Chapter III: Pink

[_Pink or occasionally or partially pink flowers not described in the Pink Section._

_Described in the White Section_:--

ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM--Yarrow.
CALOCHORTUS VENUSTUS--Mariposa Tulip.
CHIMAPHILA MENZIESII--Prince's Pine.
CONVOLVULUS LUTEOLUS--Wild Morning-glory.
GAULTHERIA SHALLON--Salal.
LATHYRUS TORREYI.
LATHYRUS VESTITUS--Common Wild Pea.
LAYIA GLANDULOSUM--White Daisy.
LILIUM RUBESCENS--Ruby Lily.
MALACOTHRIX SAXATILIS.
MESEMBRYANTHEMUM CRYSTALLINUM--Ice-Plant.
OENOTHERA CALIFORNICA--White Evening Primrose.
ORTHOCARPUS VERSICOLOR--White Owl's Clover.
PYROLA APHYLLA.
RHODODENDRON OCCIDENTALE--Californian Azalea.
RUBUS SPECTABILIS--Salmon-Berry.
SPIRAEA BETULIFOLIA--Pink Spiraea.
SPIRAEA DOUGLASII--Californian Hardhack.
SPRAGUEA UMBELLATA--Pussy's-Paws.

_Described in the Yellow Section_:--

HOSACKIA GRACILIS.

_Described in the Blue and Purple Section_:--

CALOCHORTUS SPLENDENS--Mariposa Tulip.
CALOCHORTUS UNIFLORUS.
TRILLIUM SESSILE--Californian Trillium.

_Described in the Red Section_:--

GILIA AGGREGATA--Scarlet Gilia.

_Described in the Miscellaneous Section_:--

CYPRIPEDIUM CALIFORNICUM--Californian Lady's Slipper.
GOMPHOCARPUS TOMENTOSUS--Hornless Woolly Milkweed.
RUMEX HYMENOSEPALUS--Wild Pie-Plant; Canaigre.]

RED-STEMMED FILAREE. ALFILERILLA. CLOCKS. PIN-CLOVER.

_Erodium cicutarium_, L'Her. Geranium Family.

_Leaves._--Chiefly radical in a depressed rosette; six to ten
inches long; dissected into narrow toothed lobes. Stem-leaves
smaller. _Flowers._--Pink; four to eight in an umbel; parts in
fives. _Petals._--Four lines long. _Stamens._--Five perfect,
with flattened filaments; five reduced to mere scales.
_Carpels_ and styles one or two inches long; separating upward
from a central axis into twisted, bearded tails.
_Hab._--Throughout the State.

The name "alfilerilla" is Spanish, coming from _alfiler_, a needle, and refers to the long, slender beak of the carpels. By corruption it has become "filaree."

This plant is found in abundance everywhere, and is one of our most valuable forage-plants. It varies greatly in size, and becomes very rank in growth where the soil is rich. Ordinarily, it makes its appearance soon after the beginning of the rainy season, as a rosette of leaves lying upon the ground, and later it sends up its reddish stems. Its seed-vessels look like a group of fantastic, long-billed storks, and the long beaks of the carpels, as they separate from the central axis, begin to curl about any convenient object. They are thus widely disseminated in the hair of animals and the clothing of people. Children call them "clocks," and love to stand the seed up in their clothing and watch the beaks wind slowly about, like the hands of a timepiece.

We have several other species of _Erodium_. _E. moschatum_, L' Her., is a coarser plant whose foliage has a musky fragrance, especially when wilted. It is also a valuable forage-plant and is commonly known as "musky filaree" or "green-stemmed filaree."

_E. Botrys_, Bertoloni, is a very abundant plant. Its flowers are larger, six lines across, and are pink, strongly veined with wine-color. The beaks of its carpels are sometimes four inches long.

REDWOOD-SORREL.

_Oxalis Oregana_, Nutt. Geranium Family.

Herbs with sour juice. _Leaves._--With three leaflets; petioles
two to even twelve inches long. Leaflets one or two inches
broad; usually light-blotched. _Scapes._--One to six inches
long; one-flowered. _Sepals._--Five. _Petals._--Five; nine to
twelve lines long; white or rose-colored, often veined with
darker color; usually having an orange spot at base.
_Stamens._--Ten. _Ovary._--Five-celled. Styles five.
_Hab._--Coast woods, from Santa Cruz to Washington.

In deep woods, "where no stir nor call the sacred hush profanes," the beautiful leaves and delicate flowers of the redwood-sorrel cover the ground with an exquisite tapestry, which catches the shimmer of the sunlight as it sifts down through the tall trees. If the goddess Nanna in passing left the print of her pretty fingers upon the clover, perhaps some wood-nymph may have touched the leaves of this charming plant. Each day as twilight deepens, the leaflets fold gently together and prepare to sleep.

The small yellow oxalis--_O. corniculata_, L.--becomes a troublesome weed in our lawns.

ROCK-CRESS.

_Arabis blepharophylla_, Hook. and Arn. Mustard Family.

_Stems._--Four to twelve inches high.
_Radical-leaves._--Broadly spatulate; one or two inches long.
_Cauline-leaves._--Oblong; sessile. _All._--Ciliate.
_Flowers._--Purplish-pink. _Sepals._--Four; generally colored.
_Petals._--Four; six to nine lines long; clawed.
_Stamens._--Six; two shorter. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Stigma
button-shaped. _Pod._--Linear; an inch or more long; flattened.
_Hab._--The Coast, from San Francisco to Monterey.

The bright magenta-colored blossoms of the rock-cress may be looked for in early spring along the hills of the Coast Ranges. This plant is said to be very beautiful in cultivation. The generic name was bestowed because many of the well-known species are natives of Arabia, while the formidable specific name means "eyelash-leaved," referring to the ciliate leaves.

WILD HOLLYHOCK.

_Sidalcea malvaeflora_, Gray. Mallow Family.

_Stems._--Several; eight inches to two feet long.
_Leaves._--Round in outline; variously lobed and cut.
_Flowers._--Pink; in terminal racemes. _Calyx._--Five-cleft;
without bractlets. _Petals._--Five; united at base; one inch
long. _Stamens._--United in a column; in two series. Anthers
one-celled. _Ovaries._--Three to ten in a ring; separating at
maturity. Styles as many; filiform. _Hab._--The Coast from San
Diego to Mendocino County.

In early spring the graceful sprays of the _Sidalcea_ bend over our meadows everywhere, making them bright with their pink blossoms, which the children call "wild hollyhocks." The stamens of these flowers are especially pretty and interesting if examined with a glass. By a careful dissection, the stamen-column is found to be double, its outer part bearing five bunches of stamens. The anthers are one-celled and of a beautiful rose-pink. They may be seen best by pulling apart one of the unopened buds.

There are two kinds of these plants, one having large pale-pink flowers, which are perfect; the other bearing smaller deep rose-pink blossoms, in which the anthers are only rudimentary.

There are quite a number of species of _Sidalcea_ in California, but they are very difficult of determination for the non-botanist.

REDBUD. JUDAS-TREE.

_Cercis occidentalis_, Torr. Pea Family.

Small trees or shrubs. _Leaves._--Alternate; slender-petioled;
round-cordate; palmately veined; smooth; about two inches in
diameter. _Flowers._--Rose-color; papilionaceous; clustered in
the axils. _Petals._--Four lines long; the standard smaller and
inclosed by the wings. _Stamens._--Ten; all distinct.
_Ovary._--One-celled. _Pods._--Two or three inches long; thin.
_Hab._--Mt. Shasta to San Diego.

By April, or earlier, our interior hills and valleys begin to show the rosy blossoms of the Judas-tree. The leafless branches are wreathed with the abundant flowers, which gives the shrub the appearance of a garden fruit-tree. When seen later, in its full summer foliage, it is almost equally attractive. Its shapely leaves are then diversified by the clusters of long purple pods, which hang gracefully among them.

The Indians find the slender twigs of this shrub very useful in their basket-making. By means of the thumb-nail or flints, they split them into threads, which they use as woof.

A closely allied species of _Cercis_, growing in Palestine, had, according to tradition, white flowers, until the arch-traitor Judas hanged himself from its limbs, when it blushed pink for very shame.

