UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES ROBERT ERNEST COWAN Proceedings Pacific States Thral Congress. JVcademy of Sciences, San Trancisco, 504 ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Where the Pacific States Floral Congress was held Pacific States Floral Congress CALIFORNIA STATE FLORAL SOCIETY ACADEMY OF SCIENCES SAN FRANCISCO MAY 14, 15, 16, 1901 Edited by the COMMITTEE Off PUBLICATION EMORY E. SMITH FREDERICK V. HOLMAN MRS. AUSTIN SPERRY MRS. O. D. BALDWIN INCEPTION OF THE CONGRESS. The Congress had its conception in a desire upon the part of the California State Floral Society to extend its sphere of usefulness. To advance the art of ornamental horticulture. To promote ac- quaintance and interchange of ideas. To impart to the public a definite knowledge of the beauties and utilities of nature and of " the art which doth mend nature." DELEGATES. The territorial scope of the Congress included Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, and California. All florists, seedsmen, botanists, hor- ticultural writers and teachers, amateur floriculturists, landscape and private gardeners, and members of horticultural societies, were entitled to seats. t Normal and public school-teachers and all lovers of nature were welcome. PROGRAM. About thirty talented speakers and essayists accepted places upon the program. The general divisions were Department of Literature, Department of Botany, Department of Landscape Gardening, Depart- ment of Practise — Sections One, Two, Three, and Four. A question- box was also opened. California speakers were limited to thirty min- utes; speakers from other states, to forty-five minutes. The opening session began at 10 o'clock the morning of May 14, and the seventh ses- sion closed at 4 the afternoon of the 16th. All the sessions were opened with prayer and music. A collation was served by the entertainment committee at the close of the two opening sessions. About one hundred delegates' cards were filed with the secretary. The audiences were excellent, and the interest at all times enthusiastic. INDEX INCEPTION OF THE CONGRESS. COMMITTEES OF ARRANGEMENT. OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES. REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTION? A FLOWER MESSAGE (poem), Eben E. Rexford, Wis ....................... 7 WALKING WITH NATURE (poem), Geo. W. Dunn ........................... 9 How TO PRODUCE NEW FLOWERS, Luther Burbank ....................... 10 WATER GARDENING IN CALIFORNIA, Edmund D. Sturtevant ............ 14 DEVELOPING PUBLIC PARKS, John McLaren ................................. 20 FERNS OF THE PACIFIC COAST, Lorenzo G. Yates .......................... 25 BAMBOOS AND ORNAMENTAL GRASSES, C. F. Franceschi .................. 31 FLORAL LITERATURE OF CALIFORNIA, Charles H. Shinn .................. 35 HARDINESS OF PALMS, Thomas Compton ...................................... 39 SHRUBS OF CALIFORNIA, Miss Alice Eastwood ............................... 43 ^ ESCHSCHOLTZIA, Volney Rattan .................................................. 51 ^NATIVE ANNUALS, Mrs. W. H. Wiester ...................................... 54 1 PERENNIALS, Mrs. W. S. Chandler ................................... 58 §= MOSSES AND LICHENS OF PACIFIC COAST, Josiah Keep ................... 61 o| WHAT FLOWERS TEACH Us, Mrs. L. O. Hodgkins ........................ 71 ^RAILWAY GARDENING IN CALIFORNIA, Johannes Reimers ................ 75 CACTI AND THEIR CULTURE, Mrs. Henry P. Tricou ..................... 82 PROTECTION OF GARDENS FROM FROST, Alexander G. McAdie ......... 86 GROWING FLOWER SEED, Lester L. Morse ..................... . ............ 91 THE BIG TREES, Wm. R. Dudley ............................................. 99 PHOTOGRAPHING PLANT LIFE, O. V. Lange .................................. 107 SEMITROPICAL GARDENING, E. J. Wickson ................................. 110 CALIFORNIA SEED INDUSTRY, Waldo Rohnert ................................ 116 FLORICULTURE OF SAN FRANCISCO, Mrs. A. R. Gunnison ................ 119 FIELD-GROWN ROSES, John Gill ................................................ 125 FLORICULTURE IN SAN DIEGO, Miss Kate O. Sessions .................... 129 THE BEGONIA, P. B.Kennedy, Nev ........................................... 132 OAKS OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE, J. G. Lemmon .............................. 151 ROSE GROWING IN OREGON, Frederick V. Holman ........................ 170 304664 COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS PROF. EMORY E. SMITH, Chairman MRS. AUSTIN SPERRY, Recording Secretary MRS. ORVILLE D. BALDWIN, Corresponding Secretary PROF. E. J. WICKSON MR. JOHN MCLAREN MRS. L. O. HODGKINS COMMITTEE ON ENTERTAINMENT MRS. W. H. WIESTER MR. EMSMA SHAFTER HOWARD MRS. J. R. MARTIN MRS. RICHARD SPRECKELS MRS. M. GROTHWELL MRS. A. M. SIMPSON Miss GEORGIA BARKER MRS. ELLA C. ROECKEL GENERAL COMMITTEE DR. J. R. CARDWELL, Portland, Or. MR. EDW. STURTEVANT, PROF. E. R. LAKE, Corvallis, Or. Station E., Los Angeles DR. P. B. KENNEDY, Reno, Nev. MR. LESTER L. MORSE, Santa Clara PROF. J. A. BALMER, MRS. THEO. B. SHEPHERD, Ventura Pullman, Wash. PROF. WM. R. DUDLEY, PROF. A. J. MCCLATCHIE, Stanford University Phoenix, Ariz. PROF. CHAS. H. SHINN MR. LUTHER BURBANK, University of California Santa Rosa, Cal. Miss KATE O. SESSIONS, San Diego (-APT. F. EDW. GRAY, Alhambra MR. JOHN ROCK, Niles MR. SIDNEY CLACK, Menlo Park Presidents and Secretaries of all Pacific States Horticultural Societies. OFFICERS OF THE CONGRESS President, EMORY E. SMITH, Palo Alto, Cal. First Vice-President, FREDERICK V. HOLMAN, Portland, Or. Second Vice-President, P. B. KENNEDY, RENO, Nev. Third Vice-President, A. CAMPBELL JOHNSTON, Los Angeles, Cal. Secretary, MRS. AUSTIN SPERRY, San Francisco, Cal. Assistant Secretary, MRS. O. D. BALDWIN, S. F., Cal. COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS J. G. LEMMON JOHANNES REIMERS A. CAMPBELL JOHNSTON COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATIONS EMORY E. SMITH MRS. AUSTIN SPERRY FREDERICK V. HOLMAN MRS. O. D. BALDWIN COMMITTEE ON NOMENCLATURE A Botanist of the University of California. PROF. WM. R. DUDLEY, Stanford University. Miss ALICE EASTWOOD, California Academy of Sciences. PROF. J. G. LEMMON, Lemmon Herbarium, Oakland. REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS. AS ADOPTED. Resolved, That the members, patrons, and friends of the Pacific States Floral Congress, heartily appreciate the able and pleasing man- ner in which the president, Prof. Emory E. Smith, has conducted the Congress; the faithfulness of the recording secretary, Mrs, Austin Hperry; and the prompt and efficient work of the other officers. Resolved, That the Congress extends its thanks to the following vol- tmteer artists for the delightful music rendered: Miss Cecilia Zimmon, Miss Emma De Boome, Madame Tojetti, Signor Eiccardo, and Mr. Fred Mauer. Resolved, That a vote of thanks be extended to the trustees of the Academy of Sciences for the use of their hall for the purposes of the Resolved, That the members of the Congress will use their influence to awaken and encourage the love of wild flowers by the chldren, so that their wanton destruction may be prevented. Resolved, That the Congress endorses the reservation of representa- tive forest areas of the Pacific Coast for the preservation of our cone- bearing trees, notably the Giant Sequoias, and that the United States Government is urged to inaugurate a systematic policy in replanting the forests of southern California, and for the prohibition of the grazing of sheep and cattle in the southern California forest districts. Resolved, That the Congress extend felicitations to Mrs. L. 0. Hodg- kins, the "mother of the State Floral Society," for her part in its early organization, and hopes that she will long be permitted to assist in its good work. Resolved, further, That the local members are especially grateful to those who have come long distances, and have contributed so materially to the interests of the Congress. (Signed) J. G. LEMMON, JOHANNES REIMERS, A. CAMPBELL JOHNSTON. A FLOWER MESSAGE. BY BEEN" E. KEXFORD. 1. To-day I turned a page in nature's book, And read a poem there, Set to the music of the breeze and brook, And sounds of earth and air, A poem fresh from the great Author's hand, Sweet with the thought of God, That sent its fragrant meaning through the land From a leaf-littered sod. 2. I knew the arbutus was all in bloom Before I saw its face, For every wind was sweet with its perfume Far 'round its hiding-place. I knelt beneath the pines, and brushed away The leaves that fell in fall, And, lo, the rosy blossoms of the May, With witchery in them all ! 3. And from their home beneath Wisconsin pines I send to you, to-day, These arbutus flowers, and in their fragrant lines Read what I fain would say; They .bear the east's warm greeting to the west, Wordless, but eloquent. And those among you who love flowers best Will tell you what is meant. 4. 0 land of sunshine under skies so fair As those of Italy! You have your blossoms while our hills are bare, But we, in dreams, can see Your roses red with June in winter days, And sweet with myrrh and musk, And hear the lark's ecstatic roundelays Through the long, tropic dusk. PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGKESS. 5. The wind that blows through winter dreams has brought The incense of the pines, That tower on the peaks whose crests have caught A radiance half divine From suns that sink beneath a sea that seems Like an inverted sky. Ah, I have seen it all in pleasant dreams, To come true — by and by ! And odors from your orange groves have blown Across long leagues of space. And I, who dreamed, have gathered fruitage grown In Eden's garden-place. The golden apples of Hesperides Have fallen at my feet; Our hillsides sloping towards the summer seas. Ah, but these dreams were sweet ! Then, from my dreaming I would wake to hear The stormy north wind blow, And look upon a world wrapped far and near In winding-sheet of snow. But in my windows, flowers in bravest bloom Held winter's wolves at bay, And kept the summer prisoner in the room Through all the icy day. 8. You may not hear my voice or see my face At your fair feast of flowers, But you may feel my presence in the place, All the delightful hours. And as you read the messages from God, Sent earthward in the rose, And all dear flowers that spring from earth's green sod, Be sure the absent knows. A FLOWER MESSAGE. ,9 9. So take the greeting that to-day I send, A little flower of thought; Be it a message sent from friend to friend With loving meaning fraught. And though we know each other but in name, And stranger faces ours, Each can with each a common kinship claim, Because we love the flowers. Shiocton, Wis. WALKING WITH NATUKE: BY GEO. W. DUNN.* A walk through the woods in September Is bliss. I can never define The red leaves that glow like an ember, Make gorgeous the tree and the vine. With earth and the sky for my teacher, I worship with sun and with cloud, Forgetting the priest and the preacher, For now I am walking with God. The hills are as hymns of high pleasure; The valleys, as rosaried rhyme; And, set to the loftiest measure, The forest an anthem sublime. No more on man's teaching dependent, From cant and from creed I am free; And beauty and truth are transcendent, For God is now walking with me. *Mr. Dunn has nearly all of his life been a collector of forest seeds, plants, and bulbs, and is still, at the age of eighty-seven, active in his chosen pursuit, clear-eyed, and as straight as an arrow. Ho loves nature as only a man can who has spent his life in the solitudes. PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. HOW TO PRODUCE NEW FLOWERS. BY LUTHER BURBANK. Who does not love flowers ? For whom will not flowers make more sunshine ? Flowers from the hands of a loved one,— what sweeter, sun- nier gift can be thought of ? Flowers speak to us of poetry, music, life, and love. Flowers always make people better, happier, and more hope- ful. They are sunshine, food, and medicine to the soul, and can never be taken in overdoses. In this paper I shall not try to burden you with any dry, scientific facts, and if any of them should appear, you may rest assured that it is because, in the words of Mark Twain, "they simply stew out of me unconsciously." I wish to tell you simply just how to proceed in the production of new types of flowers and the improvement of the older and well-known ones. The chief work of the botanists of yesterday was the study and classification of dried, shriveled plant mummies, whose souls had fled, rather than the living, plastic forms. They thought their classified species were more fixed and unchangeable than anything in heaven or earth that we can now imagine. We have learned that they are as plastic in our hands as clay in the hands of the potter, or color on the artist's canvas, and can readily be moulded into more beautiful forms and colors than any painter or sculptor can ever hope to bring forth. There is not one weed or flower, wild or domesticated, which will not, sooner or later, respond liberally to good cultivation and per- sistent selection. The changes which can be wrought with the more plastic forms are simply marvelous, and only those who have seen this regeneration transpiring before their very eyes can ever be fully convinced. It takes time, skill, and patience, of course. What valuable work is accomplished otherwise? These profound changes in plants go on quietly, as do all the great, beneficent, upbuilding forces of nature. No powder is burned, no big guns brought forth, no martial music is heard, for they are destroyers, not producers. The beneficent forces of nature are like truth itself, quiet, but persistent and all-powerful. What occupation can be more delightful than adopting the most promising individual from among a race of vile, neglected orphan weeds with settled hoodlum tendencies, downtrodden and despised by all, and gradually lifting it by breeding and education to a higher sphere; to 3e it gradually change its sprawling habits, its coarse, ill-smelling foli- age its insignificant blossoms of dull color, to an upright plant with handsome, glossy, fragrant leaves, blossoms of every hue, and with a fragrance as pure and lasting as could be desired? In the more p— HOW TO PRODUCE NEW FLOWERS. 11 found study of the life and habits of plants, both domesticated and wild, we are surprised to see how much they are like children. Study their wants; help them to what they need; be endlessly patient; be honest with them, carefully correcting each fault as it appears, and in due time they will reward you bountifully for every care and attention, and make your heart glad in observing the results of your work. Weeds are weeds be- cause they are jostled, crowded, cropped, and trampled upon, scorched by fierce heat, starved, or perhaps suffering with cold, wet feet, tormented by insect pests, or by lack of nourishing food and sunshine. Most of them have no opportunity for blossoming out in luxurious beauty and abundance. A few are so fixed in their habits that it is better to select an individual for adoption and improvement from a race which is more pliable. This stability of character can not often be known except by careful trial, therefore members from several races at the sanu- time may be selected with advantage; the most pliable and easily edu- cated ones will soon make the fact manifest by showing a tendency to "'break" or vary slightly, or perhaps profoundly, from the wild state. Any variation should be at once seized upon, and numerous seedlings .raised from this individual. In the next generation one or several, even more, marked variations will be almost certain to appear, for when a plant once wakes up to the new influences brought to bear upon it, the road is opened for endless improvement in all directions, and the operator finds himself with a wealth of new forms which is almost as discourag- ing to select from as in the first place it was to induce the plant to vary in the least, and now comes the point where the skill of the originator is put to the severest test. When a wild plant has been induced to change its old habits, fixed by ages of uniform environment, it needs some one with a steady hand at the helm to guide its bark into a new and more prosperous port and into a condition of refinement and beauty sufficient to adorn any occasion. Besides selection, another important factor in the production of new flowers is in the amalgamation of the best qualities of two or more species or varieties by crossing, but crossing quite as often produces plants with all the faults of both parents as all their virtues. Its chief value is in breaking up the fixed character of any type. Then, by careful selection of the best through several generations, more advance- ment may often be made in a few years than could be made in a century if the fixed type had not been broken up by this crossing of types or species. But crossing is of little use unless followed by very careful selections of the best, and not only the best, but a certain type of the best should be kept in view, and all plants which do not closely follow the chosen type should be weeded out as soon as their vagrant character appears ; thus in annuals fixed types may be produced, but in perennials, 12 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. when a splendid type appears, it can generally be multiplied to any extent by budding, grafting, or from cuttings, thus avoiding the care and time required in making its character permanent, as with annuals. We say to our own Miss Golden Cup, or Miss Eschscholtzia, as the bon-ton call her, "This beautiful dress of bright golden hue which you have always worn on all occasions is very becoming to you, and exceedingly appropriate to this land of perpetual, golden sunshine; but Miss Queen Golden Cup, if you will sometimes adorn yourself with a dress of white, pale cream, pink, or crimson, we could love you still better than we do." Now Miss Eschscholtzia, though having her family tastes and char- acteristics very thoroughly fixed, still belongs to the great Papaver race, which has often shown itself willing to adapt itself to the discipline of new conditions, even at first distasteful in the extreme. So, after taking Miss Golden Cup into our gardens and constantly making these suggestions to her, she hesitatingly consents to don a dress a shade lighter in color, and then lighter still, until now we have her, not only in dresses of gold, but in deepest orange, light and dark shades of cream, purest snowy white, or all these combined, and by constant selection and various educational influences in this line she will adorn herself in a dress of almost any color which may be desirable, and at the same time seems to take the greatest pleasure in improving herself in every grace of form and feature. We often suddenly meet Mr. Cactus or Mr. Thistle, and sometimes almost lose our temper on account of their irascible tendencies and punctilious reception, but after regaining our composure we say: "Mr. Thornicuss! ah, pardon me, Mr. Thistle! we can never enjoy your company while you -wear all those tacks, pins, and needles; you would look much better if you would drop those ugly thorns; they cost you too much to produce and stick all over yourself, peaked end out, and no doubt they make you almost as unhappy as they do your neighbors. At heart you are a splendid fellow ; all the slugs, bugs, birds, and animals like you; you are good enough to eat. Yes, I know you are obliged to wear those pins, tacks, needles, fish-hooks, and things all over your clothes from head to foot, just because you have such a good, tender, juicy heart, which all the two, four, and six-footed marauders like." Now, if we invite Mr. Thistle into our gardens, and patiently and earnestly teach and thoroughly convince him that all the marauding animals shall be kept out, it will not be very long before some member of his tribe will see fit to partially discard some of these exasperating pins and needles, and put on a more civilized suit of clothes, and by further careful selections from this one varying individual others are produced which are absolutely spineless, to remain so as long as the marauding animals do not disturb them, often becoming useful mem- HOW TO PRODUCE NEW FLO AVERS. 13 bers of our parks and gardens. It is a great effort on the part of the plant to produce all these spines, and when this effort is made unneces- sary, the plant will at once become more docile and pliable, and can be easily led into almost any useful occupation in which plants are employed. Koses, blackberries, raspberries, and gooseberries can also be made as perfectly thornless as strawberries or apples are by the same education and individual selection: At present, however, the authors of new fruits and flowers are fully employed in improving the size, abundance, and per- fection of form, color, and fragrance in flowers, and the abundance and lusciousness of fruits; otherwise, the thorns would have been eliminated long ago. Everything which we now have in fruits, flowers, vegetables, or grains has been brought to its present state of perfection by the same educa- tion and selection, which is only a turning of the forces of nature into new channels for the welfare of mankind. By the patient application of these educative influences, the wheat, corn, rice, and other plants which were once wild grasses, have been induced to produce enormous quanti- ties of nutritious eggs, which, when divested of their innutritions shells or coverings, furnish food for all the earth. Our fruits and flowers have all traveled the same road, ever upward and onward under the ten- der care of the horticultural missionaries of the past (forerunners of civilization), who really knew but very little of the possibilities of plant life or of the transcendent forces which nature has placed in the keeping of plants for the growth and uplifting of humanity. Plant life is so common all about us that we seldom stop to think that almost every good we have on' earth is produced by their silent but all-powerful forces. Only lately have we learned how readily we can train, combine, and guide these forces into endless useful and beautiful forms, which even the imagination can not conceive. The careful investigator along these lines is often amazed at the wealth of new forms, new qualities, and new colors of fruits and flowers which nature lavishly showers upon him, seemingly almost by the asking when once we know the way and apply ourselves to it. It takes, however, an intimate knowledge of the affinities of plants, a keen perception of the useful forms when produced, a sweet and abiding patience which knows no end, and, to carry on extensively, the purse of a multi-millionaire, but any one can take in hand any one plant, and in a few years produce wonders in variation and improve- ment, and at the same time be gaining patience, knowledge, health, happiness, and personal discipline, all of which are far above price. And if a new and beautiful flower or fruit is produced which all the world wants, what a happiness has been secured, not only for the author, but an added legacy of sunshine and health for all the world for all time to come! Are not these inducements enough to make one wish to help j4 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. on this great work of world-wide import, impelling upward not only the destinies of tribes and nations, but the broader destinies of all mankind ? Santa Rosa, Gal. WATEK GARDENING IN CALIFO-RNIA. BY EDMUND D. STURTEVANT. If the citizens of our "Golden State" who are to the manor born should pay their first visit to the Atlantic Coast region during midsum- mer, they might, perchance, from a car window or during a ramble in the wildwoods, come upon a sight which would be a mystery to them. The sheet of water lying . before them in the sunshine is apparently frozen over, and a thin covering of snow has fallen upon its glassy sur- face. Upon closer inspection, the seeming snowflakes prove to be the fresh and fragrant blossoms of the native white water lily, Nymphsea odorata, the queen of North American wild flowers. How delightful is the memory of scenes like this, to those whose early homes lie on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, when, rowing our boat through acres of pond lilies, we gathered them by the armful ! Kissed by the morning sun — The lilies open. Gleaming white, Their fluted cups like onyx shine; And, golden-hearted in the light, They hold the summer's rarest wine. Having first formed the acquaintance of this beautiful native flower, how great is the wonder and joy of the enthusiast to find that there have been gathered from many climes and continents water lilies of almost every shade and color — red, pink, purple, blue, and yellow. Then, there is the monster-leaved Victoria regia, the venerable Egyptian lotus, and a great number of interesting, though less important, aquatic plants, all of which tend to give the water garden almost as great a variety as the ordinary flower garden. Twenty-five years ago, when the writer first began to make a specialty of growing water lilies, scarcely more than a half dozen varieties were in cultivation. Three or four tropical species were grown under glass; our own wild lily was cultivated here and there, and in Europe their native species was found in gardens. The discovery of the fact that the tropical kinds could be grown in the open air in summer in the eastern states, and that exotic species of the lotus or Nelumbium were hardy in temperate latitudes, gave a great impetus to water gardening. Perhaps you will pardon me if I quote a few sentences which I wrote just twenty years ago-— WATER GARDENING IN CALIFORNIA. 15 "In a late number of Harper's Magazine, one of our ablest horti- cultural writers discoursed very pleasantly upon the 'Possibilities of Horticulture.' We feel confident that if this writer could have seen our collection of aquatic plants in full bloom, he would have added to his list of possibilities the water garden, or the garden of aquatic plants. We confess to an enthusiasm in this direction, and predict that at no distant day this branch of gardening will receive a large share of atten- tion." This prophecy is surely now fulfilled. Xot only are these plants found in a multitude of private gardens, but every public park of importance and every botanical garden in the United States is growing a full collection. They are universally admitted to form one of their most attractive features. Hybridists, both in Europe and America, have been, during all these years, exercising an almost magical skill, and have produced varieties with colors unknown twenty-five years ago. Especially is this true in the hardy class, where various shades of bril- liant red and orange red are now found. It 'might seem, at first thought, that California, being such a dry country, the conditions are not favorable for the culture of water plants. But our city gardens are supplied with water in the same manner as in the east. In the country, the windmill is ever the ready servant; and where irrigation is practised, nothing could be more simple than to turn the stream aside to supply the water garden. Natural ponds and lakes are rare, but a few such exist, and I believe that they are suitable for the naturalization of many hardy water lilies and the famous Egyptian lotus. LILY PONDS. The simplest arrangement for growing water plants is a collection of large tubs of half hogsheads, located in a sunny position and partly fiJJed with soil. A much better plan is to make a pool by excavating the ground two or three feet. The walls should be made of brick, stone, or concrete, and the bottom covered with concrete, using cement for all the work. There should also be a waste-pipe at the bottom with a stand-pipe for overflow. In a basin eight or ten feet across quite a variety of plants may be grown, using wooden boxes or shallow tubs to hold the soil. Those having fountain basins in their grounds can utilize1 them in the same manner. It is not necessary that there should be a continuous flow of water, but during the growing season enough should run in each day to prevent stagnation and to keep the plants in health. While most water lilies will flower freely in contracted quarters, they will attain greater perfection, with much larger flowers, if they have abundance of room both for the roots and the leaves. Basins PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. lo SOIL. The majority of water plants are gross feeders, and it is well-nigh i^ble to make the soil too rich for them It is not necessary to ,o to a swamp or a natural pond to obtain what is suitable. £ prepared upon your own premises. Any soil which will grow good vegetables will, if properly enriched, grow aquatics. A compost con- Stg of two-thirds good loam and one-third thoroughly decayed manure, is what we recommend. If you have a black, friable loam which is intermediate between adobe and sandy loam, it would be excel lent for the purpose. COMPARATIVE HARDINESS. In the eastern states aquatics are classified as tender and hardy. There the tender kinds are, so to speak, bedded out during summer and removed to a greenhouse in autumn. There are some localities in Cali- fornia so highly favored in the matter of freedom from frost that the tomato plant and other tender vegetables may be successfully grown during winter. In such places tropical aquatics may be left out the entire year. At the water lily nursery in the Cahuenga Valley, near Los Angeles, nearly every variety of importance is grown. For those portions of the state where a lower temperature prevails during winter, the better plan would be to place the roots in warmer quarters after the blooming sea- son is past. In various localities in California there are found springs of warm or hot water. Water from these, if not containing objection- able mineral qualities, may be utilized for feeding-ponds devoted espe- cially to tropical water lilies, where they will nourish in great perfec- tion. A notable example of success in this line is found in the grounds of Josiah W. Stanford, Esq., at Warm Springs, Alameda County, where these varieties bloom during the entire year. In regard to the hardy varieties, I would say that there can be no doubt as to their adaptability for cultivation throughout the length and breadth of the state. In this class are found many garden hybrids of European and American origin, of most charming colors, and in southern California producing flowers from March until the middle of November. For an extended list of varieties, you are referred to the catalogues of dealers who make a specialty of these plants. I will give a selection of only a few standard sorts, with some notes on their requirements. WATER GARDENING IN CALIFORNIA. 17 HARDY WATER LILIES. Nymphaea odorata, the common wild variety of the east, is too well known to need description. Nymphaea odorata Caroliniana is a variety producing flowers of a delicate flesh color tinted with salmon. They are equally as fragrant as the white, and the plant blooms for a longer time. Nymphaea Brakeleyi Rosea. — This is a hybrid from the best form of X. tuberosa crossed with N. odorata rosea. It originated from plants grown by the late Kev. John H. Brakely, D. D., of Bordentown, N. J., and is named in his honor. It is a very vigorous grower, increasing rapidly by branches from the main rhizome. The original plant pro- duced leaves sixteen inches in diameter and flowers eight inches across. The latter are of a beautiful shade of pink, and possess the richest and most powerful fragrance of all hardy varieties, surpassing even N. odor- ata in this respect. The plant flourishes in any rich soil, and is desirable for the water garden, or for deep water in natural ponds. Nymphaea Candidissima is a large-flowered form of the native water lily of England. Its waxy white flowers, six inches across, are of exquisite form, and are freely produced both early and late. Nymphaea Marliacea Carnea is a vigorous variety ; flowers, soft flesh pink. Nymphaea Marliacea rosea bears large fragrant flowers of a rich, deep pink color, and is one of the most desirable varieties. Nymphaea Marliacea Chromatella. — A variety of free growth and easy culture, blooming from early spring till late autumn. Flowers lemon-yellow, with bright orange stamens. Leave blotched with brown. Nymphaea Robinsoni. — The large floating flowers of this French hybrid are of the most brilliant orange-red color, and quite as showy as the tropical varieties. Nymphaea Aurora. — In their early stages, the flowers of this remark- able variety are of a beautiful copper-yellow color, similar to the rose "Beauty of Glazcnwood," and later they change to deep orange-red. Nymphaea Pygmaea. — From Siberia and China. Tins is the small- est-flowered species in cultivation, with white lemon-scented blossoms about the size of a silver half-dollar. THE LOTUS. I now come to the lotus, botanically known as Nelumbium, a plant of such remarkable interest and beauty that it must be given more thf a passing word. Writers who have made its history a study state that it no longer grows wild in the Nile, and perhaps was not a native of Egypt. It seems to have been revered in India as well as Egypt, from the dawn of history; and it is not impossible that it traveled from the 18 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. former country, where we know it is indigenous, to the banks of the Nile at a time so remote that even the Egyptians of the earliest historic dynasties may have believed in its local origin. In these later days it has proved itself to be equally at home on the western continent. If some morning in the month of August you could pay a visit to a cer- tain lakelet in New Jersey, planted by the writer, you might behold a thicket of green umbrella-like lotus leaves of an acre in extent. Inter- spersed among them would be many hundreds of large, rosy blossoms standing above the leaves, and from three to six feet above the water. The lotus has been naturalized in California, one instance being in East Lake Park, Los Angeles. As to its culture, it prefers a heavy soil well enriched. It may be grown in a large, shallow wooden box submerge:'! in a fountain; or a more liberal space may be given to it, in propor- tion to the size of your basin or pond. The roots are tuberous, and shaped like bananas. If it is desired to transplant them it should not be done until the growing season arrives. There are eight or ten varieties in cultivation here. The Egyptian lotus has rosy petals, shaded to white at the base. Nelunibium album striatum has very large white flowers, with a few flashes of crimson. Nelunibium roscum plenum is deep rose red, full and double, like a peony or the rose Paul Neyron. Nelunibium album plenissimum has pure white flowers with one hundred petals. All varieties are hardy in the United States. TROPICAL WATER LILIES. Nymphaea Devoniensis has flowers of a bright rose-red color. If grown in a pot they will be four or five inches across. If treated something like the Victoria regia, that is, with a large bed of rich soil and a high temperature, a single plant has been known to cover a pond twenty feet across, bearing leaves two feet in diameter and flowers twelve inches across. The latter open in the evening, forming objects of great beauty by artificial light, though they remain open until near noon the next day. Nymphaea George Huster is one of the finest of all tropical varieties, having the same vigorous growth and free flowering qualities as N. Devoniensis, but producing flowers of a much deeper and more brilliant shade of crimson. Nymphaea Dentata has milk-white flowers with petals expanding horizontally, producing a flat, star-shaped blossom. The roots of the three above-mentioned kinds are tuberous, remaining dormant in winter. WATER GARDENING IN" CALIFORNIA. 