Chapter IV: Part 4

A charming woodland plant, its airy flower cluster, which has much the effect of an Alum-root, in beautiful contrast to the crisp, evergreen foliage. The large leaves are all from the root, with wiry, purplish leaf-stalks and beautifully-shaped leaflets, each an inch or more broad, pale on the under side, the older leaves dark, rich green, leathery and very glossy and the younger ones bright apple-green and thinner in texture. They form a handsome cluster, varying a good deal in size, and the general effect suggests some very crisp and sturdy sort of Maidenhair Fern. The stem is from one to two feet tall, wiry, purplish, and hairy, and bears a very loose cluster of tiny, drooping, white or lilac-tinged flowers. The six, white sepals resemble petals; the six, white petals are smaller than the sepals, lined with yellow, and there are six to nine bracts, resembling sepals, and six stamens. The minute buds are purplish and the little flowers are exceedingly pretty and odd, when we examine them closely, for the sepals turn back so abruptly from the tiny petals, and from the projecting cluster of stamens, that the name Inside-out Flower is appropriate. The fruit is a kind of capsule with many seeds. This grows in shady woods, especially among redwoods, up to seven thousand feet. _V. hexándra_ has thinner leaflets, not evergreen, and the leaflets of _V. chrysántha_ have white margins.

There are many kinds of Barberry, widely distributed; shrubs, with yellow wood; the leaves often spiny and the flowers yellow; the sepals six to nine, with bracts and resembling petals; the petals six, in two overlapping rows, each with two glands at the base; the stamens six, with anthers that open by little valves like trap-doors, hinged at the top, sensitive and, when they are touched, closing around the shield-shaped stigma; the fruit a berry, with one or few seeds.

[Sidenote: =Oregon Grape, Trailing Barberry=
_Bérberis rèpens_
=Yellow
Spring
Cal., Ariz., Utah, Nev.=]

This does not look much like the common cultivated kinds of Barberry, for it grows close to the ground in a straggling bunch. In favorable situations it is a handsome and conspicuous plant. The leaves, with from three to seven leaflets, are stiff, prickly, and evergreen like Holly, and the yellow flowers are in clusters at the ends of the stems, with opposite bracts. The six sepals, petals, and stamens are all opposite, that is, with a petal in front of each sepal and a stamen in front of each petal. In Arizona the flowers are rather small and the clusters short, but in Utah they are far handsomer, rich golden-yellow and sweet-scented, forming clusters two inches long. The fruit is a handsome blue berry with a "bloom," the color of wild grapes, contrasting well with the foliage when it turns red in the autumn, and delicious jelly is made from them. _B. aquifòlium_, of Oregon and Washington, is similar, with much more beautiful, very shining leaves. _B. Féndleri_, of the Southwest, is from three to six feet high, the branches smooth and shiny as if varnished, the leaves with smooth edges or spiny teeth, and the flowers in numerous drooping clusters. The calyx has conspicuous, red bracts and the berry is red.

[Sidenote: =Sweet-after-Death=
_Áchlys triphýlla_
=White
Summer
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]

The only kind, an attractive perennial, popular on account of its sweet-smelling foliage, which, however, is not fragrant until the leaves are dried. It has a very slender rootstock and only one large leaf, with a very long, slender leaf-stalk and three, oddly-shaped leaflets, from two to six inches across, bright-green, smooth and thin in texture, but not glossy. The single, very slender flower-stalk, from one to two feet tall, bears a crowded spike of many, tiny, scentless, white flowers, without either calyx or corolla, but consisting of a cluster of stamens, with long, threadlike filaments, the outer ones broader, and a pistil with a broad stigma and no style. The effect of the cluster is feathery and pretty and the broad leaf is very conspicuous, on account of its size and shape. The crescent-shaped fruit contains one seed, is at first fleshy, but becomes dry and leathery. This grows in the woods in the Coast Ranges, from near sea-level up to seven thousand feet. It is also called Vanilla Leaf and Deer-foot.

WATER LILY FAMILY. _Nymphaeaceae_.

A small family, widely distributed in fresh-water lakes and streams; aquatic, perennial herbs, with thick, horizontal rootstocks, or with tubers, large, floating, or erect leaves, and large, solitary flowers, with long flower-stalks; sepals three to twelve; petals three to many; stamens six to numerous; ovary superior, stigmas distinct or united into a disk. We have no white Water Lilies in the West.

[Sidenote: =Indian Pond Lily, Spatter-dock=
_Nymphaèa polysépala (Nuphar)_
=Yellow
Summer
Cal., Oreg., Wash., Col., Wyo.=]

Like the eastern Spatter-dock, this is a coarse, but rather handsome and decorative plant. The leathery leaves are shaped like a rounded heart and sometimes a foot long. The cup-shaped calyx, two to four inches across, is the conspicuous part of the flower, consisting of seven to twelve, thickish sepals, yellow and petal-like, the outer greenish. There are twelve to eighteen petals, half an inch long, resembling stamens. The real stamens have dark-red anthers, but yellow pollen, and both petals and stamens are densely crowded around the ovary. The round fruit has a narrow neck, concave top, and many seeds. In quiet mountain ponds we find these yellow flowers, on stout stems standing up out of the water, the lily-pads floating idly on its surface. Indians grind the seeds into meal for porridge, or else roast them and eat them like popcorn.

STRAWBERRY SHRUB FAMILY. _Calycanthaceae_.

A very small family, of only two genera, one North American, one Japanese; aromatic shrubs, with opposite, toothless leaves, with short leaf-stalks, without stipules; flowers large, solitary, at the ends of leafy branches; sepals, petals, and stamens, indefinite in number, in many, overlapping series, passing one into the other, so that one cannot tell which is which, and all borne on the receptacle, which is hollow, resembling a rose-hip, almost enclosing the numerous pistils; stamens short, the inner ones without anthers; receptacle becoming a large, leathery, oblong or pear-shaped fruit, containing few or many, smooth, shining akenes.

There are three kinds of Calycanthus in this country, two of them eastern; flowers purple or red, stamens inserted in several rows.