In medieval Europe the Judas-tree was believed to be a favorite rendezvous for witches, and it was considered dangerous to approach one at nightfall.

HUCKLEBERRY.

_Vaccinium ovatum_, Pursh. Heath Family.

Evergreen shrubs, three to eight feet high. _Leaves._--Ovate to
oblong-lanceolate; leathery; smooth and shining. _Flowers._--In
axillary clusters: small; pinkish. _Calyx._--Minutely
fine-toothed. _Corolla._--Campanulate; two or three lines long.
_Stamens._--Ten; anthers opening terminally. _Ovary._--Globose;
five-celled. Style filiform. _Berries._--Small; reddish,
turning black. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges from Monterey to
Vancouver Island.

When in bloom our Californian huckleberry is a delightful shrub. Its leaves, which are of a particularly rich, shining green, are set at a characteristic angle to the red stems, contrasting finely with their warm tones; and the effect is heightened by the clusters of small pink and white waxen bells scattered here and there amid the foliage.

The huckleberry is at its best upon the high ridges of the Coast Ranges, where it becomes especially luxuriant in the fog-nurtured region of the northern portion of the redwood belt. There its abundant berries become juicy and delicious, and are much sought for preserving and pie-making. Its branches, when cut, keep admirably in water and are favorite greens for household decoration.

STAR-FLOWER. CHICKWEED-WINTERGREEN.

_Trientalis Europaea, var. latifolia_, Torr. Primrose Family.

_Root._--Tuberous. _Stem._--Four to eight inches high; with a
whorl of oval-pointed leaves one to four inches long.
_Flowers._--White or pink; eight lines across. _Calyx_ and
rotate corolla seven-parted, sometimes six- to nine-parted;
divisions pointed. _Stamens._--As many as the corolla-lobes,
and opposite them. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style filiform.
_Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from Monterey northward.

In April and May, as we walk through shaded woods, we begin to notice a trim little plant three or four inches high, with very slender stem, bearing at its summit a number of pretty leaves of varying size. A little later, we find among them one or two delicate pink, starry flowers on very slender, threadlike stems.

The generic name is from the Latin _triens_, and is in allusion to the height of the plant, which is the third part of a foot.

CLINTONIA.

_Clintonia Andrewsiana_, Torr. Lily Family.

_Leaves._--Radical; oblong; six inches to one foot long; two to
four wide. _Flower-stem._--One or two feet high; with one leafy
bract. _Flowers._--Pink; many; in a terminal compound cluster
on pedicels an inch or less long. _Perianth._--Campanulate;
four to seven lines long. _Segments._--Six; gibbous at the
base. _Stamens._--Six. _Ovary._--Two- or three-celled.
_Fruit._--Beautiful, large, dark-blue berries. _Hab._--The
Coast Ranges, from Santa Cruz to Humboldt County.

This is one of the most distinguished-looking plants of our deep coast woods. Its large leaves, of a rich polished green, arrange themselves symmetrically around the short stem, seeming to come from the ground--and so fine are they, that if no blossom appeared, we should feel the plant had fulfilled its mission of beauty. But in April a blossom-stalk shoots up from their midst, bearing upon its summit a cluster of deep rose-colored, nodding bells. These are succeeded later by a bunch of superb dark-blue berries, which might be made of lapis lazuli or the rarest old delft china. I remember a beautiful spot upon the Lagunitas Creek, where the stream, flowing over a brown, pebbly bottom, passes among the redwoods where their tall shafts make dim cathedral aisles,--

... "forest-corridors that lie
In a mysterious world unpeopled yet."

Here little yellow violets and the charming wood-sorrel carpet the ground, the fetid adder's-tongue spreads its mottled leaves, while groups of the lovely _Clintonia_ put the finishing touches to an already beautiful scene.

LEMONADE-BERRY. MAHOGANY.

_Rhus integrifolia_, Benth. and Hook. Poison-oak or Cashew Family.

Evergreen shrubs two to six feet high, becoming small trees
southward. _Leaves._--Alternate; short-petioled; one to three
inches long; rigid; leathery. _Flowers._--Of two sexes, also
some perfect; in short, dense terminal clusters one to three
inches long; rose-colored or white. _Sepals_, petals, and
stamens four to nine; usually five. _Petals._--Rounded;
ciliate; one or two lines across. _Ovary._--One-celled. Stigmas
three. _Fruit._--Flat; one-seeded; six lines across; red;
viscid and acid. _Hab._--The Coast from Santa Barbara to San
Diego.

Growing everywhere upon the southern coast in great abundance, this shrub forms low, dense, wind-shorn thickets. Farther inland it rises to a height of several feet, with tough, India-rubber-like branches, and in Lower California it becomes a small tree. In its better estate it is very ornamental, especially in spring, when sprinkled with its clusters of small pink flowers. The little drupes are covered with an acid, oily substance, and have long been used by the Indians and Mexicans in the preparation of a lemonade-like drink. These people are so fond of this fruit that they dry it for winter use, grinding and roasting it as we do coffee. The wood of these shrubs is of a dark-red color, which is responsible for the common name, "mahogany."

Another _Rhus_ very common in the valleys of Southern California is _R. laurina_, Nutt., usually called "sumach." It is an evergreen shrub, with smooth, lanceolate leaves, two or three inches long, exhaling a rather strong odor, considered by some like bitter almonds, and bearing dense clusters of small white flowers in midsummer. Its small drupes are only a line or two across. They are also coated with a waxen substance, and yield a pungent oil.

In the mountains from Santa Barbara to San Diego is found another species--_R. ovata_, Wats. This has large leathery, pointed leaves, and is known as "lemonade-and-sugar-tree," as the acid berries are coated with a sweet, waxen substance, which the Indians value as sugar. Its leaves resemble in form those of the lilacs of our gardens.

SHOOTING-STARS. WILD CYCLAMEN. MAD VIOLETS.

_Dodecatheon Meadia_, L. Primrose Family.

_Leaves._--All radical; tufted; from obovate to lanceolate.
_Scape._--Three to fifteen inches high; umbel two- to
twenty-flowered. _Calyx._--Deeply five-cleft, the divisions
reflexed in flower, erect in fruit. _Corolla._--With extremely
short tube, and an abruptly reflexed five-parted limb; white,
rose-color, or purple. _Stamens._--Five; opposite the
corolla-lobes. Filaments short; united. Anthers standing erect
around the long style, forming a beak; violet.
_Ovary._--One-celled. _Hab._--Throughout the continent;
exceedingly variable.

The shooting-star is one of our prettiest spring flowers, which arrives a little before the baby-eyes and just as the brakes are unrolling their green crosiers. There is something particularly pleasing in these blossoms. It seems as though Nature had taxed her ingenuity to produce something original when she fashioned them. The name _Dodecatheon_, from the Greek, is entirely a fanciful one, and means "the twelve gods."

Formerly _D. Meadia_, L., was considered the only species, embracing many widely varying forms; but of late botanists have made several of the forms into separate species.

_D. Hendersoni_ (Gray), Ktz., is the species prevalent in our central and northern Coast Ranges. This has ovoid or obovoid, very obtuse, entire leaves, with broad petiole, equaling the blade, two inches long. Its flower-stem is from eight to twelve inches high, bearing a cluster of bright rose-purple flowers. The corolla has a short, dark-maroon tube, encircled by a band of yellow, sometimes merging into white. A variety of this with very slender stems and the flower parts in fours is common in the Bay region, and southward possibly to Santa Barbara. This is called _var. cruciata_. Its blossoms have a strong odor, suggestive of a tannery. In this species the capsule opens at the top, splitting into a number of little teeth, which soon turn downward.

_D. Clevelandi_, Greene, is a beautiful species found in the south. It sends up a tall shaft, crowned with a large cluster of beautiful blossoms, varying from a delicate lilac to pure white. The petals are ringed below with pale yellow, and the beak of the flower is a rich prune-purple. There is a certain generous, fine look about these flowers, although they are exquisitely delicate. Their charm is completed by a delicious perfume, like that of the cultivated cyclamen.

