +upon these disagreeable, horrent globes; but long experience has doubtless +taught them the instinct of caution. + +The plant is really beautiful when crowned with its circle of gauzy, +yellow-green flowers, which are more like some exquisite artificial +fabrication than real flowers. The fruit of this cactus is slightly acid +and rather pleasant. + +The plant is cultivated in Europe under the name of _Echinocactus +Californicus_. + + +FAIRY BELLS. DROPS OF GOLD. + +_Prosartes Hookeri_, Torr. Lily Family. + + _Rootstock._--Creeping; spreading. _Stem._--A foot or two high; + branching horizontally. _Leaves._--Alternate; ovate; cordate; + acute; several-nerved; two or three inches long. + _Flowers._--Greenish; one to six; six lines long; pendulous + under the ends of the branches. + _Perianth._--Spreading-campanulate. _Segments._--Six; + lanceolate; arched at the base. _Stamens._--Six; equaling or + exceeding the perianth. _Ovary._--Three-celled. Style slender; + entire. _Fruit._--An obovate, somewhat pubescent berry; golden, + ripening to scarlet. _Syn._--_Disporum Hookeri_, Britt. + _Hab._--The Coast Ranges from Marin County to Santa Cruz; in + shady woods, but not by the water. + +In our walks through the April woods, we often notice a fine plant with +branching stems, whose handsomely veined leaves are set obliquely to the +stem and all lie in nearly the same horizontal plane. In our subsequent +meetings with the plant it seems to change but little, and we begin to grow +impatient for the coming of the flower, which, however, seems to show no +disposition to appear. Some day, when bending over a bit of moss or a +fern-frond, or peering into the silk-lined hole of a ground-spider, we +suddenly catch a glimmer of something under the broad leaves of our +hitherto disappointing plant, and hastening to examine it, we find to our +amazement one or more exquisitely formed little green bells hanging from +the tip of each branch. Later these are often succeeded by small berries, +at first golden, and afterward scarlet. + +The generic name, _Prosartes_, comes from a Greek word signifying _to hang +from_, and is in allusion to the pendulous flowers. By some authorities +this plant is called _Disporum Hookeri_. The common name, "drops of gold," +applies to the berry. + +Another species _P. Menziesii_, Don.--is found growing along stream-banks +in the Coast Ranges from Marin County northward. This differs from the +above in its longer, more cylindrical, _milk-white_ flowers, and its +salmon-colored berries. It usually blossoms a little later than the other +species, lasting till June. + + +COMMON MUGWORT. + +_Artemisia vulgaris, var. Californica_, Bess. Composite Family. + + _Stems._--Rather simple; a foot or two high. _Leaves._--Ample; + slashed downward into long acute lobes; green above; + cottony-woolly beneath; bitter; strong-scented; the upper often + entire, linear or lanceolate. _Flower-heads._--Minute; two + lines high, one broad; composed of tubular disk-flowers only; + greenish, in long, slender, crowded panicles. _Hab._--Near the + Coast, from San Francisco northward. + +This is a common weed along our roadsides, and is easily known by its +slashed leaves with silvery under surfaces. These leaves are very bitter. +This is closely allied to the wormwood, and by many people is called +"wormwood." + + +ARTEMISIA. SAGEBRUSH. + +_Artemisia Californica_, Less. Composite Family. + + _Stems._--Shrubby; four or five feet high; with many slender + branches. _Leaves._--Alternate; pinnately parted into three- to + seven-filiform divisions; or entire and filiform; an inch or so + long; strong-scented. _Flower-heads._--Very small; two lines or + less across; numerous, in narrow panicles; greenish; composed + of tubular disk-flowers only. _Hab._--Marin County to San + Bernardino. + +The _Artemisia_, or, as it is more commonly called, "sagebrush," is an old +friend that we always expect to meet in our walks on rocky hill-slopes. Its +leaves have a clean, bitter fragrance, similar to that of the mugwort, but +sweeter, and when crushed in the hand they emit a strong odor of +turpentine. + +Dr. Behr tells me that in the early days the miners laid sprays of it in +their beds to drive away the fleas. + +The Spanish-Californians regard it as a panacea for all ills, and use it in +the form of a strong wash to bathe wounds and swellings, with excellent +results. + +Another species--_A. tridentata_, Nutt.--is the shrubby form, growing so +abundantly all over the alkali plains of the Great Basin, where it holds +undisputed possession with the prairie-dog and the coyote. It has narrow, +wedge-shaped leaves, which are three-toothed at the apex; and the whole +plant has a strong odor of turpentine. + +This is highly esteemed by the Indians as a medicinal plant. + + +WILD PIE-PLANT. CANAIGRE. + +_Rumex hymenosepalus_, Torr. Buckwheat Family. + + _Root._--A cluster of Dahlia-like tubers. _Stems._--About two + feet high. _Leaves._--Narrowly oblong or lanceolate; a foot + long or less; acute; undulate; narrowed into a short, very + thick petiole. _Flowers._--Light raisin-color; in a large + panicle a foot or so long. _Perianth._--Of six sepals; the + outer minute; the inner about five lines long, appressed to the + ovary. _Stamens._--Six. _Ovary._--Three-angled; one-celled. + Styles three; short. Stigmas tufted. _Hab._--Dry, sandy plains + of Southern California. + +The wild pie-plant is closely related to the garden rhubarb, and also to +the dock and the sorrel. In early days in both Utah and Southern California +housewives used its stems as a substitute for the cultivated pie-plant, +finding them quite acceptable. The Indians have long used the root in the +tanning of buckskins, and they have also found in it a bright +mahogany-brown dye, with which to paint their bodies. + +Of late this plant has been attracting much notice under the name +"canaigre," and it is hoped that it will prove a valuable substitute for +tanbark. If it does, we shall hail it with delight as the savior of our +beautiful oak forests. Tannin exists in large quantities in the thick +roots; but it is yet a question whether it will prove remunerative to the +farmer as a crop. At Rialto a company has been formed, which employs many +men to gather and prepare the roots, and there will soon be thousands of +acres of it under cultivation. The tops of the plants, with the small upper +portions of the roots, which have all the eyes upon them, are cut off and +replanted for the next year's crop, while the remainder of the root is +sliced, dried, pulverized, and leached to extract the tannin, which is then +ready for use. + +[Illustration CANAIGRE--_Rumex hymenosepalus_.] + +The plant is a very noticeable one, with its red leaf-stems and veins and +its large, dense cluster of small raisin-colored flowers, and it is often +seen upon our southern plains. But I am told that over the border in Lower +California it grows in great abundance, covering the ground for miles. It +would seem as though its cultivation might be carried on with best results +where nature produces it so freely. + + +HORNLESS WOOLLY MILKWEED. + +_Gomphocarpus tomentosus_, Gray. Milkweed Family. + + Densely white-woolly plants, with milky juice. _Stems._--One to + three feet high. _Leaves._--Two to four inches long. + _Flowers._--Several, in a pendulous cluster on yarnlike + pedicels; lateral upon the stem between the leaves. + _Calyx._--Five-parted; inconspicuous. _Corolla._--Deeply + five-parted; greenish without, pinkish within. + _Stamens._--Five; sunk in the column and alternating with the + five hoods. _Hoods._--Two lines across; saccate; open down the + outer face. _Ovaries._--Two; pointed; capped by a flat stigma. + _Fruit._--A pair of follicles; with many silken-tufted seeds. + _Hab._--Dry hills