[Sidenote: =Strawberry Shrub=
_Calycánthus occidentàlis_
=Red
Summer
California=]

This resembles the familiar shrub of old-fashioned gardens and the flowers have the same pleasant and elusive aroma, something like strawberries, much more spicy when crushed. The shrub is four to ten feet high, with rather coarse, harsh foliage and large, handsome flowers, two or three inches across, warm maroon in color, shading to brown and purple, with yellow stamens. This is handsome and conspicuous, because of the uncommon and rich coloring of its flowers, and grows along watercourses in the canyons of the foothills and is most common in northern California. It has many other names, such as Sweet Shrub, Carolina Allspice, Wineflowers, etc.

POPPY FAMILY. _Papaveraceae_.

A rather large family, widely distributed, most abundant in the north temperate zone; herbs, rarely shrubs, with milky, mostly yellow juice and narcotic or acrid properties; the leaves mostly alternate, without stipules; the parts of the flower usually all separate and distinct, borne on a top-shaped receptacle. There are usually two sepals, which fall off when the blossom opens, and usually four petals, overlapping and crumpled in the bud; the stamens are usually numerous and conspicuous, with thread-like filaments; the superior ovary becomes a many-seeded capsule.

There are only two kinds of Romneya, much alike, smooth, stout, perennial herbs, several feet high, with colorless sap, the leaves alternate and more or less divided; three sepals, each with a broad wing on the back; six, large, white petals; many stamens; the ovary covered with bristles. These plants are nowhere common, but are found from Santa Barbara south, and in lower California sometimes grow in great profusion. They are extensively cultivated and much admired abroad.

[Sidenote: =Matilija Poppy, Giant Poppy=
_Romnèya trichocàlyx_
=White
Summer
California=]

This is often considered the handsomest flower in the West and it would be hard to find anything more beautiful and striking than its magnificent blossoms. The plant has somewhat the effect of a Peony-bush, sometimes, in cultivation, as much as five feet high, with many smooth stems and handsome, smooth, light-green foliage, the leaves cut and lobed, those near the top with a few prickles. The splendid flowers are enormous, from five to nine inches across, with diaphanous, white petals, crinkled like crêpe tissue-paper, and bright golden centers, composed of hundreds of yellow stamens surrounding a greenish-white pistil. The blossoms remain open for several days. The hard, round buds are covered with short, brown hairs. This is the true Matilija Poppy, (pronounced Matíliha,) as it is the kind that grows in the canyon of that name, but the tremendous floods of 1914 drowned most of these beautiful plants in that locality. _R_. _Còulteri_ is similar, but the buds are smooth and the stems more robust.

There are several kinds of Argemone, natives of the warmer parts of America, with bitter, yellow juice, spiny-toothed leaves and large, conspicuous flowers, the buds erect; sepals two or three, with odd little horns; petals twice as many as the sepals; stamens numerous; style very short, with a radiate stigma; capsule prickly, oblong, opening at the top, containing numerous seeds.

[Sidenote: =Thistle Poppy, Milk Thistle=
_Argemòne híspida_
=White
Summer
Southwest=]

The prickly, bluish-green foliage of this decorative and handsome plant is thistle-like both in form and color. The leafy, branching stems, two or three feet high, are covered with dense, white or yellowish prickles and bear several lovely flowers, over three inches across, with delicately crumpled, white petals and beautiful golden centers, composed of numerous yellow stamens, both stem and leaves having a bluish "bloom." The three prickly green sepals each have a spine-like beak and form a queer-looking, three-horned bud; the pistil has a purplish, cap-shaped stigma, with six lobes, and the prickly ovary becomes a very prickly capsule. This grows in dry places and looks very beautiful and striking when we find its fragile flowers waving in the wind against a background of hot desert sand. It varies a good deal in prickliness and in the form both of plant and flower. When there is only one large flower in bloom, surrounded by a circle of prickly buds, it suggests a fairy princess, guarded by a retinue of fierce warriors. The flowers are often quite broad and flat, and then are sometimes given the prosaic name of Fried-eggs.

There are many kinds of Papaver; with milky juice, leaves lobed or cut, nodding flower buds, showy regular flowers, with two or three sepals and four to six petals. The stigmas are united to form a disk with rays and the fruit is a round or oblong capsule, opening near the top. Both the Latin and common name, Poppy, are ancient. Opium is made from _P. somníferum_ of the Mediterranean.

[Sidenote: =Wind Poppy=
_Papàver heterophýllum_
=Red
Spring
California=]

A slender, graceful plant, one or two feet tall, with smooth, branching, purplish stems, smooth leaves, variously cut and lobed, and charming flowers, gay yet delicate. They are about an inch and a half across, usually with four, scarlet petals, each with a spot of maroon at the base, and a bright-green pistil and maroon filaments with pale-yellow anthers. The buds and seed-pods are smooth. This varies a good deal, smells strong of opium when picked, and its flowers glow like jewels among the underbrush on open hillsides, but fall to pieces when gathered.

There are a good many kinds of Eschscholtzia, with bitter, watery juice; leaves alternate, cut into many fine divisions; buds erect; flowers yellow; receptacle cuplike, often with a rim; the two sepals united to form a pointed cap, which is pushed off by the four petals as they expand; stamens numerous, with short filaments and long anthers; style very short, usually with four stigmas; pod long, narrow and ribbed, containing many seeds. These plants were collected at San Francisco in 1816 by von Chamisso, a German poet and naturalist, and named in honor of his friend Eschscholtz, a botanist.

[Sidenote: =California Poppy=
_Eschschóltzia Califórnica_
=Yellow
Spring
Cal., Oreg.=]

Probably the most celebrated western flower and deservedly popular. It varies a great deal in general form and coloring, but is usually a fine plant, over a foot tall, with stems and leaves a beautiful shade of light bluish-green, and the flowers two or three inches across, usually bright-yellow, shading to orange at the base, but sometimes almost cream-color. They open in sunlight and when blooming in quantities are a beautiful sight, covering the hillsides with a cloth of gold. In southern Arizona a similar kind often borders the dry beds of streams with bright color, with much the same value in the landscape as the Marsh Marigolds along New England streams. It is the State flower of California and has many poetic Spanish names, such as Torosa, Amapola, and Dormidera, besides Copa de Oro, meaning "Cup of gold."

There are several kinds of Dendromecon, smooth shrubs, with alternate, toothless, leathery leaves and yellow flowers, with two sepals and four petals; stamens numerous, with short filaments; ovary with a short style and two, oblong stigmas. The name is from the Greek for "tree" and "poppy."

