NEMOPHILA Meeting and Field Guide CALIFORNIA BOTANICAL SOCIETY OCTOBER 1, 1919 NUMBER 5 The purpose of the Society is to promote the botanical study and investigation of California plants , to diffuse knowledge con- cerning them , and by lectures, field- trips, exhibitions and publica- tions to deepen interest in the native flora amongst the people of California. REGULAR MEETINGS Saturday, October 11, 7:45 p. m., in Room 1, Science Hall, Mills College. An illustrated lecture on the Forest Trees of the Northern Rocky Mountains, by Professor J. E. Kirkwood, head of the Department of Botany in the University of Montana. Take the Mills College car (marked K) at 14th St. and Broadway, Oakland. Cars leave on the hour and at twenty and forty minutes after it. Allow 35 minutes for the trip. Saturday, November 8, 8:00 p. m., Oakland Public Museum. Lecture by Dr. J. W. Blankenship on Inter- grading of Species. FIELD TRIPS Sunday, September 28. Trip to Baker’s Beach, San Francisco, fbr study of beach plants. Visit dahlia gar- den and aviary of canaries. Return via Presidio. Meet at California St. and 26th Ave. at 11 a. m. Bring lunch and cup for hot coffee. Leader, Mrs. de Reygadas. Saturday, October l I . Study of the trees and shrubs of Mills College campus. Meet at the college car station, 3 p. m. Take the Mills College car (marked K) at 14th St. and Broadway, Oakland. Cars leave on the hour and at twenty and forty minutes after it. Allow 35 minutes for the trip. Leader, Priof. H. E. McMinn. 18 Sunday, October 1 9. Study of fire-type pine and chaparral, Moraga Ridge. Take Oakland and Antioch train at Shafter and College, 8:30 a. m. Get off at East Port. Bring lunch. Leader, Paul S. Wilson. Sunday, November 1 6. Trip to Moss Beach for study of sea plants. Take Ocean Shore line at 12th and Mission Sts, 10 a, m. Returning, reach San Fran- cisco at 4 p. m, Bring lunch. Leader, F. M. Essig. Sunday, November 30. Trip to Trampas Canyon to observe Heteromeles and other berries. Take 8:30 Oakland and Antioch train with round-trip ticket to Moraga Club House station. Bring lunch. Leader, C. W. Carruth, YERBA BUENA LEAVES Mrs. D. W. de Vper spent two delightful summer months visiting her old home in Minnesota. Miss Elizabeth Ferguson went to Cambridge in Sep tember to carry on certain investigations for the Flora of California. Mr. Alfred H. Cockayne, head of the Biological Division of the New Zealand government, is now in the United States on an important mission. He will lecture before the Society either in December or in January, on his return to California from the East. The lecture will deal with the native vegetation of New Zealand, and will be illustrated by many lantern slides. Prof. W. P. Tufts of the University Farm School, Davis, presented before the Horticultural Seminar the results of his experiments in regard to the pruning of fruit trees. Severe cutting back resulted in less devel- opment of root and trunk. Long pruning resulted in a larger tree, with correspondingly increased trunk and earlier fruiting. Early summer pruning was advan- tageous in shaping the tree, and did not reduce its vigor as later summer pruning did. The Secretary-Treasurer of the Society is Miss Anna E. Ehlers, 2613 Durant Ave., Berkeley. (Telephone Berkeley, 3699). Items for Nemophila should be sent to Professor C. B. Bradley, 2639 Durant Ave., Berkeley, Calif. 19 BOTANICAL SOCIETY CAMPING TBIPS. During each of the last two seasons a group of mem- bers of the Society have undertaken short outings in the form of semi-camping trips, which have proved very profitable and enjoyable. In August, 1918, an informal party was made up to spend the week-end at Lagunitas at the invitation of Miss A. Bruce Walker, then Secretary of the Society. They camped at “Bagdad,” the summer home of the Walkers, a charming retreat in the hills just above the redwood belt. The Walker home, placed at their disposal, gave opportunity for meals almost a la civiliza- tion planned by a commissary committee, the expense being shared by the members of the party. One walk was taken among the redwoods, and another in the Water Company’s reserve, both under very interesting conditions for study at that season of the year. Sev- eral members saw for the- first time the California Nut- meg, Tumion californicum. In May, 1919, a more extended trip was made to Orr’s Springs, Mendocino County, to camp at the moun- tain home of Mr. W. T. Hollingsworth. The party was invited for a week, and the date set at the end of May to take advantage of the holiday on May 30th. About twenty members made the trip ; the plan was the same as last year, a commissary committee making all food purchases. Each person provided his own sleeping-bag or blankets. Under this plan it is found that the camp duties are not very burdensome, nor the expense very great. The plant-associations of the local- ity are varied and rich; one trip to Montgomery Grove gave more than gratifying results in the study of plants of the redwood floor and of the vicinity of stream beds Every member was particularly delighted with the Fire Cracker Plant, Brodiaea ida-maia, found in considerable numbers. Another trip to a deep mountain canyon was rewarded by the sight of several colonies of the Cali- fornia Lady- Slipper, Cypripedium montanum, in bloom. Still another to an open ridge, revealed a wonderful pro- fusion of Calochortus, white, buff, or yellow, all more or less veined and occulated with purple. Subsequent 20 careful examination by Professor McMinn of Mills Col- lege, determined these to be variations of C. luteus. The whole surrounding area, being rugged and little cul- tivated, is very rich in native plants, and the one re- gret of members of the party was that they could not re- main indefinitely to study them. Mr. Hollingsworth, with true mountain hospitality, urged the members of the Society to come again and often to avail themselves of the opportunity to study at different seasons the plants of the vicinity. All-in-all, it seems as though a camping trip for the Society might well become an an- nual event. Nor does it lack for invitations; it is per- haps worth while even at this early date to begin to consider possibilities for next season. PERMANENT EXHIBIT OF FRESH WILD FLOWERS. The Oakland Public Museum keeps on display dur- ing the entire year, the common native and introduced plants in their season. There are at this date, Septem- ber twenty-fourth, forty-four plants in blossom and eleven in fruit. To keep up this exhibit, a collector goes into the field weekly in the vicinity of Oakland or San Francisco, collecting from different areas so as to show plants of many different habits; in addition to this, many outsiders who are interested in plants send in material from other localities. Among the interesting things on display is the fruit of the Western Burning- Bush, Euonymus occidentalis, from Inverness ; also some characteristic dry-area plants from the vicinity of Santa Barbara. The purpose of this exhibit is primarily the instruc- tion of children in the schools, who are required to study something of the native flowers. It also proves of great interest to the general public, and occasionally serves some inquiring-minded scientist, who finds here speci- mens that he has not had opportunity to study in their native haunts. MADRONO Or Robin Hood or sylvan cavalier, In gayest garb when skies are gray and drear. Cal. O' Chortus.