Among the children the various forms are known by a number of names, such as "mad violets," "prairie-pointers," "mosquito-bills," and "roosters'-heads." The latter is said to be the designation of prosaic little boys who see in these blossoms gaming possibilities, and who love to hook them together and pull to see which head will come off first.

PRICKLY PHLOX.

_Gilia Californica_, Benth. Phlox or Polemonium Family.

_Stems._--Woody; two or three feet high. _Leaves._--Palmately
three- to seven-parted, with spreading, needle-like divisions,
two to four lines long. _Flowers._--Solitary, at the ends of
the branchlets; rose-pink or lilac, with a white eye.
_Calyx._--Five-toothed. _Corolla-limb._--An inch and a half
across. (See _Gilia_.) _Hab._--Dry hills from Monterey to San
Bernardino.

I hardly know how to describe these delightful flowers. At a little distance the plant-stems have almost the look of a cactus, so densely are they clothed with the small, rigid leaves. Nor does a closer acquaintance serve to lessen the likeness--for in our breathless haste to take possession of the beautiful blossoms we are quite certain to have their prickly character impressed upon the hands as well as upon the sight. The texture of the flowers is of the finest silk, with an exquisite sheen; and they have a delicate fragrance. Growing at the tips of the numerous branchlets, they often form large masses of rich rose-colored bloom, which are especially brilliant and showy against the warm foliage.

In some localities they are called "rock-rose," an unfortunate name in two respects: it has long belonged to a yellow flower of an entirely different family--_Helianthemum_; and these blossoms do not in the least resemble a rose.

CALIFORNIAN FOUR-O'CLOCK.

_Mirabilis Californica_, Gray. Four-o'clock Family.

_Stems._--From a woody base; a foot or two long.
_Leaves._--Ovate; six to fifteen lines long; rather thick.
_Flowers._--Magenta-colored; one to three in a campanulate,
calyx-like, five-toothed involucre. Involucres nearly sessile.
_Perianth._--Six lines long; open funnel-form; five-lobed.
_Stamens._--Five. Anthers yellow. _Ovary._--Globose;
one-celled. Style filiform. Stigma capitate. _Hab._--Southern
California and eastward.

When the heat of the day is over and the morning-glories are folding together their faded chalices, the bright little four-o'clocks begin to open their myriad magenta-colored eyes upon the closing day, and they, together with the evening primroses, will keep the vigils of the night. These diaphanous little flowers, with their long stamens resting on the lower side of the perianth, are like diminutive azaleas.

They are very puzzling, and the part that baffles the young botanist is the calyx, which, as it sometimes has two or three corollas within it, cannot be considered a calyx at all, but must be called an involucre. In reality the corolla is absent, and the calyx, which is colored like a corolla, is called a perianth. This appears to sit upon the top of the round ovary, but in reality a green continuation of it is drawn down tightly over the ovary.

BEACH MORNING-GLORY.

_Convolvulus Soldanella_, L. Morning-glory Family.

_Stems._--A foot or less long; trailing.
_Leaves._--Kidney-shaped; long-petioled; leathery; an inch or
two broad. _Flowers._--Pink to lavender; one to nearly three
inches across, with a pair of thin bracts just below the calyx,
partly enveloping it. (Otherwise as _C. luteolus_.) _Hab._--The
seashore from Puget Sound to San Diego.

The beach morning-glory trails its stems over the shifting sands of the seashore, making clusters of beautiful foliage, over which the large, delicate flowers raise their exquisite satin funnels.

CALYPSO.

_Calypso borealis_, Salisb. Orchis Family.

_Bulb._--Small; solid. _Stem._--Three to six inches high.
_Leaf._--An inch or two long. _Sepals_ and petals light to deep
rose-color; six to nine lines long. _Lip._--Brownish pink,
mottled with purple. _Style._--Petaloid, oval, and concave,
bearing the hemispherical anther on its summit underneath.
_Hab._--The northern Coast Ranges; also across the continent.

It has never been my good fortune to find this rare and exquisite little orchid, but beautiful specimens have been sent from the redwoods of Sonoma County and from Oregon. The books speak of it as growing in bogs; but I am told by those who gathered them that the little plants sit lightly upon the layer of needles that carpet the forest-floor. The roots scarcely penetrate the soil, so that the plants are easily disengaged without digging.

Nature produced a perfect work when she fashioned this little plant, so simple, so charming in every way, with its one dainty leaf and one unique blossom. The form of the column is peculiarly interesting, being that of a curving concave petal, bearing the anther, in the shape of a hollow hemisphere, on its upper edge.

WILD PORTULACA.

_Calandrinia caulescens_, HBK.; _var. Menziesii_, Gray. Purslane Family.

Decumbent, branching herbs, mostly smooth.
_Leaves._--Alternate; linear to oblanceolate; one to three
inches long. _Flowers._--In loose racemes; rose-color or
magenta; about an inch across. _Sepals._--Two; keeled.
_Petals._--Mostly five. _Stamens._--Four to eleven.
_Ovary._--One-celled. Style slender. Stigma three-cleft. Seeds
black, shining, lens-shaped. _Hab._--From Lower California to
Vancouver Island.

The wild portulaca is very abundant, and in seasons favorable to its development is a very noticeable little plant. Its succulent stems have a spreading habit and bear many satiny flowers of a deep purplish-pink, which open in the bright sunshine. The petals, which are veined with a slightly darker color, become white toward the center, and the little anthers are full of orange-colored pollen. These blossoms have a delicate, somewhat musky perfume.

Cattle are fond of the herbage, and the plants are considered excellent as potherbs and for salads. The seeds, which are a favorite food of the wild dove are very pretty, being lens-shaped, black and shining, with a granular surface.

THE PRIDE OF CALIFORNIA.

_Lathyrus splendens_, Kell. Pea Family.

_Stem._--Climbing; six to ten feet. _Leaflets._--About eight;
scattered; very variable; linear to lanceolate or oblong;
acute; mucronate; strongly three- to five-nerved.
_Tendrils._--Two- to five-parted. _Stipules._--Small;
semi-sagittate. _Peduncles._--Stout; usually seven- to
ten-flowered. _Flowers._--Very large; brilliant crimson.
_Calyx._--Five-toothed; eighteen-nerved. _Standard_ and keel an
inch or more long. _Pods._--Three inches long; smooth;
compressed; ten- to twenty-seeded. _Hab._--Parts of San Diego
County, and southward.

Clambering over our wild shrubs, this wonderful pea gives them the appearance of being loaded with a magnificence of bloom quite unwonted. The blossoms are the richest and most gorgeous of crimsons throughout, and have such a superb air that it is difficult to believe they are not the product of centuries of careful selection by the gardener. The long standard turns back over the stem, continuing the gracefully outlined keel in a long compound curve. The blossoms hang from the stem in charming abandon, like a flock of graceful tropic-birds poising upon the wing before taking flight, or like a fleet of gayly decked pleasure-barges, with canopies thrown back, fit for the conveyance of a Cleopatra.

CALIFORNIAN WILD CURRANT. INCENSE-SHRUB.

_Ribes glutinosum_, Benth. Saxifrage Family.

Shrubs six to fifteen feet high. _Leaves._--Three- to
five-lobed; glutinous when young; three to five inches broad.
_Flowers._--Rose-pink to pale pink; in long drooping racemes.
_Calyx._--Petaloid; five-lobed. _Petals_ and stamens five on
the calyx. _Ovary._--One-celled. Styles two; more or less
united. _Berries._--Blue, with a dense bloom; glandular-hispid.
_Syn._--_Ribes sanguineum_, Pursh. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges;
more common southward.

In early winter in the south, and somewhat later northward, the wild currant becomes a thing of beauty hardly to have been expected. The young foliage, of a clear brilliant green, is gayly decked with the long clusters of peculiarly fresh pink blossoms, which seem like the very incarnation of the spirit of Spring, producing a certain _eblouissement_, which quickens our sense into an anticipation of beauty on every side.

We are made aware of a strong, heavy fragrance emanating from this shrub, for which its numerous glands are responsible, and which has gained for it the popular name of "incense-shrub" in some localities.