[Sidenote: =Tree Poppy=
_Dendromécon rígida_
=Yellow
All seasons
California=]

This is not a true Poppy, but the flowers are sufficiently like to be quite surprising when we find them growing on what appears to be a small willow tree! It is a handsome and decorative shrub, both in form and color, two to eight feet high, with pale woody stems, the main stem with shreddy bark, and light bluish-green foliage, the leaves something like those of willow, but quite stiff and leathery, with a little pointed tip, the short leaf-stalks twisted so as to bring the leaf into a vertical position. Sprinkled all over the bush are numbers of beautiful, clear golden-yellow flowers, one to three inches across, with orange-colored anthers and a pale-yellow pistil. This grows on dry, sunny hillsides, at middle altitudes, and is common in southern California, but is particularly fine near Santa Barbara. The flowers have a slight smell like cucumber and may be found in bloom at all seasons of the year. The ribbed seed-pod is long and narrow.

There is only one kind of Platystemon, with stem leaves opposite or in whorls; sepals three, soon falling; petals six; stamens many, with broad, flat filaments. The numerous pistils are at first partly united, forming a compound ovary; when ripe they separate into knotted pods, which break apart between the seeds. The name means "broad stamens."

[Sidenote: =Cream-cups=
_Platystèmon Califórnicus_
=Cream-color
Spring
Cal., Oreg., Ariz.=]

Pretty graceful plants, their creamy blossoms often whitening the spring meadows. The slender hairy stems are about a foot tall, the leaves and the nodding buds light-green and hairy, and the pretty flowers, about an inch across, are delicate cream-color, the petals often stained with bright-yellow, either at the tip or base, or both, with pretty creamy centers. This is common in the foothills, plains, and valleys.

BLEEDING HEART FAMILY. _Fumariaceae._

A small family, widely distributed; very smooth, tender, perennial herbs, with watery juice; alternate, compound leaves, finely cut, lobed and fringed into many divisions, and irregular, perfect flowers, of peculiar shape, with two, scale-like sepals, and four petals, the inner pair narrower than the outer and united by their tips over the stamens and style. The six stamens are in two, equal sets, the filaments of each set somewhat united, the middle anther of each set with two cells, the others with only one. The superior ovary develops into a long, dry, one-celled capsule, containing shiny, black seeds. This family has been united to the Poppies by Bentham and Hooker, because the plan of the flowers is similar, though their appearance is unlike.

There are several kinds of Bicuculla, natives of North America and Asia; perennials, with beautiful foliage and decorative flowers, of the curious and intricate shape we are familiar with in old-fashioned gardens. The pedicels have two bracts; the corolla is heart-shaped at base; the outer pair of petals are oblong and concave, with spreading tips and spurred or pouched at base, the inner pair are narrow and clawed, with crests or wings on the back; the style is slender, with a two-lobed stigma, each lobe with two crests. The creeping rootstock is surrounded by a bulb-like cluster of fleshy grains. These plants are often called Dutchman's Breeches, from the shape of the flower, which, of course, also gives the pretty name Bleeding Heart. Bicuculla is from the Latin, meaning "double-hooded."

[Sidenote: =Bleeding Heart=
_Bicucúlla formòsa (Dicentra)_
=Pink
Summer
Cal., Oreg., Wash.=]

This is a very beautiful and interesting plant, about two feet tall, with delicate pale-green leaves, beautifully cut and lobed, all from the root, with very long leaf-stalks, and a few, graceful sprays of purplish-pink flowers, each about three-quarters of an inch long. This has a fleshy, spreading rootstock and grows in shady spots, in rich, moist woods, at moderate altitudes, but is not very common. It is found in the Yosemite Valley. _B. uniflòra_ is a diminutive alpine plant, from one to three inches high, usually with only one white or flesh-colored flower, about half an inch long, which is often hidden among dead leaves. This grows in rich soil on mountain sides in the Wasatch and Teton Mountains and in the Sierra Nevada, and is found in the Yosemite Valley and on Mt. Lyall, at a height of ten thousand five hundred feet. This is called Squirrel Corn and Steer's Head.

[Sidenote: =Golden Eardrops=
_Bicucúlla chrysántha (Dicentra)_
=Yellow
Summer
California=]

The general appearance of this handsome plant is striking and Japanese in effect, and the coloring of the feathery, pale-green foliage and the golden-yellow flowers is exceedingly odd and beautiful. The large, finely-cut leaves are sometimes a foot long, and resemble delicate ferns, and the smooth, stout, rather coarse flower-stems bear a few pretty flowers, which are a soft shade of yellow, about three-quarters of an inch long, the usual Bleeding Heart shape, but not drooping, and with a strong narcotic odor, much like that of poppies. This is sometimes as much as four feet high and grows in sunny places on dry ridges in the Coast Ranges, but is nowhere common.

There are many kinds of Capnoides, natives of the north temperate zone and Africa. They have oddly-shaped flowers, something like Bleeding Heart, but with only one spur, at the back on the upper side, instead of two. The name is from the Greek, meaning "smokelike," in allusion to the odor of some kinds.

[Sidenote: =Golden Corydal=
_Capnoìdes aùreum_ (_Corydalis_)
=Yellow
Spring
West=]

This has hollow, branching and spreading stems, from six to fourteen inches tall, with very pretty, delicate, pale-green foliage and bright-yellow flowers, each about half an inch long, on slender pedicels, in a loose cluster. The spurs give them a quaint and pert effect. The style stays on the tip of the long curved capsule, which looks like a bean-pod, drooping or sticking out at an awkward angle from the stem. This is especially fine in some of the mountain valleys in Utah, making beautiful clumps of foliage; it is widely distributed and is also found in the East. In the West it is sometimes called Dutchman's Breeches and confused with that plant, but rather absurdly so, for the Dutchman could have only one leg!

[Sidenote: =Pink Corydalis=
_Capnoìdes Scoúleri_ (_Corydalis_)
=Pink
Summer
Wash., Oreg.=]

A very beautiful and decorative plant, two or three feet tall, with large, exceedingly graceful leaves, vivid yet delicate in color and thin in texture, beautifully cut and lobed. The flowers are about an inch long, pale-pink shaded with deeper color, each with a long, cylindrical spur, and form pretty clusters, which show up very effectively against the tender green of the large clumps of delicate foliage, which are conspicuously beautiful. This grows in rich soil, in mountain woods, and is charming in the forests in Mt. Rainier National Park.