19 / Nymphaea Zanzibarensis, from Zanzibar, is one of the finest of the family, bearing flowers of the richest purple-blue color, and very fragrant. Nymphaea Zanzibarensis Azurea has flowers of a lovely azure blue, the finest of this color. There is also a rosy pink variety. Under ordinary culture, the Zanzibar varieties give abundance of good-sized blooms, but under liberal treatment they produce leaves and flowers as large as the other tropical kinds. They open in the morn- ing and close in the evening, like the common water lily. Though their roots are tuberous, the plants are most readily increased by means of seeds. VICTORIA REGIA. The Victoria regia is the grandest of all aquatics. From a seed the size of a pea it will, under proper conditions, produce a plant having leaves six feet in diameter, and flowers twelve to fifteen inches across. The latter exhale a most delicious perfume like that of pineapples, which pervades the air for a considerable distance. All flower lovers who visit Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, where this plant is so successfully grown, find it an object of great interest. In cultivating this plant, either under glass or in open air, large specimens are obtained only by having the water artificially heated. In my own garden it reaches a moderate size, and flowers for a con- siderable period in the open air without artificial heat. Kecently a new variety has been introduced by an eastern nursery firm, under the name of Victoria Trickeri. Its chief merits are that it flourishes in a much lower temperature, and flowers very much earlier than the older forms. I have found by experience that it succeeds under the same conditions as the tropical Nymphseas. MISCELLANEOUS AQUATICS. There are many other aquatic plants which do not belong to the water lily family, but which are both interesting and beautiful, help- ing to make variety in the water garden. Among these is the water hyacinth, with curiously-swollen leaf stems and spikes of lilac-blue flowers. Limnocharis Humboldtii, or the water poppy, has flowers of a lemon- yellow color, and somewhat resembles the California poppy. It prefers shallow water. Aponogeton Distachyon, or the water hawthorn, though not a showy plant, is desirable on account of the fragrance of its white flowers, and its habit of producing them in winter. ENVIRONMENT. Before closing, I will refer briefly to another subject, which is prop- 2Q PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. erly connected with the one under consideration. As the beauty of a painting is enhanced by a fine setting, so should our water garden have a background of tropical and subtropical trees and plants. How great an advantage do we here possess over those who live in colder latitude?, when we can use for this purpose, planting permanently, the feathery papyrus, giant grasses, large-leaved caladiums, musas, the towering bam- boo, and a great variety of noble and beautiful plants ! Los Angeles, Gal. DEVELOPING PUBLIC PAKKS. BY JOHN MCLAREN. Until I noticed in the Sunday newspaper that the subject assigned me was the above, I was under the impression that my topic was "Land- scape Gardening in California." I discovered then that I had wasted several hours endeavoring to give a few practical hints on how to lax- out a pleasure-garden in our state. As soon as I found that my subject was the development of parks, I hastened to my desk, and, as you will find at the conclusion of this short paper, many of the principal and probably some of the most essential points have either been overlooked or have not received the consideration due them. I will confine my remarks to the development of the parks of San Francisco, and principally Golden Gate Park. As most of you are aware, the reservation was set aside by the Legislature of the state as a public park in the year 1870. It contains 1,014 acres, 700 acres of which were drifting land. It was placed under the exclusive control of a Board of Park Commissioners. The first appointees were S. F. Butterworth, D. W. Connolly, and C. F. McDermott. For the improve- ment of the park the Legislature appropriated the sum of $200,000 of bonds. One of the first acts of the commission was the securing of a topographical map of the reservation, which was executed by Mr. Hammond Hall, the eminent engineer, and presented, accompanied by a report, early in the year 1871. Mr, Hall also presented a comprehensive plan for the reclamation of the sand, and also for an appropriate system of driveways, etc. This plan was accepted by the commission, and the work of improvement com- menced. The first work of the commission was the establishment of a nursery for the propagation of hardy trees to be used in planting; the next was the construction of a driveway leading through the entire length of the park, a distance of a little over four miles. An idea of the difficulty of keeping the roadway protected from the neighboring drifting sand can be formed when you know it was found necessary to DEVELOPING PUBLIC PARKS. 21 cover with clay or brush the slopes along both sides of the driveway. The road to the beach was opened in the year 1874. In the same year planting was commenced in the sand district which is west of Straw- berry Hill, by the planting of about three hundred trees. In 1875 the number planted was 17,000; in 1876 and 1877, 18,000 were set out; from 1877 to 1879, 'over 40,000; and the following year, 68,000 were planted in the different sections of the park. In the year 1883 there were over 120,000 trees set out. During this year four hundred acres of dunes, mostly at the westerly end, were planted with roots of the sea bent grass (Amophytta Arrenaria), a plant that has accomplished more in arresting the encroachment of the drift sand than all former experiments, and without the use of which it would have been almost impossible to fully reclaim the shifting sands. In 1884 there were 150,000 trees planted, and about the same number in 1885. In the following year, owing to the small appropriation allowed, very few trees were planted. In 1887 about 100,000 trees were planted; in the following year, about the same number, and in 1889, over 150,000 trees, thus complet- ing the planting of the last acre in the park proper. The principal trees used were Monterey pine, Pinus Maritima, Acacia latifolia, Acacia lophantha, eucalyptus in variety, and Leptospermum laveagatum. Many experiments were tried in attempting to prevent the sand drifting, one of which was sowing the ground with barley, and also with yellow and blue lupin, but they were only partially successful. Not until the ground was entirely planted with sea bent grass was the sand kept under control. The park had now arrived at the stage at which almost all other parks had commenced. Many of the great parks of the world were forests or were at least partly covered with trees when the work of laying out- and preparing the ground for public use was first thought of. Central Park, New York ; Prospect Park, Brook- lyn; Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, etc., were all partly wooded and covered with good soil before operations were begun, whereas Golden Gate Park was destitute of any good soil, and three-fourths of its area destitute of any verdure whatever. Next in importance was, and still is, the care of the trees. In order to have fine trees we must have good soil, and this in large quantities. Thousands of yards of manure, loam, and other fertilizers must be hauled and fed to the trees. Before a yard of grass can be grown we must first haul a yard of loam. To give an idea of the expense of lawn-making on poor land, I will state that it takes sixteen hundred cubic yards of soil to cover an acre, at a cost of at least eight hundred dollars. In 1884 the park made a strong step forward in constructing a new water system at a cost of $28,000, thereby doubling the supply of water 22 PACIFIC STATES FLOKAL CONGRESS. at a very much reduced rate. In 1887 the principal feature added to the park's attractions was the erection of the Children's House, by gift of bequest of Ex-Senator Sharon. In the next year a great impetus- was given to park work by an act of the Legislature, doubling the amount allowed for park improvements. In this year a new band-stand was erected, a large amount of lawn space was created, and a deer park- laid out, fenced, and stocked. Since that period lakes have been laid out, miles of roads and walks built, the Huntington Waterfall con- structed, recreation grounds of large extent laid out, graded, loamed, and planted to meadow, the Spreckels Music Stand built, and new water- works and pumping machinery, with a capacity of raising 2,000,000 gallons per day, added. These are the general lines on which Golden Gate Park has been laid out. The principles of park building are the same in character, whether practised in California or elsewhere, the universal guide being unity of design and character with regard to the whole, and grouping or con- nection in respect to the parts. The original character of the grounds must be taken into consideration and treated accordingly. Some dis- agreeable natural features may have to be eliminated, other natural characters may have to be strengthened and made more prominent, the aim being to create such a piece of scenerv as from its simple unity of character and pleasing combination of grouping will form an appro- priate finish to the pleasure-ground. Harmony and connection of the different parts are essentially requisite to the formation of character in ground, and nothing is so disagreeable as its interruption. The most beautiful mound or ter- race formally placed on a level, or the most elegant sweep amid abrupt- nesses and irregularities, will ever be discordant. The tendency of the times in landscape work seems to point to the elimination of the California character from the landscape. This is due to the many introductions from foreign lands, nearly all of which are more easily propagated, are as easily transplanted, and in a much shorter period raised to marketable size. They threaten to push into the background our native trees and shrubs, besides taking away from the landscape the California character which ought to predominate in our garden effects. Illustrative of the change in fashion now taking place in the lay- ing out of gardens, note the rage for the building of terraces— ter- races on the hill, and terraces on the flats. They are also taking away some of our most beautiful undulating slopes, and raising in their places tiff, formal ridges, calling them terraces, when some of them are not more than a foot high. This seems to me most ridiculous and out of DEVELOPIXG PUBLIC PARKS. 23 place, but this fad for the stiff and formal will have a short season. We will soon tire of the terrace when placed on the flat, and the poplar when seen starving on the hill, and eventually we will return to the natural style. The terraces will be sent to the hillside, where the ground is too steep for climbing, without having recourse to steps; our native trees, *uch as the live oak, the madrone, the pine, and the silver fir, will again come to be recognized, and have a place in landscape, aided, of course, by the introductions from foreign climes. Nature has given us some of the most charming landscape effects here in California in her grouping of indigenous trees. The live oak, the white oak, and the bay on our plains and valleys, the black and tan oak, madrone, and buckeye of our rolling hills, and what in nature can surpass the great massive groves and groups of our coast redwoods, as they cluster about the meadows? Xo end of grand combinations of native trees, shrubs, and flowering plants might be formed in our wonderful state if a little good judgment and taste were introduced in the work. The trouble is that too much is left to the management of those who have had no special training in landscape work, men who do not even know the names of the plants which they are planning to set out, and have not the faintest idea what the effect will be in five years or in one year, whether the habits of growth are bushy or pyramidal. I have known some instances of advisers being followed when they have advocated the cutting out of grand old ever- green oak in order to make room for a clump of formal-shaped poplars which only carry their leaves four or five months of the twelve. These same advisers who are cutting out our native oak and laurel are also advocating the changing of our beautiful natural undulating slopes into stiff, artificial terraces, where every foot must be on the same grade. They set the plants exactly the same distance apart, all of the same kind and size; and, not content with shaping the ground into stiff, formal lines, they must get out their shears and clip and cut their trees into the shape of peacocks, umbrellas, globes, and pyramids. I do not know whether I am singular in my opinion, but for my own part I would rather look upon a tree in all its luxuriance and diffusion of boughs and branches than when it is cut and trimmed into mathe- matical figures, and I can not but fancy that a group of free, naturally- shaped trees or shrubs is much more to be admired than the most curiously-shaped and tortured specimens to be found in either Japan or on the continent. Another innovation that we hear a great deal of in late years is the advisability of reducing the size of the space allowed for grass and also dotting it over with so-called specimens of rare trees. I also am an 24 PACIFIC STATES FLOBAL CONGRESS. admirer of fine single specimens, but they should be planted, in my judgment, about the margins of the groups by the edge of the lawn, not in the middle. Nothing gives more character to the landscape than a large space of open lawn. It gives dignity, repose, and character to the surroundings, but of course it should not be out 'of proportion to the size of the place. If the grounds are large, so should also the lawn be. If the house is small, the lawn should not be large. A small house set in the middle of a large lawn does not look well, as it causes the building in the center to look very small and by no means propor- tionable to it. Neither does a large building situated in the midst of a small, contracted space present a pleasing picture. In all cases the lawn should not be too large for the building, nor the building too large for the lawn, for unless the parts agree in harmony, the whole will be a disappointment, and to a certain extent a failure. When possible, a proportion of all pleasure-grounds should be formed of water. If a landscape has not water effects, it lacks one of the most desirable features, and the larger the grounds, the greater area should be given to water, and whatever shape these waters take, whether pool, lake, or running stream, they should be given natural-appearing mar- gins. Groups of rock, clumps of bushes, groves of trees, such as birch, alder, poplar, and willow, should be planted; masses of underwood should also be set out, in order to give variety to the outline, and to lend those lights and shadows which are ever changing and always- pleasing. Where the area is very large, an island or two might be introduced near some point or promontory, but care should be taken to avoid plac- ing it in the middle, as it would then have a tendency to divide the area into sections, and make the lake appear smaller than it really is; but when placed near the edge, it lends an idea of extent which it otherwise would not possess. In the water, and not too far from the shore line, groups of water lilies should find a home, and along the edge of the water masses of Japanese and other iris might be planted to give a finish to the scene. A park should contain great groves of trees, masses of shrubbery, acres of wildwoods with thick undergrowth, large, open lawns and meadows, lakes, rocky slopes, waterfalls, and rivulets, the larger the better. It should also have children's quarters and playgrounds for children, recreation grounds where the youth of the cities may romp at will and practise their outdoor sports, a lake where they may row and paddle, music grounds and conservatories, deep dells and deer parksr elk groves, as well as inclosures for buffalo, and aviaries for the hous- ing of song birds and birds of bright plumage, and it should also have driveways, bridle roads, bicycle ways, and footpaths connecting the FERNS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 25 different objects of interest and more prominent features, all laid out in the most artistic manner, and kept in the best of order. The aim should be to bring to the denizens of the city the priceless boon of plenty of fresh air and sunlight, amid pleasant surroundings, particularly to the poor, many of whom can not afford to spend the time or have not the means to take a vacation. It should be a place where the clerk and shopkeeper may find recrea- tion, where the artisan and the laborer with their families may find rest and enjoyment. Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. FERNS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. BY LORENZO GORDIN YATES. Ferns have attracted the attention of lovers of nature from time immemorial, since their gracefulness, delicacy, and varied forms place them among the loveliest of plants. The literature of the day is full of allusions to them. In our homes they are most eagerly sought, and are used in an infinite variety of ways. It is, therefore, not surprising that people turn to these beautiful plants to learn their names and study their needs. BEAUTY AND VARIETY OF FORM. Ferns form a very distinct and attractive group of plants. They are familiar to all observers of natural objects from the beauty of their ample foliage, which is most commonly plume-like in form, of a fresh and vivid green hue, and much divided, or cut into small leaflets or lobes. These, on close observation, are seen to be marked on the sur- face, or lightly sculptured, or embossed with delicate veining. Ferns exhibit all the grace and beauty resulting from finely-divided foliage, the various tints of green which rest the eye, the rich browns as an artistic contrast, and further contrasts of large, coarse-growing forms, to enhance the beauties of the more delicate and filmy species. Some resemble blades of grass, from which they can with difficulty be distinguished ; others, creeping, unambitious vines, which carpet the soil in the shade of the forest trees, or cover the rough surface of rocks with a tapestry of nature's weaving. The Gleichenias (pronounced G-like-ne'-as) climb over rocky surfaces, and among shrubs and undergrowth, supporting and protecting with their wiry stems the more fragile and delicate ferns and flowering plants from injuries which might otherwise be inflicted upon them by the movements of animals, and other causes. 26 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. Others more ambitious, climb among and over the shrubs and forest trees, while many of the smaller and more delicate species vie with the orchids in their endeavors to hide the rough bark and unsightly appear- ance of the fallen and decaying giants of the forest; and the tree ferns share with the palms in adding to the beauty and character of the scenery of the tropics. They vary in size from species in which an entire plant may be covered by a silver dime, to the tall, palm-like, arborescent species which support their crowns of feathery fronds at a height of fifty or sixty feet. WHERE TO FIND THEM. It is generally supposed that ferns are restricted to shady, moist places, such as woodland streams, shady banks, and dense, moist forests. While this is in a measure true, we find that they thrive under almost •as many and varied conditions as do flowering plants. People, while in search of rest and amusement, seek such conditions as do the ferns most often found and best known. The warm, humid atmosphere of islands, like the West Indies, the Hawaiian group, and the South Sea Islands, seems peculiarly adapted to the best development of ferns, the conditions being somewhat of the nature of the atmospheric condition of the carboniferous period of the world's geological history. Tropical regions where not too arid, produce ferns in the greatest profusion. Different genera of ferns require different conditions to enable them to thrive; some, like our Woodwardia, grow in or near running streams, Avhile Pellaeas are often found at their best on sunny hill slopes, among rocks. The Cheilanthes and jSTotholsenas grow at higher altitudes than most of our native species, but generally in the shade of rocks or trees, or in crevices. The filmy Adiantmns grow best under the spray of falling water. Polypodiums prefer to grow on the trunks and limbs of trees, or on rocks where there is sufficient moisture in the atmosphere. Some prefer the sandy barrens of pine forests, notably the Schiza?a pusilla of Xew Jersey, while others, such as Aspidiums and Aspleniums, require the deep, rich humus under stately trees of the forests. Acrostichum aureum and some other ferns grow like reeds or bam- boo in marshy swamps. The Vittaria makes its home in the tops of the Palmetto trees, and resembles a bunch of grass much more than a fern. Lygodiums, or Climbing Ferns, require rich, damp soil, or moist, decayed logs, which they cover with their dainty sprays, or, climbing FERNS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. ^l the tallest trees in the forest, clothe them with a network of lace-like foliage. In the island of Jamaica and similar localities, many ferns are epiphytal, attaching themselves to the surface or bark of the trunk and branches of forest trees, covering them with a mantle of living green. The most curious of all is the floating fern (Ceratopteris thalictrioidcs) , which requires no soil, no anchorage, but simply floats upon the sur- face of streams and quiet pools in southern Florida and other tropical countries. It is singular in another respect, being one of the very few ferns that are annuals; the others are Gymnogramme chaerophylla and G. leptophylla. The nobility and stateliness of the fern family culminates in the tree fern, whose magnificent crowns are reared aloft on their straight, slender stems, which, being of a fibrous character and easily penetrated by the roots of other plants, become the homes of many delicate species of the smaller ferns, selaginellas, orchids, etc. In fact, there is scarcely a place from which ferns are entirely excluded. In the far north, and on lofty mountains above the limit of forests, the delicate Cystopteris, the firmer Polypodiums, and Aspid- iums peep from the rocks, or wave over alpine rivulets. The woods, ravines, and rock dells of our eastern states are full of their beautiful forms. From the rocks hang graceful Adiantums, Cheilanthes, and Aspleniums; while along the water courses and shady ravines are multitudes of Adiantums, Pteris, Woodwardias. Campto- sorus, Osmundas, Onocleas, and Aspleniums. On the Pacific Coast, especially in southern California, many of the species and some of the genera common to other portions of North America are absent, as our well-defined dry season does not suit the moisture-loving species which grow in such luxuriance in more humid regions. The larger number of species of Cheilanthes, Pella?as, and Notholgenas, several of which extend through Mexico, and some to South America, are perhaps more interesting to the fern-lover than are the coarser and more rampant-growing ferns of more northern regions. THE PACIFIC COAST. The remarkable extent of the coast line of the United States on the Pacific, extending as it does from latitude 32i degrees to 72 degrees north, and between longitude 40 degrees and 187 degrees west from Washington, including all the coast from the semitropic region of northern Mexico to the extreme northern limit of Alaska, gives us a range of extremely varied climatic conditions, and numerous zones of animal and vegetable life, in consequence of which, our fern flora partakes of the characteristics of many widely separated regions. 28 PACIFIC STATES FLOKAL CONGRESS. Many of the ferns of the southwest are really Mexican species which lap over and intermingle with those of more temperate and northern species. Several species of Cheilanthes and Notholamas are found in southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico, but disappear with more or less rapidity as we leave the Mexican border. Occasionally patches of these southern species are found at widely; separated localities, often at high altitudes, and their distribution is such as to give rise to the question, Are these species in process of evo- lution or of extinction? But the comparatively recent appearance of man on the earth, and the still shorter time during which he has made a study of these sub- jects, is entirely insufficient to enable us to answer the question with any degree of satisfaction. One of our Polypodiums (P. Scouleri) has been noted from Marin County, north of San Francisco, which is perhaps its northern limit: next, in San Francisco County, near the ocean; again, on an outlying islet in San Luis Obispo County; and further south, on one of the Channel islands, off Santa Barbara, from where it skips to Guadaloupe Island, off the coast of Mexico. It does not appear to have been found at any distance from the ocean. Is it the remnant of a species which formerly occupied a larger extent of country and is approaching ex- tinction ? or has it been recently evolved, to become, in time, more gen- erally distributed? Or is it a stray, or survival of the fern flora of territory which formerly existed to the westward of the present coast line? All of these theories have been advanced, but which, if any of them, is the correct answer to the question? Nephrodium patens, found in Santa Barbara County, is found in Texas and Florida. Several others of our ferns present equally inter- esting illustrations of the peculiarities of distribution. Some of our species are restricted to California, and more of th"t" to California and Oregon, and to California and Arizona, but as we go north we find the species of the eastern states overlapping and inter- mingling with the ferns of the Pacific Coast, until we reach a region where the ferns common to Canada and the northern states predom- inate. One marked departure from the general rule in relation to the dis- appearance of the Cheilanthes in the north, is shown by Cheilanthes argentea, which is found in, and restricted to, Alaska; Botrychium boreale is another species which is restricted to the same territory. The Pacific fern flora represents a portion of the Nearctic realm, a term applied to the portion of North America lying north of Mexico. This realm is divided into live provinces, called Boreal, Medial, Occi- dental, Arizonan, and Austral. Each of these provinces possesses species FERNS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 29 peculiar to itself, but the limits are by no means sharply denned, for some of the species will pass beyond the limit, yet the majority found in one province are different from those in the others. This rule does not apply to the species that is widely distributed over the realm, many of which are cosmopolitan in character. Three of the above-named provinces, namely the Arizonan, Occi- dental, and Boreal, are represented on the Pacific Coast. Of the political divisions of our coast line, California and Alaska alone appear to possess species peculiar to the territory lying within their boundaries: It is probable that when the large extent of territory forming the northwestern portion of the United States is more thor- oughly explored, many new species will be discovered, and the known habitat of many others be largely extended. THE UTILITY OF FERNS. For decorative purposes ferns stand unrivaled, their graceful and delicate fronds causing them to be appreciated by all lovers of the beautiful. For the embellishment of the conservatory, dinner table, ball-room, or the home, ferns present a beauty of outline which is never tiresome. For bouquets in connection with flowers, they are indis- pensable. Woodwardia radicans, which in some parts of California has fronds more than ten feet in height, is unrivaled for the decoration of walls and other purposes. The first use to which nature put the ferns appears to have been the conservation of the superabundance of poisonous carbon dioxid from the atmosphere, thus gradually preparing it to sustain animal life, which was evolved at a later period. This carbon thus taken from the atmosphere and assimilated by the ferns and other cryptogams, was deposited in solid form and afterward covered and stored up in nature's laboratory, where it was eventually changed to coal, petroleum, and other carbonaceous substances. From this storehouse, after the lapse of millions of years, it is being exhumed by civilized man, to supply the heat, light, and motive power necessary for his comfort. Man uses ferns for various economic purposes. The pith of Cya- thnea medularis (a tree fern) is used by the New Zealanders as food. The stems (stipes) of Pteris esculenta and Callipteris esculenta, and the tuberous roots of Nephrolepis tuberosa, have been used for food. Asplenium filixmas, Ceterach officinarum, Scolopendriums, and many others have been used medicinally. The styptic drugs brought from Sumatra under the names of Penghawa Djambi and Pakoe Kidang, aro supposed to be products of ferns. The tomentum of the "Pulu plant'' (Ciboteum) used in California and Australia, when feathers were not 30 PACIFIC STATES FLOHAL COXCiliESS. obtainable, to stuff pillows, cushions, and mattresses, is no longer used, it being an unsatisfactory substitute for leathers. Gleichenia dichotoma is used by the negroes of Brazil for making pipe-stems. Angiopteris and Polypodium phymatodes are used by the natives of the South Sea Islands in the preparation of coconut-oil. The rhizomes of several species of ferns furnish food to the natives of Australia. The medicinal qualities of some of the Adiantums have been highly extolled and recommended for the relief of persons suffering from pul- monary diseases, and in Mexico a tea made from the Adi an turn trieo- lepis is prescribed for chills and fever, under the name of "Silantrillo de pozo." Woodwardia radicans was used by the Indians of California for the treatment of bruises; it was used as an infusion taken internally; they called it "Golpe." The Spaniards learned its uses from the Indians, and called it "Yerba Golpe." In southern California the aborigines used our Aspidium rigidum argutum for medicinal purposes, and the stipes of the Adiantum in their basket-work. In Europe and other countries ferns are more generally utilized for various purposes than they are in the United States. The true ferns of North America, north of Mexico, number about one hundred and fifty. Of these fifty are found in California. Among them are eight Pellseas,, eight Aspidiums, five Polypodiums, five or more Notholsenas, three Adiantums, and eight or more Oheilanth.es, besides Cryptogramme, Lomaria, Woodwardia, Aspleniums, Phegopteris, Cystop- teris woodsia, together with numerous varieties of the species of the genera above named, and species of the genera Ophioglossum and Botrichium, belonging to the Ophioglossacca?. In Oregon and the regions further north there are perhaps fewer species. Those are more prolific, and consequently their presence is more noticeable. The real number of species can not be determined with certainty until the flora of those regions has been more thoroughly studied. DAN(!KK OF EXTINCTION". It is much to be regretted that many of our choicest ferns are in eminent danger of extermination from the recklessness or thoughtless- ness of persons who seem to have an insatiable desire to pull up or estroy everything that is beautiful or rare. Picnic and camping parties will load up their vehicles with the delicate ferns and flowering plants, to be thrown away as soon as they begin to fade. Our school-children should be taught to preserve, instead of destroy- ing, our ferns, flowers, and birds. Santa Barbara. Cal. BAMBOOS AND ORNAMENTAL GRASSES FOR CALIFORNIA. 31 BAMBOOS AND ORNAMENTAL GRASSES FOR CALIFORNIA. BY C. F. FRANCESCHI. Is it only for the sake of variety, or to give a restful change to the eye accustomed to the more rigid forms of trees and shrubs, that we like to see bamboos and other ornamental grasses in our gardens? Or is it not rather because there is a peculiar charm about them, as they gently wave in the slightest breeze? Motion is life, and we naturally sympathize more with what has life in it. There is no plant that can not find appropriate place in gardening. Bamboos and other grasses can be used to advantage in so many different cases, from screening fences and unsightly buildings, up to being the most prominent orna- ment on a lawn. Still, they are not employed as much as they deserve, probably because people do not know enough of them. For this reason I accepted with pleasure your kind invitation to prepare a paper on this subject that has always been dear to me. Quite a large number of bamboos and other ornamental grasses can be grown all over California; a. limited number will be suitable only for frostless or almost frostless localities. Of the latter I will make separate mention. In the enumeration that follows, the first place belongs by right to the common south European reed, Arundo Donax, and to its form with variegated leaves. It is sure to have been the first ornamental grass introduced in California, and it possesses so many points to mako it hold still a prominent place in our gardens. It is worth remark- ing that Arundo Donax generally attains in California much larger size than in its native country, and that the variegated one, commonly called "ribbon grass," maintains here its variegation much better than in the south of Europe. Under the name of bamboos are comprised different genera and a large number of species, much varying in size, but all agreeing in hav- ing woody canes, more or less hollow (only a few being known to be solid), and persistent leaves, that will vary a good deal in size. The genus Arundinaria is represented in California gardens by eight species at least, all of them hardy, and all introduced from Asia, with the exception of A. Macrosperma, a native of our southern Atlantic states. The above named, together with A. Hindsii, A. Japonica, and A. Simoni, and the dwarf, charmingly variegated A. Fortunei, all Japa- nese, are provided with underground stolons or runners, so that they will cover a large surface of ground in a short time, a circumstance not to be overlooked when making use of them. A. Falcata, A. Fal- 32 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. coneri, and A. Nobilis, all from the Himalayan regions, are growing instead in clumps, and never have runners. Among hardy bamboos these are certainly the most desirable, having thin, slender stems grace- fully arching under the weight of their feathery foliage, the most appro- priate place for them being as isolated specimens on lawns. Many more species of Arundinaria are known, some of them already intro- duced in Europe, that we expect to possess in our gardens before long. The genus Phyllostachys, mostly belonging to northern China and Japan, contributes a large number of species, among them the tallest- growing of hardy bambops. All of them have runners, and are easily recognized by having only three branchlets at each joint, the central one much smaller, or often aborted altogether. Here belongs Ph. Viridi Glaucescens, from northern China, by far the best of all hardy bamboos for general purposes. This, if in good conditions, that is, in rich soil and with plenty of water, will grow up to forty feet and have canes of two inches diameter. It will spread very rapidly, and will keep well its bright green color winter and summer. Ph. Mitis, from northern China also, is said to attain much larger size, and not to run as much as the former. It has given very fine results in southern France. With us it has never been a great success, the plants that have been imported from Japan since many years, generally failing to grow, for some unaccountable reason. The same may be said of the very odd Ph. Heterocycla, "kikko- chiku" of the Japanese, which presents the knots at the base in a zigzag fashion, very often represented in Japanese curiosities. Ph. Xigra will not reach quite the size of the two first named, but, if liberally treated, will grow up to twenty feet, with canes over one inch in diameter, that possess the most beautiful jet black color when thor- oughly ripened. There is also a variety with canes curiously spotted black and yellow, much esteemed by the Japanese, who are very fond of making artificial imitations of it, Ph. Castillonis, from Japan, grows about the same style as the pre- ceding, but has canes beautifully-striped yellow and green, its foliage also being sparingly variegated with white. More humble and more stiff in its habit is Ph. Aurea, which was probably the first bamboo introduced in this country. The canes of this will never reach one inch; the nodes are very thickly set at the base. Walking sticks and umbrella handles are made of it. Ph. Violascens, Ph. Henonis, Ph. Marliacea, and others are not yet sufficiently tried here to be able to say much of them. Several more cinds of these hardy bamboos remain to be introduced ; no doubt some welcome acquisitions will be found among them. The genus Bambusa proper is represented in California by differ- BAMBOOS AND ORNAMENTAL GRASSES FOR CALIFORNIA. 33 ent species. Only a few of them can be classified as hardy, and, per- haps, when better known to botanists, they may be found not to belong to the true Bambusa at all. For the present we will call them Bam- busa, anyhow. Among these hardy kinds the most remarkable is, to be sure, B. Quadrangularis, possessing the very strange peculiarity of having its canes not cylindrical, but perfectly square. They will grow up to one inch thickness, and are said to attain fifty feet in northern Japan, with an abundant rainfall, of course. It appears to be essentially a winter grower, the new shoots starting after the fall rains. Its leaves are long and drooping, and have a peculiar tufted appearance. B. Ruscifolia is a very pretty dwarf kind, unlike any other, suitable only for borders and for covering the ground, growing not much over two feet. This and the preceding will produce plenty of runners. B. Verticillata (name doubtful) has been grown in California for more than twenty years, and was probably introduced from Japan. It makes very thick clumps (never runs), and the canes, not much over one-half inch thick, will reach twenty feet in good conditions. They present a rich golden color when ripe, often striped with green. The leaves are thickly arranged in tufts, and slightly variegated white. It makes most elegant specimens, and particularly pretty when the new stems begin to unfold their leaves beautifully colored in pink. Two more kinds of hardy bamboos, doubtfully referred to this sec- tion, are what I call No. 1 and No. 2 in my catalogue, not having been able to yet ascertain their botanical name. No. 1 is very distinct; stems grow perfectly upright, 15 feet or more, about one inch thick, and absolutely cylindrical, with no groove at all; leaves tufted, on short branches that all have the same length; a great runner. Of No. 2 I can offer the Japanese name only, "kan-chiku." This grows very thick, only four to five feet high ; stems are very thin and solid, with no cavity, coming up in the fall; in Japan much prized as "winter- greens." A great runner, also. B. Pubescens, B. Scriptoria, and a few more of doubtful name, we have also in California; not much can be said of any of them for the present. Before leaving the bamboos I will be allowed to say a word of the few kinds we have that can be recommended only for where there is very slight frost. Four species of Bambusa belong here, and two of Dendrocalamus, all of them being often called "giant" bamboos, because attaining larger size than any of the species mentioned above. The most known of these, although not common at all, is B. Vul- garis, that will attain seventy feet and over in favorable conditions, and more than four inches in diameter. I know of a clump in Los Angeles 34 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. that has been planted only four years, and has now twenty-five stems at least, that must be some fifty feet high, a magnificent thing alto- gether. Attaining the same size, but more ornamental and quite striking in appearance, is the yellow-stemmed variety of the preceding. Of this, splendid specimens are to be seen at Palermo, Sicily, and at Valencia. Spain; so that there is no doubt it will become one of the finest orna- ments of southern California gardens, where it is quite rare up to the present. Bambusa Arundinacea, the most common giant bamboo in India, has spiny stems and more minute foliage than the preceding. On the other hand, it grows more compact, and appears to stand drought bet- ter. B. No. 1 of my catalogue was introduced to California many years ago, nobody knows from where. It grows in the same style as B. Vulgaris, but not quite as large, the "sheaths" beautifully striped white and green. 