ii

WESTERN FLOWER GUIDE

WESTERN FLOWER GUIDE

WILD FLOWERS OF THE ROCKIES
AND WEST TO THE PACIFIC

BY

CHARLES FRANCIS SAUNDERS

Author of "With the Flowers and Trees in California," etc.

Illustrated with 250 drawings in color

GARDEN CITY NEW YORK

DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY

1917

xov°

Copyright, 1917, by
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY

All rights reserved, including that of
, , c translation into foreign languages,
• \ .' \ including tk' Scandinavian

To be able to call the plants by name
makes them a hundredfold more sweet and
intimate. Naming things is one of the
oldest and simplest of human pastimes.

— HENRY VAX DYKE, hi "Little Rivers."

The illustrations for this book were prepared by the
following artists: Herbert Brown, Jane Donald, Mary
E. Eaton, Augusta A. Gleitsmann, Abby Reed Hobgood,
M. R. Perkins, Maud H. Purdy and Bertha F. Taylor.

PREFACE

The preparation of a Pacific Coast Wild Flower Guide oi tne present small Portions has
rallv involved a large exercise of elimination. The flowers herein illustrated number 2oO, and
S d^Icritions h? non-technical language include besides these a few more whose resem-
bknS to c^rtTin of those depicted makes identification relatively easy. The selection of the
s,StSLrbetn based mainly upon the hold which such flowers have upon the popukr heart
on tCpacmc CoLraTdXo to soL extent by the part they have played in the human life of the
region \ few introduced plants-not uncommon in other parts of the world, and some of them
ev?n homely-have been included in the descriptions, because their abundance, their uses, or their
habits make them subjects of interest to travelers and the general student

While the region covered in the Guide is principally the three Coast States California (^egon^
,nH Washington in many cases the plants described are also found eastward in the States from
Idaho^ S t °Ar£oS? andTLne cLes as far east as Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. Plains
and valleys, seS and mountains, as well as the Southwestern desert region (a marvellously
rich floral field for a part of the year) are represented.

While this book has been prepared out of a personal acquaintance of many years with th
field the author desires to acknowledge his indebtedness tothe fo lowing works upon which he
has had occasion to draw for special descriptions and points-Gray s "Synoptica Flora of North
America" Jeoson's "Flora of California" (in course of publication), Hall s Composite of
£oThern CaKnia" and « Yosemite Flora," Parson's "WM Flowers of Califorma ,,' Ar^trong s
"\Vestern Wild Flowers," Meehan's "Native Flowers and Ferns of the United States and the
valuabS monographs of Chestnut, Coville,Havard,and Barrows on the Indian uses of native plants.

WESTERN FLOWER GUIDE

LILY FAMILY : ; ^

(Liliaceae)

Usually perennial herbs, with regular and symmetrical
flowers, the parts almost always in 3's or multiples of .S in-
serted under the pistil. Petals and sepals are generally alike
in shape and color, and are spoken of collectively as the
perianth. Fruit a pod or berry.

MUILLA (Muilla serotina, Greene). A sprightly little
flower of the spring, growing in grassy places in the plains and
foothills of Southern California. The small, wheel-shaped,
6-parted blossoms are greenish-white, about half an inch across,
and disposed in umbels of 40 to 70 flowers each, at the summit
of a naked stalk, 1 to 2 feet tall, rising out of a bulb. Leaves
all basal, about as long as the flower stalk, and very narrow.

There is another and less attractive species, M. maritima,
Wats., with 5 to 15 blossoms in the umbels, found about salt
marshes and in alkaline spots of Central California and
Western Nevada.

The name Muilla is evidence that even scientists have their
playful moods. Backward it spells Allium, the botanical term
for onion, to which Muilla is akin though lacking its odor.
3

iu. PESERT LILY (Hesperocallis undidatus, Wats.). This is a
''charming spring flower of the southwestern desert region, oc-
Qurrjngilrom the Sal ton Sink, California, eastward into Ari-
zona; and southward into Mexico. Its crinkly basal leaves, a
•foot Song and about half an inch wide, are characteristic.
From their midst rises a stalk to the neight of one or two feet
bearing a few short leaves and an open raceme of 6 to 30 white,
funnel-shaped flowrers suggesting Easter Lilies. These expand
from the buds on successive days until all have had their taste
of life. The buds are so tenacious of this privilege that they
will even open on severed stalks, as I noticed once when I threw
some stems with their unopened buds into a waste corner of
my garden. There, many days later, I discovered them bloom-
ing quite cheerfully — an example for the disheartened.

The deep-seated bulbs of the Desert Lily used to form an
item of importance in the diet of the Desert Indians. It is,
indeed, closely related to the edible Camass, and a no-distant
cousin to the onion. Dr. D. T. MacDougal has recorded that
the plant is reputed responsible for the name of the Ajo Moun-
tains in Southwestern Arizona — ajo, the Spanish for garlic,
being also the term locally applied to the Heeperocallis, which
is very abundant in that vicinity.
4

WASHINGTON LILY (LUium Washingtonianum, Kellogg).
Flowers 3 inches long or more, very fragrant, pure white,
becoming purplish, sometimes finely dotted, 2 to 20 or even
more borne in a pyramidal raceme on a stem 2 to 5 feet
high. Its favorite habitat is in chaparral or open-forested
hillsides, mainly on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada at
3,000 to 6,000 feet elevation, though it has been collected as
far north as the Columbia River and southward to San Diego
County. It is met with in the Yosemite region though not
abundantly, blooming in June and July.

This is a flower of such compelling charm that even the
'Forty-niners forgot their interest in the mad rush for gold long
enough to observe and christen it the Lady Washington Lily — •
a name which our own less gallant generation has curtailed of
its feminine tribute. WTien Doctor Kellogg later described
the plant for science, he preserved the popular appellation.

A somewhat similar lily, with rather smaller and more erect
flowers, is occasionally found in out-of-the-way parts of the
Coast Range north of San Francisco — LUium rubescens, Wats.,
popularly known as Chaparral Lily or Redwood Lily. It
sometimes attains a height of 7 feet. Some botanists regard
it as simply a variety of L. Washingtonianum.
5

LEOPARD LILY (Lilium pardaltnum, Kellogg). Flowers
nodding, bright reddish-orange, purple-spotted on the lower
part, the tips strongly rolled back, borne in summer in numbers
varying from 6 to 25 in loose pyramidal clusters that top stems
from 3 to 7 feet high or even more. The lanceolate leaves are
usually in whorls, but some are scattered. A mountain plant,
most abundant in Central and Northern California in damp
ground and along streams, both in the Coast Ranges and the
Sierras, but extending north to British Columbia. It is often
called Tige. Lily, a term more properly applied to the garden
Lilium tigrinum, which it resembles.

A similar Lily abundant in the canons of the Southern Cali-
fornia mountains as well as in the Sierra foothills is Hum-
boldt's Lily, Lilium Humboldtii, R & L, also popularly called
Tiger Lily. The flowers are rather larger than the Leopard
Lily's and the leaves usually in 4 to 6 whorls of 10 to 20 each,
and wavy margined. There is also a radical difference in the
bulbs, those of the Humboldt Lily being large, from 2 to 6
inches thick, while the Leopard Lily springs from mat-like
masses of bulbs formed by branchingroot stalks. In the north
Humboldt's Lily affects dry, open localities, but in the south
it is found in dampish brookside tangles, too.
6

FETID ADDER'S TONGUE (Scoliopus Bigelovii, Torr.). This
stemless plant is one of the earliest blossoms of the year, and
may be looked for in February in the damp redwood forests
from San Francisco northward. Out of the heart of two shiny
green leaves blotched with brown, growing close to the ground,
rise several weakish flower stems each terminating in a single
flower of curious aspect, and an inch or so broad. The sepals
and petals are markedly distinct — the three former lanceolate,
spreading, whitish, striped with purple, and the 3 slender linear
petals upright, like triple antennae. A prominent feature of
the blossom is the 3-angled ovary tipped with 3 spreading style
branches, each £ to | inch long. The odd beauty of the little
flowers is offset by a disagreeable odor which they exhale.
The three-angled seed vessels, suggesting elongated beechnuts in
shape but bearing still the triple-lobed stigma, are very decor-
ative, the stems then becoming tortuous. The specific name
is given in honor of Dr. John M. Bigelow, the botanist who dis-
covered the plant, which furnished a new genus to science.

In the Cascade Mountains of Oregon a kindred species, but
smaller in every way, S. Hallii, Wats., is found.

OUR LORD'S CANDLE (Yucca Whippld, Torr.). This strik-
ing plant, common in the chaparral belt of the Southern Cali-
fornia mountains and extending eastward to Arizona, is an
evergreen hemisphere of bristling, bayonet-like leaves set close
to the ground, each leaf 1 to 3 feet long and terminating in a
slender spine. Out of this repellent mass arises in early sum-
mer a stout flower-stalk to the height of 10 to 15 feet, breaking
for half its upper length into a huge panicle of creamy-white
(sometimes purplish tinted), fragrant, pendent flowers.
Such gleaming spikes, visible from long distances projected
against the dark background of shaggy hillsides, are a char-
acteristic sight in June and July throughout Southern Cali-
fornia, and one of the dramatic scenes in Western plant life.

After the flowers pass the plant dies, but an examination at
the base usually shows thrifty young offsets from the old root.
The dead flower stalks, pithy and light of weight, are turned
to some account by curio manufacturers, the cross sections,
for instance, making serviceable pincushions. The young
flower stalk was roasted and eaten by Indians.

Spanish Californians call the plant quidte (kee-6-ta) which
seems to be a case of popular transference, as quiotl is one of
the Aztec names for the Agave, or Maguey.

JOSHUA TREE. TREE YUCCA (Yucca arborescens, Ton-.).
Flowers white, rather ill-smelling, and borne in panicles at
the branch tips, much less noticeable than the plant itself,
which is a small, grotesque tree, sometimes just a trunk with
an odd limb or two, but in its best development 25 or 30 feet
high, with numerous angular, clumsy branches. The dagger-
like leaves are olive green bunched at the extremities of the
limbs, and at first stand up straight. Gradually, however,
they lose their uprightness, and when dead they are reflexed
against the limb, forming a brownish thatch which is a protec-
on against sand and hot wind. Desert folk call it Joshua
Tree, Yucca Palm, and Yucca Cactus — the last two needlessly
inaccurate, for it is neither Palm nor Cactus, and is a Yucca.

The spongy, fibrous wood, useless for ordinary purposes, is
particularly suited for the manufacture of artificial limbs and
surgeon's splints, and within the last couple of years the wood
has been cut in great quantities to be used in the war hospitals
of Europe.

The tree is confined to parts of the Mojave Desert of Cali-
fornia, Southern Nevada, and Southwestern Utah, often form-
ing straggling forests on the arid plains and hillsides.

FAIRY BELLS. GOLD DROPS (Dtsporum Menziesii, Benth &
H.) . Flowers smallish, white, bell-shaped, few and all but hid-
den from sight, hanging singly or 2 together on slender, axillary
footstalks beneath the leaves, which spread like a roof above
them. The plant is perennial and its general habit suggests
the familiar Uvularia or Bellwort of the Atlantic Slope and,
like it, grows in the rich, moist woods of spring. The graceful
stems, rising from a slender rootstalk, spread out horizontally
into numerous branches, and the stalkless somewhat heart-
shaped leaves all lie in much the same plane with one another.
It is a trim, well-groomed looking plant, found from San Fran-
cisco to British Columbia. The popular name, GoldDrops, is
due to the bright salmon-colored pear-shaped berries, \ inch
long, that succeed the flowers.

Scientists, like common folk, do not always agree upon a
Latin name acceptable to all for their plants, and instead of
Disporum there are botanists who prefer Porsartes, under which
name our flower is described in some books. There are 5 or 6
different species native to the Pacific Coast, all distinguished
by drooping, more or less hidden, axillary flowers, and bright-
colored berries.

10

vx

CALIFORNIA WAKE ROBIN (Trillium sessile, L.). The tril-
liums are low-growing, perennial herbs of the spring, and read-
ily distinguished by their stout, naked stems bearing at the
top a whorl of 3 ample, netted-veined leaves in the midst of
which the solitary flower opens. In T. sessile (a widely dis-
tributed species, represented on the Pacific Coast by a robust
form which botanists designate as variety calif ornicum), the
flower is stalkless and sits upon the leaves, which are more or
less blotched with brown. The petals are from 1 to 4 inches
long, erect, and remarkable for their variability of color, usu-
ally purple or dull red, but even found white or greenish-yellow.
The California Wake Robin is met with in moist hillsides and
woods, from San Diego County, California, to Oregon, and
blooms from March until May.

A less common species, indigenous to the Coast Range
woods from Santa Cruz northward to British Columbia, is
T. ovatum, Pursh. Its fragrant flowers are white, eventually
turning to rose, and are borne on peduncles 1 to 3 inches long.

11

GOLDEN STABS (Bloomeria aurea, Kellogg.) This is a
charming, bulbous plant bearing a showy umbel of sometimes
as many as 60 star-like flowers (orange-yellow with a dark
double mid-rib and sometimes an inch across) topping a scape
6 to 18 inches high. It is frequent on the mesas and foothills
of Southern California from April to June, and might be mis-
taken on first acquaintance for a Brodisea. The essential
difference between Bloomeria and Brodieea, however, is that
the 6 stamens of Bloomeria arise from a tiny hairy cup formed
by cohering, short appendages attached to the base of the
filaments. It is a plant very economical of foliage, one long,
grass-like leaf being sufficient for its needs. The bulb from
which it springs was formerly an item in the diet of
Southern California Indians.

In San Diego County, California, a kindred species, B.
Clevelandi, Wats., is found, but is readily distinguished from
B. aurea by its numerous slenderer leaves and the green nerves
of the flowers. Neither is it so showy.

The name Bloomeria was given in honor of a pioneer bot-
anist of San Francisco, H. G. Bloomer.

12

v

BRODLEA. CALIFORNIA HYACINTH (Brodicea capitata>
Benth). Flowers deep blue to lilac, sometimes almost or
quite white, in a compact, head-like umbel, borne at the top
of a tortuous leafless stem from 6 to 20 inches high or more.
Leaves radical, linear, grass-like, and early withering; from a
small, fibrous-coated, solid bulb, which is edible.

This flower, found in bloom in grassy places and on sunny
hillsides from February until May, throughout California, is
almost as well known and loved as the California Poppy.
Its popularity is attested by numerous common names, cur-
rent in different sections of the state, as Cluster Lily, Cac-
amita, Grass-nuts and Wild Onion — the last two from the fact
that the little bulbs have been eaten from time immemorial
by Indians, and still are by children with patience to dig them
up. The name Brodisea commemorates an old-time Scotch
botanist and plant lover, James Brodie.

The cut flowers of the Brodisea keep a long time in water.
Indeed, they can be counted upon to preserve their freshness
when mailed across the continent. If well developed buds — •
not open flowers — are selected and packed immediately in
some damp wrapping, they will stand a trip of 5 or 6 days in
the mail bags, and expand cheerfully upon being set in water.
13

TWINING WILD HYACINTH (Brodicea voluUlis, Baker).
Flowers pink or rose color without, paler within, in a compact,
many-flowered umbel, topping a contorted, leafless, vine-like
stem. Leaves radical, grass-like, and usually prostrate, 1 to 2
feet long.

The Twining Wild Hyacinth is not uncommon in the Sierra
Nevada foothill regions, from the neighborhood of Yosemite
to Northern California, and is also found in the foothills of the
Coast Ranges, blooming in summer. The remarkable feature
of this plant is its odd vine-like stem, which clambers over
bushes and around the stems of other plants, to the length some-
times of 10 to 12 feet. Miss Parsons in her excellent book
"The Wild Flowers of California," has recorded that even if
the stem should be broken off at the ground before blossoming,
the process of flowering goes on quite undisturbed; and that
people often bring the severed stems indoors, where they can
watch the interesting phenomenon of growth, allowing them to
climb over the curtains.

14

.

HARVEST BRODLEA (Brodioea grandiflora, Smith). Flowers
blue, an inch or so long, funnel-shaped, with a spreading bor-
der, like small blue Lilies, borne in a loose 5-10 flowered umbel,
on a leafless stalk from a few inches in height to a foot or more.
The grass-like, radical leaves usually dry up and vanish before
the blossoms come, which is usually in May, June, and July,
when the hay harvest is in progress. The species is common
in fields, grassy hillsides, and woodland glades throughout
Central California and northward through Oregon and Wash-
ington. The solid bulb is edible, and a favorite tidbit with
Indians. After slow roasting in hot ashes it becomes sweet and
not unpalatable.

There is a related blue-flowered species, Brodiaa laxa, Benth,
found frequently in similar situations, but this plant is usually
taller, the flowers less spreading, more numerous, and of a
papery texture. It, too, was once a highly prized vegetable
among the Indians of Northern California, and the use of the
bulbs for food gained for it the common name of "Highland
Potato" in some sections. A more poetic common name for
this species is Ithuriel's Spear, though the appropriateness is
not apparent. It has been collected as far south as Los
Angeles.

15

FIRECRACKER FLOWER (Brodicea cocctnea, Gray). Flow-
ers an inch long, tubular, brilliant crimson, with green tips,
pendulous, in a loose umbel, produced at the summit of a leaf-
less stem, 1 to 3 feet tall. Leaves grass-like and radical, as
with most species of Brodisea. Canons and open rocky moun-
tain woods of Northern California and Oregon, blooming
from May to July.

Firecracker-flower (or Firecrackers, a terse variant) is one of
all too rare instances of a popular name of obvious appropriate-
ness; for the drooping, crimson clusters of long, straight blos-
soms bear a striking resemblance to a little bunch of Chinese
firecrackers. An account of the plant's discovery by its first
scientific describer, Dr. Alphonso Wood, is pleasantly given by
Mr. Thomas Meehan in "The Native Flowers and Ferns of
the United States." It was pointed out to Professor Wood by
a stage-driver in the Trinity Mountains, as a flower so be-
( loved by his little daughter Ida May, that the family called
it after her, Ida May. Wood, in describing the plant, believed
it of a new genus, which he called Brevoortia, and sought to
preserve the sentiment of this particular species by naming it
Brevoortia Ida-Maios. Most later nomenclaturists have dis-
carded his name for the one given at the head of this page.
16

GOLDEN BRODLEA (Brodicea ixioides, Wats.). Flowers
funnel-formed, yellow, the spreading divisions with a brown
mid- vein — a charming plant 6 inches to 2 feet high, found in the
Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada (including the Yosemite
region) from the Santa Ines Mountains in Southern Cali-
fornia northward to Oregon, blooming in summer.

The Golden Brodisea is likely to deceive the novice into
t hinking it Bloomeria aurea. The flower of the latter, however,
is distinguished by a tiny cup out of which the stamens rise,
and the stamen filaments themselves are thread-like. In the
G olden Brodisea, the stamens have broadly winged filaments
the whole length.

In the higher Sierras, at about 8,000 feet and upward, there
is another yellow Brodisea often found, which closely resem-
bles B. ixioides, but is a smaller plant in every way. It is
Brodicea gracilis, Wats. The main botanical distinction is in
the filaments, which are thread-like in B. gracilis, instead of
winged.

Some botanists split the genus Brodicea into three — Brodicea,
Hookera, and Triteleia — and by these nomenclaturists our
Golden Brodiaea is classed with Triteleia.

17

LANTERN OF THE FAIRIES (Cal6chortus albus, Dougl.).
Flowers nodding, satiny white, sometimes with a tinge of
purple, the petals arching inward and forming a closed bell or
globe, hairy within; solitary or few, terminal on the branches.
Stems leafy-bracted, 1 to 2 feet high, and branching; radical
leaves \ to 2 inches wide. Blooming in late spring or early
summer in shady situations, particularly in the Coast Ranges
and the Sierra Nevada, from San Diego northward.

The genus Calochortus numbers about forty species,
nearly all confined to the Pacific Coast, though a few occur in
the Rocky Mountain region, and even as far east as the Da-
kotas and Nebraska. One C. Nuttallii, T. & G., popularly
known as Sego Lily, is the State flowrer of Utah. The Lantern
of the Fairies belongs to the section of the genus known as
Globe- tulips, because of the shape of the flowers, and is one of
the daintiest creations imaginable. Paraphrasing a certain
old dictum about the strawberry, one might say that doubt-
less God could have made a lovelier flower, but never did.

A charming cousin of C. albus is the yellow Globe-tulip,
C. pulchellus, Dougl., somewhat similar in make-up, but with
yellow flowers. It is a Central Californian.

18

MARIPOSA TULIP. MARIPOSA LILY (Calochortus cata-
lince, Wats.). Flowers 2 to 3 inches across, tulip-shaped, erect
and terminal on loosely branching stems 1 to 2 feet high; white
or lilac with a dark-red blotch at the base of each petal. Leaves
grass-like. Common throughout Southern California and the
Coast Islands, on plains and foot hills, blooming from February
until May.

The name Mariposa, applied to this charming flower, is
adopted from the Spanish-Calif ornians and means "butter-
fly." The appropriateness of the term will be denied by no
one who comes for the first time upon a patch of the showy,
exquisitely mottled flowers, gleaming like resting butterflies
indeed, amid some sunny expanse of wild grasses.

The relationship of Calochortus is nearer to the Tulip of the
Old World than to the Lily, a fact which makes the popular
term Mariposa Tulip more accurate for it than the more gener-
ally used Mariposa Lily. Many of the species so closely re-
semble one another, and are so variable, that it is work for an
expert to identify them. C. catalince derives its specific name
from the fact of its having been first described from a specimen
collected some 40 years ago on Santa Catalina Island.

19

DESERT MARIPOSA (Calochortus Kennedyi, Porter). Flow-
ers a couple of inches across, flaming vermilion, tulip-shaped,
erect at the tips of stoutish stems from a few inches to a foot
or more high. Leaves grass-like, often withering away before
flowering. Blooming in April and May on the Mojave Desert,
California, eastward to Arizona.

Motorists of an observant sort and leisurely gait across the
Southwestern desert roads in spring, can hardly fail to be at-
tracted by the sight of this glorious flower. In open spaces
where the sun has full power, it blooms close to the sand, but
in the protection of a bush the stem has a chance to develop
and the flowers are more aspiring. The wonder of it is in-
creased by finding it in the midst of such barren sun-scorched
wastes as popular speech calls "God-forsaken." The flower
is a reproach to such a phrase, and seems to preach to us the
universality of the divine providence.

The Desert Mariposa in California is of rather local occur-
rence. Miss Armstrong, in her "Field-Book of Western Wild
Flowers," speaks of it as so abundant in localities in Arizona as
to lend color to the landscape for miles. An interesting fea-
ture of the plant is the elongated and very decorative seed-
vessel, vertically banded in white and green.
20

MOUSE EABS \Caloehortus Maweanus, Leich). Flowers,
erect in anthesis, barely an inch across, bell-shaped, white or
lilac, thickly covered with conspicuous white or purplish hairs.
Stems low and branched, bearing a few grass-like leaves.
Blooms in early spring, and is common in moist situations of
the Coast Ranges and Sierra foothills from Central California
northward into Oregon.

Calochortus Maweanus (the queer specific name, by the way,
commemorates George Maw, an English horticulturist, author
of a fine work on the genus Crocus) belongs to that section of the
genus called Star Tulips. The noticeable furriness of the pet-
als has associated the delicate little plant with cats, even more
than with mice, and it is quite well known as "pussy's ears"
and "cat's ears," as well as "mouse ears."

Quite similar in character are two other small plants of the
genus, found also in Central and Northern California. These
are C. umbeUatus, Wood, whose petals, however, lack the char-
acteristic hairiness of C. Maweanus: and C. Benthami, Baker,
the Yellow Pussy's Ears, readily distinguished by the yellow
color of the petals.

GOLDEN TULIP (Calochortus luteus, Dougl.). Flowers
erect, cup-shaped, rather small, greenish-yellow to orange,
with a tendency to purple within; stems 4 inches to 1 foot
high; leaves very narrow and grass-like. Widely distributed
throughout California and blooming in spring and summer.