from San Diego to Monte Diablo. + +In the south by late spring the very woolly stems and foliage of this +milkweed become quite noticeable before any hint of blossoms appears. The +thick, gray leaves look as though they might have been cut out of heavy +flannel. By May the flower-clusters begin to take definite form, and at +last the buds open and reveal a most interesting flower, whose structure is +quite complicated. The center of the blossom is occupied by a fleshy +column, in which are sunk the anthers, and upon which are borne certain +round, dark wine-colored bodies called the "hoods," which are in reality +nectaries, holding honey for insect visitors. All the pollen in each +anther-cell consists of a waxy mass, and the adjacent masses of different +anthers are bound together by a gummy, elastic band, suspended upon the rim +of the stigma. The stigma occupies the top of the fleshy column, and forms +a cap, hiding from view the two tubes, or styles, leading down into the +ovaries. + +[Illustration HORNLESS WOOLLY MILKWEED--_Gomphocarpus tomentosus_.] + +The milkweeds of California are divided between two genera--_Asclepias_ and +_Gomphocarpus_,--the difference between them lying in the presence of a +horn or crest rising out of the hoods in _Asclepias_. + +Bees visiting the blossoms of the milkweeds are said to be frequently +disabled by the pollen-masses, which adhere to them in such numbers and +weigh them down so heavily that they cannot climb upon their combs, but +fall down and perish. + + +MOUNTAIN LADY'S SLIPPER. + +_Cypripedium montanum_, Dougl. Orchis Family. + + _Stems._--Stout; a foot or two high; leafy. _Leaves._--Four to + six inches long; pointed. _Flowers._--One to three; short + pediceled. _Sepals and petals._--Brownish; eighteen to thirty + lines long; the two lower sepals united nearly to the apex. + _Sac._--An inch long; dull white, veined with purple. + _Anthers._--Two fertile (one on either side of the column); one + sterile, four or five lines long, yellow, with purple spots + longer than the stigma. _Hab._--The mountains from Central + California to the Columbia River. + +The mountain lady's slipper is a rare plant with us, which affects cool, +secluded spots in our mountain forests. The plants, of which two or three +usually grow from a creeping rootstock, generally stand where some moisture +seeps out. The leaves are ample and shapely, and the quaint flowers quiet +and elegant in coloring. + +The long, twisted sepals and petals and the oval sac give these blossoms +the aspect of some floral daddy-long-legs or some weird brownie of the +wood. We feel that we have fallen upon a rare day when we are fortunate +enough to find these flowers, and we are reminded of Mr. Burroughs' lines: +"How fastidious and exclusive is the _Cypripedium_!... It does not go in +herds, like the commoner plants, but affects privacy and solitude. When I +come upon it in my walks, I seem to be intruding upon some very private and +exclusive company." + +[Illustration MOUNTAIN LADY'S SLIPPER.--_Cypripedium montanum_.] + +In our Coast Ranges we may look for these blossoms in May. + +We have but two or three species of _Cypripedium_. _C. Californicum_, Gray, +is similar to _C. montanum_, but its blossoms have comparatively short +greenish-yellow sepals and petals, and the sac is from white to pale +rose-color. They have a more compact look, and lack the careless grace of +those of the mountain lady's slipper. Their haunts are swamps in open +woodlands in the northern part of the State, where they bloom in August and +September, and are often found in the company of the California +pitcher-plant. + + +REIN-ORCHIS. + +_Habenaria elegans_, Bolander. Orchis Family. + + _Root._--An oblong tuber. _Stem._--Rather slender; a foot or + two high. _Leaves._--Two; radical; oblong; three to six inches + long; eighteen lines to two inches wide. _Flowers._--Small; + light green; in a dense but slender spike. Sepals and petals + about equal; two lines long; obtuse. _Lip._--Similar, with a + filiform spur three to five lines long. (Otherwise like _H. + leucostachys_.) _Hab._--Near the coast, from Monterey to + Vancouver Island. + +In early summer the fragrant spikes of the rein-orchis stand half-concealed +under the trees and along the banks bordering wooded mountain roads. The +little greenish flowers are inconspicuous, and reveal themselves only to +those who have the habit of observation. Early in the spring the rather +large lily-like leaves were far more noticeable and handsome; but they +seemed to weary of waiting for the tardy arrival of the blossoms, and faded +away long since. The little flowers are very deliberate about unfolding +themselves; and I have sometimes watched them when they seemed for weeks at +a standstill before yielding to the summer's invitation to come forth. + +They are arranged in a three-sided spike, on two sides of which the long +spurs interlace and cross one another in quite a warlike manner. + +[Illustration REIN-ORCHIS--_Habenaria elegans_.] + + +TEASEL. FULLER'S THISTLE. + +_Dipsacus Fullonum_, L. Teasel Family. + +The teasel is not an uncommon sight along our roadsides, having spread +considerably since its introduction from Europe, some years ago. The strong +stems are tall and slender, and bear at summit the large bristly cones, +surrounded by rigid, erect bracts. These cones are the inflorescence of the +plant, and each downward-pointing little hook is a bract beneath a flower. +Before the flowers come out, the buds show their round, green heads, packed +away down among the bristles. Then for a time the cones are ringed or +covered by the delicate flesh-colored flowers; which stand out from the +bristles, giving the cone a soft, fluffy look. After these have passed +away, the cavities in which they were stored give the cone a pitted +appearance. These burs are exquisitely symmetrical, and have long been in +use by the fuller to "tease," or raise a nap upon cloth, whence the name, +"teasel." They are cut in halves or quarters, and these are set in frames +which are worked by machinery. Many vain attempts have been made to +manufacture an instrument to take the place of the teasel; but it is +difficult to find anything that is strong enough to do the work that at the +same time will not injure the cloth. + +This is enumerated among the plants which are supposed to foretell the +weather. Mr. Dyer quotes the following:-- + + ... "tezils, or fuller's thistle, being gathered and hanged up in the + house where the air may come freely to it, upon the alteration of cold + and windy weather will grow smoother, and against rain will close up + its prickles." + +SAMPHIRE. GLASSWORT. + +_Salicornia ambigua_, Michx. Goosefoot Family. + + _Hab._--The Coast, from San Francisco to Oregon. + + Ye marshes, how candid and simple, and nothing withholding and free, + Ye publish yourselves to the sky, and offer yourselves to the sea; + Tolerant plains that suffer the sea and the rains and the sun, + Ye spread and span, like the catholic man who hath mightily won + God out of knowledge, and good out of infinite pain, + And sight out of blindness, and purity out of a stain. + + --SIDNEY LANIER. + +Though a humble enough plant in itself, the samphire, or glasswort, is the +source of a wonderful glory in our marshes in the autumn. Great stretches +of tide-land not already pre-empted by the tule are covered by it, showing +the most gorgeous blendings of crimson, purple, olives, and bronzes, which, +seen with all the added charm of shifting and changing atmospheric effects, +far outrival any Oriental rug that could be conceived of. + +This plant is easily known by its succulent branching, leafless stems and +from the fact that it does not grow outside of the salt marshes. Its +flowering is obscure, and all that