'The most beautiful and majestically impressing of all "giant" bam- boos I will mention is the last. I regret being unable to give a name for it. They call it "Taimin" and "Taisan" in Japan, but it appears not to be a native there, and imported by nurserymen from the island of Formosa or from some point on the coast of southern China. This bamboo has much broader leaves than any of the other "giants,'' and of much darker green, keeping well all winter. The stems grow straight as a rocket, and ultimately must attain considerable size,' as far as we can judge from the larger specimens at Santa Barbara, that aro only seven years old. To close this enumeration of bamboos I will have to mention two species of Dendrocalamus, very promising for frostless locations, but very scarce up to now, namely, D. Strictus, the "male" bamboo of India, where it is quite common and much prized for building and other purposes, its stems being solid and very tough. They reach fifty or sixty feet, and arch very gracefully, the foliage being thick and like velvet to the touch. D. Membranaceus, from Burma, appears to be more tender and not such a rapid grower ; it has very fine foliage of a light green color. Among other ornamental grasses hardy everywhere in California, the "Pampas," as it is commonly called, Gynerium Argentcuin, or Cortaderia, as it was recently rebaptized, is too well known to every- body, and everybody knows what fine effects it gives on extensive grounds, the only drawback being that it grows so large with us as to be necessarily excluded from small city lots. What is not generally known is that there are a number of varieties having plumes of dif- ferent shades of pink and purple, that could be used to advantage at their proper place. FLORAL LITERATURE OF CALIFORNIA. 35 Miscanthus, or Eulalia, as it is more commonly called, is represented in California gardens by different forms, probably deriving all from M. Sinensis (Eulalia Japonica). None of them grow more than a few feet, and they are eminently suitable for small grounds, being orna- mental alike for their differently-variegated leaves, as for their pretty inflorescences. Gymnothrix Latifolia is another very hardy ornamental grass, which has quite a bold appearance, with its broad foliage and dark- colored stalks. Erianthus Ravennse and Saccharum JEgyptiacum can be used in large places for the sake of variety, their effect being about similar to Gynerium. For obtaining tropical effects, nothing is better than Panicum Ex- t-urrens, which, in the shade of trees, and with plenty of moisture, will grow several feet high, and have leaves four or more inches wide. It will not stand frost, but, as it comes up readily from seed, it can be treated as an annual where it will not go through the winter. There are quite a number of other ornamental grasses suitable for California, of which the merit resides principally in their flowers rather than in the mass of their foliage, such as Pennisetum Longistylum, and P. Ruppelianum, Tricholsena Rosea, etc. I will close, recommend- ing to make use, at proper places, of our native Elymus Condensatus, that will give very good effects and will stand cold and intense heat well. Santa Barbara, Gal. FLORAL LITERATURE OE CALIFORNIA. BY CHARLES HOWARD SHIN-V. Somehow, the transplanting of a civilized race from a familiar region, whose resources are fairly well understood, to a new and very different land, greatly stimulates its energies. The arts of home build- ing and garden-making develop under such conditions, and in time find expression in a local literature. Pioneers, if we make due allowance for their difficulties, often accomplish more, proportionally, in the way of creating fair gardens than do their immediate successors. We have few millionaires to-day who dream of paying such prices in trouble and money for rare plants and beautiful grounds as did the Beards, the Ralstons, and the great-hearted founders of some of the pioneer fam- ilies of California. Sometimes, too, we are inclined to think that the literature of the garden began on the Pacific Coast in the age of steam presses, tele- graphs, and transcontinental railroads. It is not so. The "first fine rapture" of discovery and conquest gave birth to a splendid enthusiasm 36 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. for the flowers and plants of the vast, unfenced wilderness, stretching from Texas to Oregon, and one finds its expression in hundreds of books of travel, in ponderous government reports, in forgotten periodicals, and, to some extent, in the whole outdoor literature of Europe and America during the exciting period of the gold rush to California. We once had, as you know, many and very quaint publications in California, all dead and forgotten now, but still worth studying in the libraries. There was the old Alia California, the California Farmer, the Golden Era, the Hesperian, the Pioneer, Hutchings' Pioneer Mag- azine. They contained stilted essays, sketches, and stories, often mod- eled after forgotten literary patterns of New York and Paris. But their descriptive writings first broke away from these hampering tra- ditions, and shaped themselves anew under our own California skies. Ewer, "Shirley," Hutchings, Wadsworth, Dr. Kellogg, and a few others wrote of things as they saw them, and in some degree caught the out- door charm of the new land as it was slowly yielding to spade and plow. But there had been a still earlier discovery of the floral wealth of the Pacific Coast. Long before Marshall's mill-race gleamed with that fateful flake of gold, the botanists and collectors who visited the coast had sent forth a cry of delight that stirred the pulses of Europe. If the letters, journals, and various contributions to descriptive and scien- tific literature, made by the long line of botanical explorers who visited this coast between 1790 and 1848, be not a part of this record, then I know not what justly belongs here. Among these enthusiasts were men like Langsdorf, who accompanied that unfortunate Count Kezan- off, of Bret Harte's beautiful poem, and Chamisso and Eschscholtz. The last two, friends, close-linked in literature and science, gave our orange-hued poppy its consonantal name. The starting-point, however, for most students is with the exten- sive work done by David Douglas (1825-1833), under the auspices of the Eoyal Horticultural Society of England. In. the proceedings of that society one finds some of his reports and the first colored plates ever issued of many of our California bulbs. The second volume of Hooker's Companion to the Botanical Magazine contains his fascinat- ing letters. After Douglas came Coulter, Nuttall, Hartweg, and others, and then the famous groups of botanical explorers, whose work appears in government publications, such as the Pacific Eailroad and Boundary Survey reports. Men like Gray, Thurber, Newberry, Torrey, Engel- mann, and Parry wrote much that was a real gift to the literature of the period, and in many cases they had for illustrations those wonderful pen-and-ink drawings made by T. C. Hilgard. But you will say that government reports are only the "raw material" of outdoor literature. Then turn to Edinburgh, in 1859- FLORAL LITERATURE OF CALIFORNIA. 37 1860, when Dr. Andrew Murray published his two parts of "Notes on California Trees/' compiled chiefly from the letters of his brother, Wm. Murray, of San Francisco, and illustrated with superb lithographs of the Sequoias. It was in 1860, too, that Thomas Starr King wrote (I think in the Atlantic Monthly) a very charming account of a trip "around the bay in the season of flowers," when, as he expressed it, there were "flowers by the acre, flowers by the square mile." Here we begin to reach the modern way of looking at things. All through the pages of the publications of the State Agricultural Soci- ety between 1856 and 1860, the early reports of the State Surveyor- General, the "State Kegister" for 1857-60, the rambling surveys of Dr. Trask, the first state geologist, we have had somewhat obscure glimpses of a land overflowing with growth and blossom. We have seen the pioneer surveyors, Day and Goddard and the rest, camping in the lily beds of the high Sierra valleys; we have watched pioneer com- mittees going around, away back in the early fifties, to tell us, all too briefly, of the glories of Shell Mound Nurseries, the New England Gardens, Hock Farm, Fontainebleau, and other places now, alas ! in ruins. We hear of Fox, Sonntag, Prevost, Macondray, Lewelling. These reports, though hardly the literature of the garden, are very excellent materials, out of which, some of these days, the right man or woman will reconstruct the whole story, and give us our long-needed book on "California Floriculture." That "modern note" in our garden literature to which I have alluded as characteristic of the glowing essays of Thomas Starr King was also manifest in some California writings of Dr. Bushnell. Then it found fuller expression in the pages of the Overland Monthly, where Muir, the Le Contes, Avery, Williams, Miss Coolbrith, Bartlett, and Sill, and a little later some of Professor Sill's pupils, made for a few years a very striking presentation of the life, color, strength, and beauty of out- door California. A good deal of the best writing of this period between 1868 and 1875 appeared in the Bulletin, Argonaut, California Horti- culturist, and Rural Press. It is notable historically, because it covers the whole field. Nothing that is now being written about gardens and flowers is in its way any better than some of the work, signed and unsigned, which appeared in the Overland Monthly, and in other San Francisco publications, in the days before the gaudy splendors of the sensational Sunday newspapers. In the way of distinctive floral publications we have had. two of importance. The first, the California Horticulturist, founded by F. A. Miller in 1870, lasted ten years. One of its most interesting editors was the late E. J. Hooper, one of the owners of the Western Farmer and Gardener, established by him in Cincinnati in 1839 or 1840. Plates of 304664 38 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. fruit and flowers colored by his hands appear in early volumes of the California Horticulturist. The still earlier and yet more rare California Culturist of W. Wads- worth, which began with June., 1858., and continued two years, con- tained a good deal of floriculture. In May, 1888, at Santa Barbara, appeared the California Florist, an attractive publication, which soon moved to San Francisco and there continued until May, 1889. Since that date outside of trade publica- tions, catalogues, and occasional pamphlets the floral interests of Cal- ifornia have been without a separate publication, but they have never lacked for space, whenever required, in other periodicals. There have been few books in the past twenty-five years which deal other than casually with the floral field, but there have been many and excellent botanies, chiefly local, and more are being written, so that before long the whole field will be covered, and brought down to date with revised nomenclature and description. In these brief limits, you can not expect even a partial bibliography of either the popular or the technical writings on California botany or floriculture. Beginning with the writings of Kellogg, Bolander, Lemmon, Miller, Ludeman, Wickson, Eixford, Sievers, and others, the list ends with the many bright people who write for the press on these topics at the present time. Books like Bartlett's "Breeze from the Woods/' and Mary Elizabeth Parson's "Wild Flowers of California," and sucli pamphlets as Lyon's "Gardening in California," and Krause's "Sweet Pea Ke- view," have a real historical value, while Kellogg's "Forest Trees/' Green's "West American Oaks" and "Flora Franciscana/' and last and up with the present state of knowledge on the subject, is Jepson's "Flora of Middle California," which has just issued from the press. University of California. HARDINESS OF PALMS. 39 HAKDINESS OF PALMS. BY THOMAS COMPTON. This paper will seem more like a catalogue than an essay of gen- eral interest, but for those who intend to form a collection I may be able to enumerate a few that were formerly placed on the tender list. Having devoted most of the past ten years to the collecting of palms, and experimenting on their hardiness for our climate, I will give you a short sketch of what has been accomplished. In looking over back lists, I find we have experimented with about 170 varieties. Of that number we have succeeded with about 120. They are not all a brilliant success, but we are assured they will stand our climate. It must be understood that the experimental grounds are in a favored spot, nearly exempt from frost. This paper does not intend to treat of cultivation, but I will say in passing, all palms do best with us in a sandy soil with perfect drainage. Never plant any but the very hardiest on a hard-pan, or you are likely to lose them after the first continued rain-storm. Palms will stand considerable cold if the roots are in the right kind of soil, and for the more tender varieties a little nursing, with some protection during cold spells, will be necessary to success. On this place we have thirty-four varieties of the Phoenix, and all are perfectly hardy, with the exception of P. Eupicola, and it improves from year to year. A description of those varieties might not interest any but a collector, so I will only mention a few of the most rare and interesting. Phcenix claims our interest more than any other family of palms, as it furnishes food for a large portion of the human family, and its decorative possibilities are unlimited. We have the great giants of the forest, 130 feet high, down to the little dwarfs whose leaves and trunk combined do not extend over two feet, and varieties reaching any desired height between the two extremes. Where palms are planted for ornamental purposes, always consult a competent landscape gardener, as those who plant palms ought to keep posterity in view, as the date does not reach maturity until it is seventy- five years of age, and it takes at least ten years to get a plant large enough to be a feature in the grounds. I consider the selection of a place for a palm is as important as that of a house site, and none but an artist should be consulted about location. P. Eobielena, a recent introduction from South Africa, is one of the daintiest of the family; it has only to be seen to be appreciated. Un- fortunately, it is very rare. I believe we have the only one on the 40 PACIFIC STATES I'LOUAL CONGRESS. coast, and I am uot aware of its being in the market yet. P. Humili, another introduction from South Africa, is a dwarf, height about fifteen feet, with leaves about ten feet long, a glaucous mass, a gem. Those two are very suitable for formal planting. P. liupicola, though a lit- tle tender, should be planted, as it is very graceful, and has a distinct character and beauty of its own. The date can be grown pretty gen- erally over southern California, and I think north of San Francisco, in selected places. The best dates I have seen were eight miles below Yuma, on the Colorado Eiver. They are about thirty years old, and produce fruit abundantly, some of the bunches weighing fifty pounds. Cocos. — Of this family we grow about twenty-seven varieties, all except Weedliana in the open garden, and consider them the most satis- factory family we have. The Australia type, of which we have four- teen varieties, will do well under any conditions that will suit the date. I hope to see them more generally planted as they become better known. The Plumosa type is not quite so hardy, but all succeed well here. C. Plumosa will make a plant from ten to twelve feet high in five years. I know no other palm so fast-growing. Some of the other varieties of the same type as C. Plumosa are equally as good growers, and much prettier. C. Botryophora, C. Flexuosa, and C. Datall, in the order named, I prefer to Plumosa. C. Datall is undoubtedly the hardiest of the lot. It holds its foliage well through the winter; the others are apt to brown a little. Howea, of this beautiful family of palms, we grow four varieties. They are all a little tender, but with care for the first two years after planting will succeed. H. Fosteryana seems to be the most hardy. There are plants of this variety about ten years old in Montecito, over ten feet high, and are exceedingly pretty and graceful. H. Belmoreana, H. Canterburyana, are equally pretty, but our plants are still small yet. H. McAurtheri is a tall, slim trunk variety that promises to be very graceful, and will be a conspicuous feature in any well-arranged group. Areca.— Of this class we have tried quite a number. A. Bauri and A. Sapeda are the only ones that have proved hardy; those two do remarkably well here. A. Verschafelti does fairly well! I would not Jcommend it for general planting; no others of this family have suc- ceeded with me. Acanthophcenix Alexandria with us is perfectly hardy; ripens its eed and makes a very striking effect. A. Cunninghamea is equally hardy, but a much more graceful habit, and produces fine specimens in a few years. It is very desirable wherever it can be grown Chanm-ops are probably the most hardy of all the families of palms, and seem quite at home here, making beautiful groups. HARDINESS OF PALMS. 41 The Trachacarpos, with their garden hybrids, form quite a group in themselves, many of which are very pretty. They are equally hardy as the Chamserops, to which they are closely allied. They have good con- stitutions, and are excellent for decorative purposes, either in the ground or in pots for indoor purposes. Of the sabals we grow seventeen varieties. So far as I can form an opinion, they are all very hardy ; neither wet nor cold seems to hurt them. There is only one drawback to their general planting, that is they are very slow in forming a trunk; but when once the trunk is formed, they make a rapid growth, and many of them make noble plants; others are dwarf, and some do not make a trunk at all. But I find them very useful for edgings for tropical groups, and they will succeed fairly well with very little water. The Livistonias are a very decorative class of palms, L. Australis being very hardy here. L. Chinensis is equally hardy, but of a much slower growth and very desirable. L. Hoogendorpia is still much slower. but I would put it in every collection where it will grow, as it has a dis- tinct character of its own, and will attract attention. L. Marie, a recent introduction from Australia, comes with a fine character for hardiness, and I can say it is very pretty, but our plants are too small to say more of it. L. Jenkinsiana is hardy and a beautiful variety ; L. Eotondif olia, dwarf, compact, very fine for table decorations; L. Oliviformis, distinct and fine. There are numerous others, some of them very beautiful, but unfortunately they need the greenhouse. Only one of the Livistonias is of quick growth out-of-doors, and those who wish early effects would better leave them out. Attalea Cohune. — A very striking palm, somewhat resembling the Cocos Plumosa, but not so fast a grower. Our plants are still small, but enough is known to say they can be grown out-of-doors with very promising results. A. Spectabilis reaches a height of 100 feet in its native habitat. A. Speciosa, a very showy palm, height 70 feet; A. Compacta, 28 feet. We do not look for such results as this in Santa Barbara; still, we are confident in time to have some very fine speci- mens. Caroxylon Andicola and C. Nieveum are still in the experimental stage. I have about made up my mind that they will succeed out-of- doors, but will be slow. This is the palm that produces the vegetable wax, and is quite rare. Astrocareum Argentum is the only one of this family I have tried. It is one of the most ornamental of the silvery palms, and though a lit- tle tender at first, seems to do better as it gets more acclimated. There is one Astrocareum in the city of Santa Barbara about fifteen feet in height, — the most striking plant to my mind in the county, — but so far I have not been able to find out what variety it is. 42 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. Chamedoras.— Of these we have tried a number with very poor suc- cess. C. Elator is said to stand the sun ; with me it has not lived up to its reputation, as I find it does better in the shade, as do all the Chame- doras. We grow a number of them, but will not enumerate them, as for outdoor purposes they are very unsatisfactory, though for green- house growing they are elegant. Oreodoxea Eegia. — After a good many trials and losses we have at last got a plant about ten feet high with a good, stout trunk. It gets very seedy in winter, and takes the balance of the year to recover. It adds one to a collection, but though one of the most beautiful palms in its home, with us it is not a brilliant success. Cocos Nuciferea has been tried here by various parties, myself included. So far I know of no success. I have not given up hope, and mean to try again and again. Of the Cycads, C. Cycus Keveluta is hardy, and we have some fine specimens around. C. Circinalis is a little tender, but struggles along fairly well, and makes noble plants if given the protection of a cool house in winter. C. Kumphii — my plant is small, but promises to be hardy. Of this variety I have great expectations. Encephalartos Lehmanni needs protection. What a pity, as it would be such a beautiful feature in the formal garden! Macrozemea Spiralis is hardy, but slow, as is also M. Elegantissima. The Cycads are all of very slow growth. To get any benefit from them in one's lifetime one should use large plants ; either that, or plant for the coming generations. Brahea Tilifera is so well known that remarks on its character are superfluous, but if I may make a remark on it, would say that it is altogether too generally planted, to the exclusion of much finer varieties. Brachea Calcarata, B. Dulcis, and another variety from Sonora, Mexico, that, so far as I know, has no name, are all superior to B. Filifcra, and when better known will be more generally planted. Erethea Armata and E. Edulis are very hardy palms, and very ornamental, particularly E. Armata, which is a glaucous mass of foliage, and distinct from all other palms. I consider it one of the most useful we have. Euterpe Edule, from the Amazon, is growing splendidly in our collection. It is about nine years old, and about six feet high, though not as graceful as in its native home. I consider it a distinct success and very interesting, as its home is tropical. Our collection includes many more varieties, but as the plants are small and still in the experimental department, their hardiness not being assured, we will leave them for a future occasion. Enough has been enumerated to keep the maker of a collection busy for a few years at least. Montecito, Cal. THE SHRUBS OF CALIFORNIA. -]•> THE SHRUBS OF CALIFORNIA. BY ALICE EASTWOOD. Everywhere throughout California are great tracts of country cov- ered with brush, extending from the hills of the Coast and Sierra Nevada Mountains to the deserts and the plains. When seen from the distance on the slopes of hills this brush looks like a carpet of moss, changing in color with the seasons, but always green. In this tangle through which the traveler finds it almost impossible to make his way, where there are no trails, a great many species and almost all the characteristic genera of the Pacific Coast find their home. All are beautiful, espe- cially when in flower, and all are worthy of cultivation. Plants which the European gardeners regard as their greatest treasures here grow under our eyes continually without most of us knowing them by any other name than brush, chaparral, or chamisal. It would be difficult to discriminate among these beautiful shrubs, since all have peculiar qualities which endear them to the lovers of flowers and nature. When one begins to think of what these gardens of brush contain, the impression is of a wonderfully rich flora, suggesting the most inter- esting and perplexing problems. Nowhere do plants show so many ways of resisting drought, fires, and destruction through the agency of man and beast. The spiny or thorny stems that result from inability to pro- duce abundant foliage, the viscid and woolly coverings which keep the moisture from evaporating too rapidly, the matted roots which prevent the water from all running down the hills at once in the heavy storms, the protection which the united and intricately-connected stems cover- ing vast areas, give to the moisture-laden earth, preventing too rapid evaporation — these are all instances of adaptation to environment and working together for the common good. Perhaps the best way to untangle this brush heap is to take up the different groups of plants according to families, with reference to their abundance and importance in the landscape rather than the latest systematic arrangement. Six species of scrub oaks* abound in California, and are generally spoken of as chaparral. Only onef of these is found exclusively in the Sierra Nevada, and all except two become trees in more favored locali- ties. On open, grassy hills near the seacoast, where the ocean winds sweep with force, these oaks form mats, often covering the ground *Q. AVislixeni A. DC.; Q. chrysolepis Liebin; Q. dumosa Nutt; Q. dum'osa var bullata Engelm. fQ. Breweri Engelm; Q. Morehus Kellogg; Q. agrifolia Nee. 44 PACIFIC STATES FLOHAL CONGRESS. over great patches. While these have inconspicuous flowers, they all have "glossy, evergreen leaves almost as beautiful as holly, and are most picturesque when laden with fruit. Closely related to the oaks is the Cinquapin, or California chestnut. The color of the leaf is green and gold, dark, rich green on the upper side and gold on the lower. In late summer the stems are adorned with bunches of very prickly, dark brown burs. In northern California it becomes a fine tree, but as such is quite rare. The hazel, another member of the oak family, inhabits the stream banks more than the hillsides, though on some of the hills near San Francisco it forms part of the brush. In the spring its gracefully-branched stems, laden with pendent catkins, add greatly to the beauty of the landscape. Perhaps no shrubs of the chaparral are so interesting and so char- acteristically Californian as the manzanitas. The species differ so in different localities that they arc at present but little understood, and ii is impossible to say how many species are to be found in the state. All, however, have the same general character, — evergreen leaves of tough texture, stiff and erect or spreading, mahogany-colored stems almost glossy in their smoothness, and oftentimes great panicles of rosy or pearly-white bells, like lilies-of-the-valley. honey scented, full of attrac- tion for the bees and other insects. Some species begin to bloom soon after the first rains have fallen, in October or November, and from then until May in the Coast Mountains and until June or July in the Sierrn Nevada, the succession is kept up. There are no more attractive flowers, typical of the purity and innocence of the infancy of the new year. In the late summer the fruit becomes ripe. When the berries are fully grown, but not fully ripe, they resemble tiny, rosy-cheeked apples. From this appearance comes the name "manzanita," or little apple. A great part of the winter nourishment of the birds and beasts comes from these fruits, which persist until the bushes are almost ready for the next season of flowering. One of the most beautiful species is Arctostapliylos Stanfordiana Parry, which grows on the hills of Lake, Sonoma, Mendocino, and Napa Counties. The flowers are smaller than in the other species, of a deeper rose color, with delicately-branched panicles and slender stems. The foliage is dark green, forming. a fine setting for the lovely floAver clus- ters. Some species form queer-looking trees, with short trunks spread- ing into stout branches, which divide and subdivide so that the result is a low tree with spreading top, scarcely a true tree, though the trunk is quite distinct. . Besides the manzanitas belonging to the heather family are many other shrubs more generally cultivated and more showy. Tho aznloti and the rhododendron are the best known. In the northern Pacific THE SHRUBS OF CALIFORNIA. 45 states the latter is more abundant than it is in California. It covers great areas, and it is a sight worth many miles of travel to see it when in full bloorn. On Mount Tamalpais, where it is rather rare and forms part of the brush, it looks like a garden of roses. The large rose-colored llowers in great bunches, surrounded by the glossy evergreen leaves, make a gorgeous bouquet. The azalea, if not quite so showy, is perhaps more attractive to many on account of its perfume. The rhododendron is without odor. At all seasons of the year the azalea can be found in bloom on Mount Tamalpais. In May it is beginning to bloom in the canyons, and generally along the streams ; but in the fall and winter the clumps that grow near springs burst into bloom all over the dry stems, and the flowers look like stars from a distance. The leaves of the azalea turn the most beautiful shades of yellow, red, and brown in the fall, and can be easily distinguished amid the other brush. There are two varieties, one with white flowers marked in the throat with yellow, the other rose-color, with similar markings in the throat. The huckleberry (Vaccinum ovatum Pursh) and salal (Gaultheria Shallon Pursli] must not be forgotten. Both have beautiful foliage, and are used for household decoration to an increasing degree. On the hills of Marin County in the spring the young foliage is a bright scar- let, and can be seen from a great distance. The flowers are lovely, and the fruit of both excellent. The Ceanothi, or California lilacs, are found in abundance and variety, and form a great part of the chaparral. In this group it is almost impossible to exactly define the species or to say how many species there are. No two botanists can be found to agree in regard to their number or identity. California lilac is perhaps the most gener- ally used common name, but in different localities they are called by other titles, such as blue blossoms, red root, snow bush, etc. Some of them become tall trees, while some lie flat along the ground, forming mats, known as mahala mats. When in bloom the different species are among the most beautiful of the flowering shrubs. The flowers are small, but grow in such profusion on the bushes, in panicles terminating the branches, or in bunches all over the stems, that they are most con- spicuous; and as the different species follow each other in their periods of bloom, often, however, overlapping, they are among the chief agents in giving varying color to the ever-changing carpet of the hills. From a great distance, even, different species can be distinguished by the color of the hill slopes. The white ones look like snow over the bushes, the blue ones seem to reflect the sky in their azure, while the lavender and purple-flowered species, while less striking, are equally beautiful and as readily distinguished. The Ehamnus, or coffee berry, belongs to the same family. Besides 46 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. the species known commonly as Cascara Sagrada, there are others with much the same character medicinally. The most beautiful species of Ehamnus* is one not included under Cascara Sagrada. Instead of pur- ple-black berries, this species has berries of a bright scarlet, and the bushes look more like true holly when in fruit than any other Californian shrub. I remember seeing a bush once in the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, with glossy, spiny, evergreen leaves, and the stems so thickly laden with fruit that nothing of the stem could be seen. One shrub is especially dreaded by all who have to explore the un- broken thickets. This is known as spiny chaparral, or needle bush. Botanists call it Pickeringia or Xylothermia. It is beset all over with sharp thorns, which tear the clothes and lacerate the skin of those who penetrate its fastnesses. The foliage is pale green, the leaves small and not noticeable, and the flowers crimson pea blossoms, which clothe this inhospitable shrub with a glorious mantle. It is an ideal hedge plant, which would well protect the fields around which it might be planted, for neither man nor beast would dare to penetrate such a rampart. There are several other shrubs belonging to the leguminous family, of which the red bud (Cercis occidentalis Torr) is the most beautiful. It is abundant in Lake and Mendocino Counties, and in the foot-hills and lower mountains of the Sierra Nevada. When it blooms in the early spring, scarcely anything can be seen but the crimson flowers thickly clothing the stems, with the tiny green leaves peeping out be- tween, scarcely out of their swaddling buds. These leaves are almost as beautiful as the flowers when they reach their fullest development. In the summer come the purple-tinged pods, like autumn leaves amid the green foliage. The red bud does not form a part of the chaparral, gen- erally growing along the banks of streams or in places that do not become very dry in the summer. The rose family probably has more representatives among Califor- nian shrubs in both individuals and species than any other. To this family belongs the Adenostoma, known commonly as chamisal, chemise brush, and greasewood. Often it is the only shrub over great tracts of ountry. It has heather-like leaves, and at the tops of the branches are panicles of tiny white flowers somewhat resembling meadow-sweet. • the blooming period has passed, the panicle becomes brown, and color of the landscape turns a rusty hue, that is onlv enlivened by °f an occasional The Christmas berry, or Toyon, belongs also to the rose family. Its -pamcles of white flowers change in the fall to bunches of bright red ™s,_so much used for Christmas decoration. This might easily be *R. crocea Nutt and its varieties. THE SHRUBS OF CALIFORNIA. 47 cultivated, and would make a fine border for roads or walks. The wild plums and cherries, the raspberries and blackberries, the hard-hack, or Spiraea, with its rosy plume, the feathery meadow-sweet (Holodiscus], with its graceful panicle of innumerable white flowers, tht; bridal wreath (Physocarpus or Neillia), with its long stems trailing over other shrubs covered with corymbs of cherry-like flowers, later turning to fruits of scarlet, the service berry (Amelanchier) , the thorn-apple (Crataegus), the wild pear (Pyrus), and apple (Peraphyllum), the mountain ash (Sorbus), and mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus), all belong to this useful and beautiful family. Three highly decorative shrubs come from the poppy family. One is the Dendromecon, or yellow-flowered tree poppy. It never becomes a true tree. It showers its yellow petals over the other shrubs, and glorifies the brush by floating disks of light. The flowers are numerous, and as large as a dollar, except in half-starved specimens, where the supply of water or the nourishment in the soil is scarce. The Eomnoyas are so well known in cultivation that it is scarcely necessary to speak of them as desirable plants to cultivate. They are amongst the most showy of the Californian shrubs, and their great beauty makes them every- where desirable where the climate is not too cold. Three or four species of barberry belong to California. All have compound leaves, with spiny-toothed leaflets, bunches of yellow flowers at the summit of the stems, and, later, purple berries. The latter give to these shrubs the name of Oregon grape, and under that name the plant is classed as one of great medicinal value. In some parts of California the most prevalent shrubs are species of wild sage, known by various names. They are more common in southern California, and are the chief source of the honey for which California is so famous. They are not especially noted for beauty, and would scarcely be considered worthy of cultivation. In the mallow family there are several species of shrubs. The one known as tree mallow (Lavatera assurgentiflora Kellogg] is familiar to every one, it is so generally used for hedges around the vegetable gar- dens in San Francisco. It is known in a native state only on the islands off the coast of California, where the genus Lavatera is also represented by other species. This genus is found nowhere else in North America, all the other Lavateras being confined to the region of the Mediterranean and the islands off the southern European coast. Besides this interesting genus, there are different species of Malvas- trum in different parts of the state, some of them very attractive when in flower. The flowers of all are either pink or white. Nearly related to these members of the Mallow family is one of the most gorgeous shrubs to be found anywhere. This is the Fremontia,. 