Pink Corydalis--Capnoides Scouleri.]

MUSTARD FAMILY. _Cruciferae._

A large family, widely distributed. Both the English and Latin names are appropriate, for the watery juice of these plants is pungent, like mustard, and the flowers spread out their four petals in the form of a cross. They are herbs, the leaves alternate or from the root, usually with no leaf-stalks. The flowers have four petals, with claws; four sepals, the two outer ones narrow, apt to drop off; six stamens, two of them short. The ovary is superior, usually with a single style and stigma, and usually develops into a pod, divided in two by a transparent partition, which remains after the pod has opened from below; in some kinds the pod remains closed. The flowers generally grow in clusters and though they are often small they produce honey and so are frequented by bees and flies. The family is easily recognized by the four petals and in most species by two stamens being shorter than the others, but the flowers are so much alike that the various kinds have to be determined by examining the fruit. Radish and Horse-radish, Mustard and Water-cress all belong to this family, as well as many familiar garden flowers, such as Sweet Alyssum, Candytuft, Rockets, and Stocks, and many are common weeds, such as Peppergrass and Shepherd's Purse.

There are several kinds of Dentaria, smooth perennials, with rather large white or pink flowers and tuberous rootstocks.

[Sidenote: =Milk Maids, Pepper-root=
_Dentària Califórnica_
=White, pink
Spring
Cal., Oreg.=]

A charming plant, with a purplish stem, from six inches to two feet tall, and pretty leaves, varying in shape, those from the root being roundish in outline, or with three leaflets, but the stem-leaves with three or five leaflets. The flowers are about three-quarters of an inch across, with pure-white or pale-pink petals. This is one of the loveliest of the early spring flowers in the Coast Ranges and usually found in damp spots, both in woods and open places, often whitening the meadows with its blossoms.

There are a good many kinds of Thelypodium, natives of North America, all western or southwestern; mostly smooth plants, the leaves usually with leaf-stalks, the flowers in clusters; stamens long, conspicuous, with very narrow, arrow-shaped anthers; pods long, cylindrical or four-sided, often twisted, sometimes on a slender stalk; seeds oblong, flattish, in one row in each cell.

[Sidenote: _Thelypòdium torulòsum_
=Lilac
Spring, summer
West, etc.=]

This has small flowers, but often grows in such quantities on the flats near Salt Lake that it tints the fields with purple. The purplish stem is from twelve to fifteen inches tall and the leaves are light bluish-green and very smooth, the root-leaves with long leaf-stalks, and the stem-leaves arrow-shaped and clasping at base. The flowers are about half an inch across, with a purplish-tinged calyx and pale pinkish-lilac petals, and form flat-topped clusters. The pods are spreading and rather knobby. This usually grows on dry hills, reaching an altitude of over nine thousand feet, as far east as Wyoming.

There are many kinds of Arabis, widely distributed, with small, white or purplish flowers.

[Sidenote: =Fendler's Arabis=
_Árabis Féndleri_
=Magenta
Spring
Arizona=]

This is a rather pretty plant, a foot or more tall, with more or less hairy stems and leaves and pretty clusters of magenta flowers, each about a quarter of an inch across. It grows on the rim of the Grand Canyon.

There are many kinds of Erysimum, most abundant in Europe and Asia. They are usually biennial or perennial, more or less downy; mostly with yellow flowers; the pods long, narrow and squarish or flattish, rarely round, with numerous seeds, in one row. In Europe these plants often grow in the crannies of old walls, hence the common name.

[Sidenote: =Western Wallflower=
_Erýsimum ásperum_
=Orange, lemon-yellow
Spring, summer
West, etc.=]

The vivid glowing orange of these handsome flowers is exceedingly effective among the dark tree-trunks of the mountain forests where they often grow. They are widely distributed as far east as Ohio. The stout, purplish stems are from one to two feet tall and the long, narrow leaves, often toothed, are apt to be purplish on the under side, and both stem and leaves are rather rough. The fragrant flowers, each about three-quarters of an inch across, form a handsome cluster, about three inches across. The calyx is yellow, the pistil green, and the anthers brown. The conspicuous, four-sided pods are spreading or erect, from one to five inches long, with a stout beak. In the high mountains the orange-color gives way to the variety _perénne_, with lemon-colored flowers, perhaps commoner than the orange, not so tall, and wonderfully handsome in the Wasatch Mountains, around Mt. Rainier and similar places, and widely distributed. The Cream-colored Wallflower, _E. capitàtum_, blooms early, growing near the coast; the flowers large, handsome, but not sweet-scented.

Arabis Fendleri.]

There are a good many kinds of Thlaspi, of temperate and arctic regions: smooth low plants, mostly mountain; root-leaves forming a rosette; stem-leaves more or less arrow-shaped and clasping; flowers rather small, white or purplish; sepals blunt; style slender, sometimes none, with a small stigma; pod flat, roundish, wedge-shaped, or heart-shaped, with crests or wings.

[Sidenote: =Wild Candytuft, Pennycress=
_Thláspi glaùcum_
=White
Spring, summer, autumn
Northwest and Utah=]

A rather pretty little plant, with several flower-stalks, springing from rosettes of leaves, dull-green, somewhat purplish and thickish, smooth and obscurely toothed, all more or less covered with a "bloom"; the flowers small, slightly fragrant, forming clusters less than an inch across, the white petals longer than the thin, greenish sepals. This grows on moist, mountain slopes. _T. alpéstre_, of the Northwest, is similar, but without "bloom."

There are only a few kinds of Dithyrea, grayish, hairy plants, resembling Biscutella of the Mediterranean, with yellowish or whitish flowers.

[Sidenote: _Dithýrea Wislizéni_
=White
Summer
Ariz., New Mex., Tex., Okla., Ark.=]

A little desert plant, from six to twelve inches tall, with branching stems; pale, yellowish-green, downy leaves, about an inch long, with wavy or toothed margins; small white flowers and funny little seed-pods, sticking out at right-angles from the stem. This grows at an altitude of three to four thousand feet and is found in the Petrified Forest.