can be seen is a few small stamens just +protruding from the surface of the fleshy spike, which appears much like +any of the other branches, the flowers being sunk in it. + +The generic name is derived from two Latin words--_sal_, salt, and _cornu_, +a horn--and conveys the idea of saline plants with hornlike branches. The +English name, "samphire," is of French derivation, and comes originally +from the old "l'herbe de Saint Pierre," formerly having been written +"sampetra" and "sampire." In Great Britain this plant is usually designated +as "_marsh_ samphire," to distinguish it from the ordinary samphire, which +is a plant of the genus _Crithmum_. + +This plant is much relished by cattle, and in England it is made into a +pickle, while on the continent it is used as a pot-herb. Formerly, in +Europe, it was burned in large quantities for the soda contained in its +ashes. + + +MOTTLED SWAMP-ORCHIS. FALSE LADY'S SLIPPER. + +_Epipactis gigantea_, Dougl. Orchis Family. + + _Rootstock._--Creeping. _Stems._--Leafy; one to four feet high. + _Leaves._--Alternate; sessile; clasping; ovate below; + lanceolate above; three to eight inches long. _Flowers._--Three + to ten; in terminal racemes; greenish, veined with purple. + _Sepals._--Three; petaloid; lanceolate; an inch or less long. + _Petals._--The two upper about equaling the sepals. The lip + concave; saccate; eared at base; with a jointed, pendulous tip. + _Anther._--One; sessile upon the top of the column. + _Ovary._--One-celled. _Hab._--Throughout California. + +The casual observer usually alludes to this plant as a "lady's slipper," +and he is not so very far wrong, for it is closely related to the +_Cypripedium_, and resembles it much in habit, in the aspect of its leafy +stems, and in the general form of its blossom. But instead of having its +lip in the form of a sac, it is open and curiously jointed, the lower +portion swinging freely, as upon a hinge. When this lid is raised, one can +fancy some winged seraph or angel enshrined within, but when lowered the +semblance is more to a monk bowed in meditation. + +These beautiful plants will be found abundantly fringing our streams in +June and July, and the disciples of dear old Isaac Walton who then pass +down the stream with rod and line are usually attracted by their quietly +elegant colors. Dull purples and greens predominate, though the lip is +tinged with orange or yellow. + +In Northern California and Oregon is occasionally found a rare and curious +plant--the "phantom orchis," _Cephalanthera Oregana_, Richenb.f. This plant +is white and ghostlike throughout, has stems a foot or two high, but no +leaves--only three to five scarious sheathing bracts. Its blossoms are very +similar in size and shape to those of _Epipactis gigantea_. + +I have never had the pleasure of finding this floral oddity myself; but one +season a friend sent me the only plant which was found in a thicket near a +pretty camp upon the Sacramento River, in the Shasta region. + +[Illustration FALSE LADY'S SLIPPER--_Epipactis gigantea_.] + + +CALIFORNIAN PITCHER-PLANT. CALF'S-HEAD. + +_Darlingtonia Californica_, Torr. Pitcher-plant Family. + + Bog plants, with long horizontal rootstocks. + _Leaves._--Tubular; hooded and appendaged above; eighteen to + thirty-four inches high. _Scape._--Eighteen inches or more + high, with green bracts crowded near the solitary nodding + flower. Flower parts in fives. _Sepals._--Green; twenty lines + long. _Petals._--Purplish; shorter than the sepals; constricted + above into a terminal lobe. _Stamens._--Twelve to fifteen in a + circle around the ovary. _Ovary._--Top-shaped; truncate; + five-lobed; five-celled. Style five-lobed. Stigmas thickish. + _Hab._--The Sierras, from Truckee Pass into Oregon. + +Our pitcher-plant is one of the most wonderful and interesting of all the +forms that grow, linking, as it were, the vegetable world with the animal, +by its unnatural carnivorous habits. If you would like to visit it, this +warm July day, we will take a mountain trail, leading around under lofty +yellow pines, Douglas spruces, and incense-cedars, making our way through +the undergrowth until we come to a swamp lying upon a hillside yonder. +While still some distance away, we can discern the yellowish-green of the +myriad hoods as they lift themselves in the sunlight like spotted snakes. + +If you have never seen the plant before, you will be in a fever of +excitement till you can reach the spot and actually take one of the strange +pitchers in your hand to examine it. Nothing could be cleverer than the +nicely arranged wiles of this uncanny plant for the capturing of the +innocent--yes, and of the more knowing ones--of the insect world who come +within its enchantment. No ogre in his castle has ever gone to work more +deliberately or fiendishly to entrap his victims while offering them +hospitality, than does this plant-ogre. Attracted by the bizarre yellowish +hoods or the tall nodding flowers, the foolish insect alights upon the +former and commences his exploration of the fascinating region. He soon +comes upon the wing, which often being smeared with a trail of sweets, acts +as a guide to lure him on to the dangerous entrance to the hoodlike dome. +Once within this hall of pleasure, he roams about, enjoying the hospitality +spread for him. But at last, when he has partaken to satiety and would +fain depart, he turns to retrace his steps. In the dazzlement of the +translucent windows of the dome above, he loses sight of the darkened door +in the floor by which he entered and flies forcibly upward, bumping his +head in his eagerness to escape. He is stunned by the blow and plunged +downward into the tube below. Here he struggles to rise, but countless +downward-pointing, bristly hairs urge him to his fate. He sinks lower and +lower in this "well of death" until he reaches the fatal waters in the +bottom, where he is at length ingulfed, adding one more to the already +numerous victims of this diabolical plant. + +[Illustration CALIFORNIAN PITCHER-PLANT--_Darlingtonia Californica_.] + +The fluid at the bottom of the well is secreted by the plant, and seems to +have somewhat the action of a gastric juice in disintegrating the insects +submerged in it. Many species of ants, flies, bees, hornets, grasshoppers, +butterflies, moths, dragon-flies, beetles, etc., are to be found in the +tube, sometimes filling it to a depth of two or three inches. + +The disagreeableness of the vicinity of these plants can be imagined upon a +hot day when the sun is shining "upon this sad abode of death" and all the +air is tainted with their sickening odor. + +The mountaineers call the plant "calf's-head," because of the large +yellowish domes of the pitchers. + + + + +INDEX TO LATIN NAMES + + +[To assist in the pronunciation of the Latin names, the accented syllable +in each word is indicated by an accent mark. If this syllable ends in a +vowel, the vowel has the long sound; but if it ends in a consonant, the +vowel has a short sound. Either the English or the Continental sounds may +be given the vowels, though the former are more generally authorized.] + + PAGE + + Abro'nia latifo'lia, 146 + marit'ima, 292 + umbella'ta, 292 + villo'sa, 292 + + Achille'a Millefo'lium, 97 + + Aconi'tum Columbia'num, 328 + Fisch'eri, 328 + + Adenos'toma fascicula'tum, 60 + sparsifo'lium, 60 + + AEs'culus Califor'nica, 69 + + Amelan'chier alnifo'lia, 88 + + Amor'pha Califor'nica, 315 + + Amsinck'ia, 128 + + Anagal'lis arven'sis, 126 + + Anaph'alis Margarita'cea, 102 + + Anemo'ne nemoro'sa, 18 + quinquefo'lia, 18 + + Anemop'sis Califor'nica, 76 + + Antenna'ria, 102 + + Antirrhi'num Coulteria'num, 46 + glandulo'sum, 320 + Orcuttia'num, 46 + va'gans, 320 + + Apoc'ynum androsaemifo'lium, 236 + cannab'inum, 238 + + Aquile'gia coeru'lea, 348 + trunca'ta, 