48 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. often called wild slippery elm. This name is given to it because its bark resembles that of the slippery elm. The beauty of the leaves comes to those who look closely, but the flowers can be seen from a distance. They are as large as twenty-dollar pieces, but more golden and shining. The arrangement of the stamens is beautiful. The flowers clothe the stems so that they look like golden wands swaying in the breeze. This shrub is not so common in the Coast Mountains as in the Sierra Nevada, nor so beautiful. Two species of syringa, or mock orange, grow in California. While the flowers are not so large as in the cultivated species, they are no less lovely. The showy, white flowers are in panicles or racemes at the summits of the stems. Somewhat similar to the Philadelphus or syringa is the styrax. The flowers are of the same color and even greater profusion. The blossoms hang like snowy bells. It reminds one of orange blossoms, but, of course, has not the characteristic odor. Belonging to the saxifrage family there is a shrub growing wild in Fresno County, which is perhaps the rarest known in California. It is really better known in Europe than here, though not well known anywhere. It has large white flowers like the Cherokee rose, and is known as Carpenteria. I have never seen this, though I have been told that it grows and has bloomed in the botanical garden at the University of California. The wild currants and gooseberries also belong to the saxifrage family, and those native to California are the most beautiful species to be found anywhere. There is one common in southern California which is full of small red flowers like tiny fuchsia (Ribes speciosum). That which is commonly known as the flowering currant begins to bloom soon after the rains commence, and in different localities the blooming period is kept up until late in the spring. The dogwood family furnishes, besides the common flowering dog- wood and the beautiful tree known as Cornus Nuttallii, two or three species of a most peculiar shrub. It is known botanically as Garrya; the common name is quinine bush, fringe bush, or silk-tassel tree. It is quite different in appearance from any other member of the dog- wood family, and has been considered by some botanists as the type of a distinct family. Its nearest relatives are natives of the West Indies, and therefore this is looked upon as one of the ancient types which have been preserved in California. The names by which it is commonly known arise from the bitter juice like quinine, and from the fringe-like clusters of gray-green flowers which hang in sreat profusion on the branches. It is one of the first shrubs to be in bloom, often before Christmas. The male and female flowers are not on the same bush, the former being the more abundant and beautiful, as is generally the THE SHRUBS OF CALIFORNIA. 49 case with flowers that are pollinated by the wind. It comes at a time when flowers are not especially abundant. Its gracefully pendant tas- sels of fringe clothe it all over, and it looks like an inhabitant of another sphere. The flowering ash (Fraxinm diphylla) must be classed among the shrubs, for though it sometimes reaches the height of an ordinary tree, it seldom has a distinct trunk. The flowers in this species are white and small, but in many panicles, and the effect is as if a veil were thrown over the bush. This shrub grows along the banks of streams, and does not enter into the chaparral area. On the desert the shrubs differ according to the character of the soil.' Where it is alkaline, plants belonging to the Chenopodiacese and Composite are the chief representatives. They are generally known as sage-brush and greasewood. Where the soil is not especially alka- line, the class of shrubs is entirely different. The rose family has some beautiful representatives, also the saxifrage family; but there is one plant which is considered more distinctively typical of the desert than any other, and that is the creosote bush, or Larrea tridentata. This is viscid all over, and has an odor much like creosote. The flowers are abundant in the right season, and the fruits are feathery. In the figwort family there are many shrubby Pentstemons, which might, perhaps, be overlooked, as they are not large and tall. The flowers are very showy, and there is a great variety in the species. The shrubs, however, in this family which most deserve attention are the species of Diplacus, known as monkey flower. The commonest species is always in bloom, and were it not so common and so constantly in bloom, we would perhaps appreciate it more. It has generally an abundance of orange-colored two-lipped flowers. One species which grows in southern California has the flowers red instead of orange, and there are' several species that are less known in which the flowers are large, beautifully shaped, and of a delicate buff or yellow. The Conifene sometimes form areas of brush. This is likely to occur where the soil is poor and the winds are heavy from one direc- tion. This is shown by the form of some of the Conifers at timber- line, and by thickets of cypress which occur occasionally on the Coast Mountains. On the hills above San Geronimo, in Marin County, there is such an area, and the appearance is most strange. One genus belong- ing to a related family is always a shrub. This is the Ephedra, of which there are several species in California, confined principally to the desert regions. This is an odd-looking plant, consisting of slender, straight stems without leaves. It resembles £he Equisetums more than other plants which are generally known. These shrubs grow in erect clumps, or spread over the ground. 50 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL" CONGRESS. These brush gardens which form so important a part of the flora of California, and are so characteristic of the Californian land- scape, find their counterpart in other lands. The heaths of England and Scotland have a similar character, but there is less variety in the species. As the name suggests, the shrubs belong chiefly to the heather family. The bush land of southern Africa is probably more like our chapar- ral in appearance, and, like it, contains a great variety of species and peculiar genera belonging chiefly to the Ericaceae, Leguminosae, and Polygalaceae. In southern Europe there is a similar vegetation known as Maqui. This consists of many species of Cistus, Helianthemum, Spartium, -and Genista chiefly. In Russia there are areas similar to our deserts known as alkali steppes, where arborescent Chenopodiaceas abound, together with Le- guminosae and Zygophyllum. The Australian scrub is perhaps the most peculiar of all, and con-: tains the greatest variety and the most interesting plants. We have come to know many of them, as they are among our most prized shrubs in cultivation, — the acacias, the different peculiar Myrtaceae, such as the bottle brushes and the leptospermums. There are great areas in Australia where one kind will predominate almost to the exclusion of all others. Such areas, when covered with a species of eucalyptus, are known as malles. Perhaps the reason why we do not care to cultivate our own native shrubs is because we can have them without cultivation, and we think it more desirable to furnish our gardens and parks with plants which could not otherwise be known to the great mass of the people. There is much to be said in favor of that view, but it ought not to obscure our minds to the plants which we have at home, and which are as beau- tiful and equally worthy of our attention and care. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, Cal. ESCHSCHOLTZIA. 51 ESCHSCHOLTZIA. BY VOLNEY RATTAN. It is fitting that we should devote a few minutes this afternoon to the character and history of the plant which has been chosen as the emblem of our state. The members of a floral society are, I am sure, ready to give not minutes, merely, but hours to the study of each of the many floral native daughters of the "Golden West," who beautify not only the wilds, which we seek in our vacations, but with the dust of civilization in their eyes, smile upon us from the waysides of our populous suburbs. Flower lovers are ready to give more than a pass- ing glance to the baerias, which carpet the smooth slopes of the Mission hills; the collinsias and arabis among the rocks; the slender hosackias fringing the street-cuts, and trailing over natural banks; white ortho- carpus like popcorn sown over moist flats; rosy gilias along the rail- way, and yellow cenotheras everywhere. That flowers be more to us tfian to him of whom the poet wrote, — "The primrose by the river's brim A yellow primrose was to him, And it was nothing more," we must study them; we must know them well. In our study of eschscholtzia, we shall first take up the history of the knowledge of it by civilized man. The first European who came anywhere near the region of esch- scholtzia was Cortez, who visited the peninsula of California in 1534. It is scarcely possible that he saw our plant. Cabrillo, the Portu- guese, may have seen it when he landed at San Diego in 1542; but it is not likely that he knew it from a buttercup. Thirty-seven years later Sir Francis Drake may have crushed eschscholtzias when he landed on this coast. It must have been two hundred years after Drake's visit that civilized people — the founders of our first mis- sions— began to notice our state flower, and to talk about it under some Indian name, or one of their own making. Possibly, some of these missionaries were versed in the lore of plants, and recognized its relationship to the common poppy of the Old World. The first botanist who entered the region of eschscholtzia was Archibald Menzies, who visited the coast of Washington in 1780. Since our plant is rare so far north, it is not likely that he saw it. Probably the first botanist to see eschscholtzias was either Ifenke or Nee, who were with the Spanish explorer Malaspina, when he visited San Diego and Monterey, in 1791. In November, the next year, 52 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. Menzies, with Vancouver, visited this peninsula, San Jose, and Mon- terey; and in the two succeeding years, stopped at Trinidad and other points on this coast. Neither the Spanish botanists nor Menzies sent specimens of eschscholtzia to Europe. In 1806 the Russian colonists at Sitka were afflicted with scurvy. Rezenoff, who was in command there, bought a brig of a Yankee trader, and came to the San Fran- cisco mission for vegetable food. Owing to the necessity of a great deal of diplomacy (the Spanish not feeling friendly toward the Rus- sians), and possibly because of a love affair between the handsome count and a beautiful senorita — a romance familiar to those who have read the history of San Francisco — the brig Juno lay at anchor in the Mission Bay for six weeks, in the months of April and May. Meanwhile, Dr. Langsdorff, a German botanist who accompanied Rezenoff, botanized when circumstances permitted, going once as far as Mission San Jose. Having poor facilities for drying plants on board the little vessel, many specimens mildewed. Doubtless the eschscholtzias were thus spoiled and thrown overboard, for he sent none1 to Europe. In 1815 Romanzoff, a Russian nobleman, fitted out the ship Rurik, which he sent on an exploring expedition under the com- mand of Captain Kotzebue, who was expected to find, if possible, a passage north of America, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, In the interest of science, Adelbert von Chamisso was made botanist of the expedition; John Frederick Eschscholtz, surgeon and naturalist; and Choris, artist. Chamisso, who was then thirty-four years old, had just published a very original story (since translated into several lan- guages), entitled "Peter Schlemihl." This amusing story of a man who sold his shadow, gave him fame abroad, but he is better known to Germans by his lyric poetry and ballads, as well as by his scientific work. Eschscholtz, but twenty-two years old, had already acquired some distinction as a naturalist; and Choris, two years younger, had such ability as enabled him in the after years of his short life to become one of the distinguished historical painters of Russia. Kotzebue, then twenty-eight years of age, was a son of a great German dramatist, whose plays were, in his time, the most popular in the world. After exploring the west and south coasts of Alaska, Kotzebue came down the coast and entered San Francisco Bay, October 2, 1816. Chamisso and Eschscholtz spent a month exploring "this peninsula and in making expeditions to Monterey, Mission San Jose, and Bodega. Meanwhile, Choris drew and painted the aborigines, and other objects new to European eyes. With many other plants, they secured speci- mens of eschscholtzia, which were the first to reach Europe. Upon their return Chamisso and Eschscholtz began to study the botanical and zoological specimens collected during their long voyage; and from ESCHSCHOLTZIA. Od time to time they published descriptions of new species of plants and animals. It was some time in 1820 before Chamisso published a description of our state flower, under the name which embalms that of his young friend. Eschscholtz, in turn, gave the specific name Chamissonis to the blue-flowered, shrubby lupine, so common on this peninsula. Chamisso called the white forget-me-not, so common in moist places, Myosotis Chorisiana, in honor of the young artist. The specific names of the so-called California coffee, California lilac, and the common Solanum were given by Eschscholtz, who also named the rare phacelia, which has leaves bristly with stinging hairs, like those of a nettle. Our native blackberry, strawberry, and rose were named by Chamisso, who honored the promoter of the expedition by giving the name Romanzoffia to a charming woodland flower common on mossy rocks by the stream sides of Tamalpais. Thus, the treasures we gather in our rambles are constant reminders of the two naturalists, of the young artist, and of the generous Eussian who sent them out to explore the west coast of our country. The choice of eschscholtzia as the emblem of our state was a wise decision. Although forms of it grow northward to Washington, east- ward to Utah, and southward to Mexico, it reaches perfection only within the limits of California. It grows in every county of the state. It is by far the most conspicuous of our common herbs, making acres in our valleys brilliant in the season of its best growth. It blossoms continuously for a longer time than any other conspicuous plant. It takes kindly to the conditions imposed by man, forming in orchards a beautiful spring carpet, which keeps the soil from baking, and appear- ing as a lovely and harmless aftermath in grain and hay fields. No other flower behaves better in a vase. The stems assume graceful attitudes toward each other, and the petals fall before wilting, leaving the young pod in a red-rimmed cup. It changes its fashion. The dense foliage plumes and large orange flowers of winter give place in summer to light, open plumes of a softer green and small yellow flowers on slender stems. As we study the plant, its beauty grows upon us. The plume-like foliage of eschscholtzia, often tipped with brown and red, surpasses in beauty the leaves of other plants. The orange and yellow of the satiny flowers, with the pearly sheen of illusive high lights, is at once the admiration and the despair of artists. Not only does eschscholtzia change with the seasons, but it takes .on forms to suit the conditions of soil and climate. This tendency to variation tries a botanist and delights a florist. The one is puzzled in trying to fix the limits of species; the other is aided in producing novelties. In conclusion, let us consider the names which have been given to our flowers. There were probably many Indian names, but none of 54 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. them have come into use either among ourselves or among the Spanish-speaking people. To call it amapola is simply to call it by the Spanish name for the opium poppy. If we choose to use such a misnomer, — for it is not a poppy, — it is manifestly better to call it poppy in English. The Spanish name, meaning a cup of gold, can never be used, for as surely as Jamestown-weed became Jimson-weed, and the French dent de lion became dandelion, so copra-de-oro would in English-speaking mouths become cupboard-door. Bentham, in 1834, not knowing that it had been previously named, called it chryseis, — the golden plant, — and Eafinesque later gave it the name omonoia, which signifies harmony. It is a pity we can not use this name, so euphonious and appropriate. It is too late to impose any new name or to resurrect Indian names or such pretty Spanish names as dor- midera and torosa. Only two names have come into general use, Cal- ifornia poppy and Eschscholtzia. The latter is found in all diction- aries and cyclopedias, — so famous is our state flower. The former is the absurd name most commonly used. Though our plant is not a P°PPy? the name Avill probably persist. We can not at will drop a name. The worse it is, the more sure it is to stick. Since Esch- scholtzia is the authoritative name, the name by which the educated of all nations know it, the name about which cluster so many pleasant facts, we should encourage its use. Let us call our state flower Esch- scholtzia. Normal School, San Jose, Gal. NATIVE ANNUALS OF THE PACIFIC STATES. BY MRS. W. H. WIESTER. The subject assigned me for this occasion is one of interest to all lovers of nature. I shall not undertake to discuss our native annuals in a scientific manner, but will leave that pleasing task to the professional botanist. He can enter into detail as regards their order and genera. He will describe their roots and stems and leaves and tissue, corolla, calyx, pistil, and stamens. He will discourse about exogens and endogens, and tell you all about gamopetalae, polypetalse, monopetalse, and com- positae. It will be my province to treat the subject from the stand- point of beauty and utility. The annuals form a very important and pleasing feature of the states. The attractiveness of our early spring landscapes is 5dy due to the ephemeral beauty of their dainty blossoms scattered Broadcast with luxurious abandon by Flora's generous hand NATIVE ANNUALS OF THE PACIFIC STATES. 55 As early as December, after the warm autumn rains have moistened the earth, the little seeds which have lain dormant during the long drought of the summer months, begin to swell, and thousands of tiny plants push their tender shoots up to revel in the . warmth of the sunshine; some of these are soon crowned with flowers. In January a large number make their appearance, and during the months of February, March, and April we have a royal feast of these frail but charming gifts of nature, flowers of every hue and shade, tessellating the plains in broad and gorgeous pattern, and embellishing the green skirts of the hillsides with a rich embroidery of pink and purple and blue and gold. The very hills cry out for joy at their own loveliness. A little child, on witnessing the scene for the first time, exclaimed, "See, mama, the hills have painted themselves with flowers !" May follows with her brilliant train, making glad the hearts of those who seek the fields or woodland haunts. By June the hills begin to assume a brownish tone, the grasses are drying up, and the flowere are disappearing from the valleys, but a trip to the mountains will be rewarded by finding many varieties, blooming with fresh vigor and beauty, nourished by the waters of the melting snow of the lofty peaks. Among the earliest of our plants to tell us of the arrival of spring is the dear little white forget-me-not. The Spanish name, nievitas, signifies snow. They love moist hillsides and meadows, where they perform their function as willingly and give greater pleasure than many of their more showy sisters. Children seek them eagerly, calling them "'popcorn flowers." Nemophila insignis also comes to us very early, and remains for weeks, and is one of our most charming flowers. It is familiarly known as "baby-blue-eyes," the name doubtless suggested by their azure color and wide-awake expression as they greet the passer-by. They are found growing on rocky hill-tops, and covering large spaces of the valleys, appearing at a little distance like a sea of ethereal blue. There are several varieties of this beautiful flower, most of which take kindly to cultivation. They have been introduced into gardens of the Atlantic states and in Europe. They will grow in water, and the buds keep opening out for a week or two if carefully picked and kept in a warm, well-ventilated place. Another favorite is the Plati/stemon, — cream cups, — with their soft, delicate sweetness appealing to us to handle them tenderly. Their color, as their name implies, is a creamy white. They also keep well when gathered, if given plenty of water. Like the nemophila, they appear in large masses, vying with other flowers and grasses for, supremacy in the wide fields. But the poor little innocents ofttimes 56 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. meet with an untimely fate. The indifferent plowman allows his horses to trample them beneath their feet as he ruthlessly plows them under to enrich the soil for his field of wheat. One is fain to cry out, "Spare the flowers, and we will do with less bread !" Of Gilias we have an extensive assortment, their showy blossoms adding beauty wherever nature has placed them. The Collinsia is repre- sented on our coast by a large number of species, being widely diffused throughout the Pacific states. Collinsia bicolor is the most beautiful. Its habits of building upward and still upward its whorls of sprightly blossoms calls to mind a line of Holmes' "Chambered Nautilus,"- "Build thee more stately mansions, 0 my soul !" It seeks shady local- ities, where it is found in friendly groups, waving its lavender blossoms amid the grasses. One may gather large quantities and carry them home with the full assurance that they will keep fresh and bright for many days if properly cared for. An erroneous idea is prevalent that wild flowers are so frail that they are not worth the picking. This mistake has occurred from carelessness and lack of studying the habits of the flowers. In the first place great care should be taken when gathering them not to break or bruise the slender stems. They should be laid straight in a basket, or upon a paper and wrapped so when wilted they will not droop ami swing about. In this way they may be carried a long distance, and may be easily revived by sprinkling with fresh water and putting them out in the dew overnight. Some are more fragile than others, but many varieties may be kept for days or even weeks by giving them plenty of water and fresh air. Another of our annuals whose bright flowers please the eye, and which may be named as especially charming, is Clarkia elegans. In June, after many of its sister flowers have fulfilled their little mission,, and providently stored their seeds in the dry soil to come forth and bless another season, this gracious flower comes to us displaying her rose-colored banners from rocky banks to cheer the tired traveler along the hot roadway. Many times a dainty dress is torn and a dainty glove soiled in reaching to pluck these tempting flowers from their rugged home, where they are surrounded by grasses and shrubs laden with the summer's dust. The Figwort family is represented on our coast by the genus Ortho- carpus, of which we have about twoscore varieties. Most of these flowers are white, and they grow in such profusion that a field of them :s as if covered with snow. They possess good keeping qualities, and emit a dainty fragrance. One of the most pleasing and satisfactory of our annuals is the Layw, known as "tidy tips," owing to the pure white tips of its clear NATIVE ANNUALS OF THE PACIFIC STATES. '•) I yellow petals. It is much sought after, and is often displayed in flor- ists' windows alongside of rich exotics. Flora has been very lavish with this beautiful gift. One may catch its sweet fragrance at almost every turn during its blossoming season. After some of the earlier flowers have spent their sweetness on the spring-time air, our hills begin to assume a golden hue. A stranger might wonder what caused the transition, but those familiar with this coast will know it is the faithful little Baeria gracilis, coming always in her appointed time, and congregating in great communities, dis- playing their rich vesture, vying with the very sunshine. One feels an impulse to go and fling himself down upon the golden tapestry in utter forgetfulness of all, save nature and nature's God. A number of interesting varieties of lupine add to our pleasing col- lection of annuals. They are found widely scattered over the coast, varying in color from white to purple. Meconopsis is a showy specimen of the poppy family, its flaming1 orange or scarlet blossoms making a very attractive appearance during the late spring. The California poppy — emblem of our State Floral Society and golden symbol of our "Golden State" — is the pride of every Californian's heart. But I will leave it to one more competent to portray the quali- tes of this incomparable flower. Many other annuals distinguished for the beauty of their blossoms might be named, but some thought must be given to the useful. Yet we may not consistently separate the one from the other, for "beauty hath its use." Holland says, "Whatever elevates, inspires, refreshes any human soul, is useful to "that soul/' and every one will agree that usefulness is always beautiful. Among the large list of annuals indigenous to this western coast we find a great assortment of plants containing inestimable economic values. One of the most important is the clover, of which a number of, varieties are prized for the beauty of their flowers, and all are valuable, as forage plants. Burr clover (Medicago denticulata) , although sometimes considered a pest in our lawns, is a valuable food for cattle, even the little burrs containing much nourishment. Sweet clover (Melilotus} grows to 'great perfection, and is valued for its delicious honey-like odor. It attains a height of from two to six feet. Its long stalks with its dark green foliage and racemes of dainty flowers, yellow or white, form a striking and pleasing house decoration. The flowers are used as flavoring in several preparations, and act as a preventive of moths when placed with woolens and furs. We all are familiar with mustard and its many useful qualities. 58 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. The young tender shoots and leaves furnish an esteemed salad; the seeds when dried and ground contribute to the relish and wholesome- ness of our food, and also contain invaluable medicinal properties. In the southern part of California, where this plant flourishes in its full perfection, it often attains a height of from fifteen to eighteen feet, providing shelter to the weary toiler, from the fervent rays of the south- ern sun, as he partakes of his noontime luncheon beneath its grateful shade, and the "fowls of the air come and lodge in its branches" as in Palestine ages ago. The great stalks, coming from such tiny seed, are utilized in various ways. They are used as fuel, and it is said that fences are sometimes built of them. A large field of mustard when covered with its soft yellow bloom, glinting in the sun, appears a veritable cloth of gold. We might go on indefinitely enumerating the plants of varied beauty and excellence ; the task seems limitless. The abundance of the annuals of the Pacific states, the wide diversity of species, some of which may be found flourishing every day of the year, is a source of comment by all conversant with the subject. Many of them are beautiful; all of them are useful. May the time soon come when all can say with the poet Words- worth:— "To me the meanest flower that blows can give Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." San Francisco, Cal. NATIVE PERENNIALS. BY MRS. W. S. CHANDLER. The term "perennial" is employed by botanists to indicate those plants which live on for a number of years. Different climates affect lants; some which are annual in cold climates are perennial in warmer regions. The term "perennial" is, in general, applied only to herbaceous plants, referring principally to their roots. Perennial herbaceous plants, like shrubs and trees, are capable of producing flowers and fruit year after year, in which they differ from nual and biennial plants, which are fruitful only once." We are in- •o the perennials for some of our earliest flowers. On >f the first, the trillium sessile, comes to us about the middle of December. What a sight to come upon a colony of these lovely flowers, with their pure white waxen cups and large green leaves, on winch mother nature has traced strange characters in a language all NATIVE PERENNIALS. 59 her own ! In olden times these flowers were supposed to wake the robin. In the east they are called "wake robin." Following the trilliums we have the Cynoglossum grande, or hound's tongue. It comes to us early in January. With its beautiful cluster of blue flowers resembling forget-me-nots,, it is quite a noticeable plant, and deserves a place in our gardens. We have two perennials — Eschscholtzias, beautiful poppies — which linger with us all the year. No wonder we Californians are fond of our state flower. Though at its best and brightest from January until May, there is not a month in the year that it does not bloom. All along the seacoast in sandy soil, throughout the year, we find Eschscholtzia Californica, with its light golden cups spotted with orange at the base. Eschscholtzia crocea, with its large golden-orange bloom, is most common; we find it everywhere. The Columbine Aquilegia truncata is another early-blooming per- ennial. We are- all familiar with this lovely flower, with its dainty foliage and graceful blossoms of red and gold. It is one of our most attractive plants. It was once called Herba leonis, from a belief that it was the lion's favorite flower. It blooms early in January. Dicentra Formosa (bleeding-heart) is another of our perennials; it comes to us often in January. It loves shady canyons, where it thrives under the shrubs. I once found a colony of double flowers which was very interesting. Our native violets are all perennials, all beautiful early-flowering, but the one we seem to love best is the Viola pedunculata, — Johnny- jump-up, as the children call them. There is something so very attractive about these flowers that one seems drawn towards them. A verse from James Whitcomb Kiley will describe our feelings: — "Pansies! pansies! how I love you, pansies; Jaunty faced, laughing lipped, and dewy eyed with glee ! Would my song might blossom out in little five-leaved stanzas, As delicate in fancies As your beauty is to me." The strawberry (Fragaria Californica) and Chilensis are both peren- nials. Our sand hills towards the ocean are covered with this delicious fruit-bearing plant. The lovely white blossoms and glossy, dark leaves make it very noticeable. Another of the perennials belonging to the same family as the strawberry is quite well known to most of us. Potentilla Anserina, or silver weed, we find growing along stream banks and moist places. Its flowers are yellow, the leaves dark green, and the under side a silver gray. 60 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. The sand verbena (Abronia California) is also a perennial; it has very showy yellow blossoms, which are fragrant. Keseda (mignonette,, Dyer's weed) is very plentiful all along the sea- coast, and its flowers bear a strong resemblance to the garden favorite of that name. Mesembryanthemum, with its bright rose-purple flowers and thick, fleshy leaves, makes many a gay patch along the beach. Its fruit resem- bles a fig, and is very agreeable to the taste. The early Spanish were very fond of it, and called it "tornitis." Another of our perennials which seeks its home by the seas is the lovely beach daisy, Erigeron glances. It seems to love to grow on banks touching the beach, ever within sound of the waves. The violet shade of the ray flowers, with the golden ones of the disc and the dark green of the leaves, makes it a plant well worth cultivating. We have another of this family, but, unlike its violet sister, it raises its head proudly along stream banks far from the salt air. It also is beautiful, with its daisy-like flowers of white shading into pink. Its name is Erigeron Philadelphicus. It is not common with us. Aristolcochia Californica, the pipe vine, is one of our most interest- ing perennials. It is difficult to find, as it grows under the shade of the shrub oaks. The flowers are strange looking, very much like a Dutchman's pipe; the color, a dull red-brown. I have often traced its hiding-place by the black butterfly hovering around; these moths feed on its leaves. The wild ginger, belonging to the same family, is also a strange- looking plant. Its flowers look like great spiders; in fact, it has an uncanny look. Nasturtium Officinale, the watercress, is not only a plant of beauty, but of use. We garnish our dishes with its leaves. It is also converted into a delicious salad. Most people are fond of it. Another useful plant is the Scrophularia Californica, the bee plant. t is quite a quaint-looking plant, with its little sunburnt face, not beautiful, like many of its sisters, but there is something very enticing and interesting about it. The bees love it. On the bee farms in the southern part of the state, the bee plant is cultivated. Castilleia Latifolia, or painted cup (the latter name I always object to as it bears no resemblance to a cup), is another of our perennials which lingers with us all the year. Its gay scarlet flowers brighten many a somber hillside. When mother nature calls her children to is well she leaves a few to gladden us through the winter We have some goldenrod perennials, besides numbers of the beautiful and interesting flowers, most of them having medicinal values. How- ever, time will not permit my dwelling on them. San Francisco, Col. MOSSES AND LICHENS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 61 MOSSES AND LICHENS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. BY JOSIAH KEEP. In speaking of the mosses and lichens of the Pacific Coast, per- mit me to treat the subject in a manner somewhat more general than might be expected from the title of my paper. For, indeed, it seems not altogether unfitting, at a session of this Floral Congress, to empha- size the esthetic element rather than the severely critical, to revel in beauty more than in terminology, to talk of what we all can appreci- ate and love. Therefore, let no one fear that my minutes will be devoted to reading catalogues of hard names ; on the other hand, I would fain take you out with me, in spirit, at least, into the green woods, and sit down for a little time on the overgrown rocks and gravelly banks which form the borders of a clear flowing stream. In this spirit let us now proceed. The objects concerning which I have been requested to write con- stitute some of the more humble divisions of the great vegetable king- dom, and yet a charm lies in their very humility. They never oppress and overburden us with their towering magnificence; as do sometimes the mighty monarchs of the forest. They are the simple children of the earth, fresh and guileless, sweet and pure. They are creatures of the present, not so long-lived as to challenge our reverence, nor so fleet- ing as to give us a thought of pain as we contemplate their brief lives, but remaining familiarly in their places till we become accus- tomed to their presence, and then either disappearing or gradually giving place to another generation. The poet of nature scarcely ever fails to note their charm, and cool and refreshing references to their presence are found throughout litera- ture. "The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, The moss-covered bucket, which hung in the well." What a charming picture of dripping coolness ! The well, deep and sweet; the bucket, rude and strong, yet withal fringed with nature's most delicate tassels; the water, cold and clear, fit for the drink not only of a god, but also of a hot, happy, healthy boy. Surely, there was more of life's poetry in drinking from that moss-covered bucket than there is in our time in quenching our thirst from The new brazen faucet, the nickel-trimmed faucet, The Spring; Valley faucet, which stands in the wall. But some eastern friend may be about to call me to order, and remind me that the blessed moss of the old bucket grew in the far- away state of Massachusetts, and that in no sense can it be classed 62 PACIFIC STATES FLOMAL CONGRESS. with the products of the Pacific Coast. True, true, in the letter; and yet I can not forget that the mortal remains of the immortal Samuel Woodworth, who wrote those enduring lines, peacefully rest here in our city, and that the stately cross on Lone Mountain keeps watch over his humble grave. So closely united are all things true and beautiful and good. Again I will quote, this time from Thomson:— "Brown night retires; young day pours in apace, And opens all the lawny prospect wide. The dripping rock, the mountain's misty top, Swell on the sight, and brighten with the dawn. Roused by the cock, the soon-clad shepherd leaves His mossy cottage, where with peace he dwells, And from the crowded fold in order drives His flock, to taste the verdure of the morn/' And once more : — "The angel of the flowers, one day, Beneath a rose-tree sleeping lay,— The spirit to whose charge 'tis given To bathe young buds in dews of heaven. Awaking from his light repose, The angel whispered to the rose, 'O fondest object of my care, Still fairest found, where all is fair, For the sweet shade thou giv'st to me. Ask what thou wilt, 'tis granted thee.' • 'Then,' said the rose, with deepened-glow, 'On me another grace bestow.' The spirit paused in silent thought; What grace was there that flower had not? 