There are many kinds of Streptanthus, difficult to distinguish, smooth plants, often with a "bloom"; stems branching; leaves often clasping at base, the lower ones usually more toothed or lobed than the upper. The flowers are very peculiar in shape, not like most Mustards, but suggesting the shape of a Bleeding Heart flower; the sepals usually colored like the petals, two or all of them bulging at base, so that the calyx is broad below and contracted above; the corolla regular or irregular, the petals purple or white, with claws and narrow, wavy or crisp borders; the stamens four long and two short, or in three unequal pairs, the longest pair often united below; the pods long, narrow, flattish or cylindrical, on a broad receptacle; the seeds flat and more or less winged. These plants are called Jewel-flower, but the name does not seem particularly appropriate.

Wild Candytuft--Thlaspi glaucum.]

[Sidenote: =Shield-leaf=
_Streptánthus tortuòsus_
=Yellowish, purplish
Summer
California=]

Nothing about this odd-looking plant is pretty and it almost seems as if it were trying to make up by eccentricity for its lack of beauty. It is common in dry, sandy places in the mountains and our attention is first attracted to the tall, branching stalks, because they are strung with such queer-looking leaves. In summer the upper ones are bright-yellow or dull-purple and they clasp the stem and curve over, so that they look like small brass shields, pierced by the stem. There are three or four of these curving leaves, very smooth and shiny, and several more below, which are flatter and dark-green, and the stem, from six inches to three feet high, is oddly twisted and leans to one side. The small flowers are yellowish or mauve, veined with purple, less than half an inch long and peculiar in shape. The contrast in color between the flowers and leaves is very odd and very ugly, but as if this were not enough, later in the season the curious thing hangs itself with ridiculously long, slender pods, like great hooks, and looks queerer and more disheveled than ever.

[Sidenote: =Arizona Streptanthus=
_Streptánthus Arizònicus_
=White
Spring
Arizona=]

Prettier and not so queer-looking as the last. The leaves are arrow-shaped, clasping at base, rather leathery, bluish-green, with a "bloom" and tinged with purple on the backs, the lower ones toothed, and the pods are about two inches long, flat and tinged with purple. The flowers are half an inch long, pearly-white, the petals yellowish, veined with purple, and are quite pretty. This grows in dry places.

Shield-leaf--S. tortuosus.]

There are only a few kinds of Stanleya, all western; tall, stout, smooth perennials, or biennials, with a "bloom"; flowers large, mostly yellow, without bracts, in long, terminal, clusters; sepals long, narrow; petals long, narrow, with long claws; stamens six, very nearly equal; ovary on a short stalk, with a short style or none; pods long, narrow and flattish, with long stalks; seeds numerous. Named for Lord Edward Stanley, President of the Linnaean Society.

[Sidenote: =Golden Prince's Plume=
_Stánleya pinnatífida_
=Yellow
Spring
Southwest and New Mex.=]

The pretty common name of this tall, handsome plant was given by Helen Hunt Jackson and the long, feathery wand of numerous blossoms is beautiful and suggests a plume. On the other hand, the straggling flowers have such long, narrow, curling petals, the threadlike filaments look so much like curling antennae and the long, thin pods stick out so awkwardly, like insects' legs, from among the flowers on the lower part of the stalk, that we find the general effect is rather weird and spidery. In fact the plant I drew had a large yellow spider, precisely the color of the flowers, half-concealed among them. The stem is from two to five feet high; the leaves are smooth, pale bluish-green, the lower ones with leaflets and a leaf-stalk, and the flowers are bright-yellow, or cream-color, about an inch across. This grows usually in dampish spots, in arid regions. The picture is of one I found in Indian Garden Canyon, a branch of the Grand Canyon.

[Sidenote: _Dryopétalon runcinàtum_
=White
Spring
Arizona=]

The only kind, a fine plant, well worth cultivation; smooth and branching, about two feet tall, with handsome, bluish-green leaves, with a "bloom," the root-leaves with long, purplish leaf-stalks and sometimes nine inches long; the flowers half an inch across, with a lilac-tinged calyx and white petals, prettily toothed, forming a pretty, rather flat-topped cluster. The pods are very slender, nearly straight, one or two inches long. This grows among rocks, in protected situations, and is not common. Only a few, separate flowers are given in the picture, as the plant I found, near the Desert Laboratory at Tucson, was almost out of bloom.

Golden Prince's Plume--Stanleya pinnatifida.]

There are a good many kinds of Lesquerella, all American; low plants, more or less hairy or scurfy; flowers mostly yellow, in clusters; petals without claws; pods roundish, more or less inflated, and giving the common name, Bladder-pod, also used for _Isomeris arborea_.

[Sidenote: =White Bladder-pod=
_Lesquerélla purpùrea_
=White, pink
Spring
Arizona=]

Pretty little plants, often growing in quantities among rocks in mountain canyons. The slender stems are from a few inches to over a foot tall, springing from a cluster of root-leaves, varying a good deal in shape, dull-green and harsh to the touch. The flowers are half an inch or more across, with white petals, often tinged with pink, with a little yellow in the throat, and form a pretty, rather flat-topped cluster.

[Sidenote: =Yellow Bladder-pod=
_Lesquerélla Arizònica_
=Yellow
Summer
Arizona=]

In desert places, such as the terrible sandy wastes of the Petrified Forest, where it seems a miracle that anything should grow, we find the close, pale, gray-green tufts of this little plant, crowned with racemes of small bright-yellow flowers. The small, thickish leaves are long, narrow and white with close down, the stems, about three inches high, branch at the root and the little pods are tipped with a style of about their own length. _L. Gordóni_, of Arizona, also has clusters of little yellow flowers, often covering sandy hillsides with bright color; the leaves slightly stiff and rough, the pods much inflated. It resembles _L. purpurea_ in general form and size.

There are many kinds of Brassica, coarse "weeds" in this country. This is the ancient Latin name for Cabbage, which belongs to this genus, as well as Cauliflower, Turnip, and Brussels Sprouts.

[Sidenote: =Black Mustard=
_Brássica nìgra_
=Yellow
Summer
U. S.=]

A European "weed," common everywhere. In California it grows to an enormous height, sometimes twelve feet, and when in bloom is a beautiful feature of the landscape, covering the fields with a shimmering sheet of pale gold. The leaves are dark-green, smooth or with a few hairs, all with leaf-stalks, the lower leaves large and jagged, cut into leaflets, the upper leaves mostly toothless. The fragrant flowers form long clusters, each flower about three-quarters of an inch across; the small, cylindrical pods stand erect, close to the branching stem. A valuable, antiseptic oil is made from the black, pungent seeds, exported from California by the ton.