The fruit, which ripens toward fall, is dry and bitter, or insipid.

The genus _Ribes_ includes the currant and the gooseberry, and furnishes us with several charming shrubs in California.

GROUND-PINK. FRINGED GILIA.

_Gilia dianthoides_, Endl. Phlox or Polemonium Family.

One to six inches high. _Leaves._--Six lines or so long; linear
to filiform. _Flowers._--Rose or lilac, blending inward to
white, with darker color or yellow in the throat.
_Calyx._--Five-cleft. _Corolla._--Nine to twelve lines across;
fringed. (See _Gilia_.) _Hab._--From Santa Barbara to San
Diego.

In March our southern meadows and hill-slopes are all aglow with the lovely flowers of this charming little _Gilia_. The plants are tiny, often no more than an inch high, but are ambitious out of all proportion to their size, covering themselves with blossoms exquisitely delicate in texture, form, and coloring, which literally carpet the earth with an overlapping mosaic.

It is a wonderful thought that upon every one of these countless millions of little flowers that clothe the fields Nature has bestowed such care that each is a masterpiece in itself.

COMMON FLEABANE.

_Erigeron Philadelphicus_, L. Sunflower Family.

Hairy, perennial herbs. _Stems._--One to three feet high; leafy
to the top. _Root-leaves._--Spatulate or obovate.
_Stem-leaves._--Oblong; sessile, with broad clasping base;
irregularly toothed. _Flower-heads._--In a loose corymb.
_Disks._--Yellow; three or four lines across.
_Rays._--Innumerable; very narrow; flesh-color to rose-purple;
about three lines long. _Hab._--Widely distributed on the
Pacific and Atlantic Coasts.

The feathery, daisy-like flowers of the common fleabane are of frequent occurrence in moist meadows or along the roadsides in spring. The ray-flowers are so narrow as to form a delicate fringe around the disk.

The common name arose from the belief that these plants were harmful to fleas.

TURKISH RUGGING.

_Chorizanthe staticoides_, Benth. Buckwheat Family.

A foot high or more, with widely spreading branches.
_Leaves._--All radical; oblong; obtuse; twelve to thirty lines
long, including petioles. _Involucres._--Loosely clustered;
sessile; one-flowered; campanulate; with six bristle-like
teeth. _Perianth._--Pink; two lines long; six-lobed; not
fringed. _Stamens._--Mostly nine; on the perianth.
_Ovary._--One-celled. Styles three. Stigmas capitate.
_Hab._--From Monterey to San Diego.

In late spring the dry, open hills of the south are overrun with the soft lavender of the _Chorizanthe_. The flowers are small, but the whole plant is purplish, and the stems are quite as productive of color as the blossoms. In fact, the whole plant seems to consist of a scraggly interlacement of slender branches and small flowers, as the leaves, which nestle close to the ground, are not very noticeable.

CANCHALAGUA. CALIFORNIAN CENTAURY.

_Erythraea venusta_, Gray. Gentian Family.

Six inches to two feet high. _Leaves._--Six to twelve lines
long; pale apple-green. _Calyx._--Usually five-parted.
_Corolla._--Bright pink, with yellow or white center; an inch
or so across. _Stamens._--Five; anthers spirally twisted after
shedding the pollen. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style slender.
Stigmas two. _Hab._--From Plumas County southward; more
abundant southward.

Just as our attention has been called afresh to the fields by the sudden appearance of the "golden stars," or _Bloomeria_, in late spring, we find, as we stoop to gather them, a charming pink flower nestling close to the earth amid the grasses. Though low of stature, these firstlings of the season atone for it by brilliancy of color, and their pink blossoms have a peculiarly clean, fresh, wide-awake appearance, reminding one of a rosy-faced country wench.

While enjoying their bright beauty, we do not for a moment suspect that we are paying homage to the famous "canchalagua" of the Spanish-Californians. No well-regulated household among these people is without bundles of these herbs strung upon the rafters--for they are considered by them an indispensable remedy for fevers; also, an excellent bitter tonic, and are said to possess rare antiseptic properties.

FALSE MALLOW.

_Malvastrum Thurberi_, Gray. Mallow Family.

Shrubby at base; three to fifteen feet high; densely tomentose.
_Leaves._--An inch or two across; thick. _Flowers._--Clustered
in the axils of the leaves; or in an interrupted naked spike.
_Calyx._--Five-lobed; with one to three bractlets.
_Petals._--Five, about six lines long; rose-purple.
_Stamens._--United in a column. _Ovaries._--Numerous; united in
a ring. Styles united at base. Stigmas capitate. _Hab._--The
southern Coast Ranges and islands of the Coast.

Upon the mesas of the south we often see a shrubby member of the mallow family, with long, wandlike branches ornamented with closely set, pink flowers, of delicate texture and pleasant perfume. This is the false mallow. It is a very handsome and noticeable shrub when in full bloom. The anthers are golden brown, and the stigmas are spherical instead of filiform. Upon the seashore it blooms much earlier than in the valleys inland.

MESEMBRYANTHEMUM. FIG-MARIGOLD.

_Mesembryanthemum aequilaterale_, Haworth. Fig-marigold Family.

Succulent plants. _Stems._--Elongating; forming large mats.
_Leaves._--Opposite; sessile; fleshy; three-angled; two inches
or more long; oblong. _Flowers._--Terminal; solitary; fifteen
lines to two inches across; pink. _Calyx._--With top-shaped
tube and five-lobed border. _Petals._--Very numerous; linear.
_Stamens._--Innumerable. _Ovary._--Four- to twenty-celled.
Stigmas six to ten. _Hab._--The Coast, from Point Reyes
southward.

The fig-marigold is a very common plant upon our seashore. It seems to flourish best toward the south, where it covers large tracts of sand with its succulent foliage, making mats of pleasant verdure in otherwise sandy wastes. Its stems often trail many yards down the cliffs, making beautiful natural draperies, decked with myriads of the pink blossoms. Because it is capable of withstanding the drouth in the most remarkable manner, it has been planted to produce verdure where irrigation is impossible. The very numerous slender petals give the flower the appearance at first sight of a _Composita_. The fruit is pulpy and full of very small seeds, like the fig, and has a suggestion of the flavor of the Isabella grape.

Many species of _Mesembryanthemum_ are cultivated in our gardens, mostly as border-plants. The genus is a large one, most of the species being native of Southern Africa, and it is supposed that the three species now common upon our Coast were introduced in the remote past without the agency of man.

* * * * *

_Gilia androsacea_, Steud. Phlox or Polemonium Family.

_Stems._--Three to twelve inches high; erect; spreading.
_Leaves._--Opposite; sessile; palmately five- to seven-parted;
seemingly whorled. _Flowers._--In terminal clusters.
_Corolla._--Salver-shaped; rose-pink, lilac, or white, with a
yellow or dark throat; its tube filiform, about an inch long;
limb eight to ten lines across. Filaments and style slender;
exserted. (See _Gilia_.) _Hab._--Throughout the western part of
the State; into the Sierra foothills.

The delicate flowers of this little plant may be found nestling amid the grasses of dry hill-slopes in late spring, often making charming bits of color. It is usually rather a low plant, but in specially favorable situations it rises to a foot in height. Its fragile flowers vary from pure white to lilac and a lovely rose-pink, and look like small phloxes.

* * * * *

_Mimulus Douglasii_, Gray. Figwort Family.

Flowering at half an inch high; later becoming a span high.
_Leaves._--Ovate or oblong; three- to five-nerved at base;
narrowed into a short petiole. _Flowers._--Rich maroon, with
deeper color in the throat and some yellow below.
_Calyx._--Five-toothed. _Corolla._--An inch to eighteen lines
long; with dilated throat. Lower lip much shorter than the
ample, erect, upper one; sometimes almost wanting. (See
_Mimulus_.) _Hab._--Throughout California.

This little _Mimulus_ is quite common upon gravelly or stony hills. Its pert little maroon flowers, with their very long tubes and erect lobes, so ridiculously out of proportion to the size of the tiny plant, give it the look of some very important small personage.

BITTER-ROOT. SPAT'LUM. TOBACCO-ROOT.