'Twas but a moment; o'er the rose A veil of moss the angel throws; And, robed in nature's simplest weed, Could there a flower that rose exceed?'' But, leaving the poets, let us come to a more scientific view of the objects under consideration, remembering in passing that a critical knowledge of natural objects in nowise destroys their poetical interest. The enjoyer of poetry and sentiment need not elect to remain in ignorance, for fear that an intimate knowledge of nature will dispel all his happy ideals. It is true that some of the poetic phrases which were written by those who viewed nature through the telescope rather than through the microscope need to be revised and made to conform to the truth; and yet, what is but vaguely guessed at in the distance is made wonderfully clear and vastly more poetic when we come to know more of nature's infinite details. When the great veil that hung in nature's temple was rent by the lens of the microscope, there was more of glory and beauty revealed than had ever been dreamed of before. True poetry has nothing to fear from genuine knowledge. The simplest, plants which exist in the world belong to the great division of the Thallophytes, or thallus plants; i. e., plants which have no flowers, and no distinct separation of their parts into roots, stems, MOSSES AXD LICHENS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. bd and leaves. The green dust which grows on flower-pots in conserva- tories is one of the simplest forms of these plants; the green skeins of slender "water-silk" which we find so abundantly in slow streams and ditches is another form; while the vast fields of seaweed consti- tute a third. Many of these plants are known as algae, a name espe- cially given to the so-called sea-mosses, but which in fact are not mosses at all. Therefore, beautiful though they may be, we can not include them among the true mosses of our coast. The alga3 are all self-supporters, having green chlorophyll bodies within their substance, by means of which they are able to extract proper elements from water, air, and mineral matter, and combine these elements into vegetable food-stuffs, such as starch and cellulose. In some, it is true, the green coloring matter is obscured by other tints, especially by red pigments, but it may often be revealed by first removing the intervening chromic matter. The other great division of the thallus plants exhibits far different characteristics. In shape and appearance, indeed, they may not differ materially from some of the algae, but in their mode of life the dif- ference is most marked. This second division includes the fungi, an innumerable swarm of living organisms, probably far outnumbering all other forms of life put together. We frequently think of mushrooms and toadstools when fungi are mentioned, and we think rightly, for such they are. But the toadstools are the giants of the race, and are no more to be considered as the exclusive or even average specimens of fungi than elephants and whales should be judged by a visitor from another planet as the exclusive or average forms of animal life upon the surface of the earth. All the molds are fungi, so are the yeast plants, and so too, are the awful billions of bacteria, objects so minute that a powerful microscope is required to discern their form. Some of the fungi are troublesome, a few are malignant, but the great majority are either neutral or positively beneficial to the higher forms of life. The great characteristic of the fungi is that they are destitute of the green chlorophyll, and therefore can not manufacture food from the elements, but must take it second-hand, as it were, as men and all other animals always do. And, like animals again, some fungi take their food from living organisms, and are therefore called parasites, while the majority feast upon lifeless organic remains. The bracket- fungus which is so often seen on old trees and stumps tells us that the part on which it is growing is no more alive. Molds do not usually appear on living matter. Mushrooms thrive in rich, decaying refuse. Bacteria, for the most part, produce the decay of that which is already dead, though some species are ever ready 64 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. to enter an open wound and feed upon the living tissues, while others pass into the body with the breath or food, and begin their rapid or more delayed work as producers of disease. To successfully combat their work is the great problem of medicine. Very much has been learned within the last twenty-five years; very much more, it is safe to say, will be known before the end of the next quarter century. Man is fast learning to obey the divine command, with its implied promise, to go forth and subdue nature. Leaving now this great subject, with its. manifold attractions and possibilities, we turn to the lichens, a division of the vegetable world which is very puzzling and very obscure. In my hand I hold a speci- men of the most beautiful form on our coast, Evernia vulpina, the Golden Lichen of the Sierras. Its color is a rich yellow, varying somewhat in shade in different specimens, but one of the most pro- nounced colors to be found in the whole vegetable creation. This lichen grows upon trees, usually upon the under side of the dead limbs of the pines, which are, in consequence, lighted up with a peculiar glory. In form it is diffuse and branching, sometimes occurring in flattened bars, but more often in round, branching threads. It grows sometimes to the length of several inches, but never extends in long, pendulous masses, as do some other members of the group. When dry, its texture is quite firm and stiff, though it can be much softened by moisture. It has little or no fragrance, and is entirely too severe to be swayed or tossed by the winds or storms. But when we note its beautiful color, its graceful form, and the wealth of its branches, we may well admire it and count it one of our chief est botanical treasures. Like other lichens which grow upon trees, it is often called a moss, though an examination of its botanical structure shows that it differs greatly from the plants which really deserve that name. With what a charming tone the poet Bryant sings of the woods: — "Here are old trees, tall oaks and gnarled pines, That stream with gray-green mosses; here the ground Was never trenched by spade; and flowers spring up Unsown, and die ungathered." ISTo wonder that he adds : — "It is sweet to linger here, among the flitting birds, And leaping squirrels, wandering brooks, and winds That shake the leaves, and scatter, as they pass, A fragrance from the cedars, thickly set With pale blue berries." The Golden Lichen is a lover of the mountains, and is found only at considerable elevations, being perhaps most abundant at from 4,000 to 6,000 feet above the level of the sea. As an ornament, it is a most tting object to bring home from a trip to the mountains/for it retains its brilliant color for many years, with but little change. MOSSES AND LICHENS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 65 The "gray-green, streaming moss" of the poet, on the other hand, loves the lowlands, and comes down to the very level of the sea. It abounds on the venerable pines of Pacific Grove, especially on those trees near the ocean, which are most thoroughly bathed by the life- giving sea fogs. Unlike the Evernia of the mountains, the lichen of the coast, Kamalina reticulata, grows in long, slender threads, often joined so as to make webs and nets, and reaching sometimes two or three feet from the supporting bough. Its color is gray-green indeed. When dry, it is somewhat brittle, but when dampened by the fogs it is limp and flexible. Having but little strength, it is not fitted for high altitudes, where it would be destroyed by the winter snows; but in the solemn woods by the seaside, where the climate is always mild and usually moist, it grows to perfection. I can imagine no combination more harmonious than an aged pine, all hung with festoons of this somber lichen, standing in the forest near the famous Moss Beach at Pacific Grove, while the soft, misty breeze comes creeping up from the ocean, touching the thousand strings of the pine-needle harp; and added to this mournful music conies the distant roar of the waves, as they break on the long stretch of sand. Age, solemnity, and quiet melancholy are bodied forth to eye and ear alike. High up on the- slopes of Mount Shasta, another hanging lichen may be found, depending from the branches of the stately firs. But this is black in color, and is strong and hairy in texture. In fact, when I first found a tangled skein that had fallen to the ground, I suspected that it consisted of a mass of hairs that had been torn from the tail of a passing horse. But subsequent investigation showed that it was a plant, growing upon trees, and that it sometimes was com- mingled with the Evernia, already described. But lichens do not usually assume the form of threads or nets or stiff branches. A far more common form is to be found growing on fences, on the bark of trees, and even upon rocks. It is the leafy form, not with plain, smooth leaves, like those of a laurel or an oak, but wrinkled and frilled forms, like those of the milliner's art. Par- melia is the pretty name for a vast number of specimens to be found upon our coast, as well as in other parts of the world. The lichen loves moist air, for the very good reason that it has active life and can grow only while in the moistened condition. When dry, its life is suspended, and it sleeps. If the sleep is not too protracted or too profound, it rouses to new life again when visited by rain or fog. Hence we frequently find the foliose lichens growing more abundantly on the west side of a board fence or on the west side of a tree; in short, upon the side which is most likely to receive the fog as it drifts in from the Pacific. (j6 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. The Parmelias are greenish-gray in tint, and when dry they lose but little of the freshness of their color. They grow nearly flat upon their supports, the edges only being somewhat curled and uplifted. Though we fail to notice them individually, yet in fact, taken col- lectively, they color the landscape to a far greater degree than at first we might suspect. Taken in connection with the many other lichens which grow upon stones and logs and the bark of- trees, they give a variety and pleasing effect of color which we should greatly miss if it were really absent. Come with me to the hills; examine the trunks and branches of the oaks and alders, and in fact of nearly all the trees which do not bear cones; notice the patches of color upon stumps and fallen logs; look at the hard rocks which have faced the winds and storms for cen- turies; see how the stone walls, the pasture fences, and even the heaps of rubbish are decked and softened and made beautiful with these touches of nature's brush; then will we appreciate to some extent the delicate yet effective results which come from the presence of these humble lichens. Botanically, the lichen is a singular compound of algas and fungi. If its substance is carefully examined^ it will be seen to consist of small green cells, embedded in a tissue destitute of chlorophyll, and allied to the tissues of the fungi. Here indeed is a singular state of affairs. Through the light-colored substance of the fungus the green of the alga? may dimly appear, giving to the whole the "gray-green" of the poets. In some mysterious manner, certain fungi have acquired or been endowed with the power of living in peace and harmony with certain minute green plants, to the mutual advantage of both. It is believed that the alga3 feed the fungi, while the fungi protect and defend" the algae. In some cases they have been compelled to live separately, but they thrive best, for the most part, when living in the partner- ship indicated. It has a resemblance to the dairyman and hi.; herd of cows. The man provides shelter and protection for his kine, and they, in turn, supply him with nourishing milk. The advantage is mutual to man and beast, and it will probably be continued as long" as the world stands. But how strange to think that all about us, on rocks and stumps and fences, is going on a form of life, more lowly indeed but scarcely less complex than that found on the dairy ranches which stretch along the coast and spread over the hills of this broad western land. At times, the lichens put forth little cups, called apothecia, which materially enhance their beauty and attractiveness. These apothecia are- frequently lined a brilliant coloring matter, black or scarlet or yellow, and display, as it were, some of the beauty of true flowers. Sometimes MOSSES AND LICHENS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 07 they stand upon short stems and resemble goblets or wine-glasses; in other species they are set like tiny cups and saucers in the substance of the lichen. Together with the thallus, or leaf-like portion of the plant, they give tone and color and beauty to objects which without their presence would be cold and dull and unsightly. The linings of these brilliant cups are made up, to a considerable extent, of minute sacks, containing the spores of the fungus partner of the firm. These spores are scattered by various means, and perhaps one out of a mil- lion finds a congenial resting-place, attracts a suitable partner, and the long chain of life begins once more. In general, we may divide the lichens into three great divisions. First, there are the "crustaceous lichens." We meet with these on rocks and the bark of trees. They are humble affairs, spreading over the surface with no more thickness than that of a daub of paint, but, unlike the mark of a paint-brush, showing a decided organic appear- ance, and presenting evidences of real growth. Some of them are powdery in texture, and when dry they seem almost like yellow OP dark-colored dust. The second group includes the so-called leafy or foliose lichens. To these belong the Parmelias, which so profusely adorn the limbs of oak and buckeye trees, and spread out in such marvelous mats and rosettes on the posts and rails of old woodland fences. The fruticose lichens embrace the third variety; the name, meaning bushy, implying that the plant puts forth twigs and forking branches, like a bush or shrub. A little thicket of vegetation is thus often made, a miniature forest, perhaps an inch in diameter, and half that in height, though often much larger. As I wrote these words, a friendly twinge of headache sent me out into the fresh air for a little walk. I entered the woods, skirted the miniature lake, and paused by an ancient fence, built of primitive redwood rails. Immediately beyond it was a steep hill, its northern slope covered with old trees, mostly oaks and buckeyes, while ferns and flowers grow abundantly beneath their overhanging branches. I have long been familiar with this very spot, and have enjoyed many a quiet communing with nature in the shade of these trees. But never before was I so impressed with the wealth of ornament to be found on the surface of this old fence and the bark of these trees. In places, the rails were almost hidden by a dusty, living paint, with a soft gray tint, cool and restful. Mingled with this were the frilled Parmelias, spreading in places over a space which my two hands could not cover, greenish-gray without, pure white within, and black beneath. Scattered among these were little clumps of the bushy kinds, of various colors, while sundry spots of "bright yellow told me that the tJg PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. species represented were not few. Little cups of brown and black and yellow stood in order upon the "festive board/' while green mosses abounded, their dry and curled leaves patiently waiting for the longed- for rain, which came a few days later. As I passed from tree to tree, and from one old rail and post to another, I thought, verily, the mosses and lichens of the Pacific Coast are objects of wonderful inter- est and beauty. We may not know many of their Latin names, use- ful and pleasant though that knowledge would be; but to the atten- tive eye and receptive heart they speak in a language far older than that of imperial Rome, and they may bring thoughts too deep for words, and awaken feelings too personal to allow of communication. Of the mosses, which are plants of a more complex and higher nature than the lichens, there are two great divisions, both of which are abundantly represented on our coast. The green liverworts, or Hepaticae, form the humbler and less-known division, while the Musci, or true mosses, are known, in form at least, to almost every one. Mosses of all descriptions love moisture, though many of them are strangely capable of lying dormant during long droughts, and resuming their activity again when the welcome rains reappear. In such a state as California, it would be impossible for them to live, to any con- siderable extent, were they not endowed with this wealth of patience. Farther to the north, their love of water can be more frequently gratified, and consequently we find them growing there in remarkable luxuriance. The rainy side of the Hawaiian Islands also produces many choice forms, both of the liverworts and the true mosses. In cool, wet meadows, mosses abound, and by brook-sides we always expect to find moss-covered banks and stones. The liverworts are of various forms, some being flat and prostrate, while others are more erect, and have a leafy appearance. One of the most common of the former kind, which is found growing in almost every greenhouse, is the Lurmlaria cruciata, which, however, is not a native, but was introduced from Europe. It is a little plant, usually less than an inch across, and it lies nearly flat, like a scrap of paper. It is of a very lively green color, looking as fresh as a May morning. If you lift it from the soil, you find numerous little roots, or rather rhizoids, which clasp the grains of sands or earth quite closely. Its edges are slightly ruffled, and it frequently forks into two branches as it increases in size. On its surface you can often find httle crescent-shaped cups, containing minute, flattened, green balls. * are the gemmae, or reproductive buds, by means of which the plant ?8 propagated. These gemma, are dispersed either naturally or artificially and each one which falls on good ground may produce a new plant, and so the chain of life is lengthened and strengthened. MOSSES AND LICHENS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 69 In Europe, this species, in common with others, produces quite com- plex sex organs, but in this country they have not been observed on Lunularia, though they may be found on wild species. In places where ferns grow from the spore, a fern prothallium may easily be mistaken for a very small liverwort. Marchantia polymorpha is another species of liverwort found in many parts of the world, and is similar in its habits of growth to the last- mentioned variety. On the ledges which border the brooks in the Santa Cruz Mountains, notably along Boulder Creek, may be seen most inter- esting patches of liverworts, sometimes covering several square feet of surface. Their flat manner of growth, their two-forked mode of branching, and their green color easily distinguish them from other lowly plants found in similar situations. On cool, shady banks, in the early spring, specimens of Asterella Californica, or the Star Liverwort, may often be found by those who are looking for the less obvious products of the soil. From a little forked leaf-body, the size perhaps of your finger-nail, rises a little four-lobed umbrella, which contains a part of the sex organs, which are concerned in the formation of germs for the propagation of the species. Other liverworts are somewhat leafy in form, and resemble the true mosses, for which they may easily be mistaken. Some of them live on the bark of trees, and curl up and lie dormant during the long, dry summer. The true mosses, though lowly plants, bear distinct leaves, and have a unique method of reproduction. Take for example a specimen of Polytrichium, one species of which is familiarly known as Robin's Rye. The plant, as ordinarily seen, resembles a miniature evergreen tree, two inches high. There is a brown trunk and radiating green leaves. From the top of this tree extends a slender rod, on the top of which is a peculiar capsule, shaped somewhat like a kernel of rye. This capsule contains numerous grains of dust, each one of which is an asexual spore, capable of producing a moss plant, if it falls on suitable soil. The moss plant, however, is at first very unlike that from which the spore came, being a minute, thread-like plant, called a protonema. From this protonema grows the long stalk, near the summit of which are developed the true sex organs. In one of these organs is an egg-cell which becomes fertilized by a sperm cell, and straightway it begins to grow. As it grows, it forms the slender rod with the urn- shaped capsule upon the top, in which are the spores; and now the circle of moss life is complete. Alternation of generations is distinct and evident, but the spore-bearing plant is small, while the sexual phase is comparatively large and conspicuous. As we pass to higher 70 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. types of vegetation, we find indeed the same alternation of generations, but the importance of the spore-bearing phase continually increases, while the prothallium, on which the sex organs are developed, becomes less and less evident. Of the multitude of mosses of this coast we may select a few general types, which will represent the great majority of our Bryophytes. First, there is the Sphagnum, or swamp moss. It is a pale, soft, spongy variety, growing in wet meadows, and forming beds of peat as it sinks and dies. This moss is used extensively by florists, to fill wire frames which are to serve as the foundation of floral designs, and also to wrap around the roots of plants to keep them moist and fresh. It does not grow extensively in this state, but thrives in cool and moist climates. Second, the genus Hypnum, and its allies. In texture, many of the Hypnese are quite tough and enduring, contrasting strongly with the Sphagnacea^ just described. The Hypnese are the mosses that we commonly find on trees, being often very abundant near the ground, and forming strong, green mats, which creep upward to a considerable height. They are also found on stones and cool banks. Lastly, the Bryeae, consisting of the genus Bryum and its allies. These include the vast majority of mosses, and are found abundantly on the ground or on rocks, especially where the ground is damp and cold. The leaves are small, the stems often creeping, with rhizoids along the whole length. In conclusion, it should be stated that the humblest mosses act as soil makers. Living upon the earth, they return to the soil more than they take away, and prepare the ground for a higher class of vegetation. In our brief survey of the lowly vegetable organisms which inhabit our coast, we have been impressed with their quiet beauty. Doubtless they have an important practical part in the economy of nature which we can not, with our present knowledge, fully understand. However, since we cultivate flowers chiefly for their beauty, we «an, at least, appreciate the added charm which lichens and mosses give to nature's more rugged features, and we will learn to declare, Jike their Maker, that they are all "very good." Mills College, California. WHAT FLOWERS TEACH US. 71 WHAT FLOWERS TEACH US. BY MRS. L. 0. HODGKINS. Flower-gardening has been called woman's work. Why shouldn't it be? Mother Nature herself farmed and gardened on a large scale, and gave us a good lesson in the preparation of the soil. Before mor- tals were put on the earth, she raised the mountains, lowered the valleys, and started irrigation canals. Beasts walked under the shade, and birds flew in the branches of trees, whose size were almost beyond our com- prehension. After that a great fire was kindled; wood was made into coal, and minerals crystallized and stored away. Some plants were pressed, and impressions taken quite equal to those of the present day. They were not left on the surface, but stored away where men must seek if they would find, teaching us not to be satisfied with the outward appearance, and to avoid sham, — be what we seem. If we give credit to the Hebrew tradition of the creation of man, the first couple were put to gardening, and Eden was the first experimental station. This did not prove a success. The fault was not in the gar- den, but the Landlord had furnished too much. Everything was ready for them, — the flowers that were pleasant to the eye, the fruits which were good for food. They had nothing to do, and the Landlord dis- charged them, telling them that hereafter they must look out for them- selves, or in "the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." Here the first manual training school was started, teaching man that what is worth having is worth digging for. The Greek tradition did not give man so good a start. The garden of Hesperides and the Elysian fields were for them only in the future, as a special delight for the blessed. Plants formed such an important part that they were put under special charge of superior beings. Jupiter believed in the division of labor. He gave Ceres the grain, Pomona the fruit, and Flora the flowers. When Jove saw Flora had strewn the hills and meadows with beautiful, sweet-scented plants, he crowned her queen, and gave a feast in her honor. They banqueted on ambrosia and drank nectar from the cup of the lily and the rose. Be- coming intoxicated with the perfume, she fell into a deep sleep and saw everything with distorted vision. Under this influence she created a new order of plants. She made them ill-shapen; they grew without grace. The branches stood up stiffly in all directions; they were covered with hooks and spines; some had soft, velvety bunches which were filled with fine needle points. She planted them in deserts among rocks and sand, and called them cacti. When she came to herself, she 72 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. was very much grieved at what she had done, and wished as far as possible to make amends for the wrong. So to some she gave beautiful blossoms, and to others, luscious fruits, that the beholder might forget their ugliness of form, in the beauty of the flower and the deliciousness of the fruit, teaching the sin of intoxication, since we can never fully repair the wrongs committed while in that state. As a recompense for suffering a flower was produced as a memorial. When Hyacinthus, in his games with Apollo, fell wounded and dying, his blood stained the herbage, and a flower most beautiful in hue immediately appeared from his grave. Each spring our hyacinth comes as a memorial for him. Daphne, when she fled from Apollo, was changed to a laurel tree, which was to be always green, the leaf to know no decay, and to be used as a crown for the victorious. The water-nymphs mourned for one of their number; they prepared a funeral pile, but the body was nowhere to be found. In its place had sprung up a delicate flower, purple within, surrounded with white leaves, which bears the name, and pre- serves the memory, of Narcissus. All these sayings and beliefs of the ancients teach us of later years that the lessons taught by Mother Nature are wise and holy. The Germans tell of a time, when the world was young, and the wood-nymphs went to sleep, when the leaves fell and the birds had ceased their singing, and did not awake till roused by the gurgling sap, the swelling of the buds, and the twittering of the young birds. One year they slept so late that when they awoke it was scorching summer. The daisies were dried up, the flowers had lost their fragrance, and there was no one to welcome their coming. The king was very angry, and decided that one band of nymphs should keep awake all winter to announce the coming of spring. These he called violets. They were not to be far away, just under the snow and leaves, so as to watch for the first warm rays of the spring sunshine. They never fail in their duty, and the wood-nymphs sleep securely, always sure of the coming of the violet, From them we learn a lesson of constancy and trust. Flowers have formed models for sculptors, and painters have always copied from them. They have been made emblems of countries and states. As a society, we may well be proud that we helped to make the schscholtzia our state flower, which is such a true emblem of the golden gram above the soil and the pure gold beneath. Our California fruit-growers should be classed as spring florists; Pomona and Flora work hand in hand. Where can be found such a flower show as the farmer gives, when the almond takes the place of the violet to announce the coming of spring, and the others follow in quick WHAT FLOWERS TEACH US. 73 succession, till the whole seems as if Flora had taken full possession; the air is fragrant with perfume, the eye is delighted with the sight, and the soul is filled with thankfulness and adoration to Him who giveth us such gifts. In this generation more interest has been taken in the study of flowers. The florists produce new varieties, larger size, firmer growth, and finer coloring. They also study more the fitness of place, the qual- ities of soil, and the temperature required by the different varieties. In all this the professional florists take the lead. People do not con- sider the time, patience, and money it requires. Two of our society, Carl Kruger, who produced such marvels of carnation and tuberous begonias, and B. F. Lelong, who was such a devoted follower of Pomona, have lately finished their work. The change has come to them which must come to us all, and we trust that in their new existence the beauty and glory of the beyond are more than earthly imagination had ever dreamed. Our own florists are working, each in his peculiar department. Far above all the rest, from the woods of dear old New England, and with the associations of such men as Philips, Emerson, and Agassiz, still clinging around him, we have our own Luther Burbank. His work is known from London to the Cape of Good Hope, and from New York to the gardens of the Nile. Both fruit and flowers have claimed his attention, and there is no doubt but, if he can pursue his work a few years longer, he will produce flowers of any shape and color, and fruit of any size and taste, at the shortest notice. Our life may be very monotonous; as a rule, we take some business or profession, and in order to succeed we must give our time to that. In order to vary this routine and have a little change, what better can we have than gardening? Sir Thomas Lipton says, "Gardening give* you just enough to think about to be a complete distraction, yet not enough to worry you." In Japan the arrangement of flowers is pursued by men of rank, and ladies of the aristocracy are allowed to practise the art, because it inspires virtues, as gentleness, self-denial, forgetfulness of care, and spirituality. On farewell receptions they send flowers that bloom often, to express the hope of a speedy return. To the sick, blossoms of a hardy, vigorous growth are sent, that health may be suggested. Gay flowers are strewn in affliction, and on festive days. The lotus is never used, as it is associated with the spirit of the dead. He who was born in Bethlehem taught lessons from the fruit and the flowers. From the vine and the branches He taught unity and strength; from the fig, to be fruitful in good works; and by His care of the lily and the grass that clothed the field, He showed us His love and protection for the least of one of His children. 74 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. Many sermons are preached from our own little home gardens. Flowers are very democratic, and teach us to do our best in our present surroundings. Whoever heard of the heliotrope or the rose refusing to bloom because their neighbor next door had flowers in tin cans ? The rose and carnation remind us of our true friends; they are always the same, beautiful in form, imparting an exquisite fragrance; they comfort us, cheering in sorrow, and brightening our life. If wo sometimes feel the thorn of the rose, we do not speak of it as an injury, but remember it only as the thorn of the rose. Each of us have our own peculiar notions, and some seem to think we have only those, and do not notice our good qualities. Now let the peculiarities alone, — kc^' away from our thorns or disagreeable qualities, and deal only with the good. The mignonette is one of the few flowers that give out pure ozone, but it puts on no airs on that account, but flourishes with the lowly, as well as the great. The dahlia reminds us of some who are stately and cold, like a piece of statuary; they expect every one to be the same. They say to the frail, clinging sweet pea : "Why don't you hold your- self up, and be more self-reliant? I don't have to lean on any one; I look out for myself." The sweet pea answers : "It is by clinging I climb. If I had to depend on myself, I should be trailing in the dust; by a lit- tle support my fragrance reaches farther, and I accomplish more good." So we should learn to assist those weaker in some respects than our- selves. The cacti family seems like a set of crochety old cranks. By their spines and thorns they warn you to keep away and let them alone. There is nothing inviting about them, and you wonder what possible good they are. After a little, amid all their ugliness of form and sharp- ness of outline, there comes forth a magnificent blossom, wonderful in size, beautiful in shape, of satiny texture, and exquisite in color. Have you not known some persons who were cross and ill-natured, sometimes repulsive, who would at last do some good deed that would astonish you, and you would say, "How little I understood such a per- son," and you would learn the lesson that there is good in all if we only had the tact to discern it? The night-blooming cereus has a peculiar mission to perform. Did you ever go way down in depths of trouble, with darkness and gloom surrounding, and not a ray of light ? Unexpectedly, in a strange sort of way, a friend cqmes. You never thought much about him before, never realized anything special; but now he comes with a cheer and uplifting that no one else could bring. You are refreshed and encouraged; the shadows are lifted. So, with this fair flower of the night, in darkness and gloom it opens its beau- aful petals, sheds its wonderful fragrance, and when the night disap- EAILWAY GARDENING IX CALIFORNIA. i ^> pears and morning comes, its mission is ended, its work accomplished. The belladonna lily teaches a spiritual lesson. From the bulb come the green leaves, a fine foliage., healthy and strong, reminding one of this life, growing and nourishing the plant, probably preparing for the change which soon comes. In a few weeks there is nothing there, not a vestige of green left. Life seems over, and its work accom- plished. Later on, up comes a beautiful shoot, unlike the former plant in size, shape, and color. We know it comes from the same source, and we can only say, "How gloriously changed !" So we are taught the doctrine of the resurrection and of the blessed hereafter, when our loved ones, free from earthly sins and stains, come forth clothed in new forms, glorious beyond description; and we and they shall meet in a land fairer than Hesperides, where the flowers never fade nor the fruits blight; and we shall be more blessed than was ever. dreamed of by the mythology of old, or hoped for in the realities of earth. San Francisco, Gal. RAILWAY GARDENING IN CALIFORNIA. BY JOHANNUS REIMERS. There is probably no place where a garden is more appreciated by the public than at a railway station. Folks when out traveling have their eyes with them; they are open to all kinds of impression, and such as at home would in passing be barely noticed and even remain entirely unobserved, if met on travels, are welcomed with an interest highly profitable. The beautiful has added beauty; the partly-hidden and insignificant becomes obvious ; the eye searches greedily for new impressions when we are out a-traveling. This, then, is probably the fundamental raison d'etre of the rail- road gardens. Culture has been given to otherwise ugly situations; trees have been planted along right-of-way fences; vacant spots have been transformed from barren cinders into beauty spots of lawns and flowers; hot platforms and sidewalks have had the spotted shadows of trees thrown over them; the cheerless has been transformed into jubilant symphonies of colors and cool shadows, inviting, indeed, when summer burns the traveler's back. The refining influence of such station gardens, situated as they are along the the highways of civilization, can hardly be overestimated. Not alone the traveler receives benefit from them, but there is the agent and his family, by whose home the garden is planted. In the desola- tion of the burning plains, and his often lonely existence, it furnishes 76 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. healthful recreation from office and indoor duties; bringing him beauty and fragrance, it sweetens life's burdens, it furnishes health-giving exertion. The farmer and his family from the treeless plains and mesas, from the vast monotony of the sun-staring wheat fields, also are tenefited by the station gardens. I know from personal experience that the railway garden more than once has furnished slips and encouragement to a young home garden on San Joaquin farms where formerly the wheat grew up to the front door, and where various trees have been planted because "those of the same kind over at the depot were doing so well, and looking so handsome." This must surely have given added pleasures to the lives of these people, and what much better can any garden do ? But the railway garden is mainly planted for the sake of the trav- eler, for the tourist, for the newcomer to our state. He is eager for impressions of the new land, its capability, its availability and de- sirability for home-making. As he travels along, stopping for a min- ute or two at each station, he receives his first and most lasting impres- sion from what he sees there. So the station garden shows him what our mild winter, our cloudless summer can bring forth from our soils. He recognizes, perhaps, old friends in a glowing bed of verbenas; but the thrift, the spontaneity with which they grow, their brilliant pot- pourri of sun-bathed color, are a revelation to him. Perhaps he travels west or south when the snow covers his home- land, and the storms of winter rage there; and his first impression of our southland comes again to him from our station gardens, where, in December, the Gaznia weaves ribbons of gold in the rockeries; where the palms and bamboos glisten with clean, rain- washed leaves; where the orange, the pomelo, and the lemon hang heavy with golden fruit: where the rose is abloom in midwinter, and the violet throws abroad its delicious fragrance. The station garden serves as a permanent decoration of festive welcome to the traveler to our state, and he accepts it as such. What better way is there of advertising our state than by laying out gardens along our far-reaching, iron-clad highways— gardens of semitropical beauty, such as the greater number of man dare only dream of? It is probably with this in mind that the Santa Fe Eailway Com- pany has planted a garden at every station depot and every section- house along its lines in this state. There is not a section-house on their Liforma lines, excepting, perhaps, some in the desert, which has not ts garden with trees and palms, its well-fenced spot, where the house- He can cultivate her favorite posies, where her children come under health-giving and refining influence of flowers and rustling forest leaves. RAILWAY GARDENING IN CALIFORNIA. 