The Golden Tulip is very variable and its varieties oculatus
(having eyes) and citrinus (lemon yellow) are more attractive
to most tastes than the type — more beautiful daughters of a
beautiful m'other. Of variety oculatus, the distinguishing
feature is a brownish spot usually fringed with yellow in the
midst of the whitish or purple petal. Variety citrinus is char-
acterized by deep or lemon yellow petals with a maroon eye
central on each. In both varieties there is usually present be-
low the eye a hairy, crescent-shaped honey-gland that adds a
piquant touch.

Most species of Calochortus have played an important part
in the aboriginal bill of fare, the corms or bulbs having been
dug up and eaten either raw or after roasting in hot ashes.
Besides being nutritious, they possess an agreeable sweet,
nutty flavor, which is further developed by cooking. Like
the bulbs of Brodisea, those of Calochortus are sometimes
called Indian or Wild Potatoes in Northern California.
22

CAM ASS (Camassia esculenta, Lindl.). Flowers showy.
6-parted, deep blue to whitish, an inch or more in diameter,
borne in a loose raceme at the summit of a scape 1 to 2 feet
high. Leaves radical, numerous, and grass-like. It blooms
in summer and is abundant in damp meadows and swampy
places from Central California to Washington and east to
Idaho and Utah.

There are several species of Camassia, most if not all having
edible bulbs. Those of C. esculenta were until recently an im-
portant item in the dietary of the Northwestern Indians, and
one of our Indian wars was caused by the encroachment of
white settlers upon the immemorial Camass meadows of the
Xez Perces. Pioneers of a few generations ago used to mar-
vel at the blue expanse of the wild Camass fields, sometimes
simulating lakes of clear water. The bulbs, resembling small
onions, are nutritious and well charged with sugar. Usually
they were dug in June or July and baked in heated pits after a
rather elaborate process, which developed the innate sweet-
ness; but often they were consumed raw, in which state they
are crisp and mucilaginous, but rather tasteless. Lewis and
Clarke in their journal speak of a feast tendered them by the
Indians, in which the Camass played a conspicuous part.
23

SOAP-PLANT. AMOLE (Chlordgalum pomeridianum, Kunth.).
Flowers opening in the afternoon, of 6 white, recurving seg-
ments, veined with purple, borne in a loose, spreading panicle
at the top of an almost leafless stem sometimes 5 feet high. The
basal leaves are very characteristic, 8 to 18 inches long, £
to 1 inch broad, crinkly and wavy-margined, usually flat to
the ground, noticeable for months before the flowering stem
appears. Of wide distribution throughout California, on
plains and dry hillsides; blooming from May to July.

Few wild plants have played so conspicuous a part in the
human activities of the Pacific Coast as this, because of its
bottle-shaped bulb, deep-buried and hidden within a coarse,
fibrous, brown jacket. This fibre was utilized for brushes by
the aborigines. The bulb itself contains a thick juice which
when cooked has value as a glue. Of the roasted bulbs poul-
tices were made, and the fresh bulbs mashed and thrown into
a stream had the effect of temporarily stupifying fish, which
were then easily captured. Chlorogalum's most famous
use, however, is as soap. The mature bulb is rich in saponin,
and when crushed and rubbed up in water produces a cleans-
ing lather. Amole (a-m6la) is the Spanish name for the plant.

24

MISSION BELLS (Fritittaria lanceolate^ Pursh.). Flowers
nodding, bronze-colored, checkered in purple and dull yellow-
ish-green, borne in a raceme on a stem 1 to 2 feet tall. Leaves
lanceolate, 2 to 5 inches long in 1 to 3 scattered whorls. Flow-
ering in the spring in rich woodlands of the Coast Ranges from
Monterey Bay to British Columbia.

An interesting feature of this plant is the white, cone-shaped
bulb, around which a family of baby bulblets (each resembling
a grain of rice) are clustered like chicks about a mother hen.
Please take my word for this, and do not disturb the hopeful
family; for upon the undisturbed development of the little
bulbs the future race depends.

The Fritillarias are near akin to true Lilies, and like them
are of world-wide distribution throughout the north temperate
zone in numerous species, of which the Crown Imperial of our
grandmothers' gardens and ours is a well known and cherished
example. The queer name Fritillaria is Middle Age Latin
for checker-board, and would seem to have been suggested by
the checkered segments of the flower.

CHOCOLATE LILY (Fritillaria biflora, Lindl.). Flowers
nodding, bell-shaped, brownish-purple tinged with green to
dark brown or nearly black, borne from 1 to 3 (sometimes as
many as 10, according to Miss Parsons) on a stem from 6 to 18
inches high; leaves lanceolate, 2 to 4 inches long, scattered or
somewhat whorled and mostly near the base. Blooming from
February till April in open places in the California foothills
and on grassy slopes from San Diego to Mendocino, but com-
monest in Southern California.

The Chocolate Lily is the Cleopatra of the Fritillarias— the
darkest, and one of the loveliest, of a genus that is a source of
peculiar delight to the flower lover. Of the 10 or 12 species
indigenous to the United States, all are Western (most of them
confined to the Pacific Slope) and are of several different colors.
The Yellow Fritillary (F. pudica, Spreng.) is a pretty favorite,
in yellow, with children of Nevada and Utah; F. recurva,
Benth, is regal with racemes of flowers scarlet without, and
orange and scarlet within, borne on stems a foot to a foot and
a half high. It is found in the mountains of Northern Cali-
fornia and of Oregon. There is also a species, F. liliacea, Lindl.,
with greenish-white flowers, which one occasionally comes upon
in Central California.

26

ZYGADEXE (Zygadenus Fremonti, Michx.). Flowers star-
like, \ inch or so in diameter, white or fringed with green, the
6 spreading segments each with a greenish-yellow glandular
spot at the base; borne, few to many, in a raceme or panicle
at the summit of a stem 1 to 3 feet high. Leaves grass-like,
mostly basal, but a few short ones, sheathing at base, scat-
tered along the flower-stem. Widely distributed from San
Diego to Northern California, in the foothills of the Coast
Ranges, on sunny mesas, and sometimes in marshy meadows.
Blooms in March or April.

This beautiful flower has a black sheep of a cousin, the poi-
sonous Z, venenosus, Wats., blooming in early summer in moist
situations from Central California to British Columbia, and
known as Death Camass. It may be distinguished from Z.
Fremonti by smaller flowers with stamens that equal or exceed
the perianth, and quite narrow leaves usually folded. The poi-
sonous part of Death Camass is the bulb, taken internally,
and as this is almost identical in size and appearance with the
edible Camass bulb and frequently grows in the same places,
cases of fatal human poisoning have not infrequently resulted.
Pigs, they say, digest Death Camass readily enough, and UKC
it, whence it is sometimes called Hog's Potato.
27

CHAMISE LILY. DOG'S-TOOTH VIOLET (Erythronium gi-
ganteum, Lindley.) Flowers yellow or cream color, often with
a maroon band at the base, the segments 1 to 2 inches long,
re volute; borne 1 to 6 or more in a loose raceme on a leafless
stem about a foot high. Leaves two, appearing basal, 6 to 10
inches long, dark green, mottled in brown. Blooming in
spring and early in summer in rich woods of the Coast Ranges
from Central California to Southern Oregon; one of the most
magnificent of wild flowers.

There are several species of Erythronium in white and yel-
low, scattered over the Pacific Slope, all with a family re-
semblance to this, and you have only to see them once to be in
love with them always. The name Chamise Lily is Northern
Californian, given because of the flower's blooming sometimes
amid the chamise or thickets.

The bulbs of the Chamise Lily are edible and were used to
some extent by the Northern California Indians. Mr. V. K.
Chesnut has recorded a curious belief of one tribe who thought
washing themselves with a decoction of the bulbs would pre-
vent the rattlesnakes from having dreams, which in their mind
made the snakes more irritable and dangerous!

28

SQUAW GRASS (Xerophyllum tenax, Nutt.). Flowers
white, showy, £ to f inch broad, fragrant, in a dense raceme
sometimes a foot long, the lower blossoms expanding first,
borne at the summit of a bristly stem 2 to 5 feet high, arising
from the midst of a large tuft of very narrow, grass-like leaves,
dry and harsh to the touch, that spread outward and droop
in a way suggesting a fountain. Mountains of Central Cali-
fornia northward through Oregon and Washington; blooming
in early summer and sometimes whitening extensive meadows
with then- showy bloom.

Another species, X. Douglasii, Wats., similar but in every
way smaller, occurs in Oregon and eastward to the Yellowstone,
and if you have ever botanized in the pine-barren regions of the
Atlantic coast states, either will remind you of the charming
Eastern cousin of both, X. setifolium, Michx., or Turkeybeard.

The botanical name Xerophyllum, meaning dry leaf, well de-
scribes the peculiar dry roughness of the foliage. The com-
mon name Squaw-grass is due to the fact that the Indian wo-
men use the grass-like leaves in the weaving of some of their
best baskets.

FALSE HELLEBORE. SKUNK CABBAGE (Verdtrum cali-
fornicum, Durand.). Flowers greenish- white with a green
base in a large panicle, 1 to 2 feet long, containing both perfect
flowers and those of separate sexes, on stout stems 3 to 7
feet tall, with plaited, sheathing leaves. Blooming in summer
in mountain meadows and along streams in most parts of Cali-
fornia, north to Oregon and east to Wyoming and Colorado.

The False Hellebore is one of the most showy of mountain
plants, chiefly because of its leaves. These have a pronounced
allurement from the time they appear in the early spring un-
til the frosts of autumn turn to gold the natural plantations of
them that beautify many a mountain meadow.

There are two other species indigenous to the Pacific Coast,
V. fimbriatum, Gray, a peculiar species of which the flowers
are fringed and spotted, and V. viride, Ait. The latter with
green flowers, and a slenderer plant in every way than V.
californicum, occurs in the East as well as the West, and is the
celebrated Indian Poke, of which a decoction was used by the
aborigines as an emetic. It is said some tribes resorted to it
in the selection of their chiefs — the candidate who could
most effectively stand up under the successive doses, being
regarded as the fittest to govern.
30

CLINTONIA (Clintonia Andrewsiana, Torr.). Flowers \
inch or so long, red or pink, in a many-flowered globose-umbel
topping a stout, leafless stem 1 to 2 feet high, which also usu-
ally bears one or more smaller flower-clusters along its length;
leaves radical, glossy green, often a foot long. Blooms in
the spring and early summer in the redwood forests of the Coast
Range from Monterey Bay northward — the flowers succeeded
in summer by berries of the richest blue, as distinguished in
their way as the blossoms.

Any one familiar with the lovely Clintonia borealis of East-
ern woods will recognize at once this, its regal sister of the Far
West. There is also another Pacific Coast species, C. uniflora,
Kunth., with a short stem bearing one or two dainty white
flowers with yellow centres, rising out of two or three shining
green leaves.

Clintonia immortalizes the name of DeWitt Clinton, some
time governor of Xew York, and is whimsically associated with
Thoreau, who in one of his books says some crabbed things
about linking "a politician's" name with such a beautiful
flower. As Clinton had a penchant for natural history as well
as for politics, doubtless the name is well enough bestowed.
Andrews was a California botanist of hah* a century ago.
31

AMARYLLIS FAMILY

(Amaryllidacece)

Perennial mostly herbaceous plants, resembling the Lilies,
but distinguished by having the lower part of the perianth
adherent to the surface of the ovary, thus giving the appear-
ance of the flower's being set above the ovary. Stamens 6.
Leaves usually basal, without distinction of blade and petiole.

MESCAL (Agdve deserti, Englm.). This is a cousin of the
well known Century Plant or Maguey of Mexico, and is found
on the sun-scorched, desert-facing slopes of the Southern Cali-
fornia mountains. While in general aspect resembling the
Century Plant, it is smaller, with clustered basal leaves, fleshy,
spiny-pointed and rarely over a foot long. For years the plant
grows slowly without any sign of flowering, until some March or
April a stalk starts up, resembling a gigantic asparagus sprout
and rising rapidly to a height of 8 or 10 feet and opens out a
panicle of succulent, bell-shaped yellow flowers. Then follows
death. The Indians made great use of the Mescal plant getting
a good textile fibre from the leaves, while the base of the young
flowrer stalks baked for a day in a hot, covered pit furnished
a nutritious item of food, which they call Mescal.
32

IRIS FAMILY

(Iridacece)

Herbaceous perennial plants, with narrow leaves folded
lengthwise, each embracing the next within. Flowers showy,
perfect, but often irregular, of six segments, apparently set
above the ovary, as in Amaryllidacese, but distinguished from
the latter by having only 3 stamens.

BLUE EYED GRASS (Sisyrinchium bellum, Wats.). Flowers
deep blue with a yellowish centre, six parted and spreading,
star-like, borne in loose umbels at the top of branching, flattish
stems a foot or so tall. Leaves basal and grass-like. Bloom-
ing in spring and summer, in grassy places from near sea level.

This is one of the most sociable of wild flowers on the Pacific
Coast, and far from being scared away by the settlements of
men, seems to thrive in human companionship. Its pretty
flowers are short lived, hardly outlasting a day, but as fast as
one withers another opens and a single plant will thus remain
a cheerful sight for a long time. The Indians found a medi-
cinal use for the root, which is purgative, and Spanish Califor-
nians (who call it Azulea, from azul, blue) used to make a tea of
the plant, and perhaps still do, for use in fevers.
33

BLUB FLAG (Iris Macrosiphon, Torr.) The general features
of the iris flower are too well known to need itemized descrip-
tion here. This genus is represented on the Pacific Coast by
eight or nine indigenous species, mostly plants of the mountains.
The flowers vary from deep purple, blue or lilac to yellow and
white, often with beautiful veining in one color or another, and
well justifying the name of Iris, which is Greek for rainbow.

Iris Macrosiphon, usually blue-flowered, is sometimes called
Ground Iris from its frequent habit of growing in mats over the
ground, and is found wild from the San Francisco Bay region
northward, blooming in spring and summer. The flower stalks
are shorter than the numerous, erect, narrow leaves which are
from 6 to 20 inches tall. A characteristic feature of the flower
is the slender, stem-like tube of the perianth, which extends
1 to 3 inches beyond the ovary — a character shared, however,
by Iris Douglasiana, Herbert, a stouter and taller species of the
same range.

Mr. Chesnut records a very human use to which some of the
California I ndians put the leaves of the flag. When the sq ua ws
went berry hunting in the hot hills, they would wrap the balm--,
accompanying them in the soft, flexible iris leaves, thus retard-
ing perspiration and staving off thirst from the little folks.
34

ORCHID FAMILY
(Orfkidaefte)

Perennial herbs with flowers of remarkable, sometimes gro-
tesque shapes, of six segments; the three outer (sepals) similar
to one another and petal-like, two of the inner (lateral petals)
alike, but the third (the lip) is usually markedly different,
generally very prominent and often spurred. Stamens, 1 or 2,
united with the style into an organ called the column* Leaves
alternate, parallel- veined.

LADY'S SLIPPER (Cypripedium montanum, DougL). Flow-
ers 1 to 3 on a leafy stalk a foot or two high, the lip in the
shape of an inflated sac, an inch or so Long, white with purple
veins, the stringy sepals and wavy-twisted lateral petals
purplish brown. Blooms in early summer, in moist Sierra
woodlands from Central California (the Yosemite region)
northward, and in the Coast Ranges in late spring. A plant
that is all the lovelier because of its comparative rarity.

One other species may be met with in Northern California
swamps and moist grounds — C. catifornicum, Gray, disting-
uished by a taller stem, more numerous blossoms and greenish-
ye: ,-.. sepal* hardly half M mA lofljf,
M

STREAM ORCHIS (Epipdctis giganUa, Dougl.). Flowers 3
to 10, in a terminal, bracted raceme, on a leafy stem 1 to 4
feet high, or even 6 feet under special conditions. Sepals
yellowish-green, petals pinkish with purple veining; lip, barely
\ inch long, the baggy base with erect, wing-like margins, and a
pendulous tip. Blooms from May to July along the banks of
shaded streams and in wet clearings throughout California,
northward to Washington, thence eastward to Nevada, Colo-
rado and Western Texas.

Before flowering the stoutish stems of Epipactis, with its
numerous clasping, parallel-nerved leaves 3 to 8 inches long,
might easily be mistaken for a Veratrum or False Hellebore.
For this reason early botanical writers gave to the European
Epipactis palustris the name Helleborine, by which term our
species sometimes goes in literature. It is the most commonly
encountered of Pacific Coast Orchids, and at times occurs in
patches of considerable size; but oftenest the plants are found
in small scattered groups or even in solitary state, having little
influence in the general picture.

The Indians of Northern California formerly thought they
found medicinal value in the fleshy roots, and made a decoction
of them for internal use when they felt "sick all over."
36

GHOST FLOWER. PHANTOM ORCHIS (CephalanthSra ore-
gana, Reich, f.). Flowers very much as in Epipactis, but pure
white, in terminal spikes, a foot or two high, leaves reduced to
scales, and the whole plant, leaves and stems as well as the
blossoms, pure white, or nearly so. Blooming in summer in
mountain woods from Central California and the Yosemite
region northward to Oregon. A wraith-like plant when seen
against the dark background of the forest floor, well described
by the popular name. The flowers exhale a delicate odor that
suggests vanilla.

This remarkable Orchid, first collected by the botanist
Xuttall in Oregon, is one of that curious sort of plants of
which the Heath family harbors several, that do no food man-
ufacturing for themselves, but live like fungi on the decaying
vegetation — the natural garbage — of the woods. This
accounts for the whiteness of all the parts, which is simply an
absence of chlorophyl, that essential agent by which other
plants convert into nutriment for themselves the inorganic
matter derived from earth and air.

The plant is called by some botanists Cephalanthera Ans-
tina, Heller.

LIZARD-TAIL FAMILY

(Saururaceos)

Perennial herbs with perfect flowers without petals, calyx
when present often colored like a corolla. Stamens 6 to 8.

YERBA MANSA (Anemopsis calif arnica, Hook). Flowers
small, in a compact conical spike, surrounded at the base by a
showy white or pinkish involucre of several persistent bracts
resembling a corolla, at the summit of a few-leaved, reddish
stalk. Basal leaves numerous, long-petioled, like those of the
common dock. In bloom from March till August in low wet
and alkaline places in the central valley of California, through-
out Southern California and east to Utah and Western Texas.

The creeping rootstock of this famous plant is peppery and
astringent, and has long been prized as a household remedy by
Californians. The dried root is chewed for troubles of the
mucous membrane; and an infusion of the root is applied out-
wardly for rheumatic pains and skin troubles. A mash of
the leaves is also used as a poultice for sores. The name Yerba
Mansa, "tame herb" is quite meaningless. A Spanish lady
of my acquaintance has stated that the true name is Yerba
del Manso, the herb of the tamed Indian.

BIRTHWORT FAMILY

(Aristolochiaceoi)

Perennial herbs or twining shrubs with more or less heart-
shaped leaves. Flowers without petals, the 3-lobed calyx
corolla-like. Stamens 6 to 12, attached to the pistil.

WILD GINGER (Asarum caudatum, Lindl.). Flowers on
slender footstalks, brownish, bell-shaped, the three divisions
extended into long tails. Leaves large, long-petioled, green
and kidney-shaped, these and the flowers arising from root-
stocks creeping at the surface of the ground. Blooming in
the spring in damp woodlands from Monterey Bay to British
Columbia. Frequent in the redwood belt.

The delightful aromatic fragrance of the crushed leaves
and of the root suggesting ginger, makes it easy of identification
even when out of flower, and justifies the common name. It
is in no way related to the true ginger, and I find no record
that the Indians ever found use for this one. The flowers are
borne close to the ground.

In the Sierra Nevada another species occurs, A. Hartwegi,
Wats., with smaller but similar flowers and leaves mottled
with white.

39

BUCKWHEAT FAMILY

(Polygonaceai)

Shrubs or herbs with usually alternate entire leaves and
sheathlike stipules about the swollen joints of the stems.
Flowers small, regular; petals none, the calyx 5-6 parted, often
colored resembling a corolla. Stamens 4 to 9 inserted near
the base of calyx; styles 2 to 4, ovary superior. Fruit a tri-
angular or lens-shaped achene.

TURKISH RUGGING (Chorizdnthe staticoides, Benth). Flow-
ers usually reddish, but sometimes white, small, 1 to 3, included
in a tubular ribbed involucre, tipped at its lobes with hooked
spines. Stamens 9 or 6. Leaves mostly in a basal rosette
which disappears early. Blooms in the dry days of summer,
on arid hillsides and plains, Southern and Central California.

This odd, much-branched, all but leafless little plant, ex-
ceedingly brittle when dry, and very rosy in stem and branch,
is often an influential factor in the color scheme of the dry hill-
sides of summer, spreading low over considerable areas.

The genus Chorizanthe is represented on our Pacific Coast
by some thirty species, plants of the deserts and dry hills, and
the unraveling of many of the species is an expert's job.
40

WILD BUCKWHEAT (Eri6gonum fasciculaium, Benth). A
small shrub, 2 to 3 feet high, with little white or pink flowers
borne several in an involucre which is toothed but not spiny-
tipped as that of Chorizanthe is, the flowers disposed in dense
terminal heads. Leaves narrow, revolute margined, woolly
beneath, much fascialed or bunched along the stems.
Blooming throughout the spring and summer on mesas and
hillsides of Southern California, eastward to Nevada and Ari-
zona.

This is one of the most characteristic plants of the chaparral
in Southern California; not only when, in bud and bloom,
its massed delicate color lends a special charm to the foothills
where it grows, but later also when the creamy tints of the
flowers suffused with pink give place to the warm brown of the
fruiting heads. It is one of the most cherished of wild flowers
by the bees, and the honey of the Wild Buckwheat ranks in
excellence only second to the White and Black Sages. Al-
though the high tide of its bloom is from April until August,
one is pretty sure to find scattering bloom at other seasons,
too, even in midwinter.

The flowering heads have a tendency to dispose themselves
in flattish clusters, whence another common name Flat-top.
41

DESERT TRUMPET (Eridgonum inflatum, Torr. & Fr.). The
Desert Trumpet is so remarkable in its make-up that it may be
recognized at a glance, and to see it is to be interested in it
immediately. From a cluster of small heart-shaped leaves —
one or more queer, glaucous, bluish-green, hollow stalks arise,
swollen out sometimes to the diameter of an inch or so, and
these are topped by an intricate net-work of slender branches
and branchlets, bearing a multitude of tiny yellowish flowers.
The plant grows from 1 to 3 feet tall, and is a desert dweller,
abundant on the Colorado and Mojave Deserts of California,
thence east to Utah, Arizona (Grand Canon region) and New
Mexico.

The inflated stalks, swelling upward gradually like a musi-
cal horn, explain the popular designation Desert Trumpet.
Another name given in some localities is Pickles, the reason
for which Is not apparent, until one learns that the plant
(like its relative the Sheep Sorrel) is acid, and the inflated
stems when young and tender are eaten raw as pickles by some
desert folk. I have also heard it called Wild Asparagus from
a resemblance of the tangle of the blooming panicles to As-
paragus plants in flower, but this name is misleading.

KNOT WEED (Polygonum bistortoides,Pwsh.). The common
smartweed of old truck-patches and roadsides the country
over is represented on the Pacific Slope by a pretty cousin, the
Alpine Smartweed, or Knotweed, frequent in wet meadows
of the higher mountain ranges. In summer, campers and
trampers come upon acres of it forming unbroken sheets of
creamy white color in the damp sunny openings of the forests
of the San Bernardino Mountains, the Sierra Nevada, and
northward, as well as eastward to the Rockies. The small
white or rosy, pediceled flowers are disposed in dense spike-like
racemes f to 1| inches long, on stems 1 to 2 feet high. The
leaves are mostly basal, but a few are on the stem, grass-like
and sheathing about the swollen stem-joints which are a char-
acteristic feature of the Polygonums.

The specific name P. bistortoides, meaning like a bistorta, has
reference to the resemblance of our plant to a species of Poly-
gonum of very wide distribution called Bistort by Old World
herbalists, from its tortuous and twisted roots.

SULPHUR FLOWER (Eridgonum umbellatum, Torr.). The
genus Eriogonum is one that we have to go to the Far West to
find at home, but there it is extremely abundant. Of the
140 species or so, fully hah* are indigenous to our Pacific
Coast, and the identification of the species in many cases is
work for the patient special student. The flowers, numerous
but small, are six-parted, colored in the different species
white, pink, or yellow, and when faded still cling to the achene.
Stamens 9, styles 3.