348 + + Ar'abis blepharophyl'la, 196 + + Ara'lia Califor'nica, 76 + + Ar'butus Menzie'sii, 37 + + Arctostaph'ylos bi'color, 14 + glau'ca, 14 + manzani'ta, 12 + pun'gens, 12 + + Argemo'ne platy'ceras, 74 + + Aristolo'chia Califor'nica, 374 + + Artemis'ia Califor'nica, 377 + tridenta'ta, 378 + vulga'ris, 377 + + As'arum cauda'tum, 310 + Hartwe'gi, 310 + + Ascle'pias Mexica'na, 312 + + As'ter Chamisso'nis, 332 + salsugino'sus, 32 + + Astragalus, xxxv + leucop'sis, 40 + + Audiber'tia grandiflo'ra, 350 + stachyoi'des, 294 + niv'ea, 296 + + + Bac'charis Douglas'ii, 106 + pilula'ris, 104 + + Bae'ria gra'cilis, 124 + + Ber'beris Aquifo'lium, 122 + nervo'sa, 118 + re'pens, 118 + + Bloome'ria au'rea, 154 + Clevelan'di, 156 + + Boykin'ia occidenta'lis, 81 + + Bras'sica ni'gra, 140 + + Brevoor'tia coccin'ea, 238 + + Brodiae'a capita'ta, 262 + coccin'ea, 238 + conges'ta, 264 + grandiflo'ra, 318 + ixioi'des, 156 + lac'tea, 156 + lax'a, 302 + multiflo'ra, 262 + terres'tris, 318 + + + Brodiae'a volu'bilis, 232 + + Brunel'la vulga'ris, 322 + + Bryan'thus Brew'eri, 246 + + + Calandrin'ia caules'cens, 212 + + Calochor'tus, xl + al'bus, 54 + Ben'thami, 130 + Catali'nae, 306 + clava'tus, 150 + lu'teus, 174 + lu'teus ocula'tus, 81 + macrocar'pus, 268 + Mawea'nus, 278 + pulchel'lus, 144 + splen'dens, 306 + umbella'tus, 278 + uniflo'rus, 278 + venus'tus, 78 + Weed'ii, 150 + + Calycan'thus occidenta'lis, 352 + + Calyp'so boreal'is, 210 + + Camas'sia esculen'ta, 292 + + Campan'ula prenanthoi'des, 322 + + Cardam'ine paucisec'ta, 4 + + Castille'ia foliolo'sa, 344 + parviflo'ra, 344 + + Ceano'thus, xxxiv + divarica'tus, 258 + integer'rimus, 84 + prostra'tus, 326 + thyrsiflo'rus, 274 + velu'tinus, 39 + + Cephalan'thera Orega'na, 388 + + Cephalan'thus occidenta'lis, 98 + + Cer'cis occidenta'lis, 198 + + Cercocar'pus parvifo'lius, 373 + + Chamaeba'tia foliolo'sa, 92 + (Pronounced _K_ameba'tia.) + + Cheiran'thus as'per, 132 + + Chimaph'ila Menzie'sii, 104 + umbella'ta, 104 + + Chlorog'alum pomeridia'num, 82 + + Chorizan'the staticoi'des, 218 + + Cicho'rium In'tybus, 312 + + Clar'kia concin'na, 236 + el'egans, 228 + + Clayto'nia perfolia'ta, 16 + + Clem'atis lasian'tha, 91 + ligusticifo'lia, 91 + + Clinto'nia Andrewsia'na, 202 + + Collin'sia bi'color, 294 + + Collo'mia grandiflo'ra, 178 + + Convol'vulus arven'sis, 42 + lute'olus, 40 + occidenta'lis, 40 + Soldanel'la, 210 + villo'sus, 42 + + Corallorhi'za Bigelo'vii, 272 + multiflo'ra, 272 + + Cor'nus Nuttal'lii, 94 + + Cot'ula coronopifo'lia, 151 + + Cotyle'don Califor'inicum, 142 + ed'ulis, 142 + lanceola'ta, 141 + pulverulen'ta, 142 + + Cucur'bita foetidis'sima, 117 + peren'nis, 117 + + Cus'cuta, 160 + sali'na, 161 + + Cynoglos'sum gran'de, 258 + + Cypripe'dium Califor'nicum, 384 + monta'num, 382 + + + Darlingto'nia Califor'nica, 390 + + Datu'ra meteloi'des, 54 + Stramo'nium, 96 + suaveo'lens, 96 + + Delphin'ium, 276 + cardina'le, 364 + nudicau'le, 346 + scopulo'rum, 330 + + Dendrome'con rig'idum, 118 + + Denta'ria Califor'nica, 4 + + Dicen'tra chrysan'tha, 162 + formo'sa, 242 + + Dip'sacus Fullon'um, 386 + + Dis'porum Hook'eri, 376 + + Dodeca'theon Clevelan'di, 206 + Henderso'ni, 204 + Mea'dia, 204 + + Downin'gia el'egans, 315 + pulchel'la, 314 + + + Echinocac'tus virides'cens, 374 + + Echinocys'tis faba'cea, 26 + macrocar'pa, 26 + + Echinosperm'um floribun'dum, 334 + + Ellis'ia chrysanthemifo'lia, 36 + + Emmenan'the penduliflo'ra, 130 + + Ence'lia Califor'nica, 128 + + Epilo'bium angustifo'lium, 244 + obcorda'tum, 254 + panicula'tum, 244 + spica'tum, 244 + + Epipac'tis gigante'a, 388 + + Erig'eron Coul'teri, 106 + + Erig'eron glau'cus, 304 + Philadel'phicus, 216 + salsugino'sus, 332 + + Eriodic'tyon glutino'sum, 56 + tomento'sum, 58 + + Eriog'onum fascicula'tum, 34 + nu'dum, 34 + umbella'tum, 178 + ursi'num, 178 + + Eriophyl'lum caespito'sum, 182 + confertiflo'rum, 180 + + Eritrich'ium, 30 + + Ero'dium Bo'trys, 194 + cicuta'rium, 194 + moscha'tum, 194 + + Erys'imum as'perum, 132 + grandiflo'rum, 132 + + Erythrae'a venus'ta, 218 + + Erythro'nium gigante'um, 136 + grandiflo'rum, 138 + + Eschschol'tzia Califor'nica, 114 + + Eucharid'ium concin'num, 236 + + + Floer'kia Douglas'ii, 126 + + Fraga'ria Califor'nica, 10 + Chilen'sis, 10 + + Fremon'tia Califor'nica, 158 + + Fritilla'ria biflo'ra, 266 + coccin'ea, 346 + lanceola'ta, 264 + lilia'cea, 267 + pluriflo'ra, 266 + pu'dica, 267 + recur'va, 346 + + + Ga'lium Apari'ne, 28 + angustifo'lium, 29 + + Gar'rya ellip'tica, 370 + Fremon'ti, 370 + + Gaulthe'ria Shal'lon, 75 + + Gentia'na calyco'sa, 330 + + Gil'ia, xxxvii + achilleaefo'lia, 296 + aggrega'ta, 360 + androsa'cea, 222 + Califor'nica, 206 + capita'ta, 296 + Chamisso'nis, 296 + dianthoi'des, 216 + dicho'toma, 50 + grandiflo'ra, 178 + tri'color, 288 + + Gnapha'lium decur'rens, 68 + Sprenge'lii, 68 + + Gode'tia, xxxvi + Bot'tae, 240 + grandiflo'ra, 240 + vimine'a, 240 + + Gomphocar'pus tomento'sus, 380 + + Goodye'ra Menzie'sii, 98 + + Grinde'lia cuneifo'lia, 176 + hirsu'tula, 178 + robus'ta, 176 + + + Habena'ria el'egans, 384 + leucosta'chys, 94 + + Helian'thus an'nuus, 185 + Califor'nicus, 186 + + Heliotro'pium Curassa'vicum, 47 + + Hemizo'nia luzulaefo'lia, 188 + + Heterome'les arbutifo'lia, 90 + + Heu'chera micran'tha, 58 + + Hosack'ia bi'color, 165 + crassifo'lia, 166 + gla'bra, 152 + gra'cilis, 166 + Purshia'na, 252 + Tor'reyi, 165 + + Hyper'icum anagalloi'des, 172 + concin'num, 162 + + + I'ris longipet'ala, 280 + macrosi'phon, 280 + + Iso'meris arbo'rea, 144 + + + Krynitz'kia, 30 + + + Lar'rea Mexica'na, 191 + + Lath'yrus splen'dens, 212 + Tor'reyi, 25 + vesti'tus, 25 + + Lava'tera assurgentiflo'ra, 226 + + Lay'ia glandulo'sa, 28 + platyglos'sa, 148 + + Le'dum glandulo'sum, 103 + + Lepto'syne Douglas'ii, 148 + marit'ima, 146 + + Lessin'gia Germano'rum, 252 + lepto'clada, 252 + + Lewis'ia redivi'va, 224 + + Lil'ium Humbold'tii, 185 + marit'imum, 356 + pardali'num, 182 + par'vum, 180 + rubes'cens, 72 + + Limnan'thes Douglas'ii, 126 + + Lina'ria Canaden'sis, 304 + + Lobe'lia splen'dens, 365 + + Lonic'era hispid'ula, 226 + involucra'ta, 122 + + Lupi'nus, xxxiv + al'bifrons, 161 + arbo'reus, 161 + bi'color, 300 + densiflo'rus, 85 + Sti'veri, 161 + + Lysichi'ton Camtschatcen'sis, 166 + + + Ma'dia el'egans, 182 + sati'va, 182 + + Maho'nia Aquifo'lium, 122 + + Malaco'thrix Califor'nica, 151 + saxat'ilis, 75 + tenuifo'lia, 75 + + Malvas'trum Thur'beri, 220 + + Mamilla'ria Goodridg'ii, 24 + + Marru'bium vulga're, 47 + + Meconop'sis heterophyl'la, 129 + + Medica'go denticula'ta, 132 + sati'va, 326 + + Megarrhi'za Califor'nica, 26 + + Melilo'tus al'ba, 156 + parviflo'ra, 156 + + Mentze'lia laevicau'lis, 168 + Lind'leyi, 168 + + Mesembryan'themum aequilatera'le, 220 + crystalli'num, 51 + + Micram'pelis, 26 + + Microme'ria Douglas'ii, 62 + + Mim'ulus, xxxviii + brev'ipes, 134 + cardina'lis, 360 + Douglas'ii, 222 + glutino'sus, 138 + Lewis'ii, 248 + lu'teus, 134 + moscha'tus, 134 + + Mirab'ilis Califor'nica, 208 + + Monardel'la lanceola'ta, 324 + odoratis'sima, 324 + villo'sa, 324 + + Mon'tia perfolia'ta, 16 + + Muil'la marit'ima, 369 + seroti'na, 369 + + + Neil'lia opulifo'lia, 85 + + Nemoph'ila atoma'ria, 39 + auri'ta, 278 + insig'nis, 290 + interme'dia, 284 + macula'ta, 39 + Menzie'sii, 284 + parviflo'ra, 39 + + Nicotia'na glau'ca, 129 + + Nu'phar polysep'alum, 184 + + Nuttal'lia cerasifor'mis, 18 + + + OEnothe'ra, xxxv + bien'nis, 175 + bistor'ta, 136 + Califor'nica, 48 + cheiranthifo'lia, 136 + ova'ta, 110 + + Opun'tia basila'ris, 225 + Engelman'ni, 170 + prolif'era, 356 + serpenti'na, 357 + + Orthocar'pus, xxxviii + densiflo'rus, 228 + erian'thus, 151 + purpuras'cens, 228 + versic'olor, 52 + + Ox'alis cornicula'ta, 196 + + Orega'na, 195 + + + Paeo'nia Brown'ii, 340 + + Papa'ver Califor'nicum, 116 + + Pedicula'ris attol'lens, 253 + densiflo'ra, 336 + Groenlan'dica, 253 + + Pentachae'ta