77 New as is the San Joaquin Valley division of the Santa Fe, and as jet under the constant expense of solidifying into standard existence, vet the palms and the trees and the posies have followed along with the laying of the ties and the rails, so that there is not now a depot nor a section-house between the Tehachapis and the Alhambras which has not its thrifty garden, its rows or groups of varied shade trees, its beds of sun-glowing posies, its constantly-growing shadows of spreading branches. In southern California, where the Santa Fe Kailway gardens are older, fine effects have already been reached. The palms there are already large and spreading; the shrubs have attained their character- istic forms, brilliant with semitropical bloom, and trees of Australian, oriental, South American, and South European nativity are holding up large limbs terminating in leaves of many forms, from the large, plushy, heart-shaped ones of the Paulownia imperialis to the feathery, delicate ones of the acacias. Out of the wild sage and the greasewood wilderness has been won many a little station garden. Closely situated as these are in southern California, they might be compared to jewels set in leafy filigrees pending from the glittering bracelet of the kite- shaped track. These depot gardens up through California give daily .pleasure to thousands and many more; and their esthetic influence is incalculable. They spread the gospel of the California flowers also to far distant homes. The questions arise: — Which is the best way of laying out a depot garden? Which are the most desirable trees, shrubs, and plants for such? Which is the best way of maintenance? . Which are the desires of future development? The garden plots on the San Joaquin division of the Santa Fe vary in size from 40x80 feet to 40x160 feet. Only at Merced does the garden exceed the latter extent. While I must admit the highest beauty of gardens planted in the so-called natural style, so that they, so to say, become a part of the landscape, I have found this mode had to be greatly modified on account of small size of the plots, and because a garden in the San Joaquin and through all of the interior of California must appear more like an oasis than a part of the sunburned landscape. To break the monotony of this vast level, I had beautiful volcanic rocks of rough and spongy tex- ture brought from the distant mountains, and in nearly all the depot gardens of the San Joaquin there are now rockeries to which busy trailers and creepers, aloes and cacti, with sedums and mesembryanthe- mums, are doing their best to lend the charm of artificial naturalness. Under the conditions, I felt nn'self almost forced to give some kind of 73 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. a form to the garden beds, yet doing my best to keep out, as much as possible, all impression of stiffness, all tiresome regularity. But believe it is impossible to obliterate the artificial in a garden bounded on three sides by unyielding straight lines and on the fourth sides by a just as unyielding railway track, and only forty feet to give per- spective to. In laying out these gardens I have shunned, as far as possible, the English idea of a stiff, closely-cropped lawn, upon which a lonely palm or two has been stuck out, or a shrub or two, to shiver in awkward bashfulness at their own conspicuousness. Instead, I have tried to bring color, lots of color, into these little gardens, such as our cloudless summer will develop, at the same time being forced to use such plants as would thrive under the main care of unskilled hands. I have planted hundreds of palms in these gardens, hundreds of olean- ders. In my selection of trees and plants I have tried, as far as means permitted, to imitate the gardens of bella Italia, so that, as they grow older, they may own their southland charms of form, color, and fragrance, in preference to the cold, passionless stiffness of the modern imitation of the English garden. I have said that a tasteful depot garden is one of the best kinds of advertisements of our state. These gardens, then, should be given the true character thereof; they should be a concentrated southland. In- stead of the northern pine and maple should grow the airy, graceful Casuarinas, the feathery cypresses, the heat-loving fig, the trees of warmer Japan, the olive, the myrtle, the acacias, and the trees from warm Australia and Africa, and the araucarias, giving sympathetic earnestness to all this semitropical voluptuousness. Instead of the snowberry, let us plant the oleander and crape-myrtle in profusion, with their brilliant abundance of southland bloom and coloring; instead of the syringa, let us plant the real orange, and have no mockery about it. Let us use the banana freely, and the charming bamboos, with their rustle and glistening cleanliness in the eternal sunshine, the whispering music every passing breeze plays on the Jew's-harps of their myriad of leaves and slender twigs. But, above all, let us have the palms in great abundance; not one lonely specimen on a level, unmitigating lawn, but groups of them, and, if space permits, groves of them, raising, in timer their crowned heads above thickets of oleanders shaded by feathery acacias. And right here I would like to say a word for a tree of great impressiveness, — the Italian cypress, — misused, abused, clipped, and amputated into ugly malformations, their picturesque, slender ragged- ness shorn off them. What charms do not these trees, in their natural- ness, lend to the landscapes of bella Italia, planted in small groups in some old villa garden, rising in slender, wind-bowing solemnity, dark and classic ; or on a hillside, their dark raggedncss outlined against dis- RAILWAY GARDENING IN CALIFORNIA. 79 tant blue mountains; or crowning the top of the hills in a grove about an ancient temple ! We should plant them, also, on our California cam- pagnas — in groups in our railway gardens, looking proudly over our plains to long distances, telling from afar where the garden lies, where the water flows. A California railway garden should not have the northern trees and shrubs in it; not try to imitate the charms of the northern gardens. They would be a failure with us compared to those in their homeland. Ours must own another charm, more passionate, more intense in form and color; it must contain the superabundance, almost voluptuousness, of the southlands. Do not try to mix the two together, either. It is harrowing to sensitive nerves to see the northern pine or spruce next neighbor to the palm on the same lawn, even in the same inclosure. Do not let us cover the walls, the rockeries of a palm garden with the cold English ivy. The corpse of the northern winter never leaves its rigid limbs, its soulless leaves and flowers. A southland plant looks forlorn in its nearness, and homesick. Let us use the climbers of graceful Japan and other sunny lands like our own; let us not try to borrow character from other climes for our gardens, because they would thus remind us of former associations. They would always prove a disappointment, anyway, for the charm of those climes would not follow the plants in their far southward wandering. If we imitate, let us go to the gardens of Italy for instruction, to the old gardens of the province, to the sacred hills of Greece, to the dolce lands of the Mediterranean shores, to Japan, and the islands of southern seas. Let us bring home the classic grace of these gardens with as little as possible of their stiffness; a new gar- den west of the. Sierras, a medley of the form-strong old with the lib- erty of the natural of our time, to surround the great new culture spring- ing up on our sun-kissed shores, as those ancient gardens once sur- rounded the great culture which long ago was young on the Mediter- ranean hills. Then we have created something new in America; then, indeed, we have an invitation to extend to the frozen north and the east to come and see our southland gardens. And when they return, they will linger with them like a dream of the old and the new, of sunlight and magnificent color, of life-saps that never rest. This, as far as the limited plots allow, should be the character of a Calif ornian railway garden. When borne in swiftness by the iron horse past them, something varied, complex, something intense, something strikingly southlandish, should grasp the appreciation of the traveler, not details of single propped-up overgrown flowers, nor single dainty hybrids, but a striking totality of form and color which his eye and mind can grasp in the minute the train stops at the depot ere it again speeds on. gO PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. But it takes money to plant and properly maintain such railroad gardens, and here is where the shoe pinches. There are so many other things, and I admit more necessary things, which go before the posies in railway building and maintenance. To bring a railway garden to perfection the gardener should be allowed a certain yearly fund to draw upon. Without the knowledge and certainty of this, he can not work systematically nor intelligently. With it he can lay his plans, grasp the best opportunities for culture, for planting, for care and protection against insect and rodent enemies. With it he can give foreordained character to his gardens, obliterate the patchworky impression of a fundless groping in the dark. He can do each thing in its right time, a most important condition for a gar- dener. Large amounts are not absolutely needed. Nobody can do more with a little money than a gardener, if he knows for sure, and in good time, how much he has. It sometimes seems difficult for a railway man to appreciate that there is a certain time for planting, a certain time for pruning. It should not be forgotten that system is as important in the garden as it is in the office, that implements are as much needed there as are pen and ink in the office. The only difference is that you have to battle with the whole of nature outside, while in the office the sun shines not, nor does it rain on the godly nor the ungodly. There is one practical feature about railroad gardening I like to speak about. All railroads own land lying vacant, uncultivated, un- remunerative. These lands in great parts of California could be put under very profitable forest culture. All railroads have a great use for bridge material, for wharf piles, for poles, and wood. The eucalypti produce these in good quantity and splendid quality in a short time. I have been informed by bridge-builders of experience that the eucalypti 7nake the best piles in the world on account of their long resistance against the inroads of the teredo. I believe a pile of better quality than the one that now costs the railways $8.00 could be produced on such lands as the railways in California possess, for the price of one dol- lar, and within the limit of fifteen years. But this is a matter which time does not permit me to speak of here to-day. Before I close I would like to tell you about a garden I passed through the other day, which this year of abundant rain has clothed with indescribable beauty. The Mojave Desert is now to-day, un- hesitatingly I say it, the most beautiful garden in California. Over its gray sands lies a carpet of flowers as richly colored as the finest tapestry and far more delicate. There are the finest shades of pink, of purple, of blue, of yellow, of creamy white, which only the desert, with its burning heat, can produce in its tender, short-lived chil- dren. And the concert of these colors is indescribably beautiful under RAILWAY GARDENING IN CALIFORNIA. 81 this blue sky, among these wild hills, which, in their barrenness, seemed to have dropped from the waterless regions of the moon. But do not let me forget the colors of earth and rocks. These hills seem in the dis- tance covered with a soft texture, as fine as and with the color of a tiger's skin, with its dark dots where the yuccas grow, of a bunch of greasewood here and there, or a bunch of low-spreading cacti. Here and there a deep slash in the softness of the skin shows the underlying red of the flesh fading into bluish gray. Great ragged cliffs of rusty red sometimes break through the flower carpet of the desert's level, holding on their crests fantastic ruins of ogre castles; and the yuccas hold up their immense candlesticks pointed with the great, tapering candles of their waxy bloom. Over it all the quivering, heated air of the desert, and far to the west, against its heaven-girthed horizon, rise the islands of the mirage sea, sending its phantom waves into the garden, lapping inaudibly against these dreamland shores. The variety of bloom in the Mojave Desert this year was indeed surprising to me. I should not dare to give you names of any of them, here in these sacred halls of science; but if my eyes did not deceive me in the swift passing of the train through this garden, I saw considerable fine material for a Carl Purdy, in the form of bulbous plants. Looking across this desert garden, with its refined harmony of colors, its intense warmth, so free of all sensuousness, so exactly moderate in its placing and spacing of plants and open soil, so devoid of the coarse and the crowdedness of soils and plants which have water forever and in overabundance, I felt how great and masterly were the soul and- the hand of the gardener who planned and executed its existence. Stockton, Gal. 82 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. CACTI AND THEIK CULTUKE. BY MRS. HENRY P. TRICOU. With all that has been written and read by our members on the wild flowers of our state, no one has thought of the cactus, which certainly occupies an important place among the wild flora of California growing in the desert regions. Nearly all cacti are native of America, and, it seems to me, ought to be our national flower. These interesting plants require but little care, and live for many years, the number of flowers increasing with the age of the plant. Their greatest attraction consist in curious and odd formations, variously - colored spines, and often enormous flowers of great substance and beauty, charming us with their brilliant colors and delightful perfumes. There is nothing in plant life that presents so striking an appearance as a well- arranged collection of cacti. From an article in a southern journal I quote the following: "All cacti have strange and interesting shapes; nearly all have showy and exquisitely-beautiful flowers, and many bear fruit which is by no means to be despised. Nowhere in the vegetable kingdom (not even among the orchids) is it possible to make so large an assemblage of such dis- similar forms within the same family — from 1 inch to 60 feet, from the size of a carriage whip to that of a barrel, from the slender ucatilla to the'angular opuntia, from the fairy's pincushion to the hirsute grizzly bear, and so on indefinitely." And again: "Any one who has ever seen southern Arizona bewitched by the first rains and turned from gray sand to a living carpet of tiny wild flowers, starred here and there with the gorgeous blossoms of the cacti, knows one of the most wonderful sights in nature, while the lives of thousands of animals have been liter- ally saved by those strange vegetable water tanks in the land of thirst. Every cactus is a reservoir, born and bred amid universal drought; it stores moisture for its own needs, and is often the salvation of its ani- mate superiors. Many a prospector, lost in the desert, would have perished miserably but for this cooling pulp." Families of Cacti.— Cacti are divided into several families, according to the characteristics of the many varieties, as manner of growth of stems, whether upright, clinging, or trailing, round, oval, or globose, have long, broad, or hairy-like spines, grow singly or in clusters, or flat-stemmed, have tubular or stem flowers. The principal families are Cereus Echinocactus, Echinocereus, Echmopsis, Analonium, Mamilaria, Rhipsalis, Epiphyllum, Melocactus, Filocereus, and Phyllocactus. CACTI AXD THEIR CULTURE. 83 Culture. — All bear seeds which germinate easily, but the plants take such a long time to grow and flower that it is better to raise them from cuttings, or to buy small plants, which, except in rare varieties, are inexpensive. The flowers are generally short lived, lasting from one night to four or five days, and ranging in color through all the shades of red, yellow, pink, purple, and many white ones. Cereus. — The growth varies a great deal in the different genera. Cereus are mostly upright, but some have clinging and trailing stems. The largest cactus known is the Cereus Gigantea, of Arizona, growing in great columns from thirty to fifty feet high, their lofty heads crowned with white flowers. Cereus Columbrinas, that cylindrical cactus, full of short spines, so often seen in our gardens, is one of the tall, very^ straight growers, a night bloomer, and bears tubular white flowers. Grandiflora. — The Grandiflora belongs to the climbing and clinging species. The stems are thin, with very small spines in clusters, and have long, thread-like roots, which hang down and attach themselves to the trunks of trees. Reglei, Grandiflorus, McDonaldi, Xycticalus, and Rostratus are among these, the last mentioned being the only red night- blooming cereus. Reglei has the grandest flower of any cactus I have ever seen. Two years ago one of mine bloomed whose flower measured eighteen inches in diameter. The petals were very narrow, of a waxy white, sepals tipped with a bright red, the innumerable silky stamens sending out a delightful and delicate perfume. Although lasting only a few hours, the one flower amply repaid me for the little care bestowed upon this plant. Grandifloras are all epiphites, and in their native tropical homes hang from the trees, heavy with the weight of their own magnificent blossoms, filling the air with their sweet fragrance. Flagelliformis is the best known of the trailing cereus. This little plant, commonly called the rattail cactus, from the form of its stem, is a very rapid grower, profuse bloomer, and bears many small crimson flowers. Speciocissimus, a three or four-sided cereus, very spiny, is too well known to need description. It has large red flowers, with purple shad- ing inside. Rare Forms. — Many cacti from some cause become malformed, and make all sorts of strange growths, sometimes completely changing their forms. These monstrosities are very scarce and high priced, and are very highly valued by collectors. The most wonderful of these is Flagelliformis Cristata, which resembles an elk horn, and is called elkhorn cactus. Munseys for September, 1898, mentions a cactus that grows in a garden of the College of Oahu, two miles from Honolulu: "The pride of the college, botanical ly, is a hedge of night-blooming cereus, 1,500 feet long, which often has as many as 10,000 blossoms open 84 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. at once, and fills the whole neighborhood with its wonderful perfume." A letter from Mexico, describing a Triangularis, says: "Surround- ing the house on every side was a gigantic Cereus Triangularis in fan- tastic shapes and shades, with innumerable magnificent flowers, of purer spotless white, bedewed with watery pearls that twinkled under the moon's gaze as so many bright diamonds. It was impossible to num- ber those large white flowers; every sprout had a flower; all the tri- angular vine was mantled in white." The Echinocactus is distinguished by its symmetrical, round or oblong stem, and- beautifully-colored spines, which sometimes are very long, and twist and curl themselves around the plant; others are so short that they barely cover the lengthwise ridges upon the stem. Many grow to an enormous size, have handsome pink, yellow, or purple flowers, and edible fruits. These require plenty of sunshine, light, and air, and no water during the winter season, only at growing time. The flowers grow from the top of the plants. Many of the Echinocacti change the color of the spines to pink, red, and purple when the plants are watered, returning to their neutral tints when they become dry. The finest Echinocacti are Grusoni, with yellow spines ; Le Contei, with red and white spines; and Cylindracens, with spines of red, pink, and white. The Echinocereus grow singly and in clusters, are mostly oblong, and flowers are white, red, purple, and yellow, from the sides of the stems. They often have small flowers in a circle around the plant, opening only in sunshine. CaBSpitosus and Candicans — the former with its wonderfully fragrant blossoms, and the latter with very beautiful flowers — are among the best Echinocereus. Echinopsis are low and globular, and very perfectly formed. There are only a few of this variety, the best known being Eyriesii and Mulere — white and pink. The Echinopsis have generally small spines, and are particularly distinguished by their tubular flowers, which are very fragrant, the Eyriesii being a night-bloomer. Mammilarias are a large family, very pretty and perfect in their round and oblong forms, and carry their spines at the apex of their tubercles; flowers are white, pink, yellow, and purple, opening only in the sunshine. Lasiacantha looks like a ball of tiny white feathers, the spines are so beautifully formed. Macromeris, Microthele, and Minima are symmetrical with the spines in minute white stars all over them. Any one who loves what is beautiful in nature can not help loving the little Mammilarias, which are the gems of a cactus collection. All of the oblong and oval among the cacti require very little water. These should be kept dry all winter, and only wet in their growing season— the spring and early summer. The soil should be very sandy, mixed with old lime, and very small pots should be used, half filled with stones. CACTI AND THEIR CULTURE. t be done in any other state; hence our market is not confined to state alone, but they are shipped over the entire coast, and I think e time not far distant when they will he grown here in large quanti- ty for the eastern market, for already many have been shipped there. There are also a great many used for greenhouse forcing, as I have pre- FLORICULTURE IN SAX DIEGO. 129 In conclusion I would say that in order that the demand for field- grown roses may continue, strictly first-class stock must be put on the market, and the same at a fair and reasonable figure. West Berkeley, Gal FLORICULTURE IN SAN DIEGO. BY MISS KATE 0. SESSIONS. San Diego is situated so far from any larger place, and so in the extreme corner of the state, beyond which only sea, mountain, and unsettled Mexico lie, that her flower trade has thus far been prac- tically only a local one; but during the past twelve years four florists have established themselves in business, three of whom are women, and who had not any previous training or experience in this line of work. The demands of the trade are of two sorts, — the trade with the per- manent residents, and that with the tourist and winter visitor. The latter supply about one-third of the entire trade, though they remain in our city but about three months. It would' be at first supposed that in a place where water has been rather scarce, rainfall light, soil uncultivated, and native trees and shrubbery about the city wanting, the florist business might be more extensive than where conditions for general gardening were more favorable; but I believe the business is not as large as in other cities of equal size or wealth. San Diego is not a city of wealth, and though a large number of her citizens are people of means and leisure and independence, they live a very quiet life, and their wants for flowers are constant, but very modest, compared with the demands of similar citizens of an eastern city or San Francisco. Again, the continual sunshine, soft and balmy air, reduces the demand for flowers. Nearly ^verybody can be out-of-doors every day, and are out walking, driving, golfing, or gardening. Most of the residents are from the east, and all flowers attract them, and the florist is not called upon to produce flowers that are difficult of culture. The greatest demand is from December to April, and as there are no flowers grown beneath glass, the conditions of the weather deter- mine the quality and quantity of the flower supply. Weeks of bright and dry days are glorious for the traveler in January arid February, but are most trying on budding roses and spring bulbous stock that loves coolness and moisture, though the carnation revels in the bright, dry air, if its roots are well irrigated. The winter visitors are not as liberal in purchasing flowers as might be expected. They anticipate southern California as a land of sun- 130 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. shine and flowers, and as they appear to be abundant, they expect them to be very cheap. Because there is no frost, rain, or wind, and only sun- shine in January (as occurred this past winter), they can not realize that the winter-time here is the resting season for our plants, the same ' as with their own in the east or middle west. It is not necessary for the snow to fall for a plant to know when to take its rest. Then, again, a few days of wind or rain will often spoil a great many blossoms that are just developing. It is often with difficulty that the supply of flowers of a good quality can be kept up steadily, and so the quality and quantity are variable, and the florist is liable to many trials and much vexation during the best business season. A small part of the tourist trade is willing to pay well for the quality they admire, and have been accustomed to, but as yet that class of trade does not warrant the necessary expenditure to meet the demand. I think a conservative estimate will place the gross sales of the florist trade at San Diego and Coronado at about ten thousand dollars, but the amount of stock handled is four or five times what that amount of trade represents in San Francisco. Three of the local florists grow their own flowers and plants, so their business and interests are divided between the sale and arrange- ment and the growing of the flowers. This, of course, makes it more difficult. The Coronado Beach Company maintain a nursery, and grow principally all flowers used extensively by the hotel for its own decoration, and during the winter a sales-stand is conducted within the hotel. Los Angeles does not grow winter flowers of a quality superior to those of San Diego, and so there is no advantage gained by shipping from that city. What we have is better than we can import after the wear and tear of transportation are considered. San Francisco is there- fore the only purchasing market for a better quality of flowers, and the great distance and very careless packing (which I have never yet been able to overcome) make every attempt at receiving good flowers from San Francisco almost a total disappointment (lilies-of-the-valley excepted) . There is no outlet for the surplus stock of San Diego in spring, summer, or fall. The surrounding towns and villages practically ask for nothing. The towns of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas are nearer to Los Angeles. A great change will come about for the florist and the flower business just as soon as a railroad outlet directly east is secured. This railroad will, within fifty miles of our city, cross a mountain range whose climate is varied. There is an abundance of wood, water, summer rains, fertile soils, and frosty nights. Then at the right altitude will be established nurseries for the growing of FLORICULTURE IX SAX DIEGO. 131 roses beneath glass, ferneries, and palm-houses, fields for spring bulbs and flowering shrubs. All degrees and conditions of climate necessary can be found within this short distance for growing as good flowers as are found throughout central California. Then there can be shipped to San Diego flowers of excellent qual- ity, in perfect condition, in an hour or two; while Arizona, New Mex- ico, and- western Texas will always be excellent customers, for we can do better by them than Los Angeles is doing now. San Diego growers will become expert shippers, and just as the packing of the fruit of southern California is now so important a question to her commerce, San Diego will not be the last station along the line, but will be a main depot for supplies along a very prosperous highway, and at some floral congress five years hence (and I hope less) some one can praise the quality as well as the variety of the floral products. There is a sweet recompense and a feast for eyes even to-day in our little sunshiny city. There the graceful cocoa palms in variety can wave their fringed leaves forty feet on high. The beautiful and stately-growing palm Kentia Fosteriana will in ten years be fifty feet high, and always in blossom and ripening fruit continually. Our Christinas windows can be filled with the blazing poinsettia as easily as yours can be filled with marguerites and oak branches. The glorious terra cotta Bougainvillea climbs to our house-tops on a *outh side in three to five years with a blaze of color that can never be developed on a plant under glass, and continues full of bloom the winter through, and then is again ablaze in spring and summer. The rich and luxuriant blooming Bignonia venusta festoons itself from fence-top to tree-top, from shed-top to housetop, all during the months from December to March. Quisqualis indica, a petted vine of the Golden Gate conservatory, thrives and blooms during the summer in a favored spot to the east. Cacti in all their glory of spine and flower can be cultivated success- fully apart from the alkali sands and barren lands and heat of Arizona and Mexico, and the carnation develops with care to almost the per- fection of your house-grown flowers on the very shores of the Pacific. San Diego is a place of exceptional opportunities that for the time has but very slowly developed, but she can show you specimens that will win your hearts and make them glad and keep you forever her friend if you will but come and see her. San Diego, Col. 132 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. THE BEGONIA. f BY P. BEVERIDGE KENNEDY. HISTORY. The genus Begonia was named by Plumier, in honor of Michael Begon, a French governor of San Domingo, about 250 years ago. Linnajus introduced it into the first edition of his "Genera Plantarum," about 1752, among Fragmenta, and it was not until the thirteenth edi- tion of his "Systema Vegetabilum" that it was given a place in his sys- tem. Plumier, in his work, "Nova Plantarum Americanarum Genera" described six species of begonia, but the descriptions were so imperfect that they were of no use for identification. Linnaeus, never having seen a begonia but only these descriptions of Plumier, placed all the six species of Plunder's under one species, Begonia obliqua, in his Species Plantarum. These included all the begonias known at that time. Although Sloane, Eumph, Lamarck, and Jacquin all mentioned the begonia in their works, it was left to Dryander to show, for the first time, any true light on the different species. In the first volume of the "Transactions of the Linnsean Society," in 1879, he describes twenty-one species, eleven from South America, seven from India, and three from Africa. Nothing of importance was accomplished in the further classifying of begonias until Klotzsch, in 1855, in an admir- able work entitled "Begoniaceen Gattungen und Arten," monographed all the dried and living begonias in the Berlin botanical gardens. He was confronted by two difficulties: First, the flower parts of begonias are so very delicate that boiling dried specimens ruins them. Second, the identification of horticultural hybrids. The following appeared to him to be true of hybrid begonias: Hybrids are stronger growers ; they blossom more freely ; the male blossoms fall sooner, even before being opened; the number of petals varies; the stamens are fre- quently imperfect, and tend to develop into petals; the pollen grains vary from that of pure species in being thinner, longer, and weaker, or entirely impotent. Klotzsch described 194 different species and hybrids, which included all the dried and living material known at that time. He entirely revised the whole classification, dividing the one genus Begonia into forty-one genera, but retaining the specific names. The last great important work from a systematic standpoint is that De Candolle in his Prodromus, published in 1864. Here we find 374 species and hybrids described, while Klotzsch had only 195. THE BEGONIA. 133 'Although De Candolle divides the genus into sections, yet he retains the name Begonia for all. He considers the following characters as essential, and, although his characters are not those of Klotzsch, the final divisions are identical with those of the latter. 1. The number of petals in the flower is of little importance in the male, but more so in the female. 2. The form of dehiscence of the anthers. 3. The number of styles, when taken in connection with other char- acters of the capsule. 4. The persistence or non-persistence of the style. 5. The form of the style and the stigmatic surfaces. 6. The division of the placentae. 7. The dehiscence of the capsule. » PLACE IN THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. The genus Begonia has been referred to eighteen different families. No other order seems to stand out so distinctly by itself without any apparent affinity to other orders. Twenty different botanists who have written the great systematic works, place the order Begoniaceae in fif- teen different relationships. The majority of the earlier botanists have placed the order near the Polygonaceae, some of the others placing it near the Eupliorbiaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Onagraceae. Cactaceae, Um- belliferae, and Saxifragaceae. The later botanists, however, — Vines, Warming, . Engler, and Prante, — place the order near the Cucurbitaceae. It appears to the writer, however, that the immediate relationship can not be found in the now-existing flora. DISTRIBUTION. Begonias may be divided into thr.ee geographical divisions, — Amer- ican, Asiatic, and African. They are very much localized in their habitats, in which they resemble orchids and are distributed in the warmer and moister parts of the world, being found most abundant in Mexico, Central and South America, the Himalaya Mountains, in India, and a few in South Africa. The only species that are widely distributed are B. scandens, which is found in Jamaica, Guiana, Peru, and Costa Eica; and B. laciniata, which is found from the mountains of Sikkim in the Himalayas to the islands of Hongkong. Their very localized distribution is said to be due to the fact that the plants grow mostly in warm, shady places, free from winds and other agencies for distributing seeds. As the seeds of the begonia are very small and delicate, this, also, may considerably restrict their distribution. 