Of the few species that have attained popularity enough to
acquire a common name, the Sulphur Flower is deserving of
especial mention. The umbeled heads of fragrant, sulphur-
yellow flowers terminate a reddish stem about a foot tall,
that rises from a rosette of grayish green leaves white-woolly
beneath. It is rather variable in its characters and botanists
have proposed a number of varieties. In summer its cheerful
colonies often cover large areas on dry, open mountain slopes
of the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges, at an elevation of
from 4,000 to 9,000 feet in California, north to Washington and
eastward to the Rocky Mountains,

44

FOUR O'CLOCK FAMILY

Usually succulent herbs or low shrubs with fragile stems and
swollen joints, and opposite entire leaves. Perfect flowers,
without corolla, but the delicate calyx colored like a corolla.

CALIFORNIA FOUR O'CLOCK (Mirabilis California, Gray.)
Flowers magenta, open bell-shaped, the spreading lobes
deeply 2-cleft, each flower in an involucre, disposed in ter-
minal" clusters or solitary in the axils. The blossoms expand
about the middle of the afternoon (whence the common name
Four o'Clock), remaining open until early the next day. The
stems are woody below, but herbaceous above, forking re-
peatedly, with a disposition to support themselves lazily on
convenient bushes.

This is a verv common flower in Southern California, bloom-
ing on drv hillsides up to about 4,000 feet, from January until
July. It" is rather variable, and botanists have separated
as varieties certain desert forms found east to Nevada.

Mr. \V. L. Jepson, in his "Flora of California,' records
Wishbone Bush as a common name for this species.

M . FroebeUii, Greene, bears bright rosy flowers, leaves sticky
and hairy.

45

SAND VERBENA (Abronia villosa, Wats.). Flowers pink
to lilac, showy and rather fragrant, salver-shaped with a long
tube, in many-flowered, long-peduncled heads, terminal or
axillary on trailing, succulent sticky stems. Blooming in
spring and early summer in sandy situations, sea-coast and
desert, Southern California and eastward to Arizona and
Utah. In March parts of the Colorado Desert are sheeted
an almost solid pink with the abounding flowers of a larger-
flowered variety of this plant, which botanists are disposed
to call var. aurita. Somewhat similar is A. umbellata, Lam.,
common along the seashore from Southern California to Wash-
ington, distinguished by rose-purple flowers and prostrate
stems sometimes 3 feet long. The common name Sand Ver-
bena may be justified by the striking superficial resemblance
of the flower heads to those of the true verbenas of the garden,
although there is no real relationship.

There are about a dozen species of this beautiful genus
indigenous to the Pacific Slope. A charmingly fragrant one is
the Yellow Sand Verbena (A. latifolia, Esch.) found along the
seashore from Monterey to Vancouver. In sandy meadows
of the high Sierra Nevada, the handsome A. alpina, Brandegee,
is found with white or pink flowers.
46

FIG MARIGOLD FAMILY

(Fic&idea)

Smooth, succulent plants with opposite leaves, perennial.
Petals and stamens very numerous inserted on the calyx.

ICE PLANT (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, L.). Flowers
about an inch in diameter, with a great many rose or white,
linear petals; the stems and large wavy leaves thickly covered
with a translucent, glistening incrustation resembling frost or
ice, whence the common name. The plants grow in extensive,
flat masses over the seaside mesas and in the pockets of cliffs
of the Southern California Coast. Often the whole plant asr
sumes a ruddy hue in droughty weather, and makes a notice-
able color note in the landscape. It flowers in the spring.

The brown, unattractive seed vessels which abound upon
old plants hold an unexpected pleasure for people with a taste
for simple joys. If you break off a sprig of them, and lay it in
a dish of water, the dry capsules will slowly open out into so
many charming 5-pointed stars, discharging tiny black seeds.
After drying out the process may be repeated with the same
seed vessels for an indefinite number of times. In the lan-
guage of science they are hygroscopic.
47

FIG MARIGOLD (Mesembryanthemum cequilaterale, Haw.).
Flowers red or pink, 1 to 2 inches in diameter, with very numer-
ous linear petals surrounding a ring of countless stamens, which
in turn enclose a cluster of several styles. A stout perennial
with long trailing stems, bearing curious, fleshy, three-sided
leaves 2 to 3 inches long, without petioles. Common along the
California Coast from San Francisco to San Diego, of ten covering
large areas with its matted stems and hanging over the faces
of seaward-facing cliffs. It is found also on the Chilean Coast
and in Australasia. In fact some botanists have thought that
our plant is not native Californian at all, but imported.

The name Mesembryanthemum is at first sight such a stag-
gering mouthful that timid people are afraid to try to pro-
nounce it. If undertaken bravely and carefully, however, it
will be found no whit harder than Chrysanthemum, which
everybody carries off debonairly enough. As there are about
300 species in the world (mostly South African) the name is
worth acquiring. The word means "Mid-day flower," be-
cause the blossoms open only in the sun. The pulpy
fruit is edible, somewhat like a small fig (suggesting the com-
mon name), and folk who have been more fortunate than I
in finding it in condition, say it is palatable.
48

PURSLANE FAMILY

(Portidacacece)

Low, fleshy herbs. Flowers opening only in the sunshine
or bright daylight. Sepals fewer than the petals, which are
usually 5. Stamens 3 to 20, opposite the petals when of the
same number.

RED MAIDS (Calandrinia caulescens, var. Menziesii, Gray).
Flowers crimson or magenta, in a loose, leafy raceme; plant a
succulent-stemmed annual of spreading habit 6 inches to 2
feet long, with alternate narrow leaves an inch or two long.
Blooming from January to April throughout California, in
fields and on roadsides and hills, often making sheets of
warm color over the ground.

This pretty spring flower is one of the children's favorites
and besides going under the name of Red Maids is called Kisses,
Mr. Jepson tells us. Among the Luiseno Indians of Califor-
nia the plant when young and tender was eaten as greens, and
the pretty little seeds, black and shining like grains of gun-
powder, roasted and ground were used for food.

There is a suspicion that the plant has worked its way in as
an immigrant from farther south.
49

MINER'S LETTUCE (Montia perfoliata, Howell). Flowers
small, white, in more or less interrupted racemes on stems a
few inches Jo a foot high. These stems bear just below the
flowers a pair of opposite leaves completely united at base
into a roundish disk or saucer. The plant is an annual, with
clustered root leaves more or less rhomboidal in outline, and
having long petioles. Common in shady places throughout
California, and as far north as British Columbia; blooming
from February to July.

The succulence of the herbage of Montia perfoliata long ago
attracted the Indians who ate it both rawr and cooked as
greens. From them the wrhite pioneers took the hint, and in
mountain districts it is still used to some extent. I can
myself testify to its palatability when boiled and seasoned
with salt and pepper. Its use by the aborigines has given
rise to two common names, Squaw's Cabbage and Indian
Lettuce. Under the name of Winter Purslane it has been in-
troduced into English kitchen gardens' as a potherb and salad.
It has become naturalized in many parts of the world includ-
ing Cuba.

Miner's Lettuce is closely related to the well-beloved Spring
Beauty of the East (Claytonia virginica).
50

PUSSY PAWS (Sprdguea umbellata, Torr.) Flowers pink or
white, with conspicuous papery sepals, in cushionlike incurling
clusters, umbellate, 1 to 3 inches across, topping fleshy scapes
a few inches to a foot high. Leaves spatulate in a dense basal
rosette. A mountain plant, common in gravelly open spaces,
where it often dyes considerable spaces with a tone of delicate
color during the months of summer. It is very common in
the Yosemite region, but is well distributed in its various
forms throughout the higher mountains of the Pacific Coast
from Mount San Jacinto to British Columbia, eastward
through Nevada to the Rockies including Yellowstone Park.
Also in the northern Coast Ranges of California.

The soft, cushiony flower clusters, usually flesh tinted,
are obviously responsible for the common name Pussy Paws of
this charming little plant, familiar to every summer visitor to
the higher mountains of California. As the color scheme of
the clusters is quite often a mixture of white and pink, an-
other popular name, Painted Snow Flower, is not without
appropriateness,

Some modern botanists are disposed to call this plant
Calyptridium umbellatum.

51

BITTER-ROOT (Leivtsia rediviva, Pursh.). Flowers some-
times 2 inches across, varying from white to rose, with 12 to 15
petals about an inch long, opening out in sunshine like a wheel,
and borne on a short one-flowered scape, jointed near the
middle. Stamens very numerous. Leaves thick, linear, an
inch or so long in a basal cluster. The whole plant sits quite
close to the ground, and blooms in the spring; in the moun-
tains, from Southern California (sparingly) to British Colum-
bia, and eastward through Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Wyom-
ing, Utah, and Arizona. Its fame in Montana has caused it to
be adopted there as the State flower.

The large root of Lewisia is a conspicuous feature. This is
exceedingly bitter if bitten into (whence the common name)
but when properly cooked, as the Indians found out, is rich in
starch and can be made palatable. The name Leuisia was
given in honor of the leader of the famous Lewis and Clark
exploring party of 1804 to the Pacific Coast. The plant has
remarkable vitality, and the specimen upon which Pursh
based his description is said to have been planted after lying
for many months in a herbarium, after which it grew for a
year before dying. This suggested the specific name rediviva,
"that lives again."

52

PINK FAMILY

(Caryophyllaceci)

Herbs, usually with swollen stem joints, simple opposite
leaves, and regular perfect flowers; petals and sepals commonly
five each; stamens 5 or 10; styles 2 to 5. Ovary superior.

INDIAN PINK (Silene laciniata, Cav.). Flowers brilliant
red, the petals deeply slashed into four narrow divisions, and
borne at the summit of stems usually a foot or two, but some-
times 5 feet high. Common in Southern California and in
one of its forms eastward to New Mexico, blooming in late
spring and summer on dry hills and amid chaparral. There is a
stickiness about the stems and herbage that brings unsuspi-
cious small insects to grief — a character common to all species
of Silene, and suggesting the common name Catch-fly applied
to many.

Quite similar to this Indian Pink of the South is Silene cali-
fornica, Dur., also called Indian Pink, which occurs along
roadsides and in open woods and canons of Central and North-
ern California. The plant is generally smaller than S. lacin-
iata, but the corolla is even more showy.

58

CROWFOOT FAMILY

(Ranunculaceoe)

Usually herbs (Clematis shrubby), with acrid juice, petals
of indefinite number, or none, the calyx in that case colored
like a corolla; stamens indefinite, generally many, pistils dis-
tinct. Leaves generally more or less divided or cut.

CALIFORNIA BUTTERCUP (Ranunculus calif ornicus, Benth.).
Flowers shining yellow, \ to f inch broad, with about 10 to 15
narrowish petals, topping branching stems a foot or more
tall. Root leaves of three main divisions, each thrice (or
more) again divided; leaves of the stem less cut. Widely
distributed throughout California, northward to Oregon and
Washington, blooming from February to June.

Ranunculus californicus is the most likely to attract atten-
tion of about a score of species of- the genus that are indigenous
to the Pacific Coast, for it loves the open fields and roadsides,
and woods-edges of the common way of life. Buttercup
seeds were an important part of the Indian's wild harvest.
They were parched in flat baskets by being tossed about with
hot embers or pebbles, and then ground (generally with other
seeds) into meal. The acridity of the seed disappears.
54

RED COLUMBINE (Aquilegia truncata, F. & M.). The Col-
umbines are easily recognized by their showy flowers with five
petals, each produced downward in the form of a long, hollow
spur, and sepals colored like the petals. There are more than
a dozen species indigenous to the West, the nodding flowers oc-
curring in red, yellow, blue, purple, and white in the differ-
ent species.

Three or four are natives of the Pacific Coast and of these
the most abundant is the Red Columbine. Its scarlet flowers
tinged with yellow are a familiar sight during spring and sum-
mer, in moist, shady places and along mountain streams
throughout the length and breadth of the state, from almost
sea level to the edge of perpetual snow. Under favorable
conditions the plant attains a height of four feet.

The Blue Columbine (A. coendea, James), which is abund-
ant in the Rocky Mountains and has the distinction of being
Colorado's state flower, has been reported from the mountains
of California also, but is not common there. It is a glorious
flower, pale blue to white, occasionally tinged with yellow or
pink, and bearing slender spurs sometimes two inches in
length.

SCARLET LARKSPUR (Delphinium cardinale, Hook). The
principal characteristic of the Larkspur flower is the backward
prolongation of the upper sepal into a prominent spur. Both
petals and sepals are colored alike.

The Scarlet Larkspur is one of the most striking of wild
flowers and its magnificent racemes — 1 to 2 feet long — of
blazing red or orange-red blossoms on stems that frequently
reach a height of six feet and sometimes more, are unmis-
takable among the shrubs and brush of the arid spaces where it
delights to grow. It may be found in flower from May to Aug-
ust throughout Southern California, in the foothills up to about
3,000 feet, and along sandy washes. Blooming as it does
considerably after the rains are over, the stems then are us-
ually leafless, the foliage having withered up. Early in the sea-
son, the 5 to 7 narrow-fingered leaves are beautiful in themselves.

There is another red-flowered species (D. nudicaule, T. & G.)
which is found in the Coast Ranges from the Santa Lucia
Mountains north to Oregon. It is much less showy, the
slender stems not more than two feet high, and the loose racemes
few (2 to 12) flowered. Mr. Chesnut states that the root
was reputed among some Indians to have narcotic properties
useful to one, when gambling, to put an opponent to sleep!
56

BLUE LARKSPUR (Delphinium Parryi, Gray). Blue
Larkspurs are quite common on the Pacific Coast (about a
dozen species, besides half as many more well defined vari-
eties), found in open ground and shady, near the sea and on
high mountains. The blue of the flowers is not always con-
stant, often running into pink and white in the same species.
Most of these species look pretty much alike to the non-
technical, and as a matter of fact their strict determination is a
difficult matter.

Delphinium Parryi is common in Southern California, af-
fecting more or less open ground in the foothills from the sea
to the edge of the deserts. Its blue spires of bloom are fa-
miliar sights from April until June.

The specific name is in honor of Dr. C. C. Parry, who was
with the Mexican Boundary Survey of 1849, and who subse-
quently made extensive collections of Pacific Slope plants,
especially in Southern California.

57

MONKSHOOD (Aconitum columbianum, Nutt.). The char-
acteristic feature of the Aconitum flower is the one much
enlarged sepal shaped noticeably like a hood or helmet, which
all but extinguishes the much reduced petals. All five sepals
are colored.

Aconitum columbianum is a handsome plant, 2 or 3 feet tall
(or higher under favorable conditions), blooming in July or
August; the robust flowers varying from a deep blue to white
in a loose raceme, the palmate leaves about 5-parted. It
affects moist meadows and stream banks in the higher moun-
tains, the Sierra Nevada and Northern Coast Ranges of Cali-
fornia, north to British Columbia, and eastward to Wyoming,
Colorado, and Arizona. The specific name has reference
to the Columbia River near the Washington-Oregon line,
where Thomas Nuttall, the discoverer, collected his type
specimens.

Our species is a true cousin of Aconitum Napellus, of the Old
World, the plant from which the medicine Aconite is made,
and is poisonous both in root and leaf. Sheepmen on the
Pacific Slope know it by the prosaic name of Blue-weed, and
have dread of it, as it has the reputation of poisoning sheep if
they eat it.

58

WILD CLEMATIS (Clematis ligiLsticifdlia, Nutt.).
woody vine, clambering over rocks, shrubs, and trees.

A

The

creamy white blossoms in many-flowered panicles, are all
sepals, which are colored like petals and are hardly more con-
spicuous than the feathery long-tailed seed-heads that suc-
ceed them. It blooms from May until July, and is widely
distributed in California and Oregon, and eastward to New
Mexico. Its preference is for the lower mountain regions,
rarely getting above 4,000 feet elevation. The hard specific
name means "with leaves like Ligusticum," an umbelliferous
genus of which the potherb Scotch Lovage is a member. Be-
sides the common name Wild Clematis, that of Virgin's Bower,
the usual Cld World name for a kindred species, is in use.
In Northern California the plant is sometimes called Pepper
Vine from the peppery taste of stem and leaves if chewed, as
they sometimes are, for sore throat.

Similar in appearance and habit, and more showy, is the
nearly related Clematis lasiantha, Nutt., common in the chap-
arral belts of Southern and Central California. The flowers
of C. lasiantha although apparently bunched, are really solitary
on long footstalks. The flowers of both are dioecious.

59

WILD PEONY (Poeonia Brownii, Dougl.). This plant, a foot
or so high, is sure to attract the attention of the observant
long before blooming because of its pale, glaucous, rather
fleshy, much divided leaves, mostly basal, that appear here
and there upon the brushy hillsides in midwinter, from South-
ern California to Washington and east to Utah. The large
solitary flowers, an inch or so in diameter, may be found
from February until July (according to situation), and are a
deep, sometimes almost black crimson, globular in form at first,
but later expand into the shape of a cup with 5 or 6 concave,
leather-like petals, backed by as many greenish-purple sepals.
Stamens very numerous, clustered around 2 to 5 bottle-like
pistils that eventually develop into conspicuous green pods,
which serve to identify the plant long after flowering.

Early rains sometimes bring the flowers of the Wild Peony
into bloom in late December, whence doubtless the name
Christmas Rose, which it bears in some neighborhoods, al-
though it is a true relative of the Christmas Rose of Europe
and old fashioned American gardens — Helleborus niger.

60

BARBERRY FAMILY

(Berberidacece)

Shrubs or herbs, stamens as many as the petals and oppo-
site them, anthers opening by two valves at the top.

OREGON GRAPE (Herberts Aquifolium, Pursh.)- Flowers
yellow, in terminal clustered racemes; leaves odd-pinnate,
bright glossy green with seven or more spiny-toothed leaflets
resembling the holly (which suggest the specific name). The
wood, particularly of the root, is bright yellow. Blossoms in
the spring, the flowers succeeded in autumn by little bunches
of pretty blue berries with a bloom resembling tiny wild grapes.

The Oregon Grape is a shrub 2 to 6 feet high, and is found
often in great abundance in shady situations in both the Coast
Ranges and Sierra Nevada of California north to Oregon and
Washington. It is Oregon's state flower. Similar to it
and indigenous from Northern California to Alaska, and east-
ward to Arizona, Utah, and Nevada, is the Creeping Barberry
(Berberis repens, Lindley), rarely a foot high.

The Oregon Grape is grown in Eastern and European gar-
dens under the name of Mahonia. The Indians made a de-
coction of the yellow root bark for the cure of stomach troubles.
ftl

INSIDE-OUT-FLOWER (Vancouveria parviflora, Greene.).
Flowers white or lavender, small, drooping, and numerous,
with 6 to 9 petal-like bracts, in a loose panicle topping a wiry
stem 1 to 2 feet tall. Sepals soon falling, white like the petals,
but much larger, and abruptly recurved, exposing the inner
floral organs in a way that suggests the quaint popular name
that Miss Armstrong has recorded. Leaves radical, com-
pound, twice or thrice ternate, the somewhat leathery leaflets
about an inch across. The general effect of these graceful
leaves is that of a robust maidenhair fern.

The Inside-out-flower blooms in late spring or early sum-
mer, in shady Coast Range woodlands from Central California
northward to British Columbia. There are two other species,
one, an Oregonian, with larger yellow flowers. The name
Vancouveria preserves for flower lovers the name of that fine
old sea rover, Captain George Vancouver, who visited the
Pacific Coast in the early 1790's on his way around the world,
and brought with him as botanist of his expedition the fa-
mous Scotch collector, Archibald Menzies.

CALYCANTHUS FAMILY

(Calycanthaceae)

Aromatic shrubs with opposite entire leaves, sepals and
1 petals similar and indefinite of number.

SWEET SHRUB (Calycanthus occidentalis, H. & A.). Flow-
jers wine-colored, maroon, or sometimes white, 2 to 3 inches
I across, solitary, perennial on leafy branches; petals, sepals
jand stamens passing into each other so as to be practically
{indistinguishable from one another. A shrub 4 to 12 feet high,
jwith harsh oval leaves 2 to 6 inches long; blooming through-
lout the summer and into the autumn usually along streams
lin mountain canons from Central California northward.
jThe foliage and flowers are fragrant when crushed, but not so
jmuch so as those of the related "shrub" or Carolina Allspice
jof the East. The flower holds its fragrance for a time even
lafter wilting. The cup-like seed vessels, an inch or so long,
fremain on the bushes until the next year, and serve to identify
jthe plant when out of flower.

This western Calycanthus also goes by the common names

ff Spice-bush and Wine-flower. Some Northern California
ndians prized the pithy shoots highly for arrow shafts.
63

POPPY FAMILY

(Papaveraceae)

Herbs (or rarely shrubs) with milky or colored juice, nar-
cotic or acrid, and regular, perfect flowers, sepals falling as the
petals open and thus often unobserved.

PRICKLY POPPY. THISTLE-POPPY (Argemdne platyceras,
Link & O.). Flowers white, 3 or 4 inches across, with 4 to 6
crumpled petals, and a golden centre of very many yellow sta-
mens, terminal on a stout, leafy, prickly stem, a foot or two
high; leaves bluish green, prickly and thistle-like; blooming in
spring and summer on dry hills, in sandy washes, and on the
deserts, Central and Southern California eastward to Colorado
and south to Mexico.

The Prickly Poppy is one of the most exquisite of South-
western wild flowers, and is often mistaken by superficial ob-
servers for the Matilija Poppy, but a glance at the thistle-like
leaves and bristling stems relieves all doubt as to the Prickly
Poppy's identity. The Mexican name for it is Chicalote.
Miss Armstrong records, also, the prosy but rather graphic
Fried Eggs, suggested by the fully expanded flowers.

64

MATILJJA POPPY (Romneya Coitlteri, Harv.). Flowers
white, 5 or 6 inches, or even more in diameter, with crepe-like
petals and a golden centre of numerous stamens, upon a bushy
plant from 2 to 6 feet high (or under favorable conditions
twice that); leaves smooth, rather glaucous, bluish-green, pinn-
ately parted or divided. Blooming in late spring and summer.

Of all the Pacific Coast wild flowers, the Matilija Poppy
is the most regal. It gets its name from the CaSon of the
Matilija (pronounced matil' ee-hafi) River of Ventura County,
California, where its abundance once made it locally famous.
While not a common plant, it is found in scattered localities
over a considerable area in Southern California — as in Santa
Barbara and Ventura Counties, the Santa Ana Mountains
near Riverside, the Puente Hills near Los Angeles, and along
the southern border of San Diego County, whence it extends
well down into Lower California. It haunts stream borders
in canons and open, dry hillsides — a plant of catholic taste.

The botanical name was given, as to genus, in honor of a
gifted Irish astronomer, Thomas Romney Robinson of Armagh
Observatory, and as to species, to commemorate Dr. Thomas
Coulter, the botanist who first collected it. It is one of the
many California plants introduced into gardens.
Co

FLAMING POPPY (Meconopsis heterophylla, Benth.). Flowers
solitary, brick red deepening to the centre, from \ to 2 inches
in diameter, borne at the top of long, slender flower stalks;
leaves pale green, somewhat succulent, pinnately parted.
An herbaceous annual plant, 1 to 2 feet high, simple or branch-
ing, with orange-colored juice. Blooming in spring in more
or less shady places and canons of the foothills of Central and
Southern California.

The Flaming Poppy is very variable, being much more
showy in its northern range than in the south where the
flowers are only conspicuous by their brilliancy of color,
glowing like a spark of fire near the ground. The blossoms are
exceedingly touchy, the delicate petals dropping almost as
quickly as gathered and soon scattered by the wind — whence
doubtless, another common name, Wind-poppy. Some
botanists make a distinct variety of the southern form — var.
crassifolia, Jepson — distinguished by thicker leaves and smaller
flowers, sometimes popularly called Blood-drops. The genus
is particularly abundant in Asia, being represented there by
about 25 specier> mostly Himalayan, Tibetan, and Chinese.

