Chapter IV: Preface (3)

_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.

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."

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.

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.

HAIRBELL. LANTERN OF THE FAIRIES.

WHITE GLOBE-TULIP.

_Calochortus albus_, Dougl. Lily Family.

_Stem._--One or two feet high; branching. _Flowers._--White.
_Sepals._--Lanceolate. _Petals._--Twelve to fifteen lines long;
pearly white, sometimes lavender-tinged outside; covered within
with long, silky white hairs. _Gland._--Shallow
crescent-shaped, with four transverse scales fringed with short
glandular hairs. (See _Calochortus_.) _Hab._--Coast Ranges and
Sierras, San Diego to Tehama County.

Just before the oncoming of summer, our wooded hill-slopes and cañon-sides entertain one of the most charming of flowers; for the graceful stalks of the hairbell begin to hang out their delicate, white satin globes. Never was flower more exquisite in texture and fringing--never one more graceful in habit. If fairies have need of lanterns at all, these blossoms would certainly make very dainty globes to hold their miniature lights.

Wherever they grow, these flowers win instant and enthusiastic admiration; and they have received a variety of common names in different localities, being known as "snowy lily-bell," "satin-bell," "hairbell," "lantern of the fairies," and "white globe-tulip."

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.

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.

_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.

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 cañon 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.

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 Cañon, 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 cañons, and nothing more magnificent could be imagined than a steep cañon-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.

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 cañons, 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!

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.

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.

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.

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.