_Lewisia rediviva_, Pursh. Purslane Family.

_Root._--Very thick. _Leaves._--Clustered; linear-oblong; one
or two inches long. _Scapes._--One-flowered; one or two inches
long; jointed in the middle, with a whorl of five to seven
scarious bracts at the joint. _Sepals._--Six to eight; six to
nine lines long; scarious-margined. _Petals._--Twelve to
fifteen; rose-color, sometimes white; oblong; eight to sixteen
lines long; rotately spreading in sunshine. _Stamens._--Forty
or more. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style three- to eight-parted
nearly to the base. _Hab._--The mountains of California,
northward and eastward.

Within our borders this little plant is not abundant, but must be sought upon mountain heights. Formerly it was supposed not to occur south of Mt. Diablo, but it has since been found in the mountains of the southern part of the State and at intermediate points. It is very abundant in Montana, where it has been adopted as the State flower.

The plants are very small, being but an inch or two high, but the flowers are handsome and showy, and the delicate, rose-colored corollas, which are often two inches across, are of an exquisite silken texture. The root is remarkably large and thick for so small a plant, and it contains a nutritious, farinaceous matter, much esteemed by the Indians for food. Among them it is known as "spat'lum," and they gather large quantities of it, which they store in bags for future use.

This was the "racine-amère," or "bitter-root," of the early French settlers. It is also known as "tobacco-root," because when boiled it has a tobacco-like odor.

The specific name, _rediviva_, was bestowed because of the wonderful vitality of these plants. It is known upon good authority that specimens which had been drying for two years in an herbarium continued to produce leaves, and at last, when taken out and planted, went on growing and blossomed!

This genus is an exception to the other members of the Purslane family, in having more than two sepals.

SPINELESS TUNA.

_Opuntia basilaris, var. ramosa_, Parish. Cactus Family.

Low; spreading; branching freely above. _Joints._--Flat;
smooth; without large spines, but with close tufts of minute
bristles; obovate or fan-shaped; five to eight inches long;
nearly as wide at the top. _Flowers._--Large; brilliant
rose-magenta; two or three inches long. _Fruit._--Dry;
sub-globose. (Flower-structure as in _O. Engelmanni_.)
_Hab._--The southern deserts and San Bernardino Mountains.

In the arid regions of the southern interior, this _Opuntia_ is a very common one, and its large, brilliant rose-magenta flowers attract the attention wherever seen. They are very tempting blossoms, and it is hard to resist them, even though we know the penalty will be the conversion of thumbs and fingers into pin-cushions for innumerable, minute, tormenting thorns.

SNOW-BERRY.

_Symphoricarpos racemosus_, Michx. Honeysuckle Family.

Shrubs two to four feet high. _Leaves._--Opposite;
short-petioled; cuneate to oblong; entire or lobed; nine to
eighteen lines long. _Flowers._--Small; mostly in terminal
clusters. _Calyx._--Adnate to the ovary; with five-toothed
border. _Corolla._--Campanulate; five-lobed; three lines long;
waxen; pinkish; very hairy within. _Stamens._--Five; on the
corolla. _Ovary._--Four-celled. _Berries._--Waxen-white; six
lines in diameter. _Hab._--Widely distributed.

In early winter the pure-white clusters of the snow-berry, on their almost leafless stems, make flecks of light through the dun woods. At this season of few woodland attractions, these berries, together with the trailing sprays of the fragrant yerba buena and the long graceful leaves of the iris, are about the only trophies to be obtained upon a walk. In early spring, when their slender twigs first begin to leaf out, these little shrubs are among the most delicate and airy of growing things, and make a tender veil of green through the shadowy woodland. The blossoms, which arrive rather late, are inconspicuous.

TREE-MALLOW.

_Lavatera assurgentiflora_, Kell. Mallow Family.

_Shrubs._--Six to fifteen feet high. _Leaves._--Three to nine
inches across. _Flowers._--Pink, veined with maroon.
_Calyx._--Five-cleft, with an involucel below, like a second
calyx. _Petals._--Twelve to eighteen lines long.
_Filaments._--Numerous; united in a column.
_Styles._--Numerous; filiform. _Carpels._--One-seeded, in a
ring around an axis; separating at maturity. _Hab._--The
islands off the Coast; cultivated on the mainland north to
Mendocino County.

The _Lavateras_ are Old-World plants, with the exception of a few species which are natives of the islands of our southern coast. In the early days the Padres planted the above species (_L. assurgentiflora_) plentifully around the old Missions, and thence it has spread and become spontaneous in many localities. It can be seen in San Francisco, planted as wind-break hedges about the market-gardens, where it thrives luxuriantly as long as it is protected from cattle.

The leaves and twigs abound in mucilage, and are very fattening and nutritious food for sheep and cattle, who are very fond of it.

WILD HONEYSUCKLE.

_Lonicera hispidula_, Dougl. Honeysuckle Family.

Woody; climbing and twining. _Leaves._--Opposite;
short-petioled; oval; pale; one to three inches long; the upper
pairs uniting around the stem. _Flowers._--Pink; in spikes of
several whorls. _Calyx._--Minute; growing to the ovary; border
five-toothed. _Corolla._--Tubular; six lines to an inch long;
bilabiate; the lips strongly revolute; the upper four-lobed,
the lower entire. _Stamens._--Five; much exserted.
_Ovary._--Two- or three-celled. Style slender. Stigma capitate.
_Berries._--Scarlet; translucent. _Hab._--Throughout the State.

In early summer the climbing honeysuckle with its pale foliage flings its long arms over neighboring trees and shrubs, showing glimpses here and there of small pinkish flowers. But it is far more noticeable in the fall, when its long pendulous branches are laden with the fine clusters of translucent, orange-red berries. It is quite variable and has many forms, which are all considered varieties of the one species.

PINK PAINT-BRUSH. ESCOBITA.

_Orthocarpus purpurascens_, Benth. Figwort Family.

_Stems._--Six to twelve inches high. _Leaves._--Variously
parted into filiform divisions. _Bracts._--About equaling the
flowers; tipped with crimson or pale pink. _Corolla._--About an
inch long; the lower lip only moderately inflated and
three-saccate; the upper long, hooked, bearded, crimson.
_Stigma._--Large. (See _Orthocarpus_.) _Hab._--Widely
distributed.

The bright-magenta tufts of the pink paint-brush are often so abundant that they give the country a purplish hue for miles at a stretch. The Spanish-Californians have a pretty name for these blossoms, calling them "escobitas," meaning "little whisk-brooms."

_O. densiflorus_, Benth., is a very similar species; but its corolla has a straight upper lip, without hairs.

CLARKIA.

_Clarkia elegans_, Dougl. Evening-Primrose Family.

_Stems._--One to six feet high; simple or branching.
_Leaves._--Alternate; broadly ovate to linear; dentate; an inch
or more long. _Petals._--About nine lines long; with long,
slender claws and rhomboidal blades; pink. _Stamens._--Eight;
all perfect. Filaments with a hairy scale at base.
_Stigma._--Four-lobed. _Capsule._--Six to nine lines long;
sessile. (Otherwise as _C. concinna_.) _Hab._--Widely
distributed.

This plant is a very common one along our dusty roadsides in early summer, and it shows a facility in adapting itself to quite a range of climate and condition. It grows from six inches to six feet high, is nearly smooth or quite hairy, and has rather large flowers or quite small ones. Its scarlet stamens, purple-pink petals, and often deeper purple sepals make an odd combination of color. It often grows in showy masses, making patches of glowing color under the shade of trees.

CHAPARRAL PEA.

_Pickeringia montana_, Nutt. Pea Family.

Evergreen, much branched, spiny shrubs, four to seven feet
high. _Leaves._--With from one to three leaflets.
_Leaflets._--Three to nine lines long.
_Flowers._--Magenta-colored; solitary; sessile; seven to nine
lines long; papilionaceous. _Stamens._--All ten distinct.
_Pod._--One-celled; two inches long. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges,
from Lake County to San Diego.