TREE POPPY (Dendromecon rigidum, Benth.). Flowers
a clear bright yellow, solitary, an inch or two in diameter, on a
bushy, slender-branched shrub, 3 to 10 feet high with pale
green, rather stiff, willow-like leaves — the bark whitish.

The Tree Poppy is found in California, seeming to prefer
open, sunny hillsides, of the chaparral belt, though one may
encounter it also in bottoms bordering the streams of canons.
It is most at home in the southern end of the state, and a well
developed bush of it starred with its striking blooms of butter-
cup yellow is reward enough for a hard day's tramp. In my
experience its best flowering season is from March until June,
but as in the case of its more famous cousin, the Eschscholtzia,
there is hope of collecting it during any month of the year.
It is quite variable in its foliage characters and the size of its
flowers — a fact that has led some latter-day species makers
to fall upon it and split it up into about twenty recorded spe-
cies. To the non-critical student, however, the one species,
as here described, is well enough for practical purposes.

67

CREAM-CUPS. (Platystemon californicus, Benth.). Flowers
an inch or so across, of six cream-yellow petals and numerous
stamens with broadly flattened filaments, sepals three; flow-
ers borne on long, leafless flowrer-stalks arising from the axils
of the hairy, narrow leaves, which are mostly opposite and 2
to 4 inches long.

This charming little flower of spring is at its height from
March until May captivating young and old wherever it ap-
pears, which is in more or less sandy soil in fields, along road-
sides, or on open hillsides, pretty much throughout California
below 3,000 feet, and slipping across the border into Oregon
and Arizona. The Cream-cup's blushing buds, dotted with
tiny bristling hairs and drooping shyly on their slender stalks,
are very appealing, and so much resemble the Poppy buds of
our gardens, that the place of this wilding in the Poppy family
is obvious. After flowering, the clustered necklace-like pods
form an interesting feature, too, in the plant's life-history.

C8

CALIFORNIA POPPY (Eschscholtzia calif ornica, Cham.).
Flowers 2 to 3 inches across, deep orange or yellow, sometimes
white, the plant a foot or so high with smooth glaucous leaves
much and finely dissected, and a bitter juice. The most fa-
mous of all Pacific Coast wild flowers, abundant throughout
California, and to some extent in Oregon and Washington.
It may be found in bloom in every month of the year, but it is
from February until June or July that its really rich display
is staged. It occurs both as an annual and as a perennial,
and is California's State flower.

The California Poppy was first made knowni to the world
by Adalbert von Chamisso, poet and botanist, who was a mem-
ber of the Kotzebue scientific expedition, which visited San
Francisco Bay in October, 1816. This flower was then col-
lected and given its rather formidable looking, though easily
pronounced name in honor of Doctor Eschscholtz, another
naturalist of the party. Spanish-Calif ornians know it under
various Spanish names, as torosa, toronja, and prettiest of all,
dormidera, "the drowsy one," because its petals fold them-
selves to sleep at eventide.

FUMITORY FAMILY

(Fumariacece)

Delicate perennial herbs with compound, finely-dissected
leaves and irregular, flattened, heart-s ^ed flowers, the 4
petals in 2 pairs, the outer, larger with spreading tips, and
spurred or saccate at the base. Some botanists include the
family with the Papaveraceae.

GOLDEN EAR DROPS (Dicentra chrysantha, Hook & A.).
Flowers yellow, \ to f inch long, in loose, terminal panicles;
stems and foliage pale and glaucous; the plant 2 to 5 feet tall,
blooming from May to July on sunny chaparral-clad hillsides
and in sandy washes of Central and Southern California.
Ihis is a rather stiff -looking plant, but its ferny leaves and
alert, golden blossoms (obviously akin, because of their pecul-
iar shape, to the Bleeding Heart, rather than to the Ear Drops
of the gardens), make it a welcome sight to summer ramblers.
The flowers, however, do not droop but sit erect in a most
wide-awake fashion, their two outer petals spreading their
ears out conspicuously as if hungry for all the gossip of their
r.eighborhood.

70

BLEEDING HEART (Dicentra formosa, DC.). Flowers
magenta or pink, or occasionally whitish, about f inch long,
nodding, in panicles terminating succulent stems a foot or
two high. Leaves basal, pale green, compound, cut-lobed.
Found in rich, damy, woodlands of the Coast Range and low
altitudes of the Si^fra Nevada, from Central California (in-
cluding the Yosemite region) northward to British Columbia,
blooming in suminer.

This charming flower is easy of recognition from its general
resemblance to the other Bleeding Heart of old gardens, which
is an Asiatic cousin known to botanists as Dicentra spectabilis.
Our species, too, has been introduced into cultivation and is
by no means averse to the "cakes and ale" of civilized life.
In fact, of the 14 or 15 known species of Dicentras, natives of
North America, western Asia, and the Himalayas, at least
half a dozen have become more or less known as garden plants,
especially in Europe, because of their striking beauty and ease
of culture.

Latter-day botanists with a taste for upsetting established
nomenclature discard the name Dicentra for their genus, and
prefer Bicuctdla, under which name students will have to look
for it in some books.

71

MUSTARD FAMILY

(Cruciferae)

One of the easiest jof all plant families to recognize, because
of the four distinct petals, generally clawed and forming
a cross, their six stamens of which two are shorter than the
others, and their usually peppery juice. The mature seed
pods are often needed for determination of these plants.

WILD MUSTARD (Brassica nigra, Koch). Flowers yellow,
i to ^ inch broad, in long, terminal racemes on stems 3 to 10
or 12 feet high; leaves dark green, the lower with one large
terminal lobe and two to four smaller lateral lobes, the upper
nearly or quite sessile, not so deeply lobed or even entire.
Common everywhere below t\vo thousand feet altitude; often
making dense thickets, blooming February to May.

No plant makes more of an impress on the California land-
scape in the spring than this Wild Mustard, when acres upon
acres of it in bloom blanket the valleys and mesas of the state.
It is a naturalized immigrant, its presence on the Pacific Coast
perhaps being due to the Franciscan Missionaries who were
indefatigable introducers of European plants. It is one of the
species from which the mustard of commerce is produced.
72

WILD RADISH (Rdphanu* satlvus, L.). Flowers purplish,
pinkish or whitish with purple veins, about £ inch across, on
erect and much branching stems 2 to 4 feet high. Basal and
lower leaves deeply cut, with a large terminal lobe.

The Wild Radish is the common garden variety, escaped
from conventionality and gone back to nature. It has done
this so conscientiously, however, throughout the settled parts
of California that its showy flowers are often an influential
factor in the co*or scheme of the landscape and are sure to ex-
cite the attention of plant lovers whose knowlege of the radish
has been limited to the ruddy roots that grace the dinner table.
It flowers more or less every month in the year, though in
most abundance in spring and early summer.

There is another species of Raphanus that is sometimes
met with — R. Raphanistrum, L., or Jointed Charlock, an
introduced annual with a general appearance of the Wild
Radish, but the flowers are normally yellow and the long-
beaked pods are so strongly constricted between the seeds as to
give the seed vessel the appearance of a necklace.

73

PEPPER-ROOT. MILKMAIDS (Dentaria calif ornica, Nutt.).
Flowers white, often tinged with rose, in a loose raceme; stem
8 inches to a foot or two high, simple or branched; root
leaves long-petioled, kidney-shaped, simple or with three
roundish leaflets; stem leaves few, short-petioled, deeply lobed,
the divisions lanceolate.

This plant is closely akin to the familiar Pepper-root (D.
laciniata, Muhl.) of Eastern spring woodlands, but the flowers
are larger. The whole plant possesses a wonderful charm and
seems instinct with the very spirit of spring, as one comes upon
it in its woodland retreats in the earliest year. It is frequent
in damp, more or less shady places in the coast mountains and
foothills of California, blooming from February until April.

The slender, fleshy rootstock of the Pepper-root bears a
number of little tubers, which have a rather pleasant peppery
taste, suggesting this common name for the plant. Toothwort,
another popular appellation, is derived from the toothlike
divisions of the rootstocks of some species, of which there are
half a dozen or so indigenous to our Far West. The same
characteristic is responsible for the scientific name Dentaria.
Some botanists unite the genus with the closely related
Carddmine.

74

ORANGE WALL-FLOWER (Erysimum dsperum, DC.). Flowers
bright orange, occasionally yellow, fragrant, about f inch in
diameter, in showy racemes at first flat-topped, terminating
stout, upright stems, 1 to 2 feet tall. Leaves lanceolate, more
or less toothed and roughish. Blooms from February to May,
or later.

The Orange Wall-flower (or Western Wall-flower, as it is
often called) is one of the most noticeable of Pacific Coast
flowers and is found in a variety of situations, in dry plains and
sandy washes, in shady mountain canons, and in the sunlit
coniferous forests of the Sierra Nevada. The name Wall-
flower seems, however, exceedingly inappropriate until we re-
member that the term is simply an inheritance from the Old
World, where a nearly related plant is common on walls. Our
plant has a wide distribution in this country, being found as
far east as Texas, Arkansas, and Minnesota,«outhward to Mex-
ico and northward to British America. It is quite variable in
its minor characters and botanists have distinguished several
varieties.

Another Wall-flower (Erysimum grandiflorum, Nutt.) with
cream-colored or yellowish blossoms, is common along the sea-
shore from Southern California to Oregon.
75

CAPER FAMILY

( Capparidacece)

Much like the Mustard Family, but the stamens, 6 or more,
are all equal, and the seed pods frequently on long stalks. The
European Capparis spinosa, whose buds furnish the capers of
our dinner tables, is of this family.

BLADDERPOD (Isdmeris arbdrea, Nutt.). Flowers showy,
dull yellow, with protruding stamens, borne in terminal,
bracted racemes. Leaves thrice-divided, the divisions nar-
row.

The Bladderpod is a shrub from 3 to 10 feet high, with
hard, yellow wood and an exceedingly characteristic, disagree-
able smell in leaf and blossom — a sort of skunk among flowers,
whose beauty is best enjoyed at long range. It is a Southern
Californian and at home alike on the fog-drenched bluffs of the
seashore and the arid sands of the desert. An interesting
character of the Bladderpod is the feature that is responsible
for the common name — the large, leathery, much inflated
seed vessels, like fat pea pods which droop gracefully on long
stalks and are very decorative.

76

STONECROP FAMILY

(Crassulacece)

Ours, fleshy perennial herbs, sepals, petals and pistils of the
same number, stamens twice as many.

HEX-AND-CHICKENS (Cotyledon pulvendenta, Benth & H.).
Flowers reddish, corolla cylindrical from the upright habit
of the five close-set petals, about \ inch long, clustered at the
top of a stout, rather leafy scape, a foot or more high, rising
from a large, flattened rosette of succulent but thinnish leaves
— the whole plant covered with a conspicuous white-mealy
"bloom." Common in the chaparral belt of Southern Cali-
fornia on rocky slopes. Blooms in summer.

There are several species of Cotyledon, but they are a crit-
ical genus and it requires careful analysis to determine them.
The genus itself is readily enough recognized, however, and all
species go indiscriminately with the non-professional, as Hen-
and-chickens, from their habit of surrounding themselves with
young off-sets which nestle in a circle close to the parent.
The plants are often found in arid situations, and the succulent
leaves make a grateful temporary substitute for water with
thirsty travelers, whence the name, Hunter's Rock Leek.
77

SAXIFRAGE FAMILY

(Saxifragaceai)

Shrubs and herbs, stamens and petals usually inserted on the
calyx as in the Rose Family, but distinguished from this usu-
ally by the absence of stipules and fewer stamens (5 to 10),
though in a few genera the stamens are very numerous.

SYRINGA (Philadelphus Leicisii, var. calij 'ornicus, Gray).
Flowers fragrant and showy, about an inch in diameter, white,
of 4 or 5 petals, with a centre of conspicuous, very numerous
yellow stamens, in terminal panicles. A shrub about the
height of a man, sometimes twice that. Mountains of Cali-
fornia, Oregon, and Washington.

The Syringa in bloom is one of the glorious sights of summer
in the Yosemite region and other mid-altitudes of the Sierra
Nevada, often forming thickets along streams. Its resem-
blance to the familiar Syringa of the gardens is marked and
makes it of easy recognition.

There are four or five species and varieties of Philadelphus

indigenous to the West, one being recognized as the Idaho

state flower. The young, straight, pithy shoots of Philadelphus

Gardonianus, Lindl., were used by the Indians for arrow shafts.

78

GOOSEBERRY (Ribes speciosum, Pursh). Flowers
bright red, half an inch long or more, exclusive of the much
exserted stamens, drooping in few-flowered racemes which
fringe the spreading branches at short intervals; petals erect,
shorter than the red, petal-like calyx lobes. Leaves rounded
and slightly lobed, thickish, shining, dark green. An ever-
green shrub 4 to 8 feet high, with leafy, reddish, bristly
branches, armed with stout, triple spines at the leaf axils.
Occurring abundantly in the foothills of Southern California
and blooming from January to April.

From a botanical standpoint this is a true gooseberry; but
the fruit is small, dry and exceedingly prickly, a very mockery
of a berry. As a flowering plant, however, it is a glory, and the
prospect of finding it in blossom is in itself a sufficient incen-
tive to send one to the hills of a midwinter day. A bush in full
bloom is a memorable sight, the abundant pendulous blossoms
lining the stems for a space sometimes of several feet and
seeming fairly to drip color. It does well in cultivation.

The general aspect of the drooping blossoms somewhat sug-
gests a small Fuchsia, for which reason the popular name Fuch-
sia-flowered Gooseberry is also given to it.

70

YELLOW WILD CURRANT (Ribes tenuiflorum, Lindl.). Flow-
ers bright yellow, both calyx and petals; in many-flowered,
green, bracted racemes, rather closely scattered along the
thornless branches: the calyx salver-shaped with spreading
lobes, the short petals like a tiny crown in the midst. Leaves
light green, small and thin, roundish, several lobed at the tip.
A deciduous shrub, 3 to 10 feet high, flowering in late winter or
early spring and bearing later a smooth, amber-colored berry.
Occurring along canon streams and in washes from Southern
California, to Washington, and eastward to Montana, Color-
ado and New Mexico.

The massed bushes of the Yellow Wild Currant form one of
the choice attractions in Flora's wild flower show of early
spring. In its general effect the plant resembles the yellow-
flowered form of the familiar Missouri or Buffalo Currant
(R. aureum of the nurseryman) cultivated for ornament in old-
fashioned gardens of the East; but its blossoms are less showy,
and lack the spicy fragrance of the Missouri Currant.

There are on the Pacific coast several species of true Cur-
rants (readily distinguished from the Gooseberries which are
of the same genus, by the absence of thorns and prickles),
but the berries of all seem to be of negligible food value.
80

PINK WILD CURRANT (Ribes glutinosum, Benth.). Flowers
rose to pale pink, or white above, the spreading-lobed calyx
colored like a corolla, abundantly borne in many-flowered.
long, drooping racemes that open gradually, the bloom thus
continuing for a considerable period. Leaves alternate, 1
to 2 inches across, more or less wrinkled with 3 to 5 shallow
lobes, glutinous particularly on the under side — the whole
plant exhaling a strong, rather disagreeable odor; blooming
in winter and early spring in the lower altitudes of the Coast
Ranges of California, particularly to the southward.

The Pink Wild Currant is an erect much-branching shrub of
compelling beauty when in bloom, from 4 to 12 feet high, and
quite worthy of the place in flower gardens which is sometimes
given it. The black, purplish berry, however, is a calamity,
dry and bitter. The plant is quite variable and this and sev-
eral closely allied forms described as R. sanguineum, R. mal-
raceum, etc., have caused botanists a lot of trouble to system-
atize. The root of one of these varieties used to have some
vogue among the Luiseno Indians as a remedy for toothache.

Because of the characteristic odor exhaled by this bush
it is sometimes called Incense Shrub.

81

WHIPPLEA (Whipplea modesta, Torr.). Flowers fragrant,
small (hardly \ inch in diameter), white, becoming greenish,
calyx and corolla 5-cleft and colored alike, borne in clusters
at the end of the branches. A low trailing plant with opposite,
3-nerved leaves about an inch long and somewhat hairy, the
stems slender and spreading. Blooming in March and April
in the forests of the Coast Ranges of California from Monterey
northward, particularly under redwood trees.

The name Whipplea preserves for us the memory of au ac-
complished military officer, Lieutenant Amiel W. Whipple, the
commander of a Government Survey exploring, in 1853 and
1854, along the 35th parallel of latitude for a Pacific railway
route. It was this expedition, particularly fortunate in its
botanic finds, that brought to light this little wilding of the
redwoods, whose unassuming charm seems to have appealed
to Doctor Torrey when he gave it its specific designation
modesta — "the modest." Whipple, promoted during the Civil
War to a major-generalship, met his death at the battle of
Chancellorsville in the flower of his manhood. His name is
associated not only with this genus, but with several species,
including the superb Yucca Wkipplei of Southern California.

82

INDIAN RHUBARB (Saxifraga peltata, Torr.). Flowers about
\ inch across, rose color or whitish, disposed in ample panicles
on fleshy, leafless scapes 1 to 3 feet tall; blooming in spring or
early summer out of bare earth. It occurs on the rocky bor-
ders' of rapidly flowing mountain streams, or even in the
water itself, from the Yosemite region northward in Cali-
fornia, at middle altitudes or in the foothills.

The feature of the Indian Rhubarb which is most likely to
call attention to its presence, is the remarkable leaves. These
do not develop until after the flowers, which, indeed, by rea-
son of their early appearance, are often not seen at all by vis-
itors in the mountain regions which the plant frequents. The
leaves are all basal, from a foot to two feet in diameter, with
numerous lobes and cuttings at the edge, and a cup-like cavity
in the centre. They are borne on long stout leaf-stalks, and
both these and the flower-stalk are edible — at least by In-
dians— a fact to which the common name Indian Rhubarb is
attributable.

ALUM-ROOT (Heiichera micrantha, Dougl.). Flowers white,
calyx bell-shaped, petals five, growing in a loose, feathery,
narrow panicle \ foot to 1| feet long, topping a slender, naked
stem a foot or more tall. Leaves long-petioled, hairy, heart-
shaped at base, 1 to 4 inches long, more or less mottled and
red-veined, all basal. Perennial, from a stout rootstock,
blooming in summer on shady slopes and in the crevices of
rock walls, in the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada (Yose-
mite region), from Central California to British Columbia.

The genus Heuchera, of which there are some six or eight
species more or less common in the West, was given this name
by Linnaeus in honor of an old-time German botanist Heucher.
The species here described is probably the commonest on the
Pacific Coast and is fairly representative of the generic appear-
ance, there being a strong family resemblance among the dif-
ferent species. The root of the Heucheras has had some vogue
in medicine, because of its pronounced astringency, whence
the common name Alum-root, applied indiscriminately to them
all. The plants take quite good-naturedly to domestication
and gardeners find them desirable, particularly for rockeries
and borders. The foliage is disposed to redden with age and
is then exceedingly ornamental.
84

ROSE FAMILY

(Rosacece)

Herbs, shrubs or trees with alternate leaves, simple or com-
pound, and usually stipules. Stamens generally numerous:
these and the petals inserted on the calyx.

ISLAY. WILD CHERRY (Primus ilicifolia, Walp.). Flow-
ers white, in rather dense axillary racemes 1 to 3 inches long.
Leaves glossy, leathery and spiny-toothed, suggesting the holly
foliage. An evergreen shrub or small tree, blooming in May
or June, in the chaparral belt and canons of the mountains.
Central and Southern California, and western Arizona.

The cherry part of Prunus ilicifolia is a surprise. It ripens
in the autumn and is a dark red drupe, half an inch or so
in diameter, that looks very tempting, but proves to be almost
all stone. The thin covering of pulp, however, is really very
palatable and sweet when thoroughly mature. The Indians,
whose patient observation and experimentation got good out
of many an unpromising subject, found the stones of great
value. Breaking them open, the large kernels were crushed
in mortars, leached of their bitterness and boiled. The result
was a nutritious mush. Islay is pronounced is-lah'-ee .
85

THIMBLE-BERRY (Rubiis mdlidnits. Moc.). Flowers white,
or tinged with pink, 1 to 2 inches in diameter, in few-flowered
terminal clusters on long stems. Leaves, suggesting the maple,
palmate, 5-lobed, 3 to 12 inches across, long-petioled and hori-
zontally spreading. A bush from 2 to 8 feet high, the erect
or trailing stems without thorns, blooming in late spring or
early summer, from Central California (including the Yosemite
region) in mountain woods northward through Oregon and
Washington to Alaska, and eastward through Utah and Col-
orado to Michigan, with a fondness for stream borders.

Ihe fruit of the 1 himble-berry is red when ripe, looking
like a depressed raspberry, as indeed it is, and variable as to
ecilility. In localities of little rainfall it tends to dryness,
seeds and insipidity; but in the damper regions of the northern
coast, it becomes fleshy and luscious. In its eastern range it
is sometimes known as Salmon-berry, a name more properly
applied to a kindred species with yellowish fruit.

Some botanists discard Mocino's name Rubus nutlanus
(referring to Kootka, a locality of Fritish Columbia) and pre-
fer Nuttall's name for this species — R. parviflorus.

CHAMISE. GREASEWOOD (Adenostoma fasciculatum, Hook
& A.). Flowers white, individually very small, but disposed
in showy, crowded panicles, several inches in height terminal
on the branches. Leaves evergreen, needle-like, about j inch
long, and clustered along the branches. A shrub 2 to 15 feet
high, flowering from April to June, and clothing great areas
of mountain sides in California with a dense, uniform, dark
green covering in effect like heather in the Old World;- particu-
larly abundant southward and near the Coast. After flow-
ering, the abundant reddish-brown seed vessels give a decided
color note to the mountain slopes.

Greasewood is a term given in the Southwest to so many
different plants that it is almost meaningless. It is applied to
this Adenostoma doubtless because the roots have long been a
recognized fuel in Southern California, and when thoroughly
dry, burn as though they contained grease indeed. Chamise
(pronounced cha-meeze) is an Americanized form of the Span-
ish chamiso.

In the extreme south a nearly related species is met, Aden-
ostoma sparsifolium, Torr., distinguished by scattered leaves
and a red, cedar-like bark that hangs in shreds. It is known
in popular parlance as Red Shank or Bastard Cedar.
87

CALIFORNIA HOLLY (Heteromeles arbutifolia, Roemer).
Flowers w hite, small, borne in dense terminal panicles. Leaves
evergreen, leathery, rigid and rather glossy; 2 to 4 inches
long, oblong and more or less saw-toothed. A shrub or small
tree from 6 to 25 feet high, blooming from May until August,
according to locality, common in the chaparral belt of the
Coast Ranges of California.

Better known than the flowers of the California Holly are
its cheerful red berries, which abundantly adorn the little
trees in late autumn, and are extensively used for Christmas
decoration on the Pacific Coast. The ?ommon name is not
happy, for the plant is not at all related to the true holly. The
English, who have cultivated it to some extent in their gardens,
are more accurate in calling it California May-bush, the May-
bush or May being the English hawthorn which is of the same
family with our plant. Christmas-berry is another popular
name, and Spanish Californians, who found some use for the
berries as the basis of a crink, called it toybn, The Indians
made a regular article of diet of the berries, toasting them first
over hot coals, or boiling them.

CALIFORNIA WILD ROSE (Rosa calif ornica, Cham. & S.).
Flowers pink, fragrant, 1 to 2 inches in diameter, in few to
many-flowered corymbs, or solitary. Bushes 3 to 10 feet
high, found from Lower California to Oregon, flowering prac-
tically throughout the year at the lower altitudes.

Of the half dozen or so species of Pacific Coast wild roses
R. californica is the most common, often forming dense thick-
ets along roadsides, in moist meadows, or upon the banks of
streams. No California wild flower gave greater pleasure to
the pioneering Spaniards of a century and a half ago. The
diaries of the early Franciscan missionaries contain many ref-
erences to it, always with enthusiasm and affection; for it
reminded those homesick wanderers of their own sweet roses
of Spain. And so they called this wilding of the West the rose
of Castile. Even to the present day this name (in its Spanish
form Rosa Castilla] continues in use in the remoter mountain
districts of Southern California — a pleasant link with that
early day when Spain was conducting the humane experiment
of reducing a race by religion instead of arms.