au'rea, 126 + + Penste'mon, xxxix + azu'reus, 308 + Bridge'sii, 358 + centranthifo'lius, 358 + cordifo'lius, 350 + heterophyl'lus, 308 + Menzie'sii, 250 + + Phace'lia, xxxvii + Douglas'ii, 282 + grandiflo'ra, 267 + Par'ryi, 288 + tanacetifo'lia, 282 + vis'cida, 267 + Whitla'via, 288 + + Phlox Douglas'ii, 248 + + Pickerin'gia monta'na, 230 + + Pipto'calyx, 30 + + Plagioboth'rys, 30 + + Platyste'mon Califor'nicus, 112 + + Polyg'ala Califor'nica, 286 + + Polyg'ala cornu'ta, 286 + cuculla'ta, 286 + + Potentil'la Anseri'na, 175 + glandulo'sa, 175 + + Primu'la suffrutes'cens, 250 + + Prosar'tes Hook'eri, 376 + Menzie'sii, 377 + + Pru'nus demis'sa, 36 + ilicifo'lia, 61 + subcorda'ta, 34 + + Pteros'pora andromede'a, 186 + + Pyr'ola aphyl'la, 100 + denta'ta, 100 + pic'ta, 100 + rotundifo'lia, 100 + + + Ranun'culus Califor'nicus, 110 + + Rham'nus Califor'nica, 67 + Purshia'na, 68 + + Rhododen'dron Califor'nicum, 234 + occidenta'le, 86 + + Rhus aromat'ica, 154 + Canaden'sis, 152 + diversilo'ba, 8 + integrifo'lia, 203 + lauri'na, 203 + ova'ta, 204 + + Ri'bes glutino'sum, 214 + Menzie'sii, 338 + sanguin'eum, 214 + specio'sum, 338 + subves'titum, 338 + + Romanzof'fia Sitchen'sis, 22 + + Romne'ya Coul'teri, 64 + + Ro'sa Califor'nica, 234 + gymnocar'pa, 236 + + Ru'bus Nutka'nus, 24 + spectab'ilis, 25 + + Ru'mex hymenosep'alus, 378 + + + Salicor'nia ambig'ua, 387 + + Sal'via cardua'cea, 307 + Columba'riae, 298 + + Sambu'cus glau'ca, 45 + + Sarco'des sanguin'ea, 362 + + Saxif'raga Califor'nica, 14 + pelta'ta, 242 + Virginien'sis, 14 + + Scoli'opus Bigelo'vii, 256 + + Scrophula'ria Califor'nica, 342 + + Scutella'ria angustifo'lia, 270 + Califor'nica, 270 + tubero'sa, 270 + + Se'dum spathulifo'lium, 170 + + Sidal'cea malvaeflo'ra, 198 + + Sile'ne Califor'nica, 354 + Gal'lica, 246 + lacinia'ta, 354 + + Sisyrin'chium bel'lum, 284 + Califor'nicum, 284 + + Smilaci'na amplexicau'lis, 22 + sessilifo'lia, 22 + + Sola'num Douglas'ii, 80 + ni'grum, 80 + umbellif'erum, 268 + Xan'ti, 268 + + Solida'go Califor'nica, 190 + occidenta'lis, 191 + + Spha'cele calyci'na, 42 + + Spirae'a betulifo'lia, 85 + dis'color, 85 + Douglas'ii, 85 + + Spiran'thes Romanzoffia'num, 92 + + Spra'guea umbella'ta, 70 + + Sta'chys bulla'ta, 230 + + Stropholi'rion Califor'nicum, 232 + + Symphoricar'pos racemo'sus, 225 + + + Telli'ma af'finis, 32 + grandiflo'ra, 342 + + Thermop'sis Califor'nica, 148 + + Trichoste'ma lanatum, 316 + lanceola'tum, 315 + + Trienta'lis Europae'a, 202 + + Tril'lium ova'tum, 10 + ses'sile, 260 + + + Umbellula'ria Califor'nica, 372 + + + Vaccin'ium ova'tum, 200 + + Vancouve'ria parviflo'ra, 88 + + Venegas'ia carpesioi'des, 171 + + Vera'trum Califor'nicum, 108 + fimbria'tum, 108 + + Verbas'cum Blatta'ria, 190 + Thap'sus, 190 + + Vic'ia gigante'a, 358 + + Vi'ola Beckwith'ii, 29 + cani'na, 307 + ocella'ta, 50 + sarmento'sa, 140 + + + Whip'plea modes'ta, 32 + + Whitla'via grandiflo'ra, 288 + + Wye'thia angustifo'lia, 157 + gla'bra, 157 + + Wye'thia helenioi'des, 157 + mol'lis, 157 + + + Xerophyl'lum te'nax, 51 + + + Yuc'ca arbores'cens, 44 + bacca'ta, 20 + + Yuc'ca Mohaven'sis, 20 + Whip'plei, 70 + + + Zauschne'ria Califor'nica, 366 + + Zygade'nus Fremon'ti, 6 + veneno'sus, 6 + + + + +INDEX TO ENGLISH NAMES + + + PAGE + + Aconite, 328 + + Alfalfa, 326 + + Alfilerilla, 194 + + Alpine Heather, 246 + + Alpine Phlox, 248 + + Alpine Willow-Herb, 254 + + Alum-Root, 58 + + Amapola, 116 + + American Barrenwort, 88 + + American Velvet-Plant, 191 + + Amole, 82 + + Angels' Trumpets, 96 + + Apple of Peru, 96 + + August-Flower, 176 + + Azulea, 284 + + + Baby-Blue-Eyes, 290 + + Baby-Eyes, 284 + + Ball-Sage, 294 + + Balm of Heaven, 373 + + Balsamea, 366 + + Beach-Aster, 304 + + Beach Morning-glory, 210 + + Beach Primrose, 136 + + Beach Strawberry, 10 + + Bearberry, 12 + + Bear-Clover, 92 + + Bearwood, 68 + + Beautiful Clarkia, 236 + + Bed-Straw, 28 + + Bellflower, 322 + + Black Lily, 266 + + Black Sage, 294, 316 + + Bladderpod, 144 + + Blazing-Star, 168 + + Bleeding-Heart, 242 + + Blood-Drop, 129 + + Blue-Blossom, 274 + + Blue-Curls, 315 + + Blue-eyed Grass, 284 + + Blue Forget-me-not, 334 + + Blue Gentian, 330 + + Blue Gilia, 296 + + Blue Larkspur, 276 + + Blue-and-white Lupine, 300 + + Blue Milla, 302 + + Blue Myrtle, 274 + + Blue-veined Nemophila, 284 + + Blueweed, 328 + + Big-Root, 26 + + Bird's-Eyes, 288 + + Bitter-Bark, 68 + + Bitter-Root, 224 + + Brass Buttons, 151 + + Brodiaea, 262 + + Bronze-Bells, } 264 + Brown Lily, } + + Buck-Brush, 152 + + Bur-Clover, 132 + + Butter-and-Eggs, 151 + + Butterfly Tulip, 81 + + Button-Bush, } 98 + Button-Willow, } + + + Cajeput, 373 + + Calabazilla, 117 + + Calf's-Head, 390 + + Californian Azalea, 86 + + California Bay-Tree, 373 + + Californian Bee-Plant, 342 + + Californian Bluebells, 290 + + Californian Buckeye, 69 + + Californian Centaury, 218 + + California Coffee, 67 + + Californian Compass-Plant, 157 + + Californian Dandelion, 164 + + Californian False Hellebore, 108 + + Californian Figwort, 342 + + Californian Fish-hook Cactus, 24 + + Californian Four-o'clock, 208 + + + California Fuchsia, 366 + + Californian Goldenrod, 190 + + Californian Hardhack, 85 + + Californian Harebell, 322 + + Californian Holly, 90 + + Californian Horse-Chestnut, 69 + + California Laurel, 372 + + California Lilac, 258, 274 + + Californian Lobelia, 314 + + Californian Milkwort, 286 + + Californian Olive, 373 + + Californian Pitcher-Plant, 390 + + California Poppy, 114 + + Californian Rose-Bay, 234 + + Californian Saxifrage, 14 + + Californian Slippery-Elm, 158 + + Californian Spikenard, 76 + + Califor'n Sweet-scented Shrub, 352 + + Californian Trillium, 260 + + Californian Wild Currant, 214 + + Calypso, 210 + + Camass, 292 + + Canaigre, 378 + + Cancer-Root, 172 + + Canchalagua, 218 + + Canker Lettuce, 100 + + Cascara Sagrada, 67 + + Catalina Mariposa Tulip, 306 + + Cat's-Ears, 278 + + Chamisal, 60 + + Chamise Lily, 136 + + Chamiso, 60 + + Chaparral Lily, 72 + + Chaparral Pea, 230 + + Chia, 298 + + Chicalote, 74 + + Chickweed-Wintergreen, 202 + + Chicory, 312 + + Chilean Clover, 326 + + Chili-Cojote, 117 + + Chilicothe, 26 + + Chittemwood, 68 + + Chocolate Lily, 266 + + Choke-Cherry, 36 + + Cholla-Cactus, 356 + + Christmas-Berry, 90 + + Christmas-Horns, 346 + + Christmas-Rose, 340 + + Cinquefoil, 175 + + Clarkia, 228 + + Cleavers, 28 + + Clematis, 91 + + Climbing Pentstemon, 350 + + Clintonia, 202 + + Clocks, 194 + + Cluster-Lily, 262 + + Coast Lily, 356 + + Collinsia, 294 + + Columbine, 348 + + Common Aster, 332 + + Common Black Mustard, 140 + + Common Buttercup, 110 + + Common Elder, 45 + + Common Evening Primrose, 175 + + Common Fleabane, 216 + + Common Milkweed, 312 + + Common Monkey-Flower, 134 + + Common Mugwort, 377 + + Common Nightshade, 80 + + Common Stramonium, 96 + + Common Sunflower, 185 + + Common White Lupine, 85 + + Common Wild Pea, 25 + + Common Wild Rose, 234 + + Copa de Oro, 114 + + Coral-Root, 272 + + Coulter's Snapdragon, 46 + + Cowslips, 110 + + Cream-colored Wall-Flower, 132 + + Cream-Cups, 112 + + Creeping Wood-Violet, 140 + + Creosote-Bush, 191 + + Cudweed, 68 + + Cup of Gold, 116 + + + Death Camass, 6 + + Deerweed, 152 + + Devil's Apple, 96 + + Diogenes' Lantern, 144 + + Dodder, 160 + + Dog's-tooth Violet, 136 + + Dog-Violet, 307 + + Dormidera, 116 + + Douglas Iris, 300 + + Drops of Gold, 376 + + Dutchman's Pipe, 374 + + + Echeveria, 141 + + Elephants' Heads, 252 + + Ellisia, 36 + + Escobita, 228 + + Espuela del Caballero, 276 + + Evening Snow, 50 + + Everlasting Flower, 68 + + + Fairy Bells, 376 + + False Alum-Root, 342 + + + False Indigo, 315 + + False Lupine, 148 + + False Lady's Slipper, 388 + + False Mallow, 220 + + False Pimpernel, 172 + + False Solomon's Seal, 22 + + False Tidy-Tips, 148 + + Farewell to Spring, 240 + + Fawn-Lily, 136 + + Fetid Adder's-Tongue, 256 + + Fever-Bush, 370 + + Fig-Marigold, 220 + + Filaree, 194 + + Finger-Tips, 142 + + Firecracker Flower, 238 + + Fireweed, 244 + + Flaming Poppy, 129 + + Floriponda, 96 + + Fly-Flower, 124 + + Fragrant Sumach, 152 + + Friar's-Cap, 328 + + Fringed Gilia, 216 + + Fuller's Thistle, 386 + + Fuchsia-flowered Gooseberry, 338 + + + Giant Californian White Poppy, 66 + + Glasswort, 387 + + Gobernadora, 191 + + Godetia, 240 + + Golden Brodiaea, 156 + + Golden Butterfly-Tulip, 150 + + Golden Dicentra, 162 + + Golden Lily-Bell, 144 + + Golden Stars, 154 + + Golden Thread, 160 + + Golden Yarrow, 180 + + Golden-eyed Grass, 284 + + Goose-Grass, 28 + + Gourd, 117 + + Grass-Nuts, 262 + + Greasewood, 60, 66 + + Great Willow-Herb, 244 + + Green-banded Mariposa, 268 + + Green-stemmed Filaree, 194 + + Ground-Iris, 280 + + Ground-Pink, 216 + + Groundsel-Tree, 104 + + Gum-Plant, 176 + + + Hag-Taper, 191 + + Hairbell, 54 + + Harvest Brodiaea, 318 + + Heal-All, 322 + + Heart's-Ease, 50 + + Hedge-Nettle, 230 + + Heliotrope, 47 + + Helmet-Flower, 328 + + Hen-and-Chickens, 142 + + Hideondo, 191 + + Hog-Onion, 262 + + Hog's Potato, 8 + + Holly-leaved Barberry, 122 + + Holly-leaved Cherry, 61 + + Honeysuckle, 86 + + Horehound, 47 + + Hound's-Tongue, 258 + + Huckleberry, 200 + + Humboldt's Lily, 185 + + Humming-bird's Sage, 350 + + Humming-bird's Trumpet, 367 + + + Ice-Plant, 51 + + Incense-Shrub, 214 + + Indian Lettuce, 16, 100 + + Indian Paint-Brush, 344 + + Indian Pink, 354 + + Indian Plume, 344 + + Indian Rhubarb, 242 + + Indian Warrior, 336 + + Indian Wheat, 157 + + Innocence, 294 + + Islay, 61 + + Ithuriel's Spear, 302 + + + Jamestown-Weed, } 96 + Jimson-Weed, } + + Joshua-Tree, 44 + + Judas-Tree, 198 + + June-Berry, 88 + + + Kamass, 292 + + + Labrador Tea, 103 + + Lady's Tobacco, 68 + + Ladies' Tresses, 92 + + Lantern of the Fairies, 54 + + Large-flowered Brodiaea, 318 + + Large-flowered Datura, 54 + + Large-flowered Dogwood, 94 + + Large-flowered Phacelia, 267 + + Large Vetch, 358 + + Large White Mountain Daisy, 106 + + Large Yellow Lupine, 161 + + Lavender Mountain Daisy, 332 + + Lead-Plant, 315 + + Leatherwood, 160 + + Lemonade-Berry, 3, 203 + + Lemon-Lily, 109 + + + Leopard-Lily, 182 + + Lessingia, 252 + + Lilac Sand-Verbena, 292 + + Little Alpine Lily, 180 + + Llavina, 24 + + Lobelia, 6 + + Loco-Weed, 40 + + Love-Vine, 160 + + Lucern, 326 + + + Mad-Apple, 96 + + Madrone, } 37 + Madrono, } + + Mad Violets, 204 + + Mahala Mats, 326 + + Mahogany, 203 + + Mahonia, 118, 122 + + Main-oph-weep, 56 + + Man-in-the-Ground, 26 + + Manzanita, 12 + + Marianas, 290 + + Mariposa Tulip, 78, 81 + + Matilija Poppy, 64 + + Meadow-Foam, 126 + + Meadow-Sweet, 85 + + Mesembryanthemum, 220 + + Milfoil, 97 + + Milkweed, Hornless Woolly, 380 + + Milk-white Rein-Orchis, 94 + + Miner's Lettuce, 16 + + Mission-Bells, 264 + + Mission Poppy, 66 + + Mist-Maidens, 22 + + Mock-Orange, 117 + + Monk's-Hood, 328 + + Mosquito-Bills, 206 + + Moth-Mullein, 190 + + Mother's Heart, 78 + + Mottled Swamp-Orchis, 388 + + Mountain Balm, 56 + + Mountain Birch, 84 + + Mountain Heart's-Ease, 29 + + Mountain Lady's Slipper, 382 + + Mountain Laurel, 373 + + Mountain Mahogany, 373 + + Mountain Misery, 92 + + Muilla, 369 + + Musky Filaree, 194 + + + Naked Broom-Rape, 172 + + Nievitas, 30 + + Nigger-Babies, 284 + + Nigger-Heads, 340 + + Nine-Bark, 85 + + Noona, 268 + + Northern Scarlet Larkspur, 346 + + + Oregon Grape, 118, 122 + + Orpine, 170 + + Oso-Berry, 18 + + Our Lord's Candle, 70 + + + Pearly Everlasting Flower, 102 + + Pennyroyal, 324 + + Pentachaeta, 126 + + Pepper-Root, 4 + + Phantom Orchis, 388 + + Pigeon-Berry, 67 + + Pimpernel, 126 + + Pin-Clover, 194 + + Pine-Drops, 186 + + Pink Monkey-Flower, 248 + + Pink Paint-Brush, 228 + + Pipe-Vine, 374 + + Pipsissiwa, 104 + + Pitcher-Sage, 42 + + Poison-Oak, 8 + + Poison-Weed, 157 + + Poleo, 324 + + Poor-Man's Weather-Glass, 126 + + Pop-corn Flower, 30 + + Prairie-Pointers, 206 + + Prickly-Pear, 170 + + Prickly Phlox, 206 + + Pride of California, The, 212 + + Pride of the Mountains, 250 + + Prince's Pine, 104 + + Purple Nemophila, 278 + + Pussy's-Ears, 278 + + Pussy's-Paws, 70 + + + Quinine-Bush, 370 + + + Racine-Amere, 224 + + Rattlesnake Plantain, 98 + + Rattle-Weed, 40 + + Redbud, 198 + + Red-stemmed Filaree, 194 + + Redwood Lily, 72 + + Redwood Sorrel, 196 + + Rein-Orchis, 384 + + Resin-Weed, 176 + + Rice-Root, 264 + + Rock-Cress, 196 + + Rock-Fringe, 254 + + Rock-Rose, 208 + + Romero, 316 + + Roosters'-Heads, 206 + + Ruby Lily, 72 + + + Sacred Bark, 67 + + Sage, 298 + + Sagebrush, 377 + + Saitas, 262 + + Salal, 75 + + Samphire, 387 + + Sassafras Laurel, 373 + + Satin-Bell, 54 + + Sauco, 45 + + Scarlet Bugler, 358 + + Scarlet Fritillary, 346 + + Scarlet Gilia, 360 + + Scarlet Honeysuckle, 350 + + Scarlet Monkey-Flower, 360 + + Scarlet Paint-Brush, 344 + + Sea-Dahlia, 146 + + Self-Heal, 322 + + Service-Berry, 88 + + Shad-Bush, 90 + + Shasta Lily, 102 + + Shepherd's Purse, 78 + + Shooting-Stars, 204 + + Sierra Plum, 34 + + Sierra Primrose, 250 + + Silk-Tassel Tree, 370 + + Silver-weed, 175 + + Silkweed, 312 + + Si me quieres, no me quieres, 124 + + Skullcap, 270 + + Skunk-Cabbage, 108, 166 + + Snow-Berry, 225 + + Snow-Plant, 362 + + Snowy Lily-Bell, 54 + + Soap-Bush, 84, 258 + + Soap-Plant, 6, 82 + + Sour-Grass, 51 + + Southern Scarlet Larkspur, 364 + + Spanish Bayonet, 20, 70 + + Spanish Lily, 262 + + Spat'lum, 224 + + Spice-Bush, 373 + + Spineless Tuna, 225 + + Spreading Dogbane, 236 + + Spring-Blossom, 4 + + Squaw-Berry, 152 + + Squaw-Grass, 51 + + Squaw's Carpet, 326 + + Star-Flower, 202 + + Stickseed, 334 + + Sticky Monkey-Flower, 138 + + St. John's-Wort, 162 + + Stonecrop, 170 + + Strawberry Cactus, 24 + + Succory, 312 + + Sulphur-Flower, 178 + + Sun-Cups, 110 + + Sunflower, 157 + + Sunshine, 124 + + + Tall Mountain Larkspur, 330 + + Tarweed, 92, 182, 188 + + Teasel, 386 + + Thimble-Berry, 24 + + Thistle-Poppy, 74 + + Thistle-Sage, 307 + + Thorn-Apple, 96 + + Tidy-Tips, 148 + + Tiger-Lily, 182, 185 + + Toad-Flax, 304 + + Tobacco-Root, 224 + + Tolguacha, 54 + + Toothwort, 4 + + Torosa, 114 + + Toyon, 90 + + Tree-Mallow, 226 + + Tree-Poppy, 118 + + Tree-Tobacco, 129 + + Tree-Yucca, 44 + + Trefoil Sumach, 152 + + Tuna, 170 + + Turban Cactus, 374 + + Turkey-Beard, 51 + + Turkish Rugging, 218 + + Turk's-head Cactus, 374 + + Twin-Berry, 122 + + Twining Hyacinth, 232 + + + Umbrella-Plant, 242 + + + Velvet Cactus, 357 + + Venegasia, 171 + + Vervenia, 282 + + Villela, 284 + + Violet Beard-Tongue, 308 + + Violet Nightshade, 268 + + Violet Snapdragon, 320 + + Virgin's Bower, 91 + + + Wahoo, 68 + + Wake-Robin, 10 + + Washington Lily, 102 + + Water-Holly, 118 + + Water-Lily, 6 + + Western Boykinia, 81 + + Western Cardinal-Flower, 365 + + Western Goldenrod, 191 + + Western Spice-Bush, 352 + + Western Wall-Flower, 132 + + + Whipplea, 32 + + Whispering Bells, 130 + + White Brodiaea, 156 + + White Daisy, 28 + + White Evening Primrose, 48 + + White Forget-me-not, 30 + + White Fritillary, 267 + + White Globe-Tulip, 54 + + White Layia, 28 + + White Nemophila, 39 + + White Owl's Clover, 52 + + White Sage, 66 + + White Sweet Clover, 156 + + White Tea-Tree, 84 + + White-veined Shinleaf, 100 + + Wild Bachelor's Button, 312 + + Wild Bouvardia, 178 + + Wild Bridal-Wreath, 85 + + Wild Broom, 152 + + Wild Buckwheat, 34 + + Wild Canterbury-Bell, 288 + + Wild Cherry, 36 + + Wild Coreopsis, 182 + + Wild Cucumber, 26 + + Wild Cyclamen, 204 + + Wild Date, 20 + + Wild Ginger, 310 + + Wild Gooseberry, 338 + + Wild Heliotrope, 282 + + Wild Hollyhock, 198 + + Wild Honeysuckle, 226 + + Wild Hyacinth, 262, 292 + + Wild Lantana, 292 + + Wild Morning-glory, 40 + + Wild Peony, 340 + + Wild Pie-Plant, 378 + + Wild Plum, 34 + + Wild Portulaca, 212 + + Wild White Lilac, 39 + + Wind-Flower, 18 + + Wind-Poppy, 129 + + Wintergreen, 75 + + Wood Anemone, 18 + + Wood-Balm, 42 + + Woodland Star of Bethlehem, 