Upon wild mountain-slopes where are heard the fluting notes of a certain shy bird that rarely comes near habitations, the chaparral pea often makes dense, impenetrable thickets. It would be impossible to mistake it for any other shrub, with its solitary magenta-colored pea-blossoms, which often cover the bushes with a mass of color. Its green branchlets terminate in long, rigid spines, which are often clothed with small leaves nearly to the end.

Woe to him who tries to penetrate the chaparral when it is composed of this formidable and uncompromising shrub! The result is quite likely to be a humiliating progress upon hands and knees before he can extricate himself, probably with torn garments and scratched visage.

HEDGE-NETTLE.

_Stachys bullata_, Benth. Mint Family.

Rough, pubescent herbs. _Stem._--Ten to eighteen inches high;
four-angled. _Leaves._--Opposite; ovate or ovate-oblong;
cordate; coarsely crenate; wrinkly veined; petioled; an inch or
two long. _Flowers._--Pinkish; in a narrow, interrupted spike.
_Calyx._--Five-cleft. _Corolla._--Eight lines long; bilabiate.
Upper lip erect; lower deflexed, of three unequal lobes,
spotted with purple. _Stamens._--Four. Filaments hairy. Anthers
divergently two-celled. _Ovary._--Of four seedlike nutlets.
Style filiform. Stigma two-cleft. _Hab._--Throughout the State.

The hedge-nettles are common weeds, of which we have several species. _S. bullata_, so called on account of its leaves, which look as though blistered, is the most widespread. It is quite variable in aspect, and we are constantly meeting it in new guises and being deceived into believing it something finer than it really is, through some subtle change in its usually homely little pink flowers.

TWINING HYACINTH.

_Brodiaea volubilis_, Baker. Lily Family.

Coated corm about one inch in diameter. _Leaves._--All radical;
broadly linear; a foot or more long. _Scape._--Twining; two to
even twelve feet long; naked. _Umbel._--Many-flowered.
_Perianth._--Five to eight lines long; rose-color without,
whitish within. _Stamens._--Three; alternating with three
notched staminodia. Filaments winged; very short.
_Ovary._--Three-celled. Style short. Stigma capitate.
_Syn._--_Stropholirion Californicum_, Torr. _Hab._--Sierra
foothills, from Mariposa County northward.

In this plant we see the _Brodiaea_ disporting itself in a very odd manner, having vinelike aspirations. It produces several long leaves, which lie prostrate upon the ground, and then the stem puts in its appearance and commences a wonderful series of evolutions not to be outdone by any contortionist. It twists and clambers and climbs, reaching a height of five or six feet, often having expended twice that amount of stem in its convolutions.

During this remarkable process, which consumes from two to four weeks, the terminal bud has remained dormant. But it now commences to grow, and in a couple of weeks the flower-cluster is complete in all its beauty. It is sometimes six inches across.

It often happens that before the flower has blossomed, the stem is broken off at the ground. Strangely enough, this seems not to matter at all, for it grows on and perfects its flowers just as though nothing had occurred. People often bring the stem indoors and allow it to climb up over the curtains, where they can watch the interesting process of its growth.

CALIFORNIAN ROSE-BAY.

_Rhododendron Californicum_, Hook. Heath Family.

Evergreen shrubs three to fifteen feet high. _Leaves._--Four to
six inches long; leathery. _Flowers._--Rose-pink; in large
clusters. _Calyx._--Small; with rounded lobes.
_Corolla._--Broadly campanulate; two inches or so across;
slightly irregular; with wavy, margined lobes; the upper
spotted within. _Stamens._--About equaling the corolla. Style
crimson. Stigma funnel-form. (Otherwise as _R. occidentale_.)
_Hab._--From British Columbia to Marin County.

In our northern counties the rugged mountain-sides are often densely covered with the lovely rose-bay, which in early summer presents an appearance it would be impossible to rival. When the foliage, which is very rich in both quality and hue, is thickly massed with the great glowing flower-clusters, the sight is worth a pilgrimage to see. It is a shrub so beautiful, we marvel it is not generally cultivated in gardens.

The bees are very fond of the blossoms, but popular tradition ascribes a poisonous quality to the honey made from them.

We have noticed no perfume in these flowers, but the leaves are often quite pleasantly fragrant.

COMMON WILD ROSE.

_Rosa Californica_, Cham. and Schlecht. Rose Family.

Erect shrubs three to eight feet high. Prickles few; stout;
recurved; mostly in pairs beneath the entire stipules.
_Leaves._--Alternate; pinnate; with five to seven leaflets.
_Leaflets._--Ovate or oblong; serrate. _Flowers._--Few to many
in clusters; pale-pink. _Calyx._--With urn-shaped tube and
five-cleft border, whose lobes are foliaceously tipped.
_Petals._--Five; six to nine lines long. _Stamens._--Very
numerous. _Ovaries._--Several; bony; in, but free from, the
calyx-tube. _Hips._--Many; four or five lines through.
_Hab._--From San Diego to Oregon.

The wild rose is one of the few flowers that blooms cheerfully through the long summer days, lavishing its beautiful clusters of deliciously fragrant flowers as freely along the dusty roadside as in the more secluded thicket. In autumn it often seems inspired to a special luxuriance of blossoming, and it lingers to greet the asters and mingle its pink flowers and brilliant scarlet hips with their delicate lilacs.

_R. gymnocarpa_, Nutt., "the redwood-rose," is exquisitely dainty. This is found in shady places under the trees. It blooms earlier than the common species, and is neither so abundant nor so fragrant. Its flowers are barely an inch across and of a bright pink. The prickles are straight, and the calyx-lobes are without leafy tips, while the leaflets are small and shapely.

BEAUTIFUL CLARKIA.

_Clarkia concinna_ (F. and M.), Greene. Evening-Primrose Family.

_Stems._--Several inches to two feet high. _Leaves._--One or
two inches long. _Flowers._--Axillary; sessile; parts in fours.
_Calyx._--Red-pink; tube an inch or more long.
_Petals._--Rose-pink; six lines to over an inch long.
_Ovary._--Four-celled. _Syn._--_Eucharidium concinnum_, Fisch.
and Mey. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from Santa Barbara to
Mendocino County.

In June these charming blossoms may be found in the company of the maidenhair fern fringing the banks of shady roads, or standing in glowing masses under the buckeye-trees. In them nature has ventured upon one of those rather daring color combinations of which we would have hardly dreamed, and the result is delightful. The petals are bright rose-pink, while the sepals are of a red pink.

SPREADING DOGBANE.

_Apocynum androsaemifolium_, L. Dogbane Family.

Erect; one to three feet high; spreading. _Leaves._--Opposite;
short-petioled; ovate or roundish; an inch or two long.
_Flowers._--Clustered; pink. _Calyx._--Five-cleft.
_Corolla._--Campanulate; three or four lines long; with five
revolute lobes; having a small scale at base, opposite each
lobe. _Stamens._--Five; on the corolla. Filaments short.
Anthers erect around the stigma. Style none. _Ovaries._--Two;
becoming a pair of long pods. Seeds silky-tufted.
_Hab._--Widely distributed in the United States.

The small pink flowers of the spreading dogbane may be found all through the summer, often upon our driest hillsides. The shapely little blossoms are of a flesh-tint without, richly veined with deeper pink within, and quite fragrant. The plants have a milky juice and a tough fiber in the stem, similar to that in the American-Indian hemp. The plant was formerly supposed to be poisonous to dogs, from which fact it received its generic name, which translated gives the common English name, "dogbane." It is used in medicine as a remedy for rheumatic gout. The very long pods seem absurdly out of proportion to the small flowers.

_A. cannabinum_, L., the American-Indian hemp, is also found within our borders, but it grows along stream-banks and in marshy places. It has oblong, pointed leaves, and small greenish-white flowers, only two lines long, whose close cylindrical corollas hardly surpass the calyx. The yellowish-brown bark of this plant is very tough and fibrous, and at the same time soft and silky. Our Indians have always found it of the utmost value in the making of ropes, lariats, nets, mats, baskets, etc., and before the coming of the white man they even made certain articles of clothing of it. A tincture made from the root is a recognized drug in the pharmacopoeia. Professor Thouin, of Paris, says that a permanent dye may be obtained from a decoction of it, which is brown or black, according to the mordant used.