A kindred species known as the Redwood Rose (R. gymno-
carpa, Xutt.) will sometimes be found in shady woods of the
Coast Ranges. It is of smaller, daintier habit.
89

MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY (Cercocarfusbeluloides^uit.). This
is a shrub or small tree, under best conditions 20 ieet or so
high, but sometimes only 2 or 3 feet, distinguished by its small,
wedge-shaped leaves, distinctly veined, and small solitary or
clustered, apetalous, whitish flowers, each resembling a little
cup full of stamens. After flowering the seed vessel develops
in early summer a conspicuous, feathery, curling tail, two or
three inches long, enclosed in -a tubular case- — a characteristic
feature of the plant. Blooming in March or April, and com-
mon in the chaparral belt of the mountains from Southern
California nearly to the Oregon line.

Botanists make numerous species of Mountain Mahogany,
and, while the botanical distinctions are in many cases diffi-
cult to fix, there is a sufficient general similarity among all
to make the genus of easy recognition. The wood is remark-
able for its extreme hardness, a character to which the com-
mon name is owing. Out of it, in default of iron, the Indians
made many of their implements, such as digging sticks for
grubbing up edible bulbs, mescal sticks for cutting out the
buds of the agave, fish-spears, arrow-tips, and so on.

The feathery tailed seeds when mature are loose in their
tubes, and are easily lifted by the wind and scattered.
90

MOUNTAIN MISERY (Chamcebatia foliolosa, Benth.). Flow-
ers white, ^ inch or so across, with five petals and a centre of
numerous stamens, the whole resembling a strawberry blos-
som, in few-flowered terminal clusters. Leaves 1 to 3 inches
long, finely dissected, fern-like and very sticky, resinous and of
a balsamic odor. A spreading, much-branched shrub, 1 to 2
feet high, blooming from May to July and common in the
Sierra Nevada woods of Central California. It is noticeably
abundant in the Yosemite region, and carpets considerable
areas in the open coniferous forests.

The common name Mountain Misery is not without appro-
priateness, when one comes to know the plant intimately.
The gummy secretion which thickly covers stems and foliage
comes off at a touch, and after a tramp through a patch of the
plant one's clothing and shoes become hopelessly smeared with
it. So does the wool of sheep that comes in contact with it,
and the bells of cows set adrift in the woods to browse may get
so deadened in sound by resinous coating from the plant as
to be quite useless for betraying the animals' whereabouts.
Better regard Chamcebatia (pronounced kam' e-bd-shia) at a
discreet distance. Tarweed and Bear's Clover are other local
names.

91

PEA FAMILY

(Leguminosci)

Herbs, shrubs, or trees, with alternate, usually compound
leaves with stipules, and flowers often papilionaceous, that is,
with one petal (called the banner or standard) conspicuously
larger than the others and turned backward or spreading.
Stamens usually ten, sometimes united below into a tube about
the pistil; sometimes nine so united and one distinct; sometimes
all distinct. Fruit a legume, that is, like a pea-pod.

LUPINE (Luplnus Stiver sii, Kellogg). Flowers with a yellow
banner fading to salmon, and rose-pink lateral petals, disposed
in a terminal raceme; leaves compound,- with several narrow
finger-like leaflets radiating from a . common centre; plant,
annual, 6 inches to 1| feet high.

This strikingly handsome flower, blooming in summer, is
one of the noticeable wildings of the Yosemite Valley and the
Sierra Nevada of Central California. It is also reported
from a few places in the Coast Ranges, but seems to be no-
where abundant. A species with all the petals yellow (L.
citrinus, Kellogg) sometimes is found in the same range.

92

YELLOW LUPINE (Lupinus arbor eus, Sims). Flowers frag-
rant, yellow, in long racemes; leaves compound with finger-
like leaflets radiating from a common centre. A stout,
shrubby plant 4 to 10 feet high, blooming in spring and common
in the sands bordering on the sea from Central California
southward.

The Yellow Lupine has played an important part in holding
shifting sands along the Coast, the huge roots, sometimes 20
feet in length, being natural sand binders. This quality was
turned to particular service a number of years ago at San
Francisco where a considerable area of bare sand-lots, which
had been continually blown about by the strong ocean winds
from time immemorial, were efficiently stabilized in a year
oy the systematic planting of this Yellow Lupine.

Besides Lupinus arboreus there are five or six other yellow-
flowered species indigenous to California. One of these, L.
luti'dus, Kellogg, 3 to 5 feet high, has proved to be a serious
pest in some interior valleys of Northern California, from its
habit of monopolizing the ground. It is locally kno.vn as
Butter-weed from the color of the flowers.

93

CANON LUPINS (Lupinus cytisoidcs, Ag.). Flowers very
showy, dark pink to magenta, sometimes blue or white, in
dense terminal racemes a foot or so in length; leaves divided
into 7 to 10 fingers 2 inches or more long; stems marked with
longitudinal stripes and minutely hairy. A stout, herbaceous
perennial, 3 to 6 feet high, blooming April to August, moun-
tains of Southern California, north to Oregon.

The Canon Lupine, as its name indicates, is particularly
at home in mountain canons, where it often covers considerable
areas on the damp banks and moist flats, especially along
streams. It is a magnificent plant at its best, and the mild
glow of its flowers in the veiled light of the more or less shaded
situations it loves, makes an effect not soon forgotten.

Cf about 70 species of lupine indigenous to the United States,
most are found wild only on the Pacific Slope. In spite of the
abundance of the genus and its membership in a family that
makes such valuable contribution to man's food needs as the
pea, bean, and lentil, our lupines seem to have played little, if
any, part in the service of man — even aboriginal man — beyond
the occasional use of the young plants of some species as
greens. They were eaten either boiled or roasted.

94

DEERWEED (Hosackia glabra, Torr.). Flowers yellow turn-
ing reddish, j inch long or so, in numerous close-set umbels on
slender, leafy branches, more or less woody and spreading.
Leaves small, of usually 3 leaflets. Seed-vessel a slender, some-
what curbed, pod, an inch or two long, with a long point.

The Deerweed is a somewhat woody perennial from 2 to 6
feet high, common throughout California below about 3,000
feet, particularly on dry hillsides and mesas. It may be found
in bloom at all seasons (at least in the South), often giving a
distinct coloring to the foothill slopes. It is a valuable bee-
plant, known to beemen as Wild Alfalfa.

There are some 40 species of Hosackia indigenous to the
Western United States. Some botanists throw them all into
Lotus, so that our plant will be found mentioned as Lotua
glaber. This is unfortunate for the name Hosackia com-
memorates one who should not be forgotten — a certain
Dr. David Hosack, who was professor of botany at Columbia
College something more than a century ago. His botanic
garden in what is now the heart of New York City was one of
the first to be established in America. The famous botanist
Pursh once worked there as gardener; and John Torrey, one of
America's most celebrated botanists, was a student of Hosack's.
95

BUR CLOVER (Medicdgo denticulata, Willd.). Flowers very
small, bright yellow like specks of gold, 2 or 3 together on an
axillary footstalk, rising out of clover-like leaves with slashed
stipules, and succeeded by curious little pods coiled twice and
armed with hooked prickles. Blooming from January to
June, and common everywhere.

The BUT Clover is an Old World plant of some forage value
— a native of the Mediterranean region, which has become
introduced on the Pacific Coast, though nobody knows just
when or how. Possibly the seeds, which, being prickly, cling
very persistently to any likely hold, stole into California on
the wholly back of sheep which the Missionary Fathers had
brought over from Spain. The plant withers away with the
coming of the dry season, and then the ground will be strewn
^ith the brown mature seed vessels, which are exceedingly
nutritious and eagerly eaten by sheep and cattle.

Sometimes also found wild in California is the similar
Medicago lupulina, L., the Black Medick of the Old World,
but its more numerous flowers are in stout spikes, and its pods,
which are black when ripe and kidney-shaped, are without
prickles.

RATTLEWEED. LOCOWEED (Astrdgalus leucopsis, Torr.).
Of the 1,000 species of Astragalus in the world, 35 or 40 occur
on the Pacific Coast. They are mostly perennial herbs with
odd pinnate leaves, the leaflets very numerous. The usually
small, narrow flowers are borne chiefly in spikes or racemes on
long peduncles, arising from the axils of the leaves. The seed-
pods are often noticeably inflated like bladders.

Astragalus leucopsis bears pods of this sort, and is further
distinguished by greenish-white flowers, and pale leaves with
10 to 15 pairs of oval or oblong leaflets each | inch long or so.
It blooms from March till May, and is very coma on in South-
ern California in the unbroken soil of mesas and plains.

The term Locoweed, applied to this species and many
others, is given because animals that feed on the herbage have
a tendency to become insane or loco in Spanish parlance.
Doctor Hall, in his valuable handbook "A Yosemite Flora,"
states that the deleterious effect has been found to be due not
to the plant itself but to the presence of the metal barium, which
the plant gathers from the soil. This varies in different locali-
ties; hence the wide difference of opinion as to the danger from
locoweeds.

97

BEACH BLUE LUPINE. CHAMISSO'S LUPINE (Lupinus
Chamissonis, Esch.). Flowers blue or sometimes violet or
white, the banner with a yellow spot, somewhat wrhorled in
rather compact racemes; leaves with 7 to 9 leaflets, very silky
on both sides, giving the plant a silvery green aspect.

Chamisso's Lupine is a somewhat shrubby plant, 1| to 3
feet high, growing usually in clumps, and is cf frequent occur-
rence on the sand dunes of the sea beach from Southern Cali-
fornia to Oregon. Its showy flowers may be found in blossom
almost every month of the year. The species is quite variable,
and particular botanists are accordingly tempted to split it
up into several species, but the points of distinction are diffi-
cult to define with certainty.

The specific name of this plant is commemorative of the
poet-botanist Adelbert von Chamisso, and was bestowed by
Chamisso's fellow naturalist of the Kotzebue exploring expedi-
tion, Johann Friedrich Eschscholz. These botanists col-
lected in 1816 in the vicinity of San Francisco Bay, and it.
was there that Chamisso discovered the California Poppy,
naming it in honor of Eschscholz. The latter's dedication cf
this beautiful lupine to his comrade is a pleasant instance of
friendly \it-for-tat.

98

PRIDE OF CALIFORNIA (Lathy rus splendens, Kellogg). Flow-
ers showy, deep crimson, a couple of inches long or more, the
banner (which is an inch or so long) leaning back upon the
flower stalk; several in a pendent cluster. Leaves with 8 or
10 small scattered leaflets, and bearing tendrils 2 to o parted.

This superb flower (a Pacific Coast cousin of the garden
sweet pea) is borne upon a vine that may attain a length of
8 or 10 feet, and is found climbing over shrubs on dry hillsides
in parts of Riverside and San Diego counties of California
and southwest into Lower California, blooming in the spring,
the plant dying down in summer. It has been introduced
into cultivation to some extent.

A much commoner, but far less beautiful Lathyrus, is L.
rsstitus, Xutt., commonly known as Wild Pea, and found
climbing about the chaparral of the foothills from the San
Francisco region south to Lower California. The leaves
(tendril bearing) have o or 6 pairs of leaflets, ^ to 1 inch long,
and the flowers, blooming from February until May, are violet,
rose, or nearlv white.

WILD CLOVER (Trifolium Iridentatum, Lindl.). There are
some 30 species and varieties of native clovers indigenous to
the Pacific Coast, not always obvious as clovers to those peo-
ple whose observations have been limited to the common white
and red clovers of Eastern fields and roadsides. All, however,
are low herbs, distinguished by compound leaves with adhering
stipules and 3 leaflets which are usually toothed, and small
flowers, purple, red, yellowish or white, in close heads or umbels
on axillary or terminal peduncles.

T. tridentatum is a very common and characteristic species
in Central and Southern California, blooming in the spring
and early summer on plains and grassy slopes of the foothills.
The flowers are pink-purple with a darker centre and some-
times with a whitish tip to the banner, disposed in a broad,
flattish head, an inch or so across on footstalks 1 to 2 inches
long. This species, together with many others, used to form
a very important item in the bill of fare of the California In-
dians. They ate the tender leaves before flowering both raw
and cooked; and with some tribes the appearance of the clover
in spring was the occasion of special ceremonial dances. The
seeds of a few species were also used for food.

100

MESQUIT (Prosopis juliflora, DC.). A shrub or small
tree, attaining a height of 15 or 20 feet, with widely spreading,
spiny branches, and forked leaf-stems bearing numerous pairs
of narrow leaflets, which are deciduous in winter. The small
yellowish flowers are borne in spring in conspicuous, dense,
cylindrical narrow spikes, 4 or 5 inches long.

The Mesquit under several varietal names is found abund-
antly in the Colorado Desert of Southern California (and oc-
casionally farther west in sandy washes and on dry mesas of the
Coast country), eastward to Utah, Colorado, and Texas, and
southward to Mexico, presenting, however, several varieties.
The flat seed pods, 4 to 6 inches long, contain numerous small
beans, which were an important food supply of the desert
Indians. Indeed the tree has played many parts in aboriginal
life. From the sweetish pulp of the pods a sort of confection
was made; the wood, exceedingly hard and heavy, was used
in building; a black dye was obtained from the sap; a mucilag-
inous drink for sore throat was made from the clear gum that
exudes from wounded limbs; and the twigs were used in making
coarse baskets. The wood is an important fuel in the South-
west. The blossoms are rare pasture for bees, and the best
Mesquit honey is almost unrivaled in excellence.
101

DALEA (Dalea californica, Wats.). The genus Dalea is an
important one in the Far West, comprising both herbs and
shrubs, with odd-pinnate leaves usually abundantly sprinkled
with resinous dots, and small pea-like blossoms borne in
terminal, often showy, clusters and spikes.

Dalea californica is a low, pale-barked shrub of the Colorado
Desert of California, and in March or early April the bushes,
which are two or three feet high, are a glory of rich indigo color
from the loose clusters of expanded blossoms. In simikr
situations is the closely related Dalea Schottii, Torr., with
equally beautiful dark blue flowers, but there is a marked dif-
ference in the foliage. In D. californica the leaves are pin-
nate with a few pairs of leaflets that are gray with fine hairs,
while the leaves of D. Schottii are simple, so narrow as to be al-
most needle-like, and with little or no hairiness.

The most magnificent of the Pacific Coast daleas is a small
tree, D. spinosa, Gray, practically leafless, which grows in the
same desert and eastward to Arizona. It blooms in June,
when few travelers care to brave the desert heat, but the splen-
dor of this little tree, in its dress of deep indigo blue, is a sight
that will repay much hardship. It goes by the name of In-
digo-bush and Smoke-tree.

102

GERANIUM FAMILY

(Geraniacece)

Herbs with lobed or compound leaves, and perfect regular
flowers, sepals and petals usually 5 each; stamens as many or
twice as many. Seed vessels 5, at first united about a persis-
tent central column, finally splitting upward from below and
slinging out the seeds.

WOOD SORREL (Oxalis oregana, Nutt.). Flowers about
an inch long, white or rose, frequently dark-veined, borne
singly on rather short 2-bracted scapes; leaves cloverlike, of 3
leaflets heart-shaped at the outer edge, 1 to 2 inches broad,
usually rusty underneath, rising from slender creeping root-
stocks.

The Wood Sorrel is common in the redwood forests of the
Pacific Coast from the Monterey Bay region northward to
Washington, often making solid mats of mingled leaf and
flower over the ground. The leaves, if bitten, are pleasantly
acid, like those of the eastern wood sorrel.

103

FILAREE (Erodium cicutarium, L'Her.). Flowers magenta,
about \ inch across in few-flowered umbels topping slender
footstalks that rise from a rosette of pinnate leaves 6 inches
long or so, with many deeply cut leaflets. Blooming from
January to June in valleys and on the foothills throughout
California and eastward to the Rocky Mountains.

Filaree is one of the most valued of Far Western forage
plants, and carpets the ground in places like turf. It is be-
lieved by most botanists to be an introduction from the Old
World, where it is a common weed, but if so it was an early
immigrant; for 70 years ago, when California was still very wild,
Fremont reported it in abundance in the northern part of the
state. The queer common name is an American corruption
of the Spanish alfilerilla (pronounced in California alfileree' ya)
meaning little pin; from the resemblance of the long-beaked
seed vessels to that useful article. WTien dry these long beaks
separate into 5 slender divisions which are the styles, and,
subtended by the brown seeds, twist about in a way entertain-
ing to the childlike mind of all ages, suggesting the hands of a
clock on its travels, particularly when the seed is set on end
upon one's clothing; whence another common name, "Clocks."

104

MEADOW FOAM (Floerkea Douglasii, Baillon). Flowers
showy, an inch or more across, yellowish fading to white at the
tips or sometimes rosy, bell-shaped, conspicuously veined, soli-
tary on naked footstalks rising from the axils of the much dis-
sected leaves. Blooming in the spring throughout much of
California, and north into Oregon.

This charming annual, 6 or 8 inches high, one of many Pacific
Coast flowers introduced into Old World gardens three quar-
ters of a century ago, is a conspicuous feature of wet meadows,
particularly of Central California, and the effect of its masses
of creamy flowers rippling amidst the green is quite appro-
priately suggested by the common name. The name Floerkea
commemorates a forgotten German botanist, H. G. Floerke,
who lived in the early part of the 19th century. All botanists,
however, do not agree that our plant is truly a Floerkea, and
some of them put it in the closely related genus Limnanthes,
and indeed into a separate family which they call Limnan-
thacece. Among florists the flower is usually referred to as
Limnanthes Douglasii, R. Brown.

105

CALTROP FAMILY

(Zygop\yllace(E)

A family of herbs, shrubs, and trees, of wide distribution
in the tropics and warmer parts of the world, sparingly
represented on our Pacific Coast by three or four genera.

CREOSOTE BUSH (Larrea Mexicana, Moric). Flowers soli-
tary, yellow, about ^ inch across, the five distinct petals dis-
posed to turn edgewise to the light. Leaves evergreen, of two
rather thick, curving, pointed leaflets, shining with a resinous
sort of varnish that exhales a peculiar smell, especially upon
burning, suggesting creosote, whence the common name of the
plant. It is a shrub from 3 to 10 feet high, with many gray-
ish stems which are banded in black and is very common in the
desert regions of Southern California and Arizona and south-
ward into Mexico, blooming off and on throughout the year.
Quite as noticeable as the flowers are the little round seed ves-
sels densely clothed with white silky hairs.

The Creosote Bush has a medicinal reputation with the

Indians and Mexicans, with whom it goes by the Spanish

names hedeondilla and gobcrnadora. • A tonic tea is made of the

foliage and for saddle sores on animals a poultice of the leaves.

10(5

SPURGE FAMILY

(Euph&rbiacece)

Herbs with milky juice, often poisonous; flowers of different
sexes on the same or different plants.

GOLOXDRIXA. RATTLESXAKE WEED (Euphorbia albomar-
ginata, T. & G.). Flowers inconspicuous, in a cup-shaped
involucre having the appearance of a calyx, the numerous
male flowers consisting each of a single stamen, and the soli-
tary female of a 3-celled ovary elevated and pendent upon a
long footstalk; involucre 4 to 5-lobed, with alternating maroon-
colored glands, margined with white or rosy appendages that
resemble petals. Leaves small and roundish, heart-shaped
at base, with a thin whitish edge. A low or prostrate, many-
stemmed little plant forming round mats upon the dry ground
in the Southern California foothills and mountains, very com-
mon, and blooming from April on through the summer.

There are several species of Euphorbia, more or less alike
in general appearance, that go under the name of Rattlesnake
Weed, or, among Spanish-speaking folk, Golondrina. They
have a considerable repute as antidotes for rattlesnake bites.
The leaves are pounded and bound wet on the wound.
107

CASTOR OIL PLANT (Ricinus communis, L.). Flowers small
without petals, greenish, of two sexes, in showy terminal ra-
cemes, the female flowers above the staminate. Leaves from
6 inches to a foot or more broad, divided into 6 to 11 finger-
like toothed lobes. Seed vessels ^ inch or so in diameter,
usually spiny, splitting when mature and discharging the
smooth, shiny seeds which are black, mottled with white or
brown. A stout, herbaceous plant, from 3 to 15 feet high,
which, in places where there is little frost, becomes woody and
treelike. The immature fruit is conspicuously rosy red.

This is the plant from whose seeds the famous medicine
Castor Oil is produced. It is native to Asia and Africa, but
having a pronounced taste for travelling, it is now found at
home in most of the warmer parts of the earth. It is not
known surely how it reached California, but perhaps the Fran-
ciscan Missionaries who imported the seeds of so many of the
Old World's useful plants introduced this one also, for its medi-
cinal value. At any rate, it is now well established as a wild
plant in many parts of the state, and makes indeed an orna-
mental sight. Mexicans call it " higuerilla," little fig tree, prob-
ably from the form of the leaf. From the latter also is derived
a common Old World name, Palma Christi, the hand of Christ.
108

SUMAC FAMILY

;_ (A nacardiaceoe)

Shrubs or trees, with resinous or milky juice, and usually
alternate leaves. Flowers small and mainly regular.

LEMONADE BERRY (Rhus integrifolia, B. & H.). Flowers
small, pink or white, in dense terminal clusters 1 to 2 inches
long, sterile and fertile flowers often mixed together. Leaves
evergreen, thick, leathery, generally entire, an inch or two
long. A stout shrub 3 to 6 feet high, blooming from February
to May, on seashore bluffs and to some extent on the foothills
farther inland, from Santa Barbara to Lower California.

The conspicuous fruit of the Lemonade Berry is responsible
for the common name. It is a flat, reddish drupe or berry,
something less than | inch across, very sticky and sour. It
is very abundant on the bushes in summer, and if soaked for a
few minutes in water communicates its acidity to the liquid
making a very pleasant drink, well known to Indians and
Mexicans. The wood of the plant is hard and red within,
whence the name "Mahogany" sometimes given it.

A closely related species is R. orata, Wats., whose range is

imore inland than R. integrifolia. The fruit is rather smaller.
109

SUMAC. MANGLA (Rhus laurina, Nutt.). Flowers very
small, white, in showy terminal panicles; leaves thin but leath-
ery, entire, 3 to 4 inches long on rather long petioles. Seed
vessels very small, white and wax-coated. An erect, ever-
green shrub, 6 to 15 feet high, with a fragrance of bitter al-
monds; blooming from June to August and very common in
the valleys, foothills, and chaparral belt of Southern California.

It is always a surprise to the Easterner to be told that
this handsome, rather stately shrub with its simple laurel-
like leaves is a sumac, for the sumacs of the Atlantic slope are
quite different looking because of their pinnate foliage. Yet
the Pacific Coast plant is a true cousin of those.

The wood of both Rhus laurina and R. integrifolia, is hard
and red-hearted, and the larger specimens are often cut up
into posts for stringing wire fences upon. Spanish-speaking
Californians call both species Mangla, perhaps because of the
sticky resinous juice — the Spanish word strictly meaning the
gum that exudes from the European Rockrose.

110

SQUAW BUSH (Rhus trilobata, Nutt.). Flowers greenish
yellow in short, spike-like clusters, appearing from February
until April before the leaves. Leaves compound with 3 leaf-
lets toothed or divided, and narrowed to the base. A low
shrub, 2 to 5 feet high, whose foliage and numerous, long,
spreading branches are quite aromatic; common in the foothills
and open, sunny spots throughout California, and eastward
to Dakota and Texas.

The appearance of Rhus trilobata remotely suggests its ven-
omous cousin the Poison Oak, but it has none of the bad quali-
ties of the latter — indeed is a very much, esteemed and useful
plant among the Indians, as its name Squaw Bush implies.
The Indian women of Southern California have long made use
of the split stems for wrapping the coils of their basket ma-
terial. The fruit also — red, sticky berries — have the same acid
quality as those of Rhus integrifolia, and make a refreshing
drink when steeped in water. It was also customary in old
times to dry these berries, and grind them for use as food. Mr.
Chesnut records that a lotion prepared of the dry, powdered
berries was once used by the Indians of Northern California as
a smallpox remedy.

Ill

MAPLE FAMILY

(Sapindacece)

Trees and shrubs with deciduous leaves, compound or sim-
ple, without stipules. Some botanists separate this family
into 3 distinct ones, of which the Maple, the Buckeye, and the
Soapberry are respective types.