CAPER FAMILY. _Capparidaceae._

The flowers of this family are much like the Mustards, but the stamens are all of equal length and are often more than six; the leaves are alternate and consist of three or several leaflets, with stalks, and the plant usually tastes bitter and disagreeable instead of pungent. There is no partition in the pods, which are on long, threadlike stalks; the ovary is superior and the seeds are kidney-shaped. Many flowers have only a rudimentary pistil and never produce fruit. The Caper, of which we eat the pickled flower-buds for a relish, is a shrub which grows in the Levant. The family is quite large and flourishes in warm regions.

There are several kinds of Cleomella, resembling Cleome, except that the pods are different.

[Sidenote: =Cleomella=
_Cleomélla lóngipes_
=Yellow
Spring
Nev., Cal., Oreg.=]

This is a handsome, rather odd-looking plant, with a stout, smooth, yellowish or purplish stem, sometimes branching and over a foot tall. The leaves are bright light-green, smooth, toothless and slightly thickish, and the three leaflets are sometimes each tipped with a hair, and have a tuft of small hairs at the base of the leaf-stalk, in place of a stipule. The flowers are about half an inch across, and are a beautiful warm shade of golden-yellow, the long stamens being of the same color and giving a very pretty feathery appearance to the large cluster. The pods are queer-looking little things and stick straight out from the stem. This has a slightly unpleasant smell, but looks very gay and pretty in the fields and along the edges of the mesas around Reno.

There are many kinds of Cleome; ours are branching herbs, with palmately-divided leaves; the flowers with four sepals, four petals, and six stamens. The ovary has a stalk with a gland at its base and becomes a long pod, with a long stalk and many seeds.

[Sidenote: =Bee-plant=
_Cleòme serrulàta_
=Pinkish-lilac, white
Summer
Southwest, etc.=]

In Arizona this exceedingly handsome plant often covers the dry beds of rivers with acres of beautiful color. The smooth, branching stem is sometimes as much as eight feet high. The upper leaves are long and narrow and the lower are larger and usually have three leaflets, but all are bluish-green and peculiarly soft and smooth to the touch. The buds are purple and the delicate flowers, with threadlike flower-stalks, grow in a handsome, feathery cluster, sometimes a foot long, with numerous bracts. They have four, pinkish-lilac or white petals and six exceedingly long, threadlike stamens with minute, curling, green anthers. The lilac pistil is also very long and before the flower drops off begins to develop into a small, flat, green pod. These gradually lengthen, until the stem is ornamented with many hooklike pods, with slender stalks, hanging all along it. Many of the flowers do not produce fruit. The foliage when it is crushed gives off a rank, unpleasant smell, which is responsible for the local name of Skunk-weed. This is widely distributed and is found in the central and northern part of the United States, as well as in the Southwest.

[Sidenote: =Yellow Cleome=
_Cleòme platycàrpa_
=Yellow
Spring
Nevada=]

An odd-looking plant, with very pretty, feathery flower-clusters. The hairy stem is over a foot tall and the leaves are bright yellowish-green and mostly smooth on the upper side, with hairy margins and hairy on the under side. The flowers are a warm shade of bright golden-yellow and form a handsome, rather flat-topped cluster, with long stamens, and the oblong pods are an inch long or less, flat and much broader than those of the last. The flowers are slightly sweet-scented and the whole plant exudes a faint unpleasant odor. This is conspicuous on the dreary mesas around Reno, often growing with _Cleomella longipes_, which it very much resembles in general appearance, except for the pods, which are quite different.

There is only one kind of Isomeris.

[Sidenote: =Bladderpod=
_Isómeris arbòrea_
=Yellow
Spring
California=]

This is a shrub about three feet high, which is attractive except for its unpleasant smell. The leaves are smooth, toothless, stiffish and thickish, and bluish-green, with a small bristle at the tip, and mostly with three leaflets. The pretty flowers are nearly an inch across and warm yellow in color, not very bright but pretty in tone, with six very long, yellow stamens, and form a short, oblong cluster. The ovary has such a long stalk, even in the flower, that it gives an odd appearance and it develops into a very curious and conspicuous, drooping pod, an inch and a half long, much inflated and resembling a very fat pea-pod, on a long stalk, with two rows of seeds like little peas inside it, which taste very bitter. This is quite common on southern mesas. The name Bladderpod is also used for Lesquerella, which belongs to the Mustard Family.

ORPINE FAMILY. _Crassulaceae._

A rather large family, widely distributed; odd-looking, mostly very succulent herbs, with smooth, fleshy leaves and stems, without stipules; flowers in clusters; sepals, petals, pistils, and stamens, all of the same number, usually four or five, sometimes the stamens twice as many; ovary superior; receptacle with honey-bearing scales, one behind each pistil; pistils separate, developing into small dry pods, containing few or many, minute seeds. Some of these plants look like tiny cabbages and we are all familiar with their tight little rosettes in the formal garden-beds of hotels and railway stations, where they are so stiff and unattractive that we hardly recognize them when we find them looking exceedingly pretty in their natural homes. The Latin name means "thick."

There are many kinds of Sedum, no one kind very widely distributed; fleshy herbs; leaves usually alternate; flowers star-like, often in one-sided clusters; stamens and pistils sometimes in different flowers on different plants; sepals and petals four or five; stamens eight or ten, on the calyx, the alternate ones usually attached to the petals; styles usually short. The Latin name means "to sit," because these plants squat on the ground, and Stonecrop is from their fondness for rocks.

[Sidenote: =Douglas Stonecrop=
_Sèdum Douglásii_
=Yellow
Spring, summer
Northwest=]

This makes beautiful golden patches, on dry slopes or more or less open hilltops, usually among limestone rocks. The reddish stems are from six to ten inches tall, the leaves are rather long and narrow, thick but flat, forming pretty pale-green rosettes, more or less tinged with pink and yellow, and the pretty starry flowers are three-quarters of an inch across, bright-yellow, with greenish centers, the stamens giving a feathery appearance.