FIRECRACKER FLOWER.

_Brodiaea coccinea_, Gray. Lily Family.

_Leaves._--Grasslike, a foot or two long. _Scape._--One to
three feet high; six- to fifteen-flowered. _Perianth._--An inch
or two long; rich crimson; the limb of six green or yellowish
oblong lobes. _Stamens._--Three; on the perianth. Filaments
adnate to its tube. Anther tips exserted. _Staminodia._--Three;
broad; short; white; on the throat of the perianth, alternating
with the stamens. _Ovary._--Three-celled. Style exserted.
Stigma three-lobed. _Syn._--_Brevoortia coccinea_, Wats.
_Hab._--The mountains from Mendocino County to Shasta County.

When our northern valleys have become parched by the first heat of summer, many beautiful flowers are still to be found in deep cañon retreats, where the streams, overarched by great shadowing oaks, gush downward through leafy copses of hazelwood and thimble-berry by beds of moss and fern. Upon the walls of such charming gorges the firecracker flower rears its slender stem and shakes out its bunch of brilliant crimson blossoms. These are a prophetic symbol of our national holiday rather than an aid to its celebration--for they have often passed away before the Fourth of July.

GODETIA. FAREWELL TO SPRING.

_Godetia viminea_, Spach. Evening-Primrose Family.

_Stems._--One to three feet high; sometimes stout.
_Leaves._--Linear to linear-lanceolate; entire; an inch or two
long; distant. _Flowers._--Nodding in the bud.
_Calyx-tube._--Two to four lines long. _Petals._--Deep
rose-color, sometimes yellowish at base with a dark spot; nine
to fifteen lines long. _Capsules._--Smoothish; eight to
eighteen lines long; its sides two-ribbed; sessile or
short-pediceled. (See _Godetia_.) _Hab._--From the Columbia
River southward to Ventura.

In early summer the rosy flowers of this _Godetia_ make bright masses of color along dry banks and hill-slopes. Its blossoms are very variable as to marking. Sometimes the petals have a bright crimson blotch at the base and sometimes they are without it, both forms often occurring upon the same plant. In some seasons all the flowers are without the blotch.

_G. grandiflora_, Lindl., found in Humboldt and Mendocino Counties, is probably the most showy species we have. The plants are a foot or two high and covered all over with the wonderful flowers, which are often four inches across. These are delicate pink, blotched with rich crimson.

_G. Bottae_, Spach., is an exquisite species found in the Coast Ranges, from Monterey to San Diego. Its very slender stems lift the fragile, satiny cups above the dried grasses in charming companies. These blossoms also vary much. Among the prettiest forms is one which is pale rose or lilac, blending to white at the center, delicately striate with purple-dotted lines, and having a rich purple spot in the center. This often grows with the lilac butterfly-tulip, _Calochortus splendens_, and at a little distance is so similar, it is difficult to distinguish it from the lily. But the lily rarely or never grows in throngs. The capsules of this species have pedicels from three to nine lines long.

BLEEDING-HEART.

_Dicentra formosa_, DC. Bleeding-heart Family.

_Leaves._--Ternately dissected, with toothed leaflets.
_Scapes._--Six inches to two feet high.
_Flowers._--Rose-colored to pale pink, sometimes almost white
or yellowish; nodding. (Floral structure as in _D.
chrysantha_.) _Hab._--The Coast Ranges and Sierras, from Middle
California to British Columbia.

The bleeding-heart is a rather shy flower, and never makes itself common enough to dull our enthusiasm for it. It fully merits its specific name, for it is a plant of elegant form throughout, from its shapely divided leaves to its graceful clusters of pendent hearts. It is found in the woods of our Coast Ranges, but may be seen to best advantage when nestling amid the lush grasses of Sierra meadows.

INDIAN RHUBARB. UMBRELLA-PLANT.

_Saxifraga peltata_, Torr. Saxifrage Family.

_Rootstock._--Thick; creeping. _Leaves._--Radical;
long-petioled; a foot or more across when mature; nine- to
fourteen-lobed; centrally depressed. _Scapes._--One to three
feet high. _Calyx._--Five-lobed. _Petals._--Five; roundish;
three lines or more long; purplish-pink. _Stamens._--Ten.
_Ovaries._--Two; distinct. Stigmas capitate or reniform.
_Hab._--The Sierras, from Mariposa County to Mt. Shasta; also
Mendocino County.

Upon the borders of our swift-flowing mountain streams, where the water-ouzel flies up and down all day, sometimes filling the air with melody as he passes, may be seen the large lotus-like leaves of this great Saxifrage. They stand with their dark, warm stems in the water; or, poising upon the brink, they lean gracefully over it, making myriad reflections in the brown depths below, while every passing breeze awakens a quick response among them.

Early in the season, before the coming of the leaves, these plants send up tall stems with dense, branching clusters of handsome purplish-pink flowers. The leaves, small at first, continue to grow until late summer, when they have reached their perfection; after which they begin to deepen into the richest of autumn hues.

This plant is commonly called "Indian rhubarb," because the Indians are extravagantly fond of the stalks of the leaves and flowers. It is now cultivated in Eastern gardens.

GREAT WILLOW-HERB. FIREWEED.

_Epilobium spicatum_, Lam. Evening-Primrose Family.

_Stems._--Often four to seven feet high. _Leaves._--Scattered;
willow-like. _Flowers._--Purplish-pink; an inch or more across.
_Calyx-tube._--Linear; limb four-parted; often colored.
_Stamens._--Eight. Anthers purplish. _Ovary._--Four-celled.
Seeds silky-tufted. _Syn._--_E. angustifolium_, L. _Hab._--The
Sierras; eastward to the Atlantic; also in the North Coast
mountains. Found also in Europe and Asia.

This plant has received one of its English names, because its leaves are like those of the willow and its seeds are furnished with silken down, like the fluff on the willow.

It is our finest and most showy species of _Epilobium_, and is also found in the Eastern States, where it is still known by a former name--_E. angustifolium_, L. Owing to the fact that it grows with special luxuriance in spots which have been recently burned over, it is commonly known as "fireweed." It may be found in perfection in the Sierras in August, where its great spikes of large pink flowers make showy masses of color along the streams and through the meadows, commanding our warmest admiration.

In the fall the tall, pliant, widely branching stems of the "autumn willow-herb"--_E. paniculatum_, Nutt.--stand everywhere by the roadside. The small pink flowers, half an inch across, terminate the almost leafless stems, and later are replaced by the dry, curled remains of the opened capsules and the feathery down of the escaping seeds.

ALPINE HEATHER.

_Bryanthus Breweri_, Gray. Heath Family.

Dwarf evergreens; six inches to a foot high; woody.
_Leaves._--Alternate; linear; three to seven lines long.
_Flowers._--Purplish-rose; on glandular pedicels.
_Calyx._--Five-toothed; small. _Corolla._--Saucer-shaped; six
lines or so across. _Stamens._--Seven to ten. Anthers
two-celled; opening terminally. _Ovary._--Five-celled. Style
slender. Stigma capitate. _Hab._--The High Sierras.

This little plant, to which Mr. Muir fondly alludes in his charming book, "The Mountains of California," may be found blooming in July and August in the Sierras. Sometimes it nestles in rocky crevices in the cool drip of the snow-banks, and again it ventures boldly out into the openings, where it spreads its rich carpet, covered with a wealth of rosy bloom. From the abundance of this little heathling about its shores, one of our mountain lakes has received the name of "Heather Lake."

* * * * *

_Silene Gallica_, L. Pink Family.

Hairy. _Stems._--Generally several. _Leaves._--Spatulate; six to eighteen lines long. _Flowers._--In terminal, one-sided racemes; four or five lines long; short-pediceled. _Petals._--Pale rose-color or almost white; barely exceeding the calyx. (Flower-structure as in _S. Californica_.)

This little weed has come to us from Europe, and it is now so widely distributed, both near the sea and inland, that it is hard to believe it is not native. The slender racemes are from two to four inches long, and the little flowers vary from white to pale pink. They can boast none of the showy beauty of their relatives, the Indian pink and the Yerba del Indio.

ALPINE PHLOX.