CALIFORNIA BUCKEYE (Aesculus calif ornica, Nutt.). Flow-
ers showy, irregular, white, yellowish or rosy in dense panicles,
6 inches to a foot long. Leaves long-petioled, opposite, pal-
mate with 5 or more leaflets. A shrub or more commonly a
low, spreading tree, from 10 to 20 feet high, occasionally higher.
Blooming in May or June.

The California Buckeye is a common sight along stream
borders and canon sides of the foothills and lower slopes of the
Coast Ranges as well as the Sierra foothills, from the northern
edge of Los Angeles County to the upper Sacramento Valley.
It is most apt to attract attention under two very different
aspects — in the spring when it is in the glory of its bloom, and
in the autumn when its bare branches are hung with the odd
pear-like seed vessels. The fresh seeds are poisonous, but
rendered edible by roasting and leaching.
112

BUCKTHORN FAMILY

(Rhamnacece)

Shrubs or small trees, with simple leaves and small flowers.
Petals, calyx lobes, and stamens 4 or 5 each; the stamens oppo-
site the petals.

CASCAKA SAGRADA (Rhamnus calif arnica, Esch.). Flowers
small, greenish white, in umbel-like clusters. Leaves ever-
green, alternate, thin-leathery, elliptic oblong entire or mi-
nutely toothed, 1 to 3 inches long. A shrub or small tree from
4 to 15 or 20 feet high, common throughout California, bloom-
ing from February to April; the flowers succeeded in the au-
tumn by dark crimson or black berries, j to \ inch in diameter.

Cdscara sagrdda is Spanish for "sacred bark," and was so
termed by the Spanish-Californians, who value it for its medi-
cinal properties. A tea made of the bark is both tonic and
mildly laxative. Its value is now widely known, and large
quantities of the bark of the closely allied Rhamnus Purshi-
ana, DC. (which is found in Oregon and Washington and at-
tains a height of sometimes 30 feet) are annually gathered for
the market. Both species so thoroughly run into each other
that it is a question if one name does not really cover both.
113

CALIFORNIA LILAC (Ceanothus thyrsiflorus, Esch.). Flowers
blue paling sometimes to white, fragrant, individually small
but showy in dense panicles; leaves evergreen, shiny, alternate,
an inch or so long, elliptic, with three nerves from the base.
A shrub or small tree from 2 to 25 feet high, the branches and
twigs noticeably angled. Blooming in spring on chaparral-
covered slopes, or at the sea-edge (where it is a low shrub),
or among the redwoods, from the Santa Cruz Mountains north-
ward to Oregon.

There are a score or so of species of Ceanothus indigenous to
the Pacific Coast, to many of which, besides this one, the name
California Lilac is applied. The little flowers are very inter-
esting if noted closely under a magnifying glass, because of the
odd-shaped petals, each with a long claw terminating in an
incurving of the blade resembling a hood — or the whole ar-
rangement suggesting a tiny tobacco pipe, to quote Doctor
Sudworth. The different species are often diffcult to identify,
and the botanists' troubles in this respect are increased by the
fact that hybridization is believed to take place between some
species, making confusion worse confounded.

DEER-BRUSH (Ceanothus integerrimus, H & A.). Flowers
white or sometimes blue, individually small, but very showy in
feathery clusters sometimes 6 or 7 inches high, and 3 or 4
inches through. Leaves alternate, thin, ovate or oblong, 1
to 3 inches in length. Blooming in spring or early summer in
the mountains from Southern California to Oregon. It covers
considerable areas in the Yosemite region, where it is a notice-
able sight. It is a shrub from 5 to 12 feet high with long flexible
branches, and bark that tastes somewhat like wintergreen.

Deer and cattle find Deer-brush a palatable browse, so that
this common name is of obvious origin. Soap-bush, too, is a
name sometimes met with, which is descriptive of a very inter-
esting property not only of this Ceanothus, but of all of the
species I have tested. The flowers or green seed-vessels, if
rubbed up for a moment or two in water, develop a more or
less abundant lather which is cleansing like soap — a fact that
campers and mountain ramblers will do well to bear in mind.
The various species also go under the name of Myrtle, and are
Far West cousins of that little bush New Jersey Tea, familiar
to Easterners, whose leaves were used for a homely beverage
during the Revolutionary War.

MALLOW FAMILY

(Malvacece)

Herbs or shrubs with frequently showy flowers, and 5 petals,
the numerous stamens combined by their filaments into a
column around the pistil, and united to the bases of the petals.

MALVA ROSA (Lavatera assurgentiflora, Kellogg). Flowers
pink with darker longitudinal veins, some 2 inches across,
borne on long axillary drooping footstalks. Leaves evergreen,
maple-like, 5 to 7 lobed, 3 to 9 inches in diameter. A shrub,
4 to 15 feet high, leaves and twigs abounding in mucilage, wild
on the Channel Islands of Southern California, and occasion-
ally found as an escape from cultivation on the mainland.
Blooming in spring and summer. In the environs of San Fran-
cisco it is a frequent hedge or windbreak around market-gardens.

It is a question how the Malva Rosa has become established
in California. Possibly it is indigenous to the California isl-
ands, but there is a tradition that seeds were brought to Cali-
fornia from Europe by the Franciscan Missionaries. The Span-
ish name by which it commonly goes, means "red mallow."
The long name commemorates the brothers Lavater, Swiss
naturalists of a couple of centuries ago.

WILD HOLLYHOCK (Siddlcea humilis, Gray). Flowers pink
or rose-purple, rather showy, in terminal racemes or spikes;
the column of stamens usually in two series, the outer of 5
distinct clusters of stamens, the inner or terminal one of about
10 sets. Calyx without bractlets at base. Basal leaves
round with rounded teeth or shallow lobes, the stem leaves
deeply cut into about 7 fingers, with 3-lobed divisions. A
rather hairy perennial with numerous stems 8 inches to 2 feet
long, from a woody stock or root; blooming from February
until May, and common on grassy hills and mesas of the Cali-
fornia Coast region from San Diego north.

Mingled with plants as described above, one will also find
some upon which the deep-colored flowers are smaller and with
stamens which are without developed anthers. The children's
name of Wild Hollyhock for the flower is fairly descriptive,
and not far astray, since hollyhocks, while of a different genus,
are still of the same family. The genus Sidalcea is confined
to our West, and there are about a dozen species on the Pacific
Coast, but none so common as S. humilis. They are of diffi-
cult determination.

117

DESERT MALLOW (Sphcerdlcea ambigua, Gray). Flowers
brick red, showy, about an inch across in wand-like, open
panicles, topping whitish, scurfy stems a foot or two high
growing in clumps. Leaves grayish green, palmate, promi-
nently veined. Common throughout the desert regions of Cali-
fornia on open hills and mesas and eastward to Arizona, Ne-
vada and Utah.

For the proper identification of the different genera of the
Mallow Family the seed vessels are often needful; and this is
particularly the case with Sphaeralcea, whose resemblance to
Malvastrum is very great — the main distinction being in the
fact that the cells of the ovary in Sphseralcea contain two
ovules each, while in those of Malvastrum the ovule is solitary.
After the identification of a plant as a Sphseralcea, however,
the student's difficulties are only begun; for the characters that
mark the various described species, run together in a way
that makes differentiation exceedingly hard. The plant here
pictured has sometimes been called S. Emoryi, Torr., and
again S. Munroana, Dougl.; but Mr. S. B. Parish of San Ber-
nardino, whose knowledge of the Southern California flora is
most thorough, tells me he has the authority of Dr. Asa Gray
himself for calling it S. ambigua.
118

FIVE SPOT. SPOTTED MALLOW (Malvastrum rotundifolium,
Gray). Flowers showy, an inch or so across when expanded,
lavender with a prominent reddish-orange spot at the base of
each petal; borne in loose clusters in the axils of the leaves.
Stigmas spherical. Leaves kidney-shaped, with shallow,
toothed lobes and long petioles. An annual plant with red-
dish stems, rather hairy, from 6 inches to 2 feet tall, growing
in desert sands, Southern California and eastward to Arizona,
blooming in March or April.

Of the many beautiful flowers that enliven the floor of our
Southwestern deserts for a brief period in the spring this
Malvastrum is one of the most alluring and almost sure to
attract the observant traveler's attention. Children are the
originators of many common names for wild flowers, and this
of Five-Spot, given to our plant by some bright youngsters of
my acquaintance, is happily descriptive enough to become
permanent. The flowers are shy about expanding fully, and
the tendency of the petals to curve inward at the tips causes the
blossom to present the appearance of a globe.

The name False Mallow is commonly applied in books to the
various species of Malvastrum, of which there are 8 or 9 indige-
nous to the Pacific Coast. The name means Star-mallow.
119

FREMONTIA (Fremontia calif arnica, Torr.). Flowers with-
out petals, the calyx divisions bright yellow, simulating a
corolla, from 1 to 3 inches in diameter, borne singly on short
footstalks in the axils of the leaves. Leaves an inch or two
across, rounded with a few shallow lobes, rusty underneath and
somewhat leathery. Shrubs or trees from 6 to 25 feet high,
the branches tough and flexible. Southern and Central Cali-
fornia on dry hillsides, in bloom from May to July, according
to location. Its greatest development is on the foothills of the
Sierra Nevada. As a shrub it often forms dense thickets.

Fremontia is an unforgettable sight when in full bloom, the
glorious flower a bright golden yellow. The name was given
in honor of General J. C. Fremont, who discovered it, but
among our mountaineers it is quite commonly known as Slip-
pery Elm because of its mucilaginous bark, which tastes much
like that of the true slippery elm, and is similarly used for the
making of poultices. It is also called Leatherwood because
of the toughness of the branches and bark.

Some botanists do not consider Fremontia as properly
placed in the Mallow Family, and regard it as a member of the
nearly related Sterculiaceoe — a tropical family that gives us
chocolate.

120

VIOLET FAMILY

(Violaceae)

Ours, low perennial herbs, the early flowers irregular, one
petal produced at its base into a spur. Later there is often an-
other crop of flowers produced on runners or short stems at the
base of the plant, inconspicuous, without petals, but abound-
ing in seeds.

WILD PANSY (Viola pedunculata, Torr. & G.). Flowers
about an inch across, showy, golden yellow, the upper petals
tinged with warm brown outside, the others veined with
purple, borne on naked peduncles, sometimes 2 feet long, and
overtopping the leaves, Plant 3 to 8 inches tall, with leafy
stems, the leaves coarsely round-toothed. Common through-
out Middle and Southern California in sunny, grassy places,
and on mesas from the seaside to the foothills, blooming from
February until May and often spreading over considerable
areas. Few wild flowers have a surer place in the popular
heart in California than the Wild Pansy. It is sometimes
called Yellow Violet. Miss Armstrong records a Spanish-
Californian name Gallito, which means "little rooster."

121

CREEPING VIOLET (Viola sarmentosa, Dougl.). Flowers
light yellow, rather small, on slender stalks; leaves round, an
inch across more or less, with rounded teeth, often with
dark dots and rusty brown beneath. A trim little plant,
prostrate and creeping by its slender stems. Blooming in
spring and early summer in the Coast Ranges from the Mon-
terey Bay region northward through Oregon and Washing-
ton.

This charming little violet is one of the most captivating
of woodland plants, and is often met with in the redwood for-
ests, making dainty mats upon the ground and drooping grace-
fully over bank edges. The specific name, sarmentosa, means
"having many little branches." An Easterner's first impres-
sion of the California wild violets is usually one of surprise
at the number of yellow-flowered species which are met, as
compared with blue — the latter being the most usual color on
the Atlantic Coast. Nevertheless there are a few blue-
flowered species, one of which, the little Sierran Dog Violet
(Viola oxyceras, Greene) is sure to be seen by visitors in the
Yosemite region, as it is quite common in the Sierra Nevada.

122

TAMARISK FAMILY

(Tamariscinece)

Shrubby plants with small, undivided, alternate leaves
somewhat fleshy, and rather closely related to the Pink Family.

OCOTILLO. CAXDLEWOOD (Fouquierp, splendens Engelm.).
Flowers tubular, bright crimson, crowded in terminal spikes
6 or 8 inches long; a shrub with fragile wood, the stems with-
out branches, ashen gray, thorny; and with small, sessile,
axillary leaves, borne near the summit of the stems.

This striking plant, with masses of whip-like stems rising
like a fire-tipped, thorn-encrusted, lignified fountain to the
height of sometimes 15 or 20 feet from the desert sands, is
found abundantly throughout the arid regions of South-
eastern California, eastward to Texas and south to Mexico,
blooming in late winter and in the spring. It is of consider-
able economic importance on the desert, the stems being used
for fences and even house walls. The stem is fragrantly resin-
ous and waxy and splints of it may be lighted and will burn like
candles. Ocotillb (pronounced ocotee'yo), is a diminutive of ocote,
a Mexican pine whose wood is used for torches. Fouquiera
commemorates a French doctor of medicine, P. E. Fouquier.
123

LOASA FAMILY

(Loasacece)

Herbaceous plants, often with rough, hooked hairs. Leaves
alternate. Stamens very numerous, inserted with the 5 or 10
petals upon the calyx throat, the outer tending to be petal-
like. The seed-vessels crowned with the persistent calyx lobes.

BLAZING STAR (Mentzelia Lindleyi, T. and G). Flowers
showy, opening toward evening, 3 inches or more in diameter,
golden yellow, the five petals silken of texture and terminating
in pointed tips, the many stamens making a conspicuous
tufted centre to the flower. Leaves ovate or lanceolate, wavy-
toothed. An annual plant 2 to 3 feet high with glistening
yellow stems, blooming in summer in the mountains of Cen-
tral California.

There are half a dozen or more species of Mentzelia indi-
genous to the Pacific Coast, but the genus is fairly well marked
by its characteristic shining stems, conspicuous clustered stam-
ens, and the top-shaped calyx with its five noticeable lobes.
The barbed hairs that clothe the plants cause them to cling to
one's dothing, on which account, Spanish speaking people have
humorously given it the name Buena Mujer, good woman.
124

CACTUS FAMILY

(Cactaceoe)

Peculiar, often grotesque, fleshy perennials, more or less
armed with bristles and spines, and rarely endowed with
leaves; easily recognized as a family, but individually often
very difficult to place in their proper species. There are
about 20 genera and 1,000 species, nearly all natives of Amer-
ica, especially Mexico, but many species are now naturalized
in the Old World, also. On the Pacific Coast they are con-
fined to the regions adjacent to Mexico.

CHOLLA (pronounced cho'ya). (Opuntia Bemardina, En-
gelm.). A much branched plant with slender, cylindrical,
jointed stems, 2 to 6 feet high, the stout yellow spines barbed
at the tip and enclosed their whole length in a papery sheath
that slips off readily. Flowers greenish-yellow with a tinge of
red, an inch broad or a little more; blooming in late spring
and early summer on arid plains in Southern California.

There are numerous species of the cylindrical-jointed
Opuntias in the Southwest, and in a general way the Mexican
name Cholla is applied to all, in contradistinction to the flat-
jointed species which are called Tuna-cactus or Nopal.
125

NOPAL. PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia Lindheimeri, Engelm.).
Flanis with broad, flat joints and usually forming thickets,
from 3 to 10 feet high, joints from 6 inches to a foot long,
spiny and bristly. Flowers sessile, yellow or reddish, about
three inches in diameter. Llooming in spring or summer
in the dry valleys and on the foothills and mesas even along
the sea, throughout Southern California. The dark red fruits
— "prickly pears" — are edible, though seedy; but should be
handled with great care until the bristles are rubbed off, as
these fasten themselves prcrrptly in one's fingers and are very
annoying.

This Opuntia is somewhat variable and botanists dis-
tinguish two varieties, littoralis of the seacoast, and occidentalis,
found farther inland. The fruits are called tunas by the Mexi-
cans and Indians, who use them to some extent for food; the
plant itself is nopal.

About old dwellings and particularly the Franciscan Mis-
sions, two larger-fruited species are found, brought up from
Mexico a century or more ago and planted for hedges and for
the superior fruit. One of these 0. Ficus-Indica, bears "pears"
of a pale straw color; the other 0. Tuna, has a fruit that is red.

126

BISXAGA. BARBEL CACTUS (Echinocactus cylindraceus,
Engelm.). Stout, cylindrical, leafless plants a foot or more in
diameter and from 1 to 6 feet or even more in height, prom-
inently ribbed and bearing on the ribs bundles of hooked spines
that are transversely barred. Flowers greenish-yellow, an
in oh or so in diameter, forming a circlet at the top of the plant;
blooming in the spring on the desert and arid hillsides of
Southeastern California and eastward.

Bisnaga is the common Mexican name for Echinocactus, of
which there are several species in the Southwest. The firm,
juicy heart of the big cylinders has the quality of an unripe
water-melon and is to some extent used in the making of the
so-called cactus candy for sale by confectioners. It is as the
water barrels of the desert, however, that the Bisnagas are
best known. If the top is cut off and the pulp of the interior
pounded up, it yields a considerable quantity of drinkable
water, capable of assuaging thirst.

The spines are quite beautiful and those of one species have
been used by Indians for fishhooks, and of another by white
men for gramophone needles.

127

STRAWBERRY CACTUS (Mamillaria Goodridgii, Scheer.).
The Mamillarias are little round plants a few inches high,
covered with small nipple-like tubercles, each crowned with a
tuft of spreading spines. In Mamillaria Goodridgii and some
other species the central spine is elongated and bears a hook at
the tip. The flowers arise between the tubercles and are
small and inconspicuous, white or pinkish in M. Goodridgii,
and appear in the spring. The fruit which follows is quite
showy, a scarlet, club-shaped berry, and is edible, giving the
plant the common name Strawberry Cactus. The hooked
spines are responsible for another popular name — Fishhook
Cactus; and the tubercles that dot the plant have gained it yet
another — ISipple Cactus, which is really only an English ver-
sion of the Latin Mamillaria.

Ihe Strawberry Cactus is found on the dry hills of San
Diego County, California, and southward in Lower California,
as well as on the neighboring islands. It affects gravelly or
sandy soil, often among rocks, and the flowers are fully open
only in sunlight and for a short time. The whitish spines are
quite ornamental in their arrangement, radiating in a flat plane
about the fsh-hook.

128

HEDGEHOG CACTUS (Cereus Engelmanni, Parry). The
genus Cereus in our country is distinguished by oval, cylin-
dric or columnar stems, with vertical ribs and bunches of
spines borne on the ribs. The flowers are produced on the
older parts of the plants just above the spine bunches. Cereus
Engelmanni is about a foot high, and when in bloom, makes
one of the striking floral features of the Colorado desert region
of Southeastern California. The large magenta flowers, 2| to
3 inches across, glow like crimson suns on the stems of the
plant from April to June, but only when the sun is shining.
The green stigmas are a noticeable feature.

Cereus Engelmanni is a humble cousin of the huge Cereus
giganteus, the floral emblem of Arizona, and instead of putting
its energy into a single column of growth as the latter does, it
prefers to distribute it and make a number of short cylindric
heads from one base. It is abundant on the lower slopes of the
mountains 'facing the Colorado desert of California and ex-
tends eastward to Arizona and Utah.

129

EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY

(Onagraceoi)

Herbaceous plants, the flowers with 4 petals, and usually 8
stamens, the stigma 4-lobed or capitate, and the long calyx
tube adherent to the ovary.

WILD FrCHSiA (Zauschneria calif ornica, Presl.). Flowers
1 to H inches long, scarlet both calyx and corolla, funnel-form
with exserted stamens and style, disposed in loose racemes
at the top of leafy, woody stems, 1 to 3 feet long, much
branched. Leaves grayish-green. Blooming in the late sum-
mer and throughout the autumn, in Central and Southern
California and eastward to Wyoming and New Mexico, in dry
or rocky soil, often painting considerable areas with vivid color.
It is common in the Yosemite region from the foothills to
about 6,500 feet altitude (according to Dr. Hall), but on
account of its late flowering, many visitors there never see
it. In Southern California at low altitudes it may be found in
bloom until the year's end.

The botanical name of the Wild Fuchsia commemorates a
German botanist, Zauschner — an honor that costs our Amer-
ican tongues dearly.

130

(Godetia vimtnea, Spach.). Flowers
2 inches or so across, crimson or purplish, often with a darker
blotch at the bases (which are sometimes yellowish) of the
petals, the funnel-form calyx tube produced above the ovary,
the lobes more or less cohering and turned to one side; dis-
posed in leafy racemes, on stems from a few inches to 3 feet
high. Leaves alternate, narrow and entire, \ inch to 2
inches long. Blooming in spring and early summer on hill-
sides and in dry meadows of Central and Northern Califor-
nia northward through Oregon.

There are more than a dozen species of Godetia (a name
by the way given in honor of the Swiss botanist Godet), rather
difficult of determination by the amateur, though the genus
is well enough marked. The common name Farewell-to-Spring
is appropriate to all, although in Southern California spring
is by no means departing when they begin to appear. From
Monterey to the Mexican border, on grassy hillsides, we may
find the lovely species Godetia Bottae, Spach., a slender plant,
2 to 3 feet high, with pinkish or lilac cups of bloom dotted in
purple, and a purplish or whitish centre.

131

CLARKIA (Clarkia elegans, Dougl.). Flowers reddish
purple or pink, an inch or more in diameter, the petals rhom-
boidal in outline narrowed abruptly to long, slender claws;
nodding in the bud in racemes at the summit of simple or
branched annual stems from a few inches to several feet in
height — even 6 feet in damp ground. Leaves an inch long or
so, alternate, ovate to linear, and usually toothed.

Clarkia is one of the commonest of California wayside flow-
ers in spring and early summer, and is distributed on hillsides
and valleys from Mendocino County to Los Angeles, and on
the lower altitudes of the Sierra Nevada. It is a plant of a
blushing disposition — not only petals and sepals being pro-
nouncedly reddish, but stamens, seed-vessels, and even the
foliage all showing the same fiery tendency; and when occur-
ring in masses, as is often the case, it is very showy.

In the Yosemite region, as well as northward and southward
along the mountains, and eastward to Nevada and Utah, the
species C. rhmnboidea, Dougl., is frequently fou;.d. It is a
smaller plant, and the flowers are distinguished by petals
with claws that are broad and toothed.

132

CLARKIA (Clarkia concinna [F. & M.] Greene). Flowers
rose-pink, petals nearly or quite an inch long with 3 terminal
lobes; stamens only 4. Calyx tubes very slender. Stems
annual from a few inches to 2 feet high. Blooming in summer
in the Coast Ranges of California, often under the shade of
trees, and very showy. The plant was originally described
as Eucharidium concinnum, the filiform calyx tube and the 4
stamens being thought to entitle it to generic distinction;
but most botanists assign it to Clarkia.

The name Clarkia commemorates that gallant old Virginian,
Captain William Clark of the famous Lewis and Clark com-
bination of 1804-6 — the first expedition to cross the American
Continent. Lewis was a member of the American Philosophi-
cal Society of Philadelphia, and on the trip gathered plants
enthusiastically. Among these were specimens of a beauti-
ful flower collected in Idaho or Montana, upon which the
genus Clarkia was established. That was Clarkia pulcheUa,
Pursh., not found in California, but abundant in Oregon and
Washington and eastward to the Rockies. It, like C. con-
cinna, has 3-lobed petals, but besides 4 perfect stamens has 4
rudimentary ones.

133

DESERT EVENING PRIMROSE (Oenothera trichocalyx, Nutt.).
Flowers showy, white with a yellow glow at the heart, turning
gradually to pink, 2 or 3 inches in diameter, nodding in the
bud, the calyx very hairy; borne on long axillary peduncles.
Leaves gray-green, narrow, 2 or 3 inches long, wavy-toothed
or somewhat lobed. The plant is an annual with white, stout-
ish stems.

This Evening Primrose is one of the most charming of desert
wild flowers, and may be found in bloom in the spring on both
the Mojave and Colorado deserts of California, and thence
eastward to Wyoming, Arizona, and New Mexico. The plant
is of low habit barely exceeding 6 inches in height. The ex-
quisite white blossoms, which are faintly fragrant, expand in
the afternoon to remain open until next morning when they
droop and wither.