134 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. STRUCTURE OF PLANT. The leaf of the begonia is characteristically oblique in shape, but varies in size, thickness; covering, and marginations to a very consider- able degree. The male and female flowers are produced on the same plant, but on separate cymes. The female flower consists of five petals, of nearly equal size, two to four styles, with branched or twisted stigmas like a corkscrew, and the stigmas covered with a spiral of short hairs. The ovary consists of a capsule which has three more or less developed wings. The male flower is usually composed of two small, narrow, and two large, ovate petals, and numerous stamens, free or united at the base. INTRODUCTION OF HORTICULTURAL VARIETIES — 1777-1894, The first species of begonia introduced into the British greenhouses is said to have been B. nitida, Dry., which was obtained from Jamaica by the Royal Gardens at Kew, in 1777. Ten years later, another species similar to B. nitida, viz., B. suaveol&ns, was introduced from San Domingo, and first cultivated by Messrs. Lee and Kennedy, of Hammersmith, near London, England. In 1814 we find that there were only nine species known in gardens. These were B. nitida, suaveolens, acuminata, dichotoma, discolor, Jiir- suta, humilis, macropliylla, and Evansiana. Up to 1850 we find the number has increased to thirty-six, including many species that are well known and cultivated at the present time, such as semperflorens, incarnata, sanguined, rubra, fuchsioides, and metallica. The next ten years marks the introduction of the progenitors of the Rex begonias in B. Rex, with its associates B. Griff itlii, laciniata, and xantliina, from India. The great popularity of the begonia in England began with the introduction of B. boliviensis, in 1864, from Bolivia, a large, scarlet- flowered, tuberous variety. Soon followed Pearcei, Veitchii, Clarkii, Davissii, and rosaeflora, whose progeny now number many hundreds of varieties in all shades of color. One of the most interesting and somewhat recent introductions is that of B. socotrana. It was discovered by Alexander Scott, the gar- dener accompanying the expedition to Socotra sent out by the Geo- graphical Society of London. Professor Bayley Balfour, of Glasgow, sent the plant to Kew in 1880. As the island of Socotra, off the west coast of Africa, is dry, burning hot, and sandy, it is rather remarkable that a begonia should be found growing there. The root-stock consists of numerous fleshy buds, clustered together, each one resembling a tuber but lacking solid- ity. On this account it has been placed in a separate section by itself, now known as the semi-tuberous section, and has recently been crossed THE BEGONIA. 135 on the one side with the fibrous-rooted section, giving us such mag- nificent begonias as Gloire de Sceaux, Gloire de Lorraine, and Triomphe de Lemoine ; and on the other side with the tuberous section, giving rise to the pretty one-sexed varieties, John Heal, Adonis, Winter Gem, Julia, Ensign, and Myra. Between the years 1880 and 1894, through the efforts of Messrs. Haage and Schmidt, of Germany, and Bruant, of France, many excellent begonias were introduced. Among them we find B. Haageana, Scharffiana, Credneri, Schmidiiana, and Erfordii. A begonia that is likely to prove interesting, if crossed with the tuberous varieties, was introduced in 1890. It is B. Baumannii. The seed was sent to Herr Baumann, of Bolwiller, in 1886, by its discoverer, Dr. Sacc, from Cochabamba, in Bolivia. It is described as plentiful in the moist valleys of the Cordilleras, where it is eaten by cattle. The plant is said to be of easy culture and to be in flower nine months of the year. The most remarkable thing about it is that it has a very sweet perfume, being the only known tuberous variety to give off any odor. It is also said to he well suited to house culture. This begonia was distributed by Lemoine, of France, in 1890, but unfortunately it is rarely seen in America. Otto Froebel, of Zurich, Switzerland, for whom the pretty, brilliant, scarlet-flowered, tuberous variety B. Froebeli was named, has intro- duced a number of remarkable forms, such as B. Mont Blanc, the first erect-flowered, bulbous begohia sent out in 1876. In the Swiss Gardener's Almanac for 1895 are to be found all the begonias introduced and sent out by him, but the writer has so far been unable to secure a copy. BEGONIAS OF AMERICAN TNTRODUCTIOX. The species and varieties so far mentioned have all been of European introduction. Let us now for a few minutes look into the introduc- tion of the begonias by American florists. Perhaps the best known is B. Feastii, a cross between B. manicata and Uydrocotylifolia, which was introduced by John Feast, of Baltimore, about 1880. Another interesting species is B. Sauli, named after one of the oldest nursery- men and florists of Washington, D. C., John Saul (now deceased). The seed was sent to him from Guatemala, in 1894. The plant proved to bo like 5. Feastii, but differed from it in having a distinct red sinus at the junction of the petiole and leaf. This neat little begonia is well worthy of extensive cultivation, and should appear in every florist's catalogue: A few years ago, E. G. Hill & Co., of Kichmond, Ind., introduced B. coronata, a cross between carolinaefoUa and polyantha. It is a strong-growing hybrid, with large-lobed leaves and pale pink, drooping 136 I'ACIFJC STATES FLORAL COXURESS. clusters of flowers. A number of varieties of B. semperflorens hav"? also been introduced by this firm, viz., Albatross, Elegantissima, Maste- donte, Goliath, and Obelisquc, as well as several varieties of the Rex type, which were crosses between B. diadema, and varioiis varieties of Rex, viz., Mrs. A. G. Sheperd, Perl Humfeld, Bertha McGregor, Elsie Coles, Mrs. E. Banner^ and Annie Dorner. B. Gilsoni is of American origin, and is interesting on account of its being the only double-flowered, fibrous-rooted begonia. Whether it is a species or hybrid is not known. It is said to have been named in compliment to Gilson, a colored gar- dener to Mrs. Livingston, of New York, more than ten years ago. There is a Mr. John Coulson, of Worcester, Mass., gardener to the Hon. Stephen Salisbury, who knows begonias better than any other man the writer is acquainted with. He has undoubtedly produced many new hybrids, and has in his possession many of the old species that are seldom seen now, but he has not, to my knowledge, given any of his information to the press. The begonias in cultivation may be roughly divided into four sec- tions or groups, as follows:— 1. Fibrous-rooted or winter-flowering. 2. Semi-tuberous, or socotrana. 3. Tuberous, or summer-flowering. 4. Rex, or ornamental-leaved. The fibrous-rooted section may be divided into two large divisions, according to their leaves. (a) Leaves hairy, velvety, or downy on the upper surface. (b) Leaves smooth or only a few scattered hairs on the upper sur- face or on the margins. FIBROUS-ROOTED SECT! OX. To the first division belong such varieties as Scharffiana, Duchartrei, ftaageana, echinosepala, Credneri, Schmidtiana, Margaritae, metallica, hydrocotylifolm. imperial^, peltata, ricinifolia, platanifolia, digitata, subpeltata nigricam, Pres. de Boureilles, ulmifolia; and to the second division, incarnata. foliosa. albo-picta, scandens, manicata. glaucophylla. albo-coc-cinea, semperflorens, with its many varieties, phyllomaniaca, nitida, and its hybrids, Dregei, W eltoniensis, coronata. Verscliaffeltiana, maculata, including var. argyrostigma picta, coccinea, goegonsis, san- gmnea, daedalea, heraclei folia, and varieties rubella, speculata, olbia. Teuscheri, argenteo-guttata, abundance, Ameliae, angularis, Ascotiensis, Bertha de Chateaurocher, Bijou de Gand, Bismarcki, carolineafolia, Carrieri, Corbeille de Feu, diadema, Erfordii, Feastii, Sauli, Gilsoni, hybrida-multiflora, Ingrami, Knowlsleyana. Kunthiana, Lubbersi, Lu- cianae, Lyncheana, Mad. de Lesseps, nelumbifolia, Paul Bruant, Presi- THE BEGONIA. 137 dent Carnot, Sandersoni stigmosa, Thurstoni, Sunderbruchi, Wett- steinii, zebrina, Pond Lily, Souvenir de F. Gaulin, undulata, decora Uhinkii. DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES AND VARIETIES. Taking them up in the order named, we find that B. Scharffiana, Kegel, was introduced from Brazil, by Haage and Schmidt, in 1889. Scharffiana. — It has large, thick, fleshy, hairy leaves, which are oliVe green above and crimson below. The flowers are waxy white, and hang in clusters resembling those of the calceolaria. A plant has been grown at Kew a yard through. It sometimes takes a resting period, partially dying off, and requires warmth and care to succeed well. When well grown, it is an excellent bracket plant. Duchartrei. — B. Duchartrei, Hort., is a hybrid between B. echino- sepala and Scharffiana, and was introduced by Bruant, in 1892. Like Scharffiana, the leaves are green above and red below. The flow- ers are waxy white, with a few red hairs on the under surface of the petals. Although the plant will grow under ordinary conditions, yet it requires warmth and care in order to branch profusely and flourish. Haageana. — B. Haageana, Watson (B. Scharffi, Hook.), is a na- tive of the peninsula of Destierra, in South Brazil, and was intro- duced by Haage and Schmidt, in 1889. The leaves are about a foot long, dark green above, and crimson on the under side. The flower- stems are about a foot long, and branch into enormous cymes of pink flowers, eight to twelve inches in diameter. The stems, capsules, and under side of the petals, are covered with long, red hairs. The species is closely allied to B. metallica and B. ecliinosepala, and has already been crossed with both these species. The plant displays its beauty best when two years old, and is regarded as one of the most beautiful species in the genus. In the months of December and January no con- servatory should be without this exceedingly beautiful begonia. Credneri. — B. Credneri, Hort., is a variety originated by hybridizing B. Scharffiana and B. metallica, and was introduced by Haage and Schmidt, in 1891. There is another plant, named B. Credneri, which was raised by Lemoine, in 1891, three months later, from the same parents. Bruant a]so used these two parents in 1891, and called his plant B. Pictaviensis. All the above varieties have been grown by the writer, and they appear to be identical. It is very similar to B. Haao- eana, but has smaller flowers and erect flower stems, not gracefully bending over as in Haageana. Pictavensis. — rThere is still another plant, spelled B. Pictavensis, which was raised by Bruant, in 1881, a cross between B. Schmidtmna and B. semperflorens. This plant is now appropriately called B. Bruanti in most catalogues. 138 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. Metallica. — B. metallica, G. Smith, is one of the older species of this class, having been introduced from Bahia in 1869. by Wilson Sanders. The stems are hairy and profusely branched. The leaves are from three to six inches long, with the upper surface green and shaded with a dark metallic color. The flowers are pinkish white, and the under surface of the petals clothed with bristly hairs. The plant is easily grown, and the bright metallic luster of the leaves makes it attractive both in foliage and in flower. There are three varieties, rariegatti; velutina, and cyprea, but they do not differ much from the original. Margaritae. — B. Margaritae, Hort., was introduced by Bruant, in 1884, and is a cross between B. metallica and B. echinosepala, but the leaves are considerably smaller than the leaves of the other members of this class. Otherwise they are very similar. The flowers are large, rose-colored, with long hairs at the base of the petals. ScTimidtiana. — B. Schmidtiana., Hegel (B. Sclimidti, Hort.), is a low-growing species introduced by Haage and Schmidt from Eio Grand de Sul, Brazil, in 1880, and was named by Dr. Kegel, of St. Petersburg, in compliment to Mr. Schmidt. The plant never exceeds a foot in height, with rather small, hairy leaves, green above and reddish underneath. The flowers are white, tinted with rose, and very abun- dant. It is regarded by many as a very desirable plant for summer liedding. Echinosepala. — B. echinosepala, Eegel, was introduced by Haage and Schmidt, from Santa Catarina, in 1872. This species has been used frequently as a parent in the production of the hybrids of this class, but is rarely seen in general cultivation. The leaves are obliquely heart-shaped, green above and red beneath. The flowers are white with hairy petals. Hydrocotylifolia. — B. hydrocotylifolia, Otto, is a native of Mexico. The whole plant is hairy. The leaves are round, heart-shaped at the base, and the flowers rose-colored, with only two petals. It is seldom seen in cultivation now. The above-mentioned nine varieties appear to be very closely related, and can be distinguished from all others by their hairy leaves and petals. Imperialis. — There are a few other begonias belonging to this divi- sion that appear to have no immediate relatives in cultivation, such as B. imperialis, Lemoine. The rough leaves are on hairy petioles, and are at first a deep green and later brownish, with irregular bands of light green along the veins. The flower stems are erect, about three inches long, and bear a cluster of insignificant flowers with green bracts. The capsule is green, three angled, with .one long wing. It was introduced from Mexico by Verschaffelt in 1859. Its THE BEGONIA. 139 two varieties, maculatd and smaragdina, resemble the original very closely. The former has brown leaves with green blotches, and the latter wholly green leaves. These varieties are very handsome and well worth growing for their ornamental value, making splendid table plants. Peltata. — B. peltata,. Hassk, is a succulent species which has its stems, leaves, and petioles covered with a soft white tomentum which easily rubs off when touched. It is the only begonia in cultivation with thick, felted, peltate, silvery leaves, and is only worth growing in the greenhouse because of its peculiarities. Introduced from Brazil in 1815. Platanifolia.—B. platanifolia, Graham, grows to a height of five feet, and has very large leaves eight to ten inches in diameter. They are hispid on both sides, dark green, lobed, with toothed, hairy mar- gins. The flowers are in large dichotomous cymes, white, tinted with rose. Ounneraefolia; Washingtonlana. — B. gunneraefolia, Lind. (B. Wash- ingtoniana, Hort), once offered by Saul, is very similar to this, but its leaves are smooth and glossy, not so deeply lobed, and the flowers are insignificant, These two species are not of any particular com- mercial value. Ricinifolia. — B. ricinifolia, Hort., is a cross between B. heracleifolm and B. peponifolia. It has a short, thick rootstock, with very large, rough, bronzy-green, lobed leaves, somewhat resembling those of the castor-oil plant, The flowers are on long, erect flower stems, and of a pink color. Digitata; Palmata. — B. digitata, Eaddi (B. palmata, Hort.), has rather large leaves, deeply divided into from ten to twelve finger- like lobes, which are pubescent, green above and reddish beneath. Native of Brazil. Subpeltata nigricans. — B. subpeltata nigricans, Hort., is one of the most commonly cultivated begonias; but the writer has been unable to trace its origin. The plant is about two and one-half feet high, with leaves ovate-acuminate, blood-red below and silvery and slightly hairy above; four to eight inches long and two to four inches across. The flowers are abundant, rose pink, with a pink, equal-winged capsule. Pres. de Boureilles is a much improved variety of the above, with rich, dark, claret-colored leaves, more profusely studded with red hairs, and flowers of a deeper pink. These varieties are compact growers and very useful for decorative purposes. Ulmifolia. — B. ulmifolia, Humb., Bonpl. and Kunth. ( ?), is a rough- leaved species only occasionally seen in cultivation, with clusters of white flowers, and ovate leaves about four inches long. Native of Venezuela. 140 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. The second large division of the fibrous-rooted section, i. e., those with their leaves smooth, or only a few scattered hairs on the upper surface or on the margins, is a very large one, and . comprises most of the begonias cultivated in the greenhouse, garden, and home. Semperflorens. — B. Semper florens, Link and Otto, is an exceed- ingly variable species from six to eighteen inches high, with pale, glossy-green, smooth leaves, tinged with red on the midrib and petiole. The flowers are rose-colored or white, and the capsule green, tinged with red. An endless number of garden forms has been produced from this species, and for bedding in suitable climates, it can not be excelled. Some of the most important forms and varieties are Sieberiana, atropurpurea compacta, or Vernon, Fairy Queen, Duchess of York, Crimson Gem, Duchess of Edinburgh, Reading Snow flake, Diadem, Illustration, Albatross, elegantissima, Mastodonte, Goliath, La Prance, Obelisque, etc. These varieties can be very easily grown from seed. B. semperflorens has also been crossed with B. Schmidtiana, producing two of the best-known bedding varieties, Carrieri and Erfor- dii, the former being introduced by Bruant in 1883, and the latter by Haage and Schmidt in 1894. B. gigantea rosea, Hort., is an excel- lent hybrid which has been produced by crossing B. semperflorens and B. Lyncheana. The plant is about three feet high, with green ovate leaves with a red sinus at the base of each leaf. The flower stems are from six to eight inches long and terminate in large cymes of rosy-red flowers. It is one of the best begonias for winter decora- tion in the greenhouse, and was introduced by Lemoine in 1888. Fuchsiodes. — B. fuchsiodes, Hook., was introduced from New Granada to Kew in 1847 by the collector, Purdie, who found it on the Ocana Mountains. It has succulent tall stems, three feet or more high, which are clothed with numerous ovate, green leaves, one and one-half inches long and tinged with red when young. The scarlet flowers are borne on drooping-branched cymes, and greatly resemble a fuchsia. This is a first-class greenhouse plant, and may be grown into a short, bushy plant, or may be trained to cover unsightly walls and pillars. It is somewhat impatient of stagnant water about its roots, the leaves turning yellow and falling off unless provided with good drainage. Var. miniata, Linden (B. cinnabarina, Hort,), was introduced from Colombia to Belgium by W. Linden. It differs from the species only in having flesh-colored flowers. In 1891, Lemoine crossed this variety with B. semperflorens, and produced an easy- growing, pretty hybrid called B. abundance. CorbeiUe de Feu is an- other hybrid introduced by Lemoine by crossing semperflorens and fuchsiodes, which is well worth growing. Nitida.—B. nitida, Dryander, previously mentioned as the first THE BEGONIA. 141 begonia introduced into cultivation, is to-day one of the most pop alar species. The stems are usually about three feet high and fleshy, but becoming woody at the base when old. The writer has seen a speci- men of this begonia which was an inch or more in diameter at the base, and reaching a height of twelve feet, where it spread out like a greenhouse grapevine, and sent out numerous cymes of pink flowers with a silvery blush, all the year round. Var. odorata alba, Hort, is a very handsome variety of this species, which has smaller flowers of the purest white and sweet scented. Dr. Nachtigal—B. Dr. Naclitigal, a hybrid between this variety and B. Lynclieana, is similar in general form to the above, but has flowers of a delicate rose pink, especially on the inner surface of the petals. B. nitida was crossed by Ingram with B. fuchsioides as early as 1849. resulting in B. Ingrami, a hybrid which combines the char- acters of the two species. Lynclieana; Roezlii. — B. Lynclieana, Hook. (B. Roezlii, Regel), a native of New Granada, is almost identical with the hybrid B. gigan- tea rosea, but is not so strong a grower. It has been iised to some extent by the French hybridists in the production of new hybrids, but is rarely seen in this country. Bruant crossed this species with B. Bruanti in 1886, and again in 1889, producing the hybrids Ameliae and Lucianae, with large smooth leaves and rose-colored flowers. Ascotiensis. — B. Ascotiensis, "Webb, has smooth, brownish leaves with toothed green margins, and bright red flowers on long peduncles. Bertha de Chateaurocher. — Bertha de Chateaurocher is a new vari- ety of the above, with bright currant-red flowers, which are very use- ful for decoration. Teiwcheri. — B. Teuscheri, Lind., is a strong grower with large, acutely-lobed, ovate leaves, which are blotched with gray on the upper surface and red-veined below. The flowers are bright red, and hang in large clusters on the axils of the leaves. Olbia. — B. olbia, Kerchove, has erect, leathery stems about three feet high, which are densely clothed with acute-lobed leaves, olive green above and red beneath. The flowers are in small clusters 011 ihe stem and almost entirely concealed by the leaves. A native of Brazil. This is a very attractive variety to grow for its foliage. Mad. dv Lpsseps. — B. Madame de Lesseps is a recently-introduced variety with unknown origin, which closely resembles the above in foliage, but is not so compact. The flowers are large, and hang in immense white clusters from the axils of the leaves. Coccinea: Rubra. — B. coccinea, Hook., more commonly known as rulni, was introduced from Brazil by Veitch & Sons in 1841. It was discovered by Gardner in 1837, who describes it as "a magnificent 142 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. plant growing on rocks and sometimes on the stems of trees on the Organ Mountains of Brazil/' It has long, bamboo-like, branching stems, and appears to be more suitable for growing into large plants for outdoor purposes than for the greenhouse. The leaves are about six inches long, oblong, angular, with wavy red margins. The flower stems are axillary, branched, and drooping, bearing numerous coral- red flowers. The females are more attractive, owing to the length and rich color of the ovary. The flowers are very persistent and exceedingly ornamental. In the Botanic Gardens at Kouen it is used to cover the walls. At the home of Mr. Cameron, at Niagara Falls, the writer has seen a large plant, eleven feet high and profusely branched, growing in the center of the lawn, laden with its beautiful bright-red blossoms, which had an exceedingly picturesque effect, Bismarcki. — Bismarcki, President Carnot, Souvenir de F. Gaulin, and Otto Forster are said to be crosses between the two last-named species, but are disliked by florists because of their leggy appearance. They are all very similar in habit, and resemble very closely B. Teii*~ cheri, the female clusters producing a gorgeous display of red. Incarnata; Insignis. — B. incarnata, Link and Otto (B. insignis, Gra- ham), is one of the oldest and most variable species, and includes ;i number of named kinds seldom seen in cultivation now, such as acumi- nata, ancubaefolia, papillosa, Lindleyana, maculosa, and purpurea. It is said to have been introduced from Mexico to the Berlin Botanical Gar- dens in 1822. The plant is about two feet high, with somewhat lanceolate, toothed leaves, which are green above and reddish beneath. The flowers are rose-colored, and hang in clusters on arching flower stems. It is a very handsome decorative plant, but has been almost entirely supplanted by incarnata grandiflora, a much improved vari- ety, which is very useful for cut flowers for decoration in winter. Foliosa. — B. foliosa, H. B. K., was introduced from New Granada by William Sanders in 1868. It sends up from its base numerous frond-like branching stems, which are densely clothed with very small, glossy, green leaves. The flowers are small, white, tinged with rose. This is a very ornamental species at all stages of its growth. Scandens. — B. scandens, Swartz, as already mentioned, is one of the most widely-distributed begonias known, being a native of Ja- maica, Guiana, Peru, and Costa Eica. It was introduced into culti- vation about 1874 from the West Indies. The stems climb, trail, or cling, by means of short aerial roots, like ivy. The leaves are about four inches long and glossy green. The flowers are small, white, and hang in ball-like clusters. GlaucopJiylla. — B. glaucophylla, Hook., is much more frequently met with in cultivation than the last named, and goes by the follow- THE BEGOXIA. 143 ing names in the catalogues: Glaucopliylla, glaucophylla scandens, and Comte de Limminglie. Its origin is unknown, but it is probably Bra- zilian. It was first found some years previous to 1888 in an obscure garden in Dorsetshire, England. The stems are long, drooping, or creeping, and bear glaucous-green, ovate, wavy leaves from three to five inches long. The flowers are in compact clusters, and brownish - red in color, and variegated in bud. It flowers freely all winter. Maculata. — B. maculata, Eaddi. (B. argyrostigma, Fisch.), has erect, branching stems, and broadly lanceolate, wavy leaves four to six inches long, with the upper surface sometimes dotted with roundish white- spots. The flowers are pale rose or white. Var. argyrostigma picta, Hort., is a common form with very large, white spots on the leaves. Introduced from Brazil about 1822. The plant is a strong grower, but is considered by many "too leggy." Goegoensis. — B. goegoensis, Brown, sometimes known as the Fire King, has a short, thick rootstock, and roundish leaves, which have their surfaces puckered green above and red beneath, with dark bronzy blotches. The flowers are small and rose pink. It was introduced from Gogoe, Sumatra, by Veitch & Sons, in 1882. This begonia is very distinct and ornamental, and well worthy of a place in the greenhouses. Daedalea. — B. daedalea, Lemoine (B. strigillosa, Dietr.), has a short, thick rootstock, reminding one of the Rex type. The leaves are large and smooth, with toothed margins that are beset with long, reddish hairs. The surface of the leaves is covered with a network of russet brown. The flowers are white, tinged with pink. This is a very handsome foliage plant not very widely known. A native of Mexico. Stigmosa. — B. stigmosa, Lindl., is very similar to B. daedalea in habit and general appearance, but the coloring of the leaves differs in the brown being in blotches instead of a network. Sanguinea. — B. sanguinea, Raddi, is one of the most common be- gonias in cultivation. It has smooth, thick, fleshy leaves which are bright green above and blood crimson below. The flowers are small, white, and insignificant. It was introduced from Rio de Janeiro in 1823 to the Berlin Botanical Gardens, and is a handsome foliage plant. This species was crossed with B. metallica, producing B. Tnurstoni, a hybrid with a smooth, shiny, rich purple, roundish leaves, which are red on the under side and prominently veined. The flowers are small, rosy white, on slender flower stems. Heracleifolia. — B. It eraclei folia, Cham, and Schlecht, which was introduced from Mexico by Otto, of Berlin, in 1830, is a very large- growing species with palmate leaves six to twelve inches across. Tire 10 144 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. lobes are of a rich green and toothed. The flowers are on erect flower stems three to four feet long. There are several varieties of this species which do not differ much from the original. Var. nigricans has the margins of the leaves bordered with dark green; var. longipila has long fleshy hairs on the leafstocks and flower stems; var. punctata has green leaves which become reddish near the margins; var. Sunder- bruchi, which is of American origin, has bronze-green leaves with sil- ver bands along the nerves. Lubbersi. — There is a species called B. Lubbersi, E. Morr., which was introduced from Brazil in 1833 into the Brussels Botanical Gar- dens, which is almost identical with the above, and should be classed as a variety. Albo picta. — B. albo picta, Bull., was introduced from Brazil by Win. Bull. It is a compact grower, branching freely, with lanceo- late leaves covered with small, white, silvery spots. The flowers are of a greenish white and insignificant. It is quite common in cultiva- tion, and is regarded as an excellent foliage plant. This species was crossed with B. olbia bv Lemoine in 1889, producing a handsome hybrid called argenteo guttata, with leaves similar to albo picta, but larger and slightly lobed. The flowers hang in clusters and are white, tinged with pink, and a rose-colored capsule. Albo Coccinea. — B. albo coccinea, Hook., was introduced from Brazil to Kew in 1845, but is seldom seen in this country. It has round, leathery leaves, and large, coral-red flowers, one inch across. The petals are white above and coral red beneath. It is a very beautiful species, flowering in winter, and should be introduced extensively. Manicata. — B. manicata, Brongn., is one of the most widely culti- vated species, and is used extensively in store windows, houses, and the conservatory. It is very hardy, withstanding rough treatment het- ter than any other begonia. The plant has a short, succulent stem and thick, fleshy, smooth, obliquely heart-shaped flowers. It was introduced from the Vera Cruz Mountains in 1842. Var. aureo maculata has large blotches of yellowish white in the leaves. B. Feasti and Sauli, which are close relatives of this species, have already 1)een described, when speaking of American introductions. B. mani- cata has been crossed with B. car oliniae folia,, producing B. Verschaf- feltiana. It has a thick rhizome, with large, ovate, lobed leaves, and rose-colored flowers on long pendant flower stems. The plant is tall, coarse, and unsightly as an old specimen, but when well grown from year to year from cuttings, makes a splendid plant. Caroliniaefolia.—B. caroliniaefolia, Eegel, has an erect, thick, fleshy stem, with palmate leaves divided into six or eight. The flowers are pink, on long peduncles. It is a native of Mexico. THE BEGOXJA. 145 Diadema; Sceptra. — B. diadema, Linden (B. sceptra, Hort.), grows about two feet high, with green, dentate, deeply-parted leaves that are blotched with white. The flowers are insignificant. A native of Borneo. Angvlaris; Zebrina. — B. angularis, Raddi. (B. zebrina, Hort.), is a smooth-stemmed, succulent species about two feet high, with long, ovate, shiny-green leaves, with undulating margins and white veins. The flowers are insignificant and light pink. A native of Brazil. Wettsteinii. — B. Wettsteinii, Hort., is of unknown origin, and grows about a foot high, with' slightly lobed leaves and bright red flowers, which hang on long, graceful flower stems. Dregei. — A species that is of special importance on account of crossing it with the semi-tuberous section, is B. Dregei, Otto and Dietr. It is peculiar in having a large, globular rootstock like a cyclamen. The leaves are small, green, deeply toothed, and reddish on the under side. The flowers are small and white. B. Macbethii, Hort., is a straggly form of the above, with pink flowers, whose origin the writer has been unable to trace. Weltoniensi*. — B. Weltoniensi*, Hort.. is probably a hybrid or much- improved variety of B. Dregei. It is said to have been introduced by Major Clark, of Welton Park, England, but its parentage is not given. The leaves are larger and broader than those of B. Dregei, and the flowers are very profuse and of a delicate shade of pink. Var. alba differs only in having white flowers. These two last-named begonias are very useful for decorative purposes. SEMI-TUBEROUS SECTION. The second section, the semi-tuberous, comprises B. Socotrana, with its hybrid varieties. Its origin, discovery, and habitat have already been given. It is a fall-blooming species, semi-tuberous in character, and especially distinct. The leaves are peltate, and the much-branched panicles bear lovely carmine-pink flowers. It is more useful for cut flowers than those of the tuberous section, as the female flowers are numerous and persistent. An interesting fact is that this species has been crossed with the fibrous-rooted section on the one side, and the tuberous section on the other. What remains now to be accom- plished is to infuse the blood of the tuberous section with that of the fibrous section, or winter-flowering begonias. If this is done, and there seems but very little doubt that it can be done, it will prove a great acquisition to our greenhouses, for no more beautiful plants can be imagined than the foliage of many of the fibrous-rooted sorts combined with the gorgeous, many-colored, tuberous varieties. An interesting experiment also would be to cross B. Socotrana with some 146 PACIFIC STATES FLOliAL CONGRESS. of the varieties of the Eex section, and note the results. Perhaps the most interesting hybrid belonging to this section is Gloire de Lor- raine, a cross between B. Socotrana and B. Drcgei. Although B. Socotrana is semi-tuberous, and B. Dregei has a large, thickened rhizome, the hybrid shows neither, but the base of the stem throws out many shoots, which can be separated, 'and insure the multiplication of the plant. The leaves are few, small, pure green, and nearly regular. The rose-colored flowers are exceedingly abundant, cover- ing the whole superior part of the plant. They are almost exclu- sively male, and persistent. This is an excellent variety to grow in baskets in the higher part of the greenhouse, well-cared-for plants being a sight never to be forgotten. Gloire de Sceaux. — Another handsome hybrid is Gloire de Sceaux. a cross between B. Socotrana and the fibrous-rooted begonia, subpel- tata. The plant is about two feet high, stout, half shrubby, erect, vigorous, and compact, with large, thick, dark, metallic green leaves, and profuse, beautiful, shiny, rose-colored male flowers. It flowers from December until May. Introduced by Thibaut and Keteleer in 1885. Autumn Rose, Bijou. — Autumn Rose and Bijou are hybrids be- tween socotrana and incarnata, the former with clear, deep-rose flowers. and the latter with red-carmine flowers. They were introduced by John Heal, of Veitch & Sons, in 1882, but are rarely seen in America. Triomphe de Lemoine. — Triomphe de Lemoine is another hybrid belonging to this section, which was introduced by Lemoine in 1888, having for its parents socotrana and Lyncheana, more commonly known as Roezlii. The stem branches into numerous flowering cymes, the plant resembling a large bouquet when in full bloom. It has rose- carmine male flowers and occasionally a few female flowers. Triomphe de Nancy. — Another hybrid not yet seen by the writer, and introduced a year later by Lemoine, is Triomphe de Nancy. One of its parents is socotrana. and the other is not on record. It would seem, however, from the description, that it must have been a yellow double tuberous variety. The flowers are rich yellow in the center, double, and the outer petals of a paler hue. John Heal—Jolm Heal, introduced by John Heal, of Veitch & Sons, in 1885. is especially interesting on account of being the first hybrid produced by crossing a semi-tuberous begonia with a tuberous one. Its parents are Socotrana and Viscountess Doneraile. The plant is intermediate between the parents, branching naturally and freely. The leaves are obliquely heart-shaped and not peltate as in Socotrana. The flowers are borne loosely on graceful peduncles standing well above the foliage, every stem developing bright, rosy, carmine, male THE BEGOXIA. 147 flowers. It blooms from September to January. As no female flowers have been produced from this hybrid, seedlings have been impossible. Adonis. — Adonis, a variety produced by using the male flowers of John Heal, and the females of a tuberous variety, has soft, rose- colored, male flowers, three inches in diameter, on graceful arching peduncles. The following four varieties are all crosses between Socotrana and a tuberous variety: Winter Gem, with large, deep carmine flowers; Julia, with large, double, salmon-pink flowers; Myra, with rosy-crimson flowers, and Ensign, with rose-colore'd, double flowers. TUBEROUS SECTIOX. The third section, the tuberous begonias, are used extensively in England and France for bedding purposes. About twelve or fifteen years ago they were imported in large quantities to this country, but growers soon found that our burning hot suns and late frosts did not suit them, and soon dispensed with them. Quite frequently, how- ever, on the shady side of buildings, a bed of these gorgeous plants, with their vivid shades of red, white, yellow, and pink flowers, may be seen. Of the twenty species known to be in cultivation, only about six have been used to any great extent in the production of the thousands of garden forms in existence to-day. This is of special interest when we consider that the first begonia used in the pro- duction of these forms was introduced only thirty-six years ago. This was B. Boliviensis, D. C., which was introduced from Bolivia to England in 1864. It has drooping panicles of cinnabar-scarlet, fuchsia- like flowers. Evansiana. — B. Evansiana, Andr., is the oldest tuberous begonia known to be in cultivation, having been introduced into Kew in 1804. Although it is a handsome and almost hardy species, it is seldom seen now. Geranioides. — B. geranioides, Hook., as the name implies, has leaves like a geranium, and erect flower stems bearing lax panicles of pure white flowers, with button-like clusters of yellow anthers. If planted in a bed in a sunny greenhouse, this is a fine begonia, flowering pro- fusely during October and November. It is a native of Natal, and was introduced to Kew in 1866. Davisi. — B. Davisi, Veitch, is a stemless variety with the leaves springing directly from the rootstock. On account of its bright red flowers, it has been a favorite with hybridists, and is the ancestor of numerous dwarf garden forms with red flowers. It is a native of Peru, and came into notice in 1876. Rosaeflora. — Another stemless species is B. rosacflora, Hook., a native 148 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. of Peru, with rose-colored flowers. Light-colored seedlings of this species gave rise to the variety Queen of Whites, put into commerce in 1878, and destined to he a most important factor in subsequent garden forms of the same color. Veitchii. — One of the progenitors of the tuberous race, a native of Peru, and introduced in 1867, is B. Veitchii, Hook. It has a very short, thick, fleshy stem, with the principal veins on the leaves radiat- ing from a bright carmine spot near the center, and large cinnabar- red flowers, two and one-fourth inches in diameter. Clarkii. — B. Clarkii, Hook., is similar in appearance to the last named, and is the seed parent of Vesuvius and Emperor, two impor- tant and useful varieties for bedding purposes. Pearcei. — A begonia which has been the chief factor in the produc- tion of the hundreds of }^ellow, buff, and orange-colored garden forms is B. Pearcei, Hook. It is a native of Bolivia, and was introduced in 1865. The flowers are large, bright yellow, and hang in loose axillary panicles. Natalensis. — B. Natalensis. Mr. Hatfield, of Wellesley, Mass.. describes it as a pretty little species with bluish-white flowers, which has established itself under the benches in greenhouses, like Evansiana. The following tuberous species are in cultivation, but are not known to be in the American trade. For descriptions and .introduc- tions, the writer would refer you to Bailey's Cyclopedia of American Horticulture: Cinndbarina, crinita, cydophylla, geranifolia, octopetala, polypetala, rubricaulis, Sutherlandii, tenera, and the hybrid, Sedeni. If the writer were to attempt to mention the thousands of singles, doubles, crimsons, and scarlets, rose colored, whites, oranges, and yel- lows which have been produced almost entirely from six species, he would be lost in oblivion, as unfortunately most of the records have been. Too much stress can not be laid upon the importance and necessity of florists, horticulturists, and gardeners making complete records of every cross, hybrid, and variety produced by them. Who can foretell the future and say, "It is not worth while"? REX SECTION. The fourth and last section includes the Eex or ornamental-leaved begonias. These, though small in number of species, are large in the number of hybrids and varieties. The magnificent species, B. Rex, is the principal parent in the production of the numerous ornamental- leaved begonias. It has been crossed with a few species in the first place, and then hybrid seedlings have been raised apain and again from the progeny. The original plant is to be seen in Flore de Serres, in the volume for 1857. This is of particular interest, as it THE BEGONIA. 