_Phlox Douglasii_, Hook. Phlox or Polemonium Family.

Plants forming cushion-like tufts; three or four inches high.
_Leaves._--Needle-like; six lines or less long; with shorter
ones crowded in the axils. _Flowers._--Pink, lilac, or white;
sessile; terminating the branchlets. _Calyx._--Five-cleft.
_Corolla._--Salver-form; with five-lobed border.
_Stamens._--Five; on the tube of the corolla.
_Ovary._--Three-celled. Style three-lobed. _Hab._--The Sierras,
from Mariposa County northward and eastward.

This delightful little flower may be found in the Sierras at an altitude of from five to ten thousand feet. It loves the open sunshine of the cool mountain heights, and with its cushiony tufts clothes many a bit of granite soil with beauty. It seems undaunted by its stern surroundings, and lifts its innocent eyes confidingly to the skies which bend gently over it--those skies

"So fathomless and pure, as if
All loveliest azure things have gone
To heaven that way--the flowers, the sea,--
And left their color there alone."

PINK MONKEY-FLOWER.

_Mimulus Lewisii_, Pursh. Figwort Family.

_Stems._--Slender; eighteen inches or so high.
_Leaves._--Sessile; oblong-ovate to lanceolate; denticulate;
somewhat viscid. _Peduncles._--Elongated. _Corolla._--Eighteen
lines to two inches long; with tube exceeding the calyx and
five ample spreading ciliate lobes; rose-color or paler, with
usually a darker stripe down the center of each lobe. Ridges of
lower lobe yellow and spotted; bearded. _Stamens._--Included.
(See _Mimulus_.) _Hab._--The Sierras, from Central California
northward and eastward to Montana.

One of the most beautiful of all our monkey-flowers is this charming species, which is found along the cold streams of the Sierras. Its large flowers have a fragile, delicate look, and the light stems and leaves are of an exquisite green.

I remember coming upon a delightful company of these blossoms, in a little emerald meadow upon the margin of one of those alpine lakelets which nestle among the granite crags. They seemed the most fitting flowers for just such a high, pure atmosphere.

SIERRA PRIMROSE.

_Primula suffrutescens_, Gray. Primrose Family.

_Leaves._--Wedge-shaped, an inch or so long; clustered at the
ends of the branches. _Flower-stems._--Several inches high.
Umbel several-flowered. _Calyx._--Five-cleft.
_Corolla._--Salver-shaped; an inch or less across; deep
rose-color, with a yellow eye. _Stamens._--High on the
corolla-throat opposite its lobes. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style
slender. _Hab._--The Sierras.

If one takes his alpenstock in hand and climbs to the snow line in late summer, he is apt to be rewarded by the charming flowers of the Sierra primrose. The little plants grow in the drip of the snow-banks, where the melting ice gradually liberates the tufts of evergreen leaves. The glowing flowers look as though they might have caught and held the last rosy reflection of the sunset upon the snow above them.

PRIDE OF THE MOUNTAINS.

_Pentstemon Menziesii, var. Newberryi_, Gray. Figwort Family.

_Stems._--Six inches to a foot high; woody at base.
_Leaves._--Ovate, obovate, or oblong; an inch or less long;
leathery. _Peduncles._--Usually one-flowered, forming a short,
glandular-pubescent raceme. _Corolla._--Bright rose-pink; an
inch long. _Anthers._--White-woolly; with divergent cells. (See
_Pentstemon_.) _Hab._--The High Sierras of Central California.

This charming _Pentstemon_ is one of the most gracious flowers to be found in the Sierras in late summer. Upon banks overhanging the streams, or growing at great heights under the open sky, it makes many a rock-shelf gay with its brilliant pink blossoms.

We wonder how it can possibly subsist upon the hard, glittering granite; but there the mystery of its life continues from day to day, and there it cheerfully produces its masses of bright flowers, which gladden the weary climber to these snowy heights.

This species of _Pentstemon_ is well marked by its white-woolly anthers, which almost fill the throat. Northward it passes into the typical _P. Menziesii_, which has flowers from violet-blue to pink-purple.

LESSINGIA.

_Lessingia leptoclada_, Gray. Composite Family.

Finely white-woolly. _Stems._--From a few inches to two feet
high, with numerous, almost filiform branchlets, bearing few or
solitary heads of pink or white flowers. _Lower
leaves._--Spatulate; sparingly toothed; withering early. _Upper
leaves._--Lanceolate, or linear and entire; sessile; uppermost
diminished into remote, subulate bracts. _Heads._--Five- to
twenty-flowered. Of tubular disk-flowers only. Outer flowers
much larger. _Involucre._--Silky hairy; broadly campanulate;
with imbricated, appressed bracts. _Hab._--Widespread.

In late summer the pink _Lessingia_ is apparent along dry roadsides or embankments, where its blossoms make charming masses of soft color. It is quite abundant in the Yosemite, especially in the lower end of the valley.

_L. Germanorum_, Cham., found plentifully from San Diego to San Francisco, has yellow flowers.

ELEPHANTS' HEADS.

_Pedicularis Groenlandica_, Retz. Figwort Family.

_Stems._--Tall and slender; smooth. _Leaves._--Alternate;
lanceolate in outline; pinnately parted into linear-lanceolate,
serrate divisions; diminishing upward into the flower-bracts.
_Flowers._--Pink; in a dense spike several inches long.
_Calyx._--Five-toothed. _Corolla._--With short tube and
bilabiate limb. Upper lip with a long beak, like an elephant's
trunk; lower three-lobed, deflexed. _Stamens._--Four. Filaments
and style filiform; sheathed in the beak. _Ovary._--Two-celled.
_Hab._--The Sierras from King's River northward; and eastward
to Hudson's Bay.

No more curious flower could be found than this little denizen of our alpine meadows. Its tall pink spikes attract one from a distance, and astonish one upon nearer acquaintance by the wonderful resemblance of their blossoms to many small elephants' heads. The forehead, the long ears hanging at the sides of the head, and the long, slender, curving trunk are all perfectly simulated.

These flowers have a pleasant perfume.

Another species--_P. attollens_, Gray--often found growing with the above, is similar to it in general structure, but its leaves are more dissected, its flower-spike is rather woolly, and its beak is only two or three lines long. These blossoms bear no resemblance to the elephant.

ALPINE WILLOW-HERB. ROCK-FRINGE.

_Epilobium obcordatum_, Gray. Evening-Primrose Family.

_Stems._--Decumbent; three to five inches long.
_Leaves._--Opposite; ovate; sessile; four to ten lines long.
_Flowers._--One to five; bright rose-pink; over an inch across.
_Calyx._--With linear tube and four-cleft limb.
_Petals._--Four; erect and spreading; obcordate.
_Stamens._--Eight; four shorter. Filaments slender; exserted.
_Ovary._--Linear, four-celled. Style filiform; much exserted.
Stigma four-lobed. Seeds silky-tufted. _Hab._--The Sierras from
Tulare County northward.

Though low of stature, this little willow-herb is a charming plant, with large rosy flowers. At an elevation of eight thousand feet or more in the mountains, it nestles amid the rocks, fringing their crevices with a profusion of brilliant bloom. Though it often costs a hard climb up rocky crags to secure it, we feel well repaid by its bright beauty.

* * * * *

_Hosackia Purshiana_, Benth. Pea Family.

Soft-woolly throughout. _Stems._--Erect or loosely spreading
over the ground. _Leaves._--Sessile. _Leaflets._--One to three;
ovate to lanceolate; three to nine lines long.
_Flowers._--Yellowish-pink; solitary; two or three lines long.
Peduncles usually exceeding the leaves; with a single leaflet
below the flower. _Calyx-teeth._--Linear; much exceeding the
tube, about equaling the corolla. _Pod._--Narrow; twelve to
eighteen lines long; five- to seven-seeded. (See _Hosackia_.)
_Hab._--Throughout the State.

This little plant is very abundant and widespread. It makes its appearance after the drouth sets in, and often spreads over the ground in considerable patches. Its woolly or silky foliage has a pale cast, and its small, solitary, pinkish flowers, which are quite numerous, are not unattractive.