[Sidenote: =Yosemite Stonecrop=
_Sèdum Yosemiténse_
=Yellow
Summer
California=]

On moss-covered rocks, moistened by the glistening spray blowing from the Yosemite waterfalls, we find these beautiful plants, covering the stones with a brilliant, many-colored carpet. The flowers are stars of brightest gold, about half an inch across and delicately scented, and form flat-topped clusters, three or four inches across. The upper part of the stalk, which is about six inches tall, and the upper leaves are delicate bluish-green, but both stem and leaves shade to vivid scarlet at the base. Spreading out on the ground from the base of the stem in all directions are numerous little runners, each bearing at the end a small rosette of thick, blue-green leaves, forming a beautiful contrast to the vivid color of flowers and stems. The leaves and runners are very brittle and break off at a touch.

Yosemite Stonecrop--Sedum Yosemitense.]

There are several kinds of Dudleya; perennials, very thick and fleshy; root-leaves in a conspicuous rosette, stem-leaves mostly bract-like, usually with a broad, clasping base; flowers mostly yellow or reddish; calyx conspicuous, with five lobes; petals united at base; stamens ten. Most of these plants grow in the South, often on rocks, in such shallow soil, that they would die in dry weather, except that the juicy leaves retain their moisture for a long time and nourish the plant. They resemble Sedum in appearance, but as the petals are more or less united the flowers are not starlike. The Indians make poultices out of the leaves.

[Sidenote: =Hen-and-Chickens=
_Dúdleya Nevadénsis (Cotyledon)_
=Orange-red
Summer
California=]

The succulent, reddish flower-stalks of this handsome plant bear large, loose, rather flat-topped clusters of orange-red flowers, on coiling branches, and are about a foot tall, with scaly bracts, springing from a large handsome rosette on the ground of very thick, pale-green leaves, often tinged with pink. Other smaller rosettes form a circle around it, hence its nice little common name. _D. pulverulénta (Echeveria)_ is beautiful but weird-looking. It has red flowers, and the rosette, resembling a small Century-plant, is covered all over with a white powder which, among ordinary herbage, gives an exceedingly striking and ghostlike effect. This plant is sometimes a foot and a half across, with as many as eight, tall stalks, and is found from San Diego to Santa Barbara.

SAXIFRAGE FAMILY. _Saxifragaceae._

A large family, almost all herbs, living usually in temperate regions. They have no very peculiar characteristics and resemble the Rose Family, but sometimes their leaves are opposite, usually they have no stipules and have fewer stamens than Roses, not more than twice as many as the sepals, and usually the pistils, from two to five in number, with distinct styles, are united to form a compound ovary, which is superior or partly inferior; sepals usually five; petals four, five, or rarely none, alternate with the sepals; petals and stamens borne on the calyx; fruit a dry pod or berry, containing numerous seeds. The Latin name means "rock breaker," as many grow among rocks.

There are several kinds of Parnassia, of north temperate and arctic regions; smooth perennials; leaves toothless, almost all from the root; flowers single; sepals five; petals five, each with a cluster of sterile filaments, tipped with glands, at the base; fertile stamens five, alternate with the petals; ovary superior, or partly inferior, with a very short style, or none, usually with four stigmas; fruit a capsule, containing numerous winged seeds. These plants were called Grass of Parnassus by Dioscorides, but are not grasslike. They resemble the other members of this family so little that they have been made into a separate family by some botanists.

[Sidenote: =Grass of Parnassus=
_Parnássia fimbriàta_
=White
Summer
Northwest=]

A charming plant, with several slender stems, about a foot tall, springing from a large cluster of handsome, very smooth, glossy leaves. The flowers are about an inch across and have cream-white petals, delicately veined with green and prettily fringed towards the base, and pale yellow anthers. At the base of each petal there is a queer little stiff cluster of sterile filaments, like a tiny green hand. This grows on banks of streams and in moist places, reaching an altitude of eleven thousand feet. _P. Californica_ is similar, but the petals not fringed.

There are several kinds of Leptasea, perennials, with alternate, thick or stiffish leaves; flowers white or yellow, single or in terminal clusters; sepals five; petals five, with claws or claw-like bases; stamens ten; ovary mostly superior.

[Sidenote: =Dotted Saxifrage=
_Leptàsea austromontàna. (Saxifraga bronchialis)_
=White
Summer
Northwest=]

Pretty little plants, about six inches tall, forming matted clumps of stiff, rather dark green foliage, the twigs crowded with leathery, toothless leaves, bristly along the edges and tipped with a little stiff point. The pretty flowers are about half an inch across, their white petals dotted with dark red or purple towards the tips, sometimes dotted with yellow near the center, with yellow anthers and a pale green ovary, partly inferior. These little plants sometimes cover rocky slopes for long distances with their leafy mats and are common in the mountains at moderate altitudes.

There are several kinds of Muscaria, perennial, matted herbs; leaves alternate, usually three-lobed, mostly from the root; flowers white, single, or a few in terminal clusters; sepals five; petals five, without claws; stamens ten; ovary about one-half inferior.

[Sidenote: =Tufted Saxifrage=
_Muscària caespitòsa (Saxifraga)_
=White
Summer
Northwest, etc.=]

Pretty little plants, from two to six inches tall, with small leaves, with from three to five lobes or teeth, forming matted patches of pretty foliage, from which spring many slender, slightly hairy flower-stems, with a few bracts or leaves, and bearing one or more pretty flowers, less than half an inch across, with white petals, yellow anthers, and a greenish-yellow ovary. This grows in rocky crevices in the mountains, across the continent, also in arctic and alpine Europe and Siberia.

There are a good many kinds of Lithophragma, perennials, bearing bulblets on their slender rootstocks and sometimes also on the stems; leaves more or less divided, mostly from the root; stipules small; flowers few, in a loose, terminal cluster; sepals five; petals five, white or pink, with claws; stamens ten, short; ovary superior or partly inferior, with three short styles.

[Sidenote: =Woodland Star=
_Lithophrágma heterophýlla_
=White
Spring, summer
California=]

A little woodland plant, delicate and pretty, with a slender, hairy stem, from nine inches to two feet tall, springing from a pretty cluster of hairy leaves, variable in shape, but usually with three or five lobes. The starry flowers are three-quarters of an inch across, with white petals, prettily slashed. This is sometimes called Star of Bethlehem, but that name belongs to an Ornithogalum, grown in gardens.

Tufted Saxifrage--Muscaria caespitosa.

Woodland Star--Lithophragma heterophylla.]