The genus Oenothera, as originally understood, was a very
large one of species mostly indigenous to North America. It
has been one of the battlegrounds, however, of botanical
nomenclaturists who have sought to dismember it into a dozen
different parts. Advocates of latter day nomenclature de-
scribe our Desert Evening Primrose under the name Anogra
trichocalyx (Nutt.), Small.

134

SUN-CUPS (Oenothera bistorta, Nutt:). Flowers bright yel-
low, nearly an inch in diameter, often with a brownish spot at
the base of the petals, axillary on leafy stems which are usually
2 or 3 inches high, or almost flat to the ground, though in some
situations they attain a height of a foot or more. The pistil
is capped with a tiny round-ball of a stigma. Leaves about 3
inches long, somewhat toothed. A common plant in Southern
California, blooming in sunshine from February to June, on
open plains and in gravelly or sandy washes, often brightening
acres with its sunny color.

The specific name of this Oenothera means "twice-twisted,"
and was given because of the squirming seed vessels, which are
quite odd — a characteristic, however, which is shared with
some other species. In Central California near the Coast the
name Sun-cups is applied to Oenothera ovata, Nutt., a low
plant with wavy-margined leaves in the form of a rosette. The
bright yellow flowers, quite similar to those of CE. bistorta, are
remarkable from the fact that what appear to be their long
peduncles are really the slender calyx tubes leading down to
the underground seed vessels.

135

BEACH PRIMROSE (Oenothera cheirdnthifolia, Horn.). Flow-
ers showy yellow, frequently turning greenish when withering,
axillary upon the trailing, white, downy stems which are 2 feet
or so long, and very leafy. Leaves thickish, oblong, the upper
clasping, and all of them gray with a minute downiness, that
gives the entire plant a silvery look.

The Beach Primrose, like most of its charming family, is a
lover of the open sunny places, and is a very common plant on
the sea beaches of Southern California, and as far north as
Monterey, forming conspicuous mats upon the sands, wrhether
in flower or not. The specific name means "with leaves like
Cheiranthus" the wall flower.

The meaning of the name Oenothera is a puzzle, and has been
variously defined. It is certainly of great antiquity, but just
what plant in ancient times was meant by it is open to conjec-
ture. Dr. Nathaniel L. Britton, Director of the New York
Botanical Garden, is convinced that the word means "wine-
scenting," because the root of the original Old World plant was
probably used for perfuming wine. This appears to be the
most reasonable explanation so far offered.

136

PARSLEY FAMILY

(U-mbeUiferce)

Herbs with usually hollow grooved stems and alternate
decompound leaves, the petioles often dilated at the base.
Flowers small, generally in compound or single umbels. The
mature seed vessels are necessary for the identification of most
of the genera and species.

EULOPHUS (Eulophus Boldnderi, C. & R.). Flowers white,
in long-stalked compound umbels. Leaves 3 to 6 inches long,
the numerous divisions very narrow and thread-like. Stems
a foot or two high. Blooming in summer in damp meadows of
the higher mountains.

Eulophus Bolanderi is very abundant in the Yosemite region
and the Sierra meadows, which are often white in summer with
the lovely flat-topped flower clusters. The specific name was
given in honor of Henry X. Bolander, an industrious collector
of California plants between 1863 and 1875, during a part of
which time he was connected with the State Geological Survey.

There is a closely related species, E. Parishii, C. &. R., dis-
tinguished by leaves with only 3 or 4 divisions, which are
much coarser than those of E. Bolanderi.
137

FENNEL (Fceniculum wdgdre, Gsert.). Flowers yellow in
compound umbels, leaves decompound and finely dissected
into thread-like segments. Stout, smooth herbs, 3 to 6 feet
high, with a fragrance when crushed of licorice. Common
along roadsides, in waste places and near cultivated grounds,
blooming in spring and summer.

Fennel is an Old World plant and perhaps owes its presence
on the Pacific Coast to the Franciscan Missionaries; for the
seeds have been used from time immemorial in domestic medi-
cine as a carminative, and would naturally have formed a part
of the Padres' importations. Spanish-Californians call the
plant Anis Hinojo (ah-nees' ee-no'-ho), wrhich means "anise
fennel," and may have given rise to the name by which Amer-
icans on the Coast frequently call the plant — Sweet Anise.
In some parts of California the children, who enjoy the pleas-
ant taste of the leaves and stalks, long ago dubbed it Ladies'
Chewing Tobacco.

Famous in the folk-lore of the Old World, fennel links us
with the classic past, when victors in the public games were
crowned with it, and gladiators had it mixed with their food to
make them strong.

138

DOGWOOD FAMILY

(Cornacece)

Usually trees and shrubs with simple opposite leaves with-
out stipules. Floral parts in 4's, petals sometimes wanting.
Calyx adhering to the seed vessels.

QUINIXE BUSH (Gdrrya elliptica, Dougl.). Flowers grayish-
green without petals, and of two sexes on separate plants, dis-
posed in axillary, drooping catkins either solitary or clustered.
Leaves evergreen, leathery, wavy-margined, white-woolly
beneath. A shrub 5 to 8 feet high (or rarely a small tree in
Oregon) blooming as early as February, in the hills from Cen-
tral California to Washington.

The pendent catkins of the Quinine Bush are very noticeable
— particularly the male catkins, which are from 2 to 6 inches
long. Each flower is enclosed in a funnel-shaped bract, and the
whole catkin resembles a swinging string of tiny bells. The
pistillate catkins become at maturity clusters of acid, bitterish
berries. The bark and leaves of Garrya possess a bitter prin-
ciple, and their use in fevers has suggested the common name
Quinine Bush. Garry, whom the botanical name commemo-
rates, was a patron of David Douglas, the famous collector.
139

NUTTALL'S DOGWOOD (Cornus Nuttdllii, And.). Flowers
small and greenish in a button-like cluster surrounded by a
circle of 4 to 6 showy white or pinkish bracts that resemble
petals. Leaves opposite, acute at each end, strongly veined,
short petioled, turning brilliantly red and orange in the au-
tumn. A tree ordinarily 20 to 30 feet high, but sometimes
twice that; blooming in May or June, in the mountains gener-
ally near streams, both in the Coast Ranges and the Sierras
from Southern California to British Columbia. Occasion-
ally flowers are found upon the trees in autumn.

Nuttall's Dogwood is readily recognized by any one famil-
iar with the Flowering Dogwood of the East, which it resem-
bles, but its blossoms are larger. The name preserves the
memory of Thomas Nuttall, the famous naturalist who visited
the Pacific Coast some 80 years ago and made important col-
lections. Readers of Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast,"
will remember the humorous description of him at San Diego,
where the sailors nicknamed him "Old Curious."

140

HEATH FAMILY

(Ericaceae)

Trees, shrubs, and perennial herbs. Leaves of ours mostly
evergreen and rigid, or occasionally reduced to scales. Anth-
ers mostly opening by little holes at the top.

CALIFORNIA HUCKLEBERRY (Vaccinium ovatum, Pursh.).
Flowers pink or white, waxen, small and bell-shaped, about |
inch long, in short clusters from the axils of the alternate,
shiny leaves. Blooming in spring and early summer in the
Coast Ranges from Central California to Oregon and Washing-
ton. Frequent in the redwood forests.

The California Huckleberry is one of the loveliest of shrubs,
whether in flower or fruit or neither. The red stems, clothed
with glossy evergreen leaves, are very graceful rising to the
height sometimes of 8 feet, though usually less. They are cut
in large quantities for Christmas greens. The purplish-black
berries, though small, are juicy and good.

141

MADRONO (Arbutus M enziesii, Pursh.). A shrub or stately
tree, distinguished by shiny, evergreen foliage, a reddish-
brown trunk, and the thin red bark of the limbs and upper
stem, which peels off in cinnamon-like quills, and reveals an
under-bark of green. The mature leaves are 2^ to 5 inches
long, leathery like those of magnolias. They turn in summer
to tones of red and fall to the ground, which then becomes gay
with the mingled reds of ripened foliage and bark. The
flowers are wraxen-white, urn-shaped, individually small but
borne in large, showy clusters resembling Lilies of the Valley,
and appear in February and early spring. In the autumn
these are succeeded by the abundant, berry-like fruit, which is
brilliant orange-red in color, each berry about the size of a pea.

The Madrono is at its best in the Coast Ranges from the
neighborhood of San Francisco to Puget Sound, though it is
met with sparingly as far south as Mexico. The name dates
from the Spanish settlement of California, Madrono being the
Spanish for the European Strawberry-tree (Arbutus Unedo)
for which our tree was at first mistaken.

142

MANZANITA (Arcfostdphylos Manzanita, Parry). Flowers
white or pinkish, urn-shaped, in short, crowded racemes.
Leaves pale green, thick, often vertical by the twisting of the
footstalk. A variable shrub or small tree, 3 to 25 feet high,
frequent in the chaparral belt of the California Mountains,
blooming sometimes in midwinter but usually from February
to April, the blossoms "like little classic vases cut in alabaster,"
to quote the happy simile of Mr. J. S. Chase in "Yosemite
Trails."

The Maazanita is of striking appearance because of its very
crooked, hard, polished branches from which the thin, choco-
late-red bark peels in shreds and patches. The name is Span-
ish for "little apple," and well describes the rosy little berries
which abound upon the bushes in summer. When green these
berries are rather tart arid chewed in the mouth are a relief
from thirst, but the pulp had best not be swallowed. When
mature they are dry and mealy, and Indians have found them
nutritious, both cooked and raw, though too free consumption
induces serious intestinal stoppage. A capital cider may also
be made from them, and white mountaineers prize them for
jelly making.

143

WESTERN A2ALEA (Rhododendron occidentdle, Gray). Flow-
ers showy, 2 to 3 inches long, white or pinkish, funnel-form
with spreading lobes one of which bears a yellow stripe or
blotch; stamens and pistil long exserted; borne in umbels at
the branch ends, fragrant but sticky. Leaves deciduous,
bright-green, 2 to 4 inches long, clustered at the branch ends.

The Western Azalea is frequent along streams in the moun-
tains throughout California and northward to Oregon, where,
like the far eastern cousin of Atlantic woodlands which it
resembles, it often goes by the inaccurate name WTild Honey-
suckle. The flowers open in early June, but are usually gone
by the last of July. The bushes are from 2 to 10 feet high,
and the luxuriant flower masses, almost hiding the foliage,
make a scene of all but tropical magnificence extending some
times for miles along the mountain waters. Visitors in early
summer to the Yosemite region find in such fragrant Azalea
thickets one of the lasting pleasures of that wild world.

While the Azalea is classed in the genus Rhododendron by
most botanical writers, there are some who prefer to consider
it as a separate genus. The botanic distinctions, however, are
hard to establish, in spite of a difference in general aspect that
is noticeable.

144

ROSE DAY (Rhododendron califdrnicum, Hook). Flowers
rose-pink, about 2 inches in diameter, somewhat bell-shaped,
the upper corolla-lobe spotted with yellow; borne in terminal
many-flowered umbels, without fragrance, in the midst of
clustered, leathery, evergreen leaves from 4 to 6 inches long or
even more. A shrub from 3 to 15 feet high, sometimes forming
dense thickets, acres in extent, in the mountains from Northern
California northward through Oregon and Washington.
Blooming in the spring and early summer.

The compelling beauty of the Rose Bay has caused it to
be popularly adopted in Washington as that State's floral
emblem. It resembles, but exceeds in charm of flower, the
famous Carolina Rhododendron (C. Catawbiense) which flori-
culturists long ago hybridized with a Mediterranean species
to produce the variety most commonly cultivated nowadays
in American gardens. Our R. Californicum has been intro-
duced into English gardens where it has proved a success.

Rhododendron is a name that comes down to us from classic
times and means Rose-tree. The ancients, however, did not
use the word for the plants we call so, but to designate the
oleander.

145

HEATHER (Bryanthus Br6weri, Gray). Flowers crimson,
saucer-shaped, about \ inch across, stamens and style much
exserted; borne in showy clusters at the branch ends. Leaves
stiff and crowded, bristling out on all sides of the stems, linear
with rolled-back margins.

Bryanthus is a genus of heath-like, arctic-alpine plants,
of which the Pacific Coast has two or three. Of these B.
Breweri is the best known and will be observed by every visitor
to the High Sierra of California, where it spreads its charming
mats of ruddy bloom over gravelly slopes and about mountain
tarns throughout July and August. It begins to appear at
about 10,000 feet elevation. It occurs as far south as the sum-
mit of Mount San Gorgonio in Southern California.

The botanical name means Moss-flower, given, Doctor Gray
tells us, because the originally described species grew among
mosses; and the specific name commemorates the geologist
Wm. H. Brewer of the California Geological Survey of hah* a
century ago. The popular name Heather seems well estab-
lished, but is somewhat unfortunate, as the Heather of litera-
ture is quite dissimilar to this, and is not a Pacific Coast plant.

146

WHITE HEATHER (Casswpe Mertensiana, Don.)- Flowers
white, or pale pink, bell-shaped, like those of Lily-of- the- valley,
solitary and nodding, on erect, naked peduncles rising from the
axils of the leaves. Leaves about | inch long, boat-shaped,
and overlapping one another in the manner of scales, in four
ranks upon the branches, which rise barely a foot above the
ground.

This odd, little plant with slender, creeping stems that sug-
gest a Club-moss in their habit, is found blooming in summer
among the rocks of the higher altitudes of the Sierra Nevada
near timber line, from the Yosemite region northward. It
was the favorite flower of John Muir, whose writings contain
many references to it — his "lowly, hardy, adventurous Cassi-
ope." Its tangled beds make a notable feature in alpine mead-
ows and on the borders of glacier lakes upon the crest of the
Sierra northward along the Cascades of Oregon, Washington,
and British Columbia to far-off Alaska. It is found usually
at slightly higher elevations than Bryanthus.

147

SALAL (Gaultheria Shdllon, Pursh.). Flowers white or
pinkish, about 3 inch long, urn-shaped, viscid, in elongated,
many-flowered racemes. Leaves ovate, evergreen, leathery,
finely toothed, alternate, 2 to 4 inches long. A shrub 1 to 3
feet high, sometimes taller and sometimes prostrate; with
stout spreading stems — branches and flower stalks, as well as
the corolla, sticky hairy. Blooming in spring or early sum-
mer in the shade of trees in the Coast Ranges from Santa Bar-
bara northward to British Columbia.

The Salal is a feature of the forest floor-covering under the
redwoods of Northern California; but its most robust develop-
ment is attained in Oregon and the upper limit of its range.
In autumn the plants are adorned with purple-black berries
resembling small grapes, of a spicy fragrance and taste. The
Oregon Indians made them a part of their diet. Lewis and
Clarke's journal usually records the aboriginal name for the
plant as Shallun, but in one place as Shelwel. The Indians
make a kind of syrup of the berries and also, according to the
journal, a sort of bread, "which being boiled with roots forms
a soup, which was served in neat wooden trenchers."

148

PRINCE'S PIXE (Chimdphila Menziesii, Spreng.). Flowers
fragrant, white or pinkish, the 5 waxen, roundish, concave pet-
als spreading and somewhat turned back; borne singly, or 2 or
3, on a terminal naked stalk; the sticky stigma quite promin-
ent, button-like with blunt rays. Leaves narrowish, leathery,
dark green, the upper surface sometimes mottled with white.
A low evergreen plant, rarely 6 inches high, branching from
woody runners, in coniferous woods from Central California
to British Columbia; blooming in summer.

The name Chimaphila means "winter-loving," and was
given the genus by the botanist Pursh when he separated it
from the genus Pyrola some species of which were much used
in his time for indoor winter decorations, under the general
name of "winter-green."

The well-known plant of Atlantic Coast woodlands called
Pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata, Nutt.), is also found on the
Pacific Coast and in similar situations to C. Menziesii, and
may be distinguished from the latter by the greater abundance
of its leaves which are never spotted, and by its larger flowers,
some in clusters of 4 to 7. The leaves of Chimaphila possess
a principle which has occasioned their use in. medicine to some
extent as a tonic, astringent, and diuretic.
149

SNOW PLANT (Sarcodes sanguinea, Torr.). Flowers and
the whole plant red or sometimes tinged with yellow; a stout,
fleshy, columnar plant, 6 inches to a foot or so high, clothed
below in place of leaves with shingled, fleshy, pointed scales,
the bell-shaped flowers occupying the upper half of the plant
in the form of a thick spike, mingled with short curling bracts.
Blooming in late spring or summer, often several together,
in the litter of the forest floor at altitudes above 4,000 feet
in the Sierras of California south to San Pedro Martir in
Lower California, north to Oregon and eastward to Nevada.

The Snow Plant is believed to be an example of symbiosis,
a case of partnership with a fungus which lives upon its roots
and acts as agent to gather nitrogen from the soil for its host.
The common name merely indicates that it is sometimes — by
no means always — found blooming in or near the snow. In
the Yosemite National Park, where it is always a curiosity to
visitors, it is forbidden by law to pluck the plant, in order that
it may not be exterminated.

150

PINE-DROPS (Pterdspora Andromedea, Nutt.). Flowers
white or yellowish, urn-shaped, drooping in a long, many-
flowered raceme terminating the brownish-red, clammy, sticky
stem which (including the flowers) is from 1 to 4 feet tall.
Leaves reduced to scattered scales.

The fleshy, slender stems of the Pine-drops, straight as ar-
rows, are an arresting sight in the oak and coniferous woods of
the Pacific Coast, whether in summer when strung with their
waxen bells of bloom, or in winter when the fruit capsules
have taken then- place. Its roots consist of clustered, coral-
like fibres which attach themselves parasitically to other living
plants. The lover of sights that have to be magnified will
find interest in the tiny seeds, each of which bears a thin,
translucent, veined wing many times larger than the seed it-
self. It was this characteristic which suggested the botanical
name, meaning "winged-seeded."

Pine-drops is found not only on the Pacific Coast, but
in the Rocky Mountain region south to Arizona, and eastward
to New England. Some botanists place it and its parasitic
kindred in a family to themselves which they call Mono-
tropacece.

151

PRIMROSE FAMILY

(Primulacece)

Herbs with regular, perfect flowers, the parts of the calyx
an.d gamopetalous corolla usually in 5's. Stamens of the same
number as the lobes of the corolla, and opposite to them, in-
serted on its base.

SHOOTING STAR (Dodocdtheon Cleveldndi, Greene). Flowers
white, lilac or pinkish with a yellow ring at the base, the 5
deeply-cleft corolla lobes sharply reflexed, as in the garden cy-
clamen; the stamens and pistil bunched together and ex-
tending like a purple beak at the tip of the nodding flowers;
blossoms borne in umbels on naked stalks from a few inches
to a foot or more tall. Leaves thickish, in a basal tuft.
Blooming from February until May in meadows and on grassy
slopes in Southern California — one of the best beloved of
Pacific Coast wild flowers, often called Wild Cyclamen.

152

JEFFREY'S SHOOTING STAR (Dodocdtheon JSffreyi, Van H.).
Flowers nodding, purplish-pink, paling toward the base which
is ringed with yellow, the corolla segments strongly reflexed,
and the connivent anthers forming a beak; disposed in an um-
bel of 5 to 15 blossoms, on a naked stem from a few inches to
lj feet high. Leaves clustered at the ground from 2 inches
to over a foot long. Plant somewhat viscid, blooming in sum-
mer in wet mountain meadows of California, especially in the
Sierra Nevada, northward to Oregon.

Jeffrey's Shooting Star is the species the visitor in the
Yosemite is most likely to see, as it is very abundant in many
places in that Park. In the High Sierras a variety occurs
which is characterized by larger size and a strong fragrance of
the herbage. This has been named var. redolens by Doctor
Hall. Dodocatheon is one of the genera that have given
botanists a lot of trouble to systematize, because of the lack
of stable, clear-cut differences between varying forms. The
marked similarity of the flowers, however, in the half dozen
Pacific Coast species, makes the genus itself of easy identifica-
tion by the nontechnical.

153

PIMPERXEL (Anagdllis arvensis, L.). Flowers wheel-shaped,
barely | inch in diameter, salmon-red (rarely blue or white),
with a dark purple spot at the centre; borne singly on thread-
like footstalks from the axils of the opposite sessile leaves. A
low, spreading annual of neat habit with square stems, bloom-
ing in summer and common everywhere in waste places, along
roadsides and in fields. Leaves and flowers are usually in
pairs.

The Pimpernel is an immigrant from the Old World, and is
at home quite across the Continent. One would call it a
weed if one had the requisite indifference of heart thus to desig-
nate so innocent and appealing a face amid the grasses. The
flowers are addicted to that habit — so captivating to the child-
like mind — of closing at nightfall, or even at the approach of
cloudy weather, whence a number of descriptive popular names
for it in England, as Poor Man's Weather-glass, Shepherd's
Warning, Wink-a-peep, and John-go-to-bed-at-noon. The
last name is hardly deserved on our Coast, for the flowers stay
open until much after noon, if the day be sunny.

154

SIERRA PRIMROSE (Primula suffrutescens, Gray). Flowers
red-purple, ^ inch to an inch across, salver-shaped, the 5 lobes
notched, borne in a loose umbel topping a leafless stalk 4
inches high or less. Leaves thick, wedge-shaped, several-
toothed at the summit and tapering to a margined footstalk;
all crowded on woody stems or rootstocks close to the ground.
Blooming in summer in the crevices of rocks or on gravelly
ridges on the higher peaks of the Sierra Nevada of California.

Visitors in the Yosemite National Park who essay the ad-
venture of the High Sierra in late July or August, are pretty
sure to be rewarded by the sight of the brilliant posies of
this shrubby Sierra Primrose — the only true primrose native to
California. It is one of those charming plants, to quote John
Muir, "gentle mountaineers, Nature's darlings, which seem
always the finer the higher and stormier their homes." Per-
haps it is with plants as it is with a fine humanity, the storm
and stress of life serves only to bring out the best in them.

155

PLUMBAGO FAMILY

(Plumbaginaceae)

Usually herbaceous plants of the sea coast, with mostly basal
tufted leaves. Corolla of 5 long-clawed parts united at the
base or into a tube. Stamens opposite the corolla segments.
Calyx plaited between its lobes, and persistent.

SEA PINK (Armeria vulgdris, Willd.). Flowers rose color
or white, individually small, but showy in compact, clustered
heads, with a sort of involucre beneath of chaffy bracts; on
naked stalks from 3 inches to a foot high or so. Leaves nar-
row, without distinction of blade and petiole, crowded at the
ground in dense tufts. Blooming in spring and early summer
on downs and bluffs along the seacoast from California to
Alaska.

The Sea Pink is native to the Old World as well as ours, and
has long been a favorite in old-fashioned gardens under the
name of Thrift. That has nothing to do with frugality, how-
ever, but is merely the survival of an old meaning of a partici-
pial form of thrive, and signifies "clustered," an allusion to the
plant's growing in tufts.

156

STORAX FAMILY

(Styracacece)

A small order of shrubs or trees with alternate, simple
leaves, and usually regular, perfect flowers. Stamens at least
twice as many as the petals or corolla lobes, inserted on its
tube or base, the filaments wholly or in part united.

CALIFORNIA STORAX (Styrax californica, Torr.). Flowers
white, about an inch long, bell-shaped, the petals conspicu-
ously overlapping in the bud, in loose, few flowered, drooping
racemes which are axillary or terminal. Leaves deciduous,
somewhat oval, an inch or two long. A downy-scurfy shrub,
5 to 8 feet high, blooming in April and May in the mountains
of California.

The genus Styrax is of numerous species widely distributed
in the warmer parts of the world. Some have been noted
from very early times for their yield of valuable aromatic
gums; others for the charm of their flowers. Our beautiful
California Storax is in the latter class, and it has to some extent
been introduced into cultivation, especially in England.

157

GENTIAN FAMILY

(Gentianacece)

Smooth, bitter herbs with opposite leaves. Stamens as
many as the lobes of the gamopetalous corolla, inserted on its
tube or throat.

CANCHALAGUA (Eryihrcea ventista, Gray). Flowers about
an inch in diameter, pink or reddish with a yellow or white eye,
borne in a loose, showy panicle on a stem 3 inches to 2 feet
high. Leaves ^ inch to 1 inch long, lanceolate, sessile. A
slender annual, blooming from April to July, on dry hills and
grassy mesas of Central and Southern California — most
abundant in the South.