32 + + Wood Strawberry, 10 + + Woolly Blue-Curls, 316 + + Woolly Breeches, 128 + + + Yarrow, 97 + + Yellow-Boy, 67 + + Yellow Daisy, 148 + + Yellow Forget-me-not, 128 + + Yellow Globe-Tulip, 144 + + Yellow Mariposa Tulip, 174 + + Yellow Pansy, 120 + + Yellow Pond-Lily, 184 + + Yellow-Root, 67 + + Yellow Sand-Verbena, 146 + + Yellow Star Tulip, 130 + + Yellow Sweet Clover, 156 + + Yerba Buena, 62 + + Yerba de Chivato, 91 + + Yerba del Indio, 354 + + Yerba del Pasmo, 61 + + Yerba Mansa, 76 + + Yerba Santa, 56 + + Yucca-Palm, 44 + + + Zygadene, 6 + + + + +INDEX OF TECHNICAL TERMS + + + PAGE + + Aggregate fruit, xxx + + Akene, xxx + + Ament, xxviii + + Anther, xxix + + Axil, xxii + + + Berry, xxx + + Blade, xxiii + + Bract, xxvii + + Bulb, xxiii + + + Calyx, xxviii + + Capsule, xxx + + Catkin, xxviii + + Complete flower, xxviii + + Compound leaf, xxiv + + Corm, xxiii + + Corolla, xxviii + + Corymb, xxvii + + Cyme, xxviii + + + Drupe, xxx + + + Essential organs, xxviii + + + Female flower, xxix + + Filament, xxix + + Flower-cluster, xxvii + + Flower-head, xxviii + + Follicle, xxx + + Foot-stalk, xxiii + + Fruit, xxix + + + Gourd, xxx + + + Imperfect flower, xxix + + Inflorescence, xxvii + + Internodes, xxii + + Involucre, xxvii + + + Leaflet, xxiv + + Leaves, xxiii + + Legume, xxx + + + Male flower, xxix + + + Neutral flower, xxix + + Nodes, xxii + + + Ovary, xxix + + + Palmate leaf, xxiv + + Panicle, xxviii + + Pedicel, xxvii + + Peduncle, xxvii + + Pepo, xxx + + Perianth, xxviii + + Perfect flower, xxix + + Pericarp, xxix + + Petals, xxviii + + Petiole, xxiii + + Pinnate leaf, xxiv + + Pistil, xxix + + Pistillate flower, xxix + + Pollen, xxix + + Pome, xxx + + + Raceme, xxvii + + Rhizome, xxiii + + Root, xxii + + Rootstock, xxiii + + + Samara, xxx + + Scape, xxvii + + Sepals, xxviii + + Simple leaf, xxiv + + Solitary flower, xxvii + + Spadix, xxviii + + Spathe, xxviii + + Spike, xxviii + + Stamen, xxix + + Staminate flower, xxix + + Staminodia, xxix + + Stem, xxii + + Stigma, xxix + + Stipules, xxiii + + Style, xxix + + + Tuber, xxiii + + + Umbel, xxvii + + + Veinlets, xxiv + + + + +GLOSSARY + + + _Abortive_, defective or barren. + + _Acuminate_, ending in a tapering point. + + _Adnate_, growing to; or said of an anther whose cells are + borne upon the sides of the apex of the filament. + + _Appendage_, any superadded part. + + _Appressed_, lying flat against or together for the whole + length. + + _Arborescent_, treelike; approaching the size of a tree. + + _Attenuate_, slenderly tapering to a point. + + _Auricle_, a small earlike lobe at the base of a leaf. + + _Awn_, a bristle-shaped appendage. + + + _Barb_, a sharply reflexed point upon an awn, etc., like the + barb of a fish-hook. + + _Basifixed_, attached by the base or lower end. + + _Beak_, a narrow or prolonged tip. + + _Bifid_, two-cleft to the middle or thereabouts. + + _Bilabiate_, two-lipped. + + _Blade_, the expanded portion of a leaf, petal, etc. + + _Bract_, one of the leaves of a flower-cluster. + + _Bracteate_, furnished with bracts. + + _Bractlet_, a bract of the ultimate grade; as one inserted _on_ + a pedicel or ultimate flower-stalk instead of _under_ it. + + _Bracteolate_, having bractlets. + + _Bulbiferous_, bearing bulbs. + + + _Caducous_, dropping off very early. + + _Campanulate_, bell-shaped. + + _Capitate_, headlike, or collected in a head. + + _Carina_, a salient longitudinal projection on the center of + the lower face of an organ. + + _Carinate_, furnished with a carina, or keel. + + _Carpel_, a simple pistil, or one of the several parts of a + compound one. + + _Ciliate_, marginally fringed with hairs. + + _Clavate_, club-shaped. + + _Claw_, the narrowed base, or stalk, which some petals, etc., + possess. + + _Coalescing_, cohering; used properly in respect to similar + parts. + + _Column_, a body formed by the union of filaments (stamineal); + or (in orchids) of the stamens and pistil. + + _Confluent_, blended, or running together. + + _Connate_, growing together; united in one. + + _Connective_, the portion of the filament which connects or + separates the cells of an anther. + + _Connivent_, coming into contact or converging. + + _Cordate_, heart-shaped. + + _Coriaceous_, leathery. + + _Corymb_, a flat-topped inflorescence flowering from the margin + inward. + + _Corymbose_, in corymbs, or in the form of a corymb. + + _Cruciferous_, of four somewhat similar petals, spreading in + the form of a cross. + + _Cymose_, in cymes. (See _cyme_, in Explanation of Terms, p. + xxviii.) + + + _Deciduous_, falling at the end of the season. + + _Declined_, bent or curved downward or forward. + + _Decumbent_, reclining, but with summit ascending. + + _Decurrent_, running down the stem; applied to a leaf with + blade prolonged below its insertion. + + _Deflexed_, bent or turned abruptly downward. + + _Dehiscing_, opening by valves, slits, or regular lines; as a + capsule or an anther. + + _Deltoid_, having the shape of the Greek letter _delta_; + broadly triangular. + + _Denticulate_, minutely toothed. + + _Depauperate_, impoverished in size by unfavorable + surroundings. + + _Dichotomous_, forking regularly by pairs. + + _Diaecious_, with stamens and pistils in different flowers on + different plants. + + _Dissected_, deeply cut, or divided into numerous segments. + + _Divaricate_, extremely divergent. + + _Divided_, lobed or cut clear to the base. + + + _Emarginate_, notched at the extremity. + + _Entire_, with the margin uninterrupted; without teeth or + divisions of any sort. + + _Equitant_, astride; as of leaves folding over each other in + two ranks; as in the iris. + + _Erose_, gnawed. + + _Exserted_, projecting beyond an envelop; as stamens from a + corolla. + + _Extrorse_, facing outward; said of the anther. + + + _Falcate_, scythe-shaped; sickle-shaped. + + _Fascicled_, in a close cluster or bundle; said of flowers, + stalks, roots, and leaves. + + _Fertile_, capable of producing fruit; as a pistillate flower; + applied also to a pollen-bearing stamen. + + _Fibrous_, composed of or of the nature of fibres. + + _Filiform_, threadlike. + + _Flexuous_, zigzag; bent alternately in opposite directions. + + _Foliaceous_, leaflike in structure or appearance; leafy. + + _Foliolate_, having leaflets; the number indicated by the Latin + prefixes, _bi-_, _tri-_, etc. + + _Follicle_, a pod formed from a single pistil, dehiscing along + the ventral suture only. + + _Free_, not growing to other organs. + + _Fugacious_, falling very early. + + _Funnel-form_, tubular, but expanding gradually from the narrow + base to the spreading border or limb; _e.g._ the Morning-glory + flower. + + + _Galea_, a helmet; applied to the helmet-shaped upper lip of + the corolla in _Labiatae_, etc.; also in some _Scrophularineae_, + though not so shaped. + + _Glabrous_, without any kind of hairiness. + + _Gland_, any secreting structure, depression or prominence, on + any part of a plant, or any structure having such an + appearance. + + _Glandular_, bearing glands, or glandlike. + + _Glaucous_, covered or whitened with a bloom like that on a + cabbage-leaf. + + + _Habit_, the general form or mode of growth of a plant. + + _Herbaceous_, having the character of an herb; not woody or + shrubby. + + _Hispid_, beset with rigid or bristly hairs, or with bristles. + + + _Imbricate_, overlapping, like shingles on a roof. + + _Incised_, cut irregularly and sharply. + + _Included_, inclosed by the surrounding organs; not exserted. + + _Indigenous_, native to the country. + + _Inferior_, said of the ovary when the calyx, corolla, or + stamens are borne upon its summit or sides. + + _Inflorescence_, the flowering portion of a plant, and + especially the mode of its arrangement. + + _Innate_, said of an anther when it is a continuation of the + filament. + + _Introrse_, facing