149 shows what this species was like when first known to horticulturists. It is a native of Assam, India. Griffithi. — Another species is B. Griffithi, Hook., which was intro- duced from Assam by Henderson, of England, in 1856. It has been crossed but little with any other species, and is probably not known in America. B. Xanthina, Hook., is so similar to Kex that it is proba- bly only a form of that species. A number of varieties, such as Madame Trey ve, Mad. Luizet, Ed. B. Kennedy, Henri Vilmorin, Sir Joseph Hooker, Ed. Pynaert, and many others, have been produced by crossing B. Rex with B. discolor, and are known as the Ecx-discolor hybrids. Others, such as Lesoudii, Adrien Schmidt, Clementinae, Madm. Alamagny, Mad. Isabelle Bellon, etc., have been derived from crossing Rex with diadema, and are known as the Eex-diadema hybrids. There arc many miscellaneous Rex hybrids of known origin which the writer might mention to-day, but time will not permit. One, however, which is of particular inter- est, is Countess Louise Erdody, a cross between Alexander Humboldt and argentea cupreata. The smaller of the two lobes of the leaf is twisted round at the base in a spiral manner with as many as four coils. The upper surface is silvery, with deep green veins. It was introduced by Nemeczik, gardener to Count Erdody, a Hungarian nobleman, in 1884. Other varieties of unknown or uncertain origin are Louise Closson, Lucy Closson, Marquis de Peralta, Duchess de Brabant, Louise Chre- tien. Bertha MacGregor, Count Erdody, with spiral lobes similar to the Countess, Matilda, and Alice White. Much more might be said about the begonia. The writer has not touched upon the soil, conditions of moisture and temperature, dis- eases and methods of propagation, all of which are of the greatest importance. These must be treated at some future time, as to attempt to give a few hurried remarks about these great essentials to success would be unfair, not only to the writer and to his hearers, but also to the genus. Whatever good may result from this paper, or what- ever value it may be to our florists and horticulturists, one thing is certain, that it shows the wonderful rapidity by which n genus, when handled by the sagacious and careful gardener, may be multiplied, within the course of fifty years, to an almost indescribable degree of form, size, color, and beauty. At the time of reading this paper before the society the writer begs to state that he was not aware of the collection of begonias of Mrs. Theodosia B. Shepherd, of Ventura-by-the-Sea, California, and of her excellent work with them. She has a collection of from 125 to 150 varieties of begonias belonging to the fibrous-rooted section, and has 150 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGKESS. produced a number of excellent hybrids and varieties. The most re- markable is Marjorie Daw, a cross between B. rulra and B. glaucophylla scandens. Mrs. Shepherd writes of it as follows : "One of my new be- gonias— Marjorie Daw — is a climber. I think it is the most rapid and vigorous growing begonia in existence. Some of the shoots are over 20 feet in length. It is planted in a large box in the ground in the east end of my 'largest greenhouse. The branches spread out like a great fan, covering the entire end of the house, and run 4 or 5 feet under the glass roof. In November last it had 150 clusters of buds and blossoms. It grows so fast that it is continually getting in its own light, necessitating merciless pruning 3 or 4 times each year. I cut away last week three large armfuls of branches, from 10 inches to 2 feet in length, sufficient to make four or five hundred cuttings, all cuttings having 4 to 6 joints. I have a great many plants now growing outside, that are growing even more rapidly than the one in the greenhouse. I think within three years, with proper care, a strong plant would grow to reach the second- story window of a house, and have hundreds of beautiful blossoms. It throws numerous shoots from the roots, which branch out in all direc- tions, making very spreading plants. I think it will be very popular here for cut flowers, as it can be cut with branches. I am very proud of this lovely begonia." Nevada State University, Agricultural Experiment Station. OAKS OF PACIFIC SLOPE. 151 OAKS OF PACIFIC SLOPE. BY J. G. LEMMON. The oak family is one of the highest, most modified, and extensively ilistributed lines of development in the vegetable kingdom. They are denizens of the temperate parts of the northern hemisphere, the chief source of hard-wood timber, of tannin, and of cork, the pride and favorite grove-maker of all civilized nations, the venerated trees under which the Druids worshiped and which bore on their "heaven-deformed limbs" the all-healing mistletoe. The oaks appeared on the earth, the geologists tell us, in the late cretaceous and early tertiary periods, that is, three long ages after the advent of the larger but less highly organized cone-bearers, and nearly coeval with the graceful, heat- loving palm family. The oaks were early distributed thoughout eastern Asia, southern and central Europe, and in North America, the greater portion of the latter inhabiting a region the center of which was far northward of the present headquarters of the family. In this age they are found on the high plateau of Central America and southern Mexico, where are now nourishing scores of species. From thence several extend northward, inhabiting Mexico and the United States, diminishing in number of species to six in Canada and one in British Columbia. Oaks are recognized at sight, whether living plants of the present age or vestiges of early species and found as fossils in the rock strata of the earth, by the peculiar, thick, cup-like receptacle of the fruit hold- ing a solitary, top-shaped nut — the acorn. A brief description of oaks might be, "Plants that bear acorns." VITALITY OF THE OAKS. The vitality of the oak is very great, even under adverse circum- stances. The aboriginal inhabitants, whether by carelessness or design, used to burn off annually the whole herbage from their hunting- grounds. While this treatment killed off the tender, highly-organized plants, the oaks broadened out their root-caps underground, and from their borders sent up year after year strong sprouts, that, when forest- Imrning ceased, eighty to one hundred years ago, have grown to become vigorous trees. Also, the acorns germinating in the shade of trees like the cone-bearers, are kept alive from year to year by a few leaves. while large roots are being developed, and at length, strong, aggres- sive saplings bearing broad, absorbing leaves take possession of the 152 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. ground to the exclusion of predecessors and newcomers. The oak thus replaces the pine, to the surprise of some observers, and continually, as the pine forests of the eastern states are cleared away, the rugged black oaks, often the little, worthless scrub oaks, seize upon the dominions. Forests of oak extend thus into the naturally treeless western por- tion of the Mississippi Valley, reclothing the prairies and the partial deserts, welcomed and protected by the settlers. The kind of oaks that survive most in forests of many species is not, generally, the most valuable, — the white oak group, — but the coarse-grained, usually worth- less black oaks. And this is accounted for very readily; the bitter, astringent qualities of the acorns of the black oaks are left by swine, squirrels, and birds alike, to germinate, while they hunt industriously for the sweet, nutritious acorns of the white oaks. VALUABLE PRODUCTS. The family of oaks, comprising the botanical genus of Quercus, is distinguished, not only for their generous shade, owing to their usually large and numerous leaves, but several of the arboreal species of white oak are celebrated as timber trees. Of these the most valuable in various manufactures are Quercus alba, the white oak of the north- ern states, Q. virens, or live oak of the southern states, and the Q. platanoides, or white oak of the middle western states, while others, including the Q. densiflora, the tan-bark oak of the California coast, are prized for the yield of bark collected by the ton annually for mak- ing leather. One peculiar species, Q. suber, the cork-bark oak of southern Europe and northern Africa, yields the soft, spongy bark from which is derived the cork of commerce. Also from early times oak galls caused by the punctures of insects, have been used for dye- ing, for making ink, and, indeed, for wound-dressing and for medicine. DISTRIBUTION. While many species of oak are doubtless unknown, from the nature of the regions they affect (the high, broken mountain slope's, mostly unexplored), there have been discovered and described over three hun- dred species. Europe has comparatively less than similar regions east and west of it. The number in Xorth America north of Mexico already known, is about fifty. The American species are mostly grouped in two regions,— the eastern Atlantic slope and the extreme western Pacific slope. Of the eastern oaks three species— the red oak, the bur oak, and the white oak— are found at the northern limit in northwest Ontario. OAKS OF PACIFIC SLOPE. 153 Southward the species increase to ten in southern New England, while the gulf states contain some nineteen species; but the central eastern portion of the Mississippi Valley contains more individual trees to the acre — and they attain the largest size there — than elsewhere in America. Leaving the prairies and approaching the high, dry, and cold mid-' continental plateaus, the oaks — even the dwarf varieties — are almost entirely absent. PACIFIC SLOPE A UNIQUE REGION. The Pacific slope of North America comprises, of course, all that part of the continent west of the Rocky Mountains; but for the pur- pose of this paper, only the American portion north of the Mexican boundary will be considered. This region includes two territories, five states, and a portion of three others. It happens that this large region, owing to the continuity of the high Rocky Mountain range — without a break or low pass from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Tehuantepec — is possessed of a practically distinct flora. Not a pine, spruce, fir, cedar, or cypress, not an oak, ash, walnut, or maple of the Pacific slope, i& identical with those beyond the Rockies. So we have here a compact, definite, and nearly special creation. Because the Mexican boundary is not a high mountain range, but only a straight surveyor's line across a continuous plateau, the floras of Mexico and the United States commingle here, five Mexican oaks dripping over the line into New Mexico and Arizona. Three local species arise there, too, sharing the highlands with them; but from thence northward, inhabiting the humid, forcing climate of California and Oregon, to Washington and British Columbia, the thirteen speciea are all our own, — the largest and noblest of them being in the great valley of California. PRINCIPAL PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICAN OAKS. "Sylva of North America," a fine quarto volume, was published 1817, by Andrew Michaux, as the result of the explorations of h«- father and himself in the then little-known region of America. It contains descriptions with excellent colored plates of the foliage and fruit of twenty-six species of oak inhabiting the region east of the Mississippi River. The continuation of the Sylva, 1857, by Thos Nut- tall, added four more, all from the Pacific slope; Quercus agrifolia, our first-discovered, storm-beaten live oak; Q. lobata, the noble valley oak; Q. Garryana, the fine Pacific white oak; and Q. dumosa, the low, bushy scrub oak, or chaparral. "The Oaks of the United States," a scholarly paper, read 1876 154 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. before the Academy of Sciences at St. Louis, Mo., by Dr. Geo. Engel- mann, described forty species, including nine more western ones. In 1880 Dr. Engelmann elaborated the genus Quercus, the oaks, in Watson's second volume of "Botany of California." It included descriptions of eleven western species. No illustrations accompanied cither of these papers. "Forest Trees of California" appeared 1882, published by Dr. A. Kellogg, one of the seven founders of the California Academy of Sci- ences. It includes seven species of oak, lovingly described by the doctor in appreciative but non-scientific language, interspersed with poetical quotations. For many years afterward, Dr. Kellogg devoted odd hours to accurate drawings of oak branchlets — the foliage, flowers, and fruit — which were utilized by a later author. "West American Oaks," appearing 1889, is a folio volume in two parts, by Prof. E. L. Greene, then of the University of California. The first part is a memorial tribute to the labor and worth of Dr. Kellogg, the illustrations being those cited above as the painstaking work of the doctor. The species, seventeen in number, include Quercus Morc- lius, of Kellogg, and a new and tenable species described under the name of Q. Engelmanni. Dr. Kellogg's drawings of species outside of California were made from specimens collected in Arizona and New Mexico by the writer, as noted by the pencil of Dr. Kellogg and the pen of Professor Greene. The second part presented several proposed new species, illustrated by drawings by Geo. Hanson. "Forest Trees of North America," being vol. 9 of the Tenth Cen- sus of the United States, appeared 1884, by Prof. C. S. Sargent, director of. Arnold Arboretum. This large folio volume contains extended discussions of trees from many points of view, describing forty-eight oaks, sixteen of them inhabiting West America. No illus- trations. "Arborescent Flora of the United States" is the title of a classified list or bulletin from the Agricultural Department at Washington, issued 1887, by Geo. B. Sudworth, dendrologist of the Division of Forestry. The publication of this painstaking list gave Mr. Sudworth the opportunity to apply the new rules of priority in the presentation of names, whereby he becomes the author of scores of new designations of well-known trees, including Sequoia Wasliingtoniann, for our Giant Sequoia. This volume was followed, 1898, by a Check List of United States Forest Trees, their Names and Eanges, including seventeen species of oak from West America. OAKS OF PACIFIC SLOPE. .155 Latest and most extensive of all is the "Sylva of Xorth America," by Prof. C. S. Sargent. This is a series of twelve magnificent folio volumes, which began to appear in 1891. The seventh volume, pub- lished 1895, treats of the Cupuliferae, including the oaks. With elab- orate descriptions and foot-notes of each species and ample illustrations •of the foliage, flowers, and fruit, these twelve ponderous volumes, com- prising fill the American trees known, must long remain the most valuable treatises upon the subject, — a conspicuous and fitting monu- ment to the industry, erudition, and perseverance of their author. There was but a limited edition printed, the sets costing to universities and public libraries twenty-five dollars per volume. Sargent describes fifty species of oak, twenty-one of them in West America. Xo illustrations of entire trees or lower portions of tree trunks — as instructive in this as in the conifer family — are given in any of the works above cited. In time the public Avill demand a fully illustrated work, especially of our western trees, at once a supreme delight to the eye and affording a complete comprehension by the mind of the beauty and value of these master products of the earth. The varying number of western oaks described in the twelve volumes cited — ranging from four species in Xuttall's Sylva to twenty-one in Sargent's — indicates not only the advance of discovery in forty years, but also the varying number of characters deemed necessary for specific rank by different botanists, some requiring more than others. In general, Professor Greene is very radical, often publishing new species on a few characters, while Professor Sargent is conservative, often uniting many forms under one general description. THE OAKS, A MEMORIAL FAMILY. The oaks may well be called the memorial family: no other genus of plants of the same number of species has so many in it named for persons. There is good reason for this. The species are so widely dis- tributed through the north temperate regions, the very regions inhab- ited by persons of appreciation, and they are usually so beautiful am: long-lived, that they speedily become well known and great favorites; hence, it is a high honor to have a species of oak named for one by a fellow-botanist. The whole number of species of oak in the United States is forty- three; the number named for persons (the discoverer or one who has studied them closely) is fifteen. The number on the Pacific slope is twenty-one, of which more than half (twelve) are memorial oaks. In the descriptions following (this being more a popular than a scientific treatment of the subject), some attention is given to the dis- 156 . PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. coverers and describers of species; in some instances, brief biographies are presented. The writer, although he has explored the Pacific slope for many years, collecting specimens and studying trees, was not fortunate enough to be the very first botanist to find an unknown oak; hence, he is all the more at liberty to write of the fortunate immortals whose names are commemorated by a dozen of our magnificent or other- wise interesting western oaks. CONSPECTUS. Genus Quercus (THE OAKS). Monoecious trees or shrubs of northern temperate and warm regions, of about 300 known species, especially abundant in eastern Asia and in Mexico. Wood mostly hard and durable. Leaves alternate, simple, pinnate-veined, usually broad and flat. Fruit a scaly, thickened cup sustaining a solitary, one-celled nut — the acorn. Staminate flowers in slender aments, pendulous (erect in one species) bracts caducous. Pistillate flowers solitary or scat- tered, consisting of an ovary with 5 to 8 styles or sessile stigmas; ovules six, but only one is fertilized, becoming the thick, fleshy, two-lobed seed filling the nut, the rudiments of the five abortive ovules remaining near the base, or along the side, or prolonged to the apex of the seed. WHITE OAKS. A. Bark pale or light-colored, wood nearly white; stamens 6-9, stigmas sessile or nearly so; acorns mostly soft-shelled, seeds edible; abortive ovules basal or rarely lateral; 16 species. I. Maturation annual; nut glabrous within (except Q. Emoryi); abortive ovules basal. (a) Leaves falling in autumn (except Q. Sadleriana). * Leaves yellow-green and large. (1) Lyrate or sinuate-pinnatified. Acorns large. Leaves oblong or obovate, deeply ]obed, usually stellate-pubes- cent above, pale and pubescent below; nut conical elon- gated, 1} to 2 inches long. Great Valley Oak 1. Q. lobata. Leaves obovate or oblong, coarsely pinnatified; green and lus- trous above, branchlets thick; buds large and very hairy; nut oval or oblong, 1 to \\ inches long. Pacific Post Oak. 2. Q. Garry ana. Leaves obovate or oblong-lanceolate, 3 to 6 inches long, lobed or pinnatified and shining above, pubescent below; branch- lets and buds tomentose; nut 1 to 1\ inches long. Gambel Oak 3. q. Gombclii. OAKS OF PACIFIC SLOPE. 157 Leaves obovate, 2 to 5 inches long, acutely lobed, pubescent below; nut oblong, large, 1 to 1} inches long, cup shal- low. A small shrub. Brewer Oak. 4. Q. Breweri. (2) Coarsely sinuate-toothed. Leaves oval to obovate, thick, coriaceous, pale below; persisting during the winter. A low shrub. Sadler Oak .... 5. Q. Sadleriana. ** Leaves blue-green and small. Oblong, sinuate-dentate, entire or lobed, or spinescent-toothed, 1£ to 2 inches long, glaucous above, pubescent below; nut small, ovate, £ to 1 inch long. Rocky Mt. Oak 6. Q. undulata. Oblong, entire or sinuate-lobed, conspicuously light-blue above, pubescent below; nut large, oblong or ventricose, £ to 1£ inches long. Blue Oak, Douglas Oak. 7. Q. Douglasii. (b) Leaves mostly persistent until the following spring. (Evergreen Oaks. ) * Leaves blue-green. Oblong or obovate, usually obtuse and rounded at apex, entire or remotely dentate; nut ovate, f to 1 inch long, Ever- green or Englemann Oak 8. Q. Engelmanni. Ovate or oval, usually cordate at base, entirely or remotely spinulose-dentate; nut small, ovate. Oblong-leaf Oak . 9. Q. oblongifolia. Oblong to broadly-obovate, cordate or rounded at base; spinose dentate, reticulate-venulose below; branchlets thick, rigid; nut small, nearly globular, £ inch long. Arizona White Oak 10. Q.Arizonica,n.8p. Broadly obovate. cordate, usually rounded and obtuse at apex( repandly spi nose-dentate, coarsely and conspicuously reticulate-venulose below; nuts spicate, on long, slender peduncles, small, \ inch long. Net-leaf Oak 11. Q. reticulata. Ovate-oblong or oval, small, £ to 1 inch long, acute at apex, entire or remotely spinose-dentate; branchlets rigid; nut small. New and rare. Tourney Oak 12. Q. Toumeyi, n. sp. ** Leaves dark green. Oblong or obovate, small, entire or sinuate-toothed or lobed, pubescent and often pale below; nut small, ovate or oblong, £ to 1 inch long. Scrub Oak. 13. Q. dumosa. Oblong-lanceolate, entire or repand-serrate, coriaceous; nut small, narrow, and long, f to 1 inch, edible. Emory Oak, " Biotes." 14. Q. Emoryi. II. Maturation biennial; nut silky-tomentose within; abortive ovules basal or lateral. (c) Leaves persistent. (Live Oaks.) Oblong acute or cuspidate, entire, or dentate, or sinuate-toothed, fulvous- tomentose, ultimately pale on lower surface; nut oblong, 1 to 2 inches long, scales of cup usually clothed with short, stiff yellow hairs. Canyon Live Oak, Maul Oak 15. Q. c.hrysolepis. 158 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. Oblong-lanceolate, acute, crenate-dentate, or entire, conspicu- ously veined, tomentose beneath; cups and acorns v en- large. An insular species. Cotton-leaf Oak 16. <£. t»inci>telld. BLACK OAKS. B. Bark dark, often nearly black, wood reddish; stamens 4 to (i, stigmas on long styles; nut mostly hard-shelled with bitter astringent seeds, inner surface of nut. silky-tomcntose; abortive ovules toward apex of the seed; 4 species. I. Maturation annual. Leaves usually persistent until the appearance of the new crop. Oval, orbicular or oblong, entire or sinuately spinose-dentate; nut ovate or elongated to an acute point, 1 to 1£ inches long. Field Oak. . 17. V- iif/t-iffifia. II. Maturation biennial. (a) Leaves persistent. (Live Oaks.) Lanceolate-oblong or elliptical, entire or spinosely-dentate toward the apex, coated with pale or fulvous tomentum on lower surface; veins very prominent; nut deeply inserted in the small hemispherical cup, ovate to oblong, £ to 1 inch long. White-leaf Oak . . 18. (£. hypoleuai. Oblong-lanceolate, 1 to 2 inches long, entire or sinuately dentate, dark green and lustrous above; firm, coriaceous; nut slender, tapering, lineate, J to 1J inches long. Live Oak 10. <}. Wislizeni. (b) Leaves deciduous. Oblong or obovate, deeply lobed, lobes tapering, acute or broad and obovate, repand-dentate or entire, glabrous or pubescent when young; nut large, oblong, often mostly concealed in the broad scaly cup. Black Oak. Kellogg Oak. '. . . 20. Q. . California. Pasania (CHESTNUT OAKS). A sub-generic name given by Oersted to a group of Chestnut-like Oaks of eastern Asia, one species only being on the Western Continent and that in California. Leaves oval or elliptical, coarsely serrate, often large, 3 to 5 inches long, staminate flowers in long aments, large and erect; nut large, often sub- triangular at apex, tomentose, 1 to 1£ inches long; shell very thick and hard. Chestnut Oak. Tan-bark Oak 21. Q. ilnixifarit. DISTRIBUTION OF WESTERN OAKS. IX CALIFORNIA 12 SPECIES. Q. Lobata, Gai-rt/ann, Breweri, Sadlcriana, Dougla.sii,, Enqehnanni, dumoaia, rJiry.iolepifi, foment e.ll a, Wixlizeni, California., and dmsiflora. CALIFORNIA AND NORTHWARD, 4 SPECIES. Q. Garryatin, Sadlerinint, Calif or nicn, and densiflora. ONLY 'IN CALIFORNIA, 4 Sl'KCIKS. Q. L»bat The foliage of this and the preceding species is as striking and beauti- ful as that of any oak in cultivation. 7. Quercus tomentella. Engelm, 1877. COTTON-LEAF OAK. A little-known oak on the Channel Islands of Santa Barbara and the far-distant Guadaloupe Island off the coast of the California peninsula. Found generally in deep, narrow canons, and threatened with extinction. Prof. Sargent writes of this oak : "It is possible that this once grew to a large size. The only specimens I saw were on the eastern side of the Santa Catalina Island, south of Avalon, where there is a small grove of stems about 30 feet high, in a circle 11 feet in diameter, evi- dently shoots from a large tree." Discovered 1875, on a bleak crest of Guadaloupe Island, by Dr. Edward Palmer, the distinguished traveler and collector. 8. Quercus Arizonica. Sargent, 1895. ARIZONA WHITE OAK. This is the most common and widely-distributed white oak of southern Arizona and New Mexico, covering, with the Emory oak, the slopes and canons of the mountains up to an elevation of 5,000 to 10,000 feet. Long been confounded with the Eocky Mountain oak, but distinctly separated by its pale bark and shapely head of bright foliage, with large leaves net-veined below. "To this tree," Sargent states, "is due much of the beauty of the forest covering Arizona mountains where the Emory oak is the only broad-leaved tree that exceeds it in abundance." 9. Quercus Toumeyi. Sargent, 1895. TOUMEY OAK. This little oak is the most limited and local of any species in the regions of the Pacific slope. Inhabiting one side of a single moun- tain— Mule Mountain, in Cochise County, southeastern Arizona — it forms stunted open forests between a belt of the Emory Oak and the summit. The small, ovate, thick leaves, the small fruit, and limited sta- tion serve to distinguish the species. Discovered 1894, by Prof. Tou- rney,* and published with a plate by Prof. Sargent the following year. * James Wm. Tourney was born in Van Buren Co.. Michigan, graduated from Michigan Agricultural College 1889, becoming a year later Assistant Professor of Botany in that institution. Appointed Professor of Botany and Entomology in the University of Arizona at Tucson, 1881. Becoming absorbingly interested in the flora of that territory, he has explored carefully certain little-known regions, rewarded by many important discoveries, crowned by this latest and best. He is now in charge of the Forest Tree Cultivation Bureau at Washington, and has issued in- structive bulletins on the subject. Lemmon Herbarium, Oakland, Gal., Dec., 1901. ]70 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. ROSE GROWING IN OREGON. ' BY FREDERICK V. HOLMAN. The state of Oregon is divided into two great parts by the Cascade Mountains, which run from the southern boundary of Oregon north through the state of Washington into British Columbia. The Sierra Nevada Mountains are the southerly part of this great range. In eastern Oregon the climate is comparatively dry ; in summer it is hotter and in winter it is colder than western Oregon. The great height of the Cascade Mountains shuts off much of the influence of the Pacific Ocean from eastern Oregon. It contains vast farming areas in cultiva- tion. > It also furnishes grazing for great herds of cattle and horses and large flocks of sheep. This paper treats of rose growing in western Oregon, and especially that part known as the Willamette Valley. This is the old part of the state, and is the part usually meant by strangers in referring to Oregon, its climate, its agricultural products, and its flora. As I shall refer only to western Oregon in the rest of this paper, 1 wish to be understood as meaning the western part of the state, and particularly the Willamette Valley, when I use the word "Oregon." FACTORS INFLUENCING CLIMATE OF WESTERN OREGON. The climate of Oregon is tempered and greatly influenced by the Pacific Ocean, its warm currents, and its soft, balmy winds. The main factor is the Kuro-Siwo, or Japan Current, which has an effect on Oregon's climate similar to that of the Atlantic Gulf Stream on the climate of the British Islands and of France. The Cascade Range, which assists to confine these influences largely to the west of those mountains, is another important factor. It is the effect of these factors which has given Oregon the reputa- tion of being an unusually rainy etate. But it does not deserve this reputation. It is true it has many days, especially in the winter, when some rain falls, and it has many "gray days," resulting from the moisture in the air. Oregon's climate suffers in reputation by comparison with "thfc glorious climate of California," its small average annual rainfall, and its long periods of dry weather, and not taking into account the dis- advantages resulting therefrom. Mr. Edward A. Beals, the Section Director of the United States Weather Bureau at Portland, has furnished me with some facts and figures which I give here. These are necessary to explain why Oregon produces such fine roses. KOSE GROWING IX OREGON". 171 MEAN TEMPERATURES OF PORTLAND, SAX FRANCISCO, AXD LOS ANGELES. From October 1 to May 1 may be called Oregon's rainy season, or more properly the "season of rains," for there are frequently periods of days and at times weeks of bright, warm days. October and March are often months of almost continuous sunshine, but sometimes rainy conditions prevail. The mean temperatures of Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles for the past five years, from October 1 to May 1, are: — Portland 45.7 degrees San Francisco 53.4 degrees Los Angeles 58.8 degrees The freezing weather in Portland in January and February in these years has pulled down Portland's mean winter temperature. From May 1 to October 1 the mean temperatures for the past five years are : — Portland 62.3 degrees San Francisco 57.9 degrees Los Angeles 67.4 degrees These are averages. Averages include the highest and the lowest. If a summer morning is hot and the afternoon and night are cold from fog or chilling wind, the average may be low, but the temperature is not even. Evenness of Oregon spring and summer temperature is one thing which makes it the country where ideal roses grow. Evenness of temperature is a great factor in plant growth all over the world. On the high table-lands of southern Mexico, where the tem- perature, day and night throughout the year, rarely varies a degree from 65, coffee and all tropical flora grow in luxuriant perfection. MEAN PRECIPITATIONS. The climate of Oregon shows its superiority in comparison with the eastern, middle, and northern states. The average annual precipitation at Portland is 45.85 inches. This is greater than in the rest of the Willamette Valley, in parts of which it does not exceed 35 inches, owing to Portland being at the junction of the Willamette and Columbia Kiver Valleys. Of this 45.85 inches very little falls from May to September. The official records for 27 years show that at Portland the average rain- fall from May 1 to September 1 is 5.20 inches; subdivided into months, the inches and decimals are: For May, 2.41; for June, 1.68; for July, .54; and for August, .57. Louisville, Kentucky, Washington, D. C., the city of New York, and Boston, Massachusetts, have about the same annual precipitation thaf 172 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. Portland has. New Orleans, Vicksburg, and Charleston, S. C., have from 8 to 15 inches more average annual precipitation than Portland. But Oregon escapes the hot summers and cold winters of the eastern states, and also their extreme temperatures of heat and cold. Oregon's climate is somewhat similar to that of southern England. It is better in everything in which southern England's climate is good. Oregon has more clear and fair days, less rain, and milder freezing weather than southern England. AVERAGE CLEAR, FAIR, AND RAINY DAYS. The average number of clear, fair, and rainy days at Portland for spring and summer for twenty-seven years is as follows: — For spring, 48 clear and fair days, and 44 rainy days. For summer, 74 clear and fair days, and 18 rainy days. For fall, 53 clear and fair days, and 38 rainy days. For winter, 34 clear and fair days, and 56 rainy days. By a rainy day is meant a day when one-hundredth of an inch or more of rain falls. There are many days in Oregon when the rainfall- is very small, but they are counted as rainy days. The records of the United States Weather Bureau show that the average annual sunshine for thirty years at Portland is between 40 and 50 per cent, while in Los Angeles it is between 60 and 70 per cent. The Oregon summers are free from fogs, chilling winds, and sudden changes. Its summers are as superior to most summers elsewhere as California's winters are superior to the winters of most countries. EFFECTS OF WESTERN OREGON'S CLIMATE. It is the soft, balmy, and even climate which makes Oregon what it it. It has forests and other indigenous trees. The climate beautifies its forests and plains with wild flowers from March to November. In the earliest spring the woods arc scarlet with the wild currant; later they are yellow with the Oregon wild grape, the state flower. In April and May they are white with the dogwood. In June and July the woods are again white with the wild syringa and spinea. But I must stop, for this is not a paper on Oregon's wild flowers. Oregon has springs and streams which run throughout the year. It has green grass most of the year. It grows all its crops, vegetables, flowers, and fruits without irrigation. This gives what may be called the natural, instead of the artificial, products of the soil.' In these nature far excels art. COMPARISON OF OREGON'S AND CALIFORNIA^ FLORA. Oregon and California each excel in the flora best suited to its cli- atc. The elm and the maple do not thrive in California as they do ROSE GROWING IN OREGON. 173 in Oregon, where they grow most luxuriantly without irrigation. The eucalyptus and the pepper trees will not grow in Oregon, on account of our occasional freezing weather, which kills them. The apple arrives -at perfection in Oregon from this kind of climate, for it does not object to occasional cold weather in the winter, and it likes an even tempera- ture in the spring, summer, and autumn. And the orange will not grow in Oregon. I do not speak to you as a stranger, for though I was born in Oregon, which has always been my home, I am an alumnus of the University of California. There is no unfriendly rivalry between Oregon and California. Each excels in its specialties. When they have larger pop- ulations, and have received fuller development, California will be the Prance, and Oregon the England, of the Pacific Coast. OREGON AS A ROSE COUNTRY. Oregon is naturally a rose country. This is shown by the numerous varieties and great quantities of its wild roses. The common soil is a somewhat heavy, yellow clay, rich with vegetable mold. It contains iron in small quantities, which is universally diffused. The best soil for roses is this kind of clay, properly enriched. While a rose will grow in a sandy soil, it does not like such a soil, and if it does not show the effect in the growth of the bush, it is liable to in the substance and color of the flower. This minute presence of iron is of the greatest value in brightening the color of pink and red roses. It is iron which makes the exquisite blush on the healthy maiden's cheek. Without it, be she never so maidenly, she can not blush, or at least blush prettily. These roses are affected in a somewhat similar manner. When Omar Khayyam wrote, "I sometimes think that never blows so red The rose as where some buried Caesar bled," he showed that the soil of Persia is deficient in iron, which is supplied by the iron in the Caesars' 'blood. The rose comes to its full beauty only when all conditions are favor- able, and all its necessities and all its luxuries are fully gratified. Hardy roses will grow and bloom in a warm climate, where hot and