[Sidenote: =Youth-on-age=
_Leptáxis Menzièsii. (Tolmiea)_
=Purplish
Summer
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]

The only kind, a perennial, over a foot tall, with a hairy stem bearing a graceful wand of small flowers, springing from a cluster of root-leaves, bright green and thin in texture, but roughish and sparsely hairy. The flowers are about a third of an inch long, the calyx, which is the conspicuous part, dark-purple or pinkish-red and slightly irregular, with three large and two small sepals, and the petals of the same color, but so narrow that they look like long curling filaments. The three stamens are opposite the three upper sepals, the ovary is superior and the capsule has two long beaks. Young plants often spring from the base of the leaf, where it joins the leaf-stalk, and this habit gives the common name. This grows in mountain woods and is attractive, for though the flowers are dull in color they are unusual in form and the leaves are pretty.

There are a good many kinds of Heuchera, North American, difficult to distinguish; perennials, with stout rootstocks; leaves mostly from the root; flowers small, in clusters; calyx-tube bell-shaped, with five lobes; petals small, sometimes lacking, on the throat of the calyx, with claws; stamens five, inserted with the petals; ovary partly inferior, with two slender styles, becoming two beaks on the capsule.

[Sidenote: =Alumroot=
_Heuchèra micrántha_
=Pink and white
Summer
Cal., Oreg., Wash.=]

These feathery sprays are so airy and delicate that they might almost be made of mingled mist and moonshine, blown from the waterfalls they love to haunt, but are not so fragile as they look, for the clusters of tiny pink and white flowers last a long time in water. The stem is very slender, rather hairy, from one to three feet tall, springing from a cluster of roundish leaves, prettily lobed and scalloped, bright green, with some white hairs on the backs and on the long leaf-stems, often with red veins. The handsome leaves and lovely feathery spires are conspicuous, decorative and quite common, among mossy rocks in dark, rich mountain woods, up to six thousand feet.

Youth-on-age--Leptaxis Menziesii.]

[Sidenote: =Alumroot=
_Heuchèra rubéscens_
=Pink and white
Summer
Southwest, Utah, Nev.=]

This is not so tall and the leaves, with blunt teeth and sometimes slightly lobed, are smaller. In Utah they are dark green and shining on the upper side, smooth or slightly downy, with a bristle at the tip of each lobe, often reddish on the under side, and in Yosemite quite rough, with hairs on the edges and veins. The flowers are about a quarter of an inch across, the calyx deep-pink, with blunt, green teeth, the petals long, narrow and white, the general effect of the flower being pink. The clusters are not nearly so airy as those of _H. micrantha_ and in the high Sierras the stems are shorter and the clusters still more compact. This was first found on one of the islands in Great Salt Lake. There are other similar kinds, some with greenish flowers.

There are several kinds of Micranthes, perennials, sometimes with bulblets at the base of the stem; leaves thickish, from the root; flowers white, in terminal clusters; petals five, mostly without claws; stamens ten; ovary slightly inferior.

[Sidenote: =Tall Swamp Saxifrage=
_Micránthes Oregàna (Saxifraga)_
=White
Summer
Northwest=]

This is conspicuous on account of its height, with a stout, stiff, leafless, hairy flower-stalk, three feet or more tall, springing from a loose rosette of smooth, thickish, bright-green leaves, not standing up stiffly but spreading, sometimes nearly a foot long, paler on the under side and obscurely toothed at the ends, with some minute hairs along the lower margins. The flowers are small, with cream-white petals, orange-red anthers and a green ovary, and form a long branching cluster towards the top of the stalk. This grows in swamps in the mountains.

[Sidenote: =Saxifrage=
_Micránthes rhomboídea (Saxifraga)_
=White
Spring, summer
Southwest, Idaho, Utah, Col.=]

A little alpine plant, growing in moist soil, or on mossy rocks. The sticky-hairy flower-stem is from two to twelve inches tall, springing from a cluster of dull-green root-leaves, toothless, or toothed towards the ends, slightly thickish and very slightly downy and the flowers are small, and form a compact cluster.

Tall Swamp Sáxifrage--M. Oregana.]

[Sidenote: =Modesty=
_Whípplea modésta_
=White
Spring
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]

The only kind, a pretty little under-shrub, with many woody stems, spreading and trailing on the ground, the branches clothed with more or less hairy leaves, with three veins, and bearing clusters of very small flowers, with a pleasant honey-like fragrance. They usually have ten stamens, the ovary is partially inferior, with from three to five styles; sepals whitish; petals white, becoming greenish. The low masses of green foliage, spotted with white flower clusters, are a pretty feature of the Coast Range forests and thickets, especially among redwoods.

There are several kinds of Mitella, perennials, of North America and Asia.

[Sidenote: =Bishop's Cap, Mitrewort=
_Mitélla ovális_
=White
Summer
Northwest and Utah=]

An inconspicuous little plant, of mountain woods, with pretty leaves and tiny flowers. The slender, hairy, leafless stem, about ten inches tall, springs from a cluster of root-leaves, smooth on the upper side, except for a few bristly hairs, with bristly hairs on the under veins and on the long, slender leaf-stalks. The flowers grow in a graceful, one-sided spray and have a five-lobed, green calyx, five minute petals, five stamens with short filaments, and a roundish ovary, almost wholly inferior. The petals have pretty little bits of feathery fringe between them, which make the little flowers look like tiny snow crystals in shape, when we examine them closely.

There are several kinds of Spatularia, perennials, sometimes with bulblets; leaves from the root, mostly toothed; flowers white, in open clusters; sepals five; petals all clawed, the three upper differing from the two lower; ovary chiefly superior.

[Sidenote: _Spatulària Brunoniàna
(Saxifraga Nutkana) (Saxifraga Bongardi)_
=White
Summer
Northwest=]

A beautiful plant, with such slender stems and branches that, at a distance, the little white flowers look like specks of foam. The hairy, reddish stems, from a few inches to over a foot tall and very branching, spring from clusters of thickish, stiffish, hairy root-leaves and bear dozens of flowers, about three-eighths of an inch across, with white petals, spotted with yellow or red at the base and slightly irregular, the three upper petals being narrower than the two lower. The anthers are orange; ovary white or pinkish; calyxes and buds purplish-red. This grows among rocks in mountains.

Modesty--Whipplea modesta.

Bishop's Cap--Mitella ovalis.]

HYDRANGEA FAMILY. _Hydrangeaceae._