inward, or toward the axis, as an anther. + + _Involucrate_, having an involucre. + + _Involucre_, a circle of bracts subtending a flower-cluster. + + _Involute_, rolled inward. + + + _Keel._ (See _carina_.) + + _Keeled_, furnished with a keel, or carina. + + + _Lacerate_, torn; irregularly and deeply cleft. + + _Laciniate_, cut into narrow, slender teeth, or lobes. + + _Liliaceous_, lily-like. + + _Limb_, the dilated and usually spreading portion of a perianth + or petal as distinct from the tubular part, or claw. + + _Line_, the twelfth part of inch. + + _Linear_, narrow and elongated, with parallel margins. + + _Lip_, either of the two divisions of a bilabiate corolla or + calyx; in orchids the upper petal (often, apparently, the + lower) usually very different from the others. + + _Lobe_, any division of a leaf, corolla, etc., especially if + rounded. + + _Lunate_, crescent-shaped, or half-moon-shaped. + + _Lyrate_, lyre-shaped; pinnatifid with the terminal lobe large + and rounded, and one or more of the lower pairs small. + + + _Membranaceous_, thin; rather soft and translucent, like + membrane. + + _Monoecious_, with stamens and pistils in separate blossoms on + the same plant. + + _Mucronate_, with a short, abrupt, small tip. + + + _Nectar_, the sweetish secretion of the blossom from which bees + make honey. + + _Nectary_, the place or gland in which nectar is secreted. + + _Nerve_, a simple, unbranched vein or slender rib. + + _Nerved_, furnished with a nerve or nerves. + + + _Ob-_, used as a prefix meaning inversely. + + _Obtuse_, blunt or rounded at the end. + + _Odd-pinnate_, pinnate, with an odd leaflet at the end. + + + _Palate_, a protrusion at or near the throat of a two-lipped + corolla. + + _Panicle_, a loose, irregularly branching inflorescence. + + _Papilionaceous_, butterfly-like; applied to the peculiar + irregular flower common in _Leguminosae_. + + _Papillae_, minute, thick, nipple-shaped, or somewhat elongated + projections. + + _Parasitic_, growing upon and deriving nourishment from another + plant. + + _Parted_, cleft nearly, but not quite, to the base. + + _Perfoliate_, said of leaves connate about the stem. + + _Persistent_, not falling off; said of leaves continuing + through the winter. + + _Petaloid_, petal-like. + + _Petiolate_, having a petiole. + + _Petiole_, the foot-stalk of a leaf. + + _Petiolulate_, having a petiolule. + + _Petiolule_, the foot-stalk of a leaflet. + + _Pinnate_, having its parts arranged in pairs along a common + rachis. + + _Pinnatifid_, pinnately cleft. + + _Pistillate_, having a pistil or pistils, and no stamens. + + _Puberulent_, minutely pubescent. + + _Pubescent_, covered with hairs, usually soft and short. + + + _Rachis_, the axis (backbone) of a spike, or of a compound + leaf. + + _Radiate_, diverging from a common center, or bearing + ray-flowers; said of flower-heads of composite plants. + + _Radical_, belonging to or proceeding from the root, or from + the base of the stem. + + _Ray_, one of the radiating branches of an umbel; the marginal + flowers, as distinct from those of the disk, in _Compositae_, + etc. + + _Receptacle_, a more or less expanded surface, forming a + support for a cluster of organs (in a flower) or a cluster of + flowers (in a head), etc. + + _Recurved_, curved backward or downward. + + _Reflexed_, abruptly bent or turned backward or downward. + + _Regular_, symmetrical in form; uniform in shape or structure. + + _Retrorse_, directed backward or downward. + + _Revolute_, rolled backward from the margins or apex. + + _Rhomboidal_, quadrangular, with the lateral angles obtuse. + + _Rudiment_, an imperfectly developed and functionally useless + organ. + + _Rugose_, wrinkled; ridged. + + + _Saccate_, sac-shaped; baggy. + + _Sagittate_, shaped like an arrowhead; triangular, with basal + lobes prolonged downward. + + _Salver-form_, narrowly tubular, with limb abruptly or flatly + expanded. + + _Scabrous_, rough to the touch. + + _Scape_, a naked peduncle rising from the ground. + + _Scarious_, thin, dry, membranaceous, and not green. + + _Scorpioid_, incurved like the tail of a scorpion; said of an + inflorescence. + + _Segment_, one of the parts of a leaf or other organ that is + cut or divided. + + _Serrate_, having teeth directed forward, like the teeth of a + saw. + + _Serrulate_, minutely serrate. + + _Sessile_, stemless. + + _Sinus_, a recess or re-entering angle. + + _Sheathing_, infolding like a sheath. + + _Spathe_, a large bract or pair of bracts (often colored) + inclosing a flower-cluster. + + _Spinescent_, ending in a spine or rigid point. + + _Spinulose_, with diminutive spines. + + _Spur_, a usually slender tubular process, from some part of a + flower, often honey-bearing. + + _Staminate_, having stamens, but no pistils. + + _Staminodium_, a sterile stamen, or something taking the place + of a stamen. + + _Stellate_, star-shaped. + + _Sterile_, barren; incapable of producing seed; a sterile + stamen is one not producing pollen. + + _Striate_, marked with fine longitudinal lines. + + _Subtended_, supported or surrounded; as a pedicel by a bract, + or a flower-cluster by an involucre. + + _Subulate_, awl-shaped. + + _Succulent_, fleshy and juicy. + + _Superior_, growing above; a superior ovary is one wholly above + and free from the calyx. + + + _Terete_, cylindrical. + + _Ternate_, in threes. + + _Thyrse_, a contracted or ovate panicle. + + _Thyrsoid_, thyrselike. + + _Tomentum_, dense, matted, woolly pubescence. + + _Trifoliolate_, having three leaflets. + + _Tubular_, tube-shaped. + + + _Undulate_, wavy. + + _Unisexual_, of one sex; said of flowers having stamens only, + or pistils only. + + _Urceolate_, cylindrical or ovoid, but contracted at or below + the open orifice, like an urn or a pitcher. + + + _Valve_, the several parts of a dehiscent pericarp; the + doorlike lid by which some anthers open. + + _Ventricose_, swelling unequally, or inflated on one side. + + _Versatile_, swinging; turning freely on its support. + + _Villous_, bearing long and soft, straight or straightish + hairs. + + _Virgate_, wandlike. + + _Viscid_, glutinous; sticky. + + + _Whorl_, an arrangement of leaves, flowers, etc., in a circle + about the stem, or axis. + + + * * * * * +Transcriber's Notes + + +Obvious punctuation and spelling errors repaired. +Flowers with no common name have a thought break. +Inconsistent hyphenation has been repaired. + +Page 141 "black-bird" changed to "blackbird". +Page 192 "arrow-heads" changed to "arrowheads". +Page 324 "horse-mint" changed to "horsemint". +Page 164 "over-powering" changed to "overpowering". +Page 141 "lace-like" changed to "lacelike". +Page 190 "golden-rod" changed to "goldenrod". +Page 354 "tooth-like" changed to "toothlike". + +The following index entries were repaired: + +Large Yellow Lupine, 16[**numbers missing] +Lavender Mountain Daisy, [**numbers missing] +Lead-Plant, [**numbers missing] +Leatherwood, [**numbers missing] +Lemonade-Berry, [**numbers missing] +Lemon-Lily, [**numbers missing] + +In ambiguous cases, the text has been left as it appears in the +original book. In particular, the following errors: + +endquote missing punctuation +paragraph starts with lower-case +mismatched square backets +mismatched quotes +wrong spaced quotes +missing paragraph breaks + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wild Flowers of California: Their +Names, Haunts, and Habits, by Mary Elizabeth Parsons + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WILD FLOWERS OF CALIFORNIA *** + +***** This file should be named 38886.txt or 38886.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/8/8/38886/ + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Mark Young and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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