Canchalagua is one of the most famous of Pacific Coast
medicinal herbs, valued alike by Americans, Spanish-Cali-
fornians and Indians as a febrifuge. The plant is gathered
and dried, and a tea, made from it, is a standard bitter tonic in
old-fashioned families. Because of the bitter principle resi-
dent in the plant, the name Wild Quinine is also given it.
Kindred species in Mexico and South America possess similar
properties.

158

MILKWEED FAMILY

(Asclepiadacece)

Herbs, vines or shrubs with usually a milky juice. Flowers
5-parted, the divisions reflexed in our genera; anthers united to
the stigma in the form of a crown, with 5 hood-like appendages
making a circle about it. Fruit a pod, the numerous seeds
each bearing a tuft of silky hairs at the tip.

WOOLLY MILKWEED (Asclepias eriocarpa, Benth.). Flow-
ers creamy white, the stamen-hoods each provided with an
acute horn. Leaves short-petioled, 4 to 8 inches long; the
whole plant, which is 2 to 4 feet high, densely clothed with a
loose wool, even to the calyx. By roadsides and on hills,
Central and Southern California.

The Woolly Milkweed is perhaps the commonest of several
Pacific Coast species. The Indians obtained from the tough
inner bark a strong fibre of which they manufactured carry-
ing nets and rope; and the sweet, milky juice was used as a
lotion for cuts and sores, and also as chewing gum.

159

PHLOX FAMILY

(Polemoniacece)

Herbs and shrubs with mostly regular flowers; calyx and
gamopetalous corolla 5-parted, the 5 stamens inserted on the
corolla tube. Style usually 3-lobed. Corolla twisted in the
bud.

BIRD'S EYE (Gilia tricolor, Benth.). Flowers funnel-form,
^ inch long, the spreading lobes pale lilac, the tube yellow with

5 purple spots at the throat; borne in few- or several-flowered
clusters, on rather short peduncles. Leaves twice-pinnately
parted into narrow divisions. A slender, branching, annual.

6 inches to 1 or 2 feet high. Common on hillsides of Western
Middle California, blooming in the spring and early summer.

This charming wilding was one of the discoveries of that
famous pioneer collector David Douglas, whom the Royal
Horticultural Society of London sent to the Pacific Coast in
quest of floral novelties nearly a century ago. Under a number
of forms it has been a favorite in gardens both abroad and in
our own country, being of easiest culture.

160

BLUE GILIA (Gilia capitata, Dougl.). Flowers blue, rather
small, in crowded head-like clusters, stamens conspicuously
exserted, an inch across or more, terminating long naked stalks.
Leaves finely divided into numerous, very slender or even
thread-like segments. A slender annual, a foot or so high,
blooming in the spring in the Coast Ranges from Central Cali-
fornia to Oregon.

There are two Pacific Coast species nearly related, that are
known as Blue Gilia. The other, which closely resembles
Gilia capitata, is Gilia achillecefolia, Benth., which means the
"Yarrow-leaved Gilia." It is a rather stouter plant, the blue
or lavender flower clusters larger and less compact, sometimes
2 inches across. It is abundant in the Yosemite region, and
southward in the foothills to Southern California where it will
be found in flower from April to June. Both species are old
favorites in gardens.

The name Gilia was given in honor of a Spanish botanist,
Philip Gil, and is usually pronounced jil'ia, though some
botanists call it heel'-ia in conformity with the Spanish pro-
nunciation of the name which it commemorates.

161

FRINGED GILIA (Gilia dianthoides, Endl.). Flowers f inch
across or more, pinkish or lilac paling to white, with a yellow
throat; funnel-form, the satiny corolla lobes fringe- toothed.
Leaves opposite, narrowly linear or thread-like. A low an-
nual, simple or branching from the base, often only an inch or
two high and rarely if ever more than 6 inches; blooming from
February till May, on sunny grassy mesas and in sandy
washes of Southern California.

The Fringed Gilia is one of the choicest of spring annuals,
and the sunny spaces where it grows are sometimes spangled
for acres with the exquisite blossoms. The vital energy of the
little plant goes aboundingly into the generous, showy flowers,
in comparison with which the leaves and stems are insignifi-
cant— in fact, quite hidden by them, It has been introduced
into cultivation both in this country and abroad under the
name Fenzlia dianthiflora, Benth., and several varieties are
employed in edgings and rockwork.

162

EVENING SNOW (Gilia dichdtoma, Benth.). Flowers salver-
form, fragrant, white, an inch across or more, with a brownish
margin on the outside, sessile in the forks of the branches or
terminating long stalks. The scanty leaves are thread-like,
simple or divided into 3 to 5 segments. A slender, branch-
ing annual a few inches to If feet tall, blooming in spring in the
foothills of Central California, and eastward in the deserts to
Arizona.

My first acquaintance with this Gilia was rather dramatic.
One morning on the Mojave Desert of California we pitched
our camp in a spot that seemed innocent of any floral presence.
In the late afternoon happening to look from my tent door, I
was startled to see the ground all about white with myriads of
expanded blossoms of this plant, well named Evening Snow.
They remained open throughout the night exhaling a notice-
able fragrance, and in the morning they folded themselves
up very neatly like so many umbrellas, to repeat their per-
formance the next night. The stems were so slight and scanty
of leaf that when the corollas were shut, the whole plant
seemed to sink invisible into the background of yellow desert.

163

PRICKLY PHLOX (Gilia califdrnica, Benth.). Flowers salver-
form, 1 inch to 1^ inches across, rose-pink or lilac with a white
centre, solitary and sessile or a few in a cluster at the ends of
the branchlets. Leaves opposite and crowded along the
woody branches, divided into several sharp-pointed, rigid,
needle-like segments. A shrubby plant whose clustered,
Iristling stems grow to a height of 2 or 3 feet, their armor of
spiny leaves making the flowers as hard to gather as thistle
blooms.

Set like wild roses in gipsy hair, the bright blossoms of the
Prickly Phlox glow in the dark tangle of the chaparral in late
spring and early summer from Monterey southward, and onl}'
the blind can fail to notice them. In their season they are
among the commonest of wild blossoms in Southern Cali-
fornia— a favorite habitat being on dry hillsides, whence an-
other popular name, Mountain Fink. It is also abundant in
those tracts of semi-desert which everywhere in Southern Cali-
fornia lie close to the borders of the irrigated country, and there
blooms gloriously amid the cactus and bowlders of sandy
washes.

164

WILD BOUVARDIA (Gilia grandiflora, Gray). Flowers fun-
nel-form, salmon-color, borne in showy, terminal, hemispher-
ical, clammy heads a couple of inches across. Leaves sessile,
narrow and at least the upper alternate. Stems 1 to 2 feet
high. Blooming in summer in dry ground in California north-
ward to Washington, eastward to Nevada and Utah. Very
common in the Yosemite region.

Like so many of the Gilias, this species was long ago intro-
duced into cultivation abroad, but under the name Collomia
grandiflora, Dougl. The genus Gilia, indeed, has been split up
into a dozen or more genera by some botanists; but it is so dif-
ficult to establish the distinctions that the best usage has put
most of them back into Gilia. About 50 species are indigen-
ous to the Western United States. Another familiar one of
the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountain region, is the
brilliant, scarlet Gilia aggregata, Spreng., of which Doctor
Coville records a pretty Klamath Indian belief that in old
times the wild doves drank no water but only the nectar of
this flower; so that to this day they call it ohl'sam bohn'icas,
"the drink-plant of the doves."

165

WATERLEAF FAMILY

(Hydrophyllaceci)

Herbs or sometimes shrubs, with regular 5-parted flowers
generally in coiled spikes or racemes, the stamens borne on the
lower part of the corolla tube. Styles 2 or twice cleft.

BABY-BLUE-EYES (Nemdphila insignis, Dougl.). Flowers
pure blue with a white centre, ^ to an inch or so in diameter,
solitary on terminal or lateral stalks. Leaves divided into
7 to 9 divisions, these often more or less lobed again. A low,
rather hairy annual, spreading by stems of tender texture;
blooming from February to May in more or less shaded places
throughout California.

Baby-blue-eyes is one of those ethereal creations in the plant
world, of which it is hard to speak except in terms of poetry — it
appeals so directly to the heart. If David Douglas had done
nothing more than discover this "lovely harbinger of the
California spring," as he called it, he would have deserved the
gratitude of the world; for through him it was introduced to
the gardens of Europe, where it has long been a favorite.

ICC

SPOTTED XEMOPHILA (Nemdphila mdculata, Benth.).
Flowers about an inch to 1^ inches in diameter, saucer-shaped,
white, purple-dotted and with a purple blotch at the tip of each
lobe of the corolla. Leaves lyre-shaped, deeply 5- to 9-parted.
A low, hairy annual with spreading stems; blooming in summer
in Central California from the Sacramento Valley to the
Sierra Nevada, including the Yosemite region. Occasion-
ally one meets with a form in which the purple-blotch is ab-
sent. This is the variety concohr.

There are hah* a dozen species or more of Nemophila indig-
enous to the Pacific Coast. Not all are as showy of blossom
as the Spotted Nemophila, which, like its charming cousin,
Baby-blue-eyes, has long been cultivated in gardens. The
flowers of all are distinguished by the calyx being provided
between each division with an extra lobe which is sharply
turned back. The word Nemophila means "grove-loving,"
an allusion to the plants' liking for shady places. Among
gardeners the cultivated forms sometimes go under the name
California Blue-bells, an unhappy misnomer, for blue-bells
thev are not.

167

WHISPERING EELLS (Emmendnthe penduliflora, Benth.).
Flowers abc<ut \ inch long, cream-colored or light yellow, bell-
shaped, erect at first, but eventually drooping on thread-like
stalks; borne in rather short, loose racemes, on stems from 6
inches to nearly 2 feet tall. Leaves narrow with numerous
shallow, toothed lobes. A hairy, somewhat sticky annual,
often branched from the base, blooming from April to June,
and frequent on dry, open slopes and hills, Central and South-
ern California, eastward to Utah and Arizona.

Your first sight of Whispering Bells may lead you to think
this popular name more sentimental than true, for though the
freshly opened flowers certainly simulate bells, they do not
whisper. Found late in the season, however, the corollas are
as dry as paper and rustle in every passing breeze, justifying
the poetic appellative. The persistence of the flowers after
fading is — with the yellow color — a character that distin-
guishes the genus Emmenanthe from the closely allied Phacelia.
In fact the flowers have the property of Everlastings and may,
as they, be employed for dry floral decoration. The name
Emmenanthe is a Greekish way of saying — "the flower that
abides."

168

WILD HELIOTROPE (Phacelia distant. Benth.). Flowers
blue to whitish, nearly \ inch across, wheel-shaped, stamens
but slightly exserted; disposed in clustered coils unrolling
gradually as the flowers expand. Leaves finely compound-
dissected, a few inches long. A straggling, much branched
annual, more or less hairy of leaf and stem, 1 to 3 feet tall,
blooming from March to June, and common on dry mesas
and hills and open, sandy places, from San Francisco to the
Mexican border and eastward to Arizona, most common
toward the Coast.

Very similar to Phacelia distans, and frequently mistaken
for it, is P. tanacetifolia, Benth., the Tansy-leaved Phacelia.
The flowers of the latter are conspicuous from their long-ex-
serted stamens, and there is some difference in the seed vessels
of the two species. The layman, however, is quite content
to call both Wild Heliotrope, and to enjoy the delicate sheeted
color which they sometimes spread over considerable areas of
the dry, sunlit hills. Among Spanish-speaking Americans,
the Wild Heliotrope is called Vervenia (vair-ven-ee'a), perhaps
identical with verbcnilla, a diminutive of Verbena.

169

LARGE-FLOWERED PHACELIA (Phacelia grandiflora, Gray).
Flowers saucer-shaped and showy, from 1 to 2 inches in diam-
eter, lavender or white, more or less veined with purple, in
loose racemes. Leaves ovate tending to heart-shape at the
base, 2 or 3 inches long, coarsely toothed. A robust, coarse
plant 1 to 3 feet high, clothed with sticky hairs, and in con-
sequence disagreeable to handle, communicating a reddish-
brown stain to whatever it touches. Blooming in early
summer on dry hillsides of Southern California.

The genus Phacelia, as at present understood, is a very
numerous one, being a consolidation of some half-dozen genera
that old-time botanists treated as separate. Cf the 80 or so
established species all are New World plants, and about 50
are indigenous to our Pacific Slope. The name is founded
on a Greek word meaning "fascicle or cluster," an allusion to
the densely crowded flower spikes of the first described species,
P. circinata, Jacq. f., collected a century and a quarter ago
in the Straits of Magellan — a species common also in Cali-
fornia, and remarkable for its extended ranre.

170

WILD CANTERBURY BELL (Phacelia Whitlavia, Gray).
Flowers blue-purple, an inch long or more, bell-shaped with
roundish, spreading lobes, and long-exserted stamens, more or
less pendulous in loose racemes. Leaves ovate, coarsely
toothed, hairy. A loosely branching annual, somewhat vis-
cid, and with a reddish stem about a foot high, blooming from
March till early summer on dry hills, and in partially shaded
foothill canons up to about 3,000 feet, in Southern California.

This showy species is another California wild flower that
has long been cultivated in gardens as an ornamental annual,
and is sometimes known as California Bluebell, and California
Bell-flower. The specific part of the botanical name is a sur-
vival of the plant's original christening, which was Whitlavia
grandiflora, Harvey. It was introduced into Europe more
than sixty years ago, and, it is said, has in some places there
established itself as a wild flower. Cultivation has developed
several varieties — among which one is a pure white, and an-
other white with a blue centre. The plant is readily propa-
gated from seeds.

171

YEREA SANTA (Eriodictyon glutinbsum, Eenth.). Flowers
lilac, purple or white, y inch across or so, funnel-form, in coils of
a terminal panicle. Leaves lanceolate, dark, shiny-green
above, downy and netted-veined beneath, thick and resinous.
A shrub 3 to 7 feet high, blooming May to July, on dry foot-
hills and lower mountain slopes throughout California.

Yerba Santa is Spanish for "holy herb," and attests the
value attached to it by the Spanish settlers in California.
Its leaves are a famous remedy for colds, grippe, consumption
and diseases of the blood, and are either made into a syrup
with sugar or steeped in spirits. Among the Indians its use is
immemorial. They not only made a tea of the dried leaves
for fevers and "general misery," but to some extent they
smoked them and chewed them like tobacco. The taste of
the leaves is bitter and resinous at first, but later becomes rather
pleasant.

This species insensibly passes into another, E. tomentosum,
Benth., the leaves of which are densely clothed with a short
white wool. They possess a tonic property similar to Yerba
Santa.

172

BORAGE FAMILY

(Boraginacece)

Herbs or sometimes shrubs, chiefly rough-hairy; the gamo-
petalous flowers, as in the Waterleaf Family, borne in coiled
clusters which straighten as the blossoms expand. Style
usually single but sometimes 2-cleft, arising from a conspicuous
4-parted ovary becoming at maturity usually as many nutlets.

FIDDLE NECK (Amsinckia spectdbilis, F. & M.). Flowers
yellow or orange, individually rather small but showy in the
mass, borne in coiled spikes or racemes. Leaves alternate,
narrow, very hairy. A slender annual a foot high or so, com-
mon on grassy mesas and open ground throughout much of
California.

This species is hard to distinguish from two or three others
that extend eastward across the deserts to Arizona. They
often make considerable areas vivid with their massed flowers.
Harsh as the plants are to the touch, they are much relished
by cattle and in Arizona they are known by a Spanish term
sacate gordo, which means "fat grass."

The resemblance of the flower stems with their tightly coiled
spikes to fiddlenecks, accounts for the common English name.
173

POPCORN FLOWER (Pldgiobdthrys nothofulvus, Gray). Flow-
ers bright white, small, in little fist-like coiled clusters at the
summit of leafy stems a foot or so high. A bristly, hairy little
plant with narrow leaves, many of them basal, blooming from
February until May in grassy places from Southern California
to Washington. The juice of the plant imparts a noticeable
stain to one's fingers.

The Popcorn Blower is one of the most familiar of Pacific
Coast spring flowers, and when growing in masses, one of the
most striking in its effect. So thickly does it dot meadows
and roadsides at times that the sight suggests a sprinkle of
snow, whence a pretty Spanish name for it and its nearly
related species — Nievitas (nee-a-vee'tas), meaning "snow-
flakes." Its relationship to the Forget-me-not of cultivation
has given rise to another name, Wild Forget-me-not.

The disagreeable name Plagiobothrys is made up from two
Greek words meaning "hollow at the side," an allusion to the
pitted face of the nutlets at the point of attachment.

174

MINT FAMILY

(Labiate)

Herbs or shrubs, usually aromatic, with square stems and
opposite leaves. Corolla mostly 2-lipped, the upper lip
2-lobed, the lower generally 3-lobed. Stamens sometimes 2,
but typically 4, two shorter than the others. Style 2-cleft,
rising from the midst of the 4-lobed ovary.

ROMERO (Trichostema lanatum, Benth.). Flowers blue,
nearly an inch long, densely clothed with a violet wool, the
calyces and buds pinkish-purple; the stamens (first coiled like
a watch spring in the unopened corolla limb) conspicuously
long exserted with threadlike filaments. Flowers borne in
terminal interrupted clusters on shrubby stems 2 to 5 feet
high. Leaves thickish, narrow, the margins turned under,
shiny above and white-woolly beneath.

This showy shrub blooms from May to July on dry hills
of Southern California, and from its foliage might be mistaken
for Rosemary — which indeed is the meaning of its common
name Romero. It is a valued medicinal herb among the
Spanish-Californians, a liniment being made of the leaves for
bruises.

175

TURPENTINE WEED (Trichostema lanceolatum, Benth.).
Flowers blue in dense, axillary clusters, becoming a one-sided
raceme in age; stamens, as in T. lanatum, conspicuously ex-
serted and curving. Leaves crowded, ashen-gray, lance-
shaped from a broad base about an inch long, and strongly
3- to 5-ribbed, soft-hairy. A bushy annual, 1 to 2 feet high,
blooming from August till October on dry valley lands and
mesas throughout California to Oregon.

'J he feature of Turpentine Weed that identifies it most
readily is a pronounced odor of turpentine, which it exhales.
To some olfactories there is in the smell a suggestion of vinegar,
whence the name Vinegar-weed current in some sections. The
Indians made an infusion of the leaves for a headache remedy,
but with them the plant's main use, according to Mr. Chesnut,
was as a fish poison. The leaves wrere mashed in quantity and
thrown into pools or streams, the effect being to stupefy the
fish, which were then easily dipped out by hand or basket.

The word Trichostema means "hair-like stamen," and was
given because of the characteristic slender filaments. The
curling habit of these accounts for the name, Blue Curls, ap-
plied generally to all species of the genus.

176

YERBA BUENA (Micromdna Dougldsii, Benth.). Flowers
white or purplish, about j inch long, solitary on short stalks
in the axils of the leaves, which are roundish or ovate and
about an inch long. A low, creeping vine somewhat hairy,
the slender stems from 1 to 4 feet long, and the whole plant
pleasantly aromatic. Blooming in summer in woods of the
Coast Ranges and in damp, half-shaded ravines from Southern
California to British Columbia.

Yerba Buena (literally "good herb") is Spanish for the gar-
den mint, but the name was also bestowed by the Californians
upon this charming odoriferous little vine, of which they made
a tea. This was used as a beverage, as a febrifuge, and as a
remedy for colic, the value having been learned from the In-
dians. Its prevalence at one time on the western borders of
San Francisco Bay gave name to the Spanish hamlet that
came into being there in the latter part of the 18th century.
This settlement continued to be called Yerba Buena until
1846, when the name was changed by the United States au-
thorities to San Francisco. Such was the flowery beginning of
the Pacific Coast metropolis.

177

POLEO PENNYROYAL (Monardella lanceolata, Gray). Flow-
ers rose or blue-purple, individually small, but showy in the
mass in crowded terminal heads an inch or so across, subtended
by purplish bracts. Leaves, few, narrow and tapering at
both ends, 1 to 2 inches long. A branching, aromatic annual
from 6 inches to 2 feet high, blooming from June to September
throughout California, except in the higher mountains.

The pungent pennyroyal-like fragrance of this plant is a
familiar one to the tramper upon the dry roads and hillsides of
summer. Spanish-Californians call it Poleo, which is Span-
ish for pennyroyal, and use its leaves both as a household rem-
edy and as a substitute for tea. Americans sometimes call it
Mustang Mint.

There are several species of Monardella on the Coast, all
pleasantly fragrant. One perennial species, Monardella odor-
atissima, Benth, with pale foliage and dull-white flowers, is
abundant on the dry slopes of the higher mountains of Cali-
fornia (Yosemite region) northward to Washington, and east-
ward to Nevada and Utah. It is commonly called Mountain
Pennyroyal, and tea of its leaves has some vogue among
mountaineers as a blood purifier and colic cure.

178

PITCHER SAGE (Sphacele calycina, Ben h.). Flowers dull
white or purplish, long bell-shaped about an inch in length,
with 5 roundish lobes, one longer than the others; the loose-
fitting, prominently veined, sharp-toothed calyx becoming in-
flated in age; flowers in axillary pairs, disposed in a loose, term-
inal, leafy raceme. Leaves 2 to 4 inches long, opposite,
toothed, and wrinkled like those of the garden sage. A
shrubby, branching plant, 2 to 5 feet high, rather hairy,
and exhaling a sage-like odor. Blooming in spring and early
summer on dry hills of Central and Southern California.

This is the only United States species of a genus that is
principally South American. Our plant, however, is so vari-
able as to have given rise to two or three named varieties, all
confined to California, with distinctions hardly marked
enough to interest the non-botanical. The flower is a fairly
good imitation of a miniature pitcher, the prolongation of one
of the corolla lobes simulating the lip of a pitcher, while the
loose calyx in which the corolla sits may pass for the basin that
5s a well-regulated pitcher's natural concomitant.

170

WHITE SAGE (Audibertia polystachya, Benth.). Flowers
white or lavender, about £ inch long, with a broad, ruffled
lower lip, the style and the 2 widely separated stamens con-
spicuously protruding; disposed in an ample panicle a foot or
more long. Leaves lanceolate-ovate, 2 or 3 inches long, these
and the stems silvery gray with minute woolly hairs. A
shrubby, aromatic perennial, from 3 to 6 feet tall, forming
clumps and thickets on the arid hillsides of Southern Cali-
fornia, blooming from April till July.

The White Sage is perhaps the most famous of bee-plants,
the clear, pale honey produced from it being superfine. The
Indians harvested the seed for grinding into meal, and also
peeled the tops of the tender shoots for raw consumption. It
is one of the numerous Western shrubs called Greasewood.
To the arranger of W7ild-flower bouquets, the White Sage is
invaluable, as its exquisite gray makes a harmonious combina-
tion with any color.

The genus Audibertia (the name commemorating an old-
time Frenchman, one Audibert) is considered by some botanists
as hardly enough different from Sal via to be separated from it.
Others have discarded the name for another — Ramona.

180

BLACK SAGE (AudibSrtia stachybides, Benth.). Flowers
bluish, lilac, or white, about \ inch long, deeply 2-lipped, the
2 stamens little exserted, calyx teeth and bracts tipped with
bristles; borne in dense interrupted whorls, along the slender
stems. Leaves narrowish, wrinkled, dark green, 2 to 3 inches
long, with a strong, sage-like odor. Plants shrubby, 3 to 6
feet high, abundant on dry hillsides of Central and Southern
California, blooming from April to July.

Black Sage is almost of equal importance with its cousin the
White Sage, as bee pasture. Entire sunny hillsides of the chap-
arral belt are sometimes covered with its thickets, which are
a-hum throughout the spring and early summer with happy,
winged harvesters of nectar. It is sometimes called Ball
Sage. Among the Indians the tiny seeds were collected by
being beaten with a fan into a gathering basket, and made an
item of value in diet, after first being parched and then ground
into a meal.

The specific name stackyaides, applied to this Audibertia,
means "resembling Stachys," a genus of the Mint family,
characterized by a similar form of inflorescence in separated
whorls along the stems.

181

HOREHOUND (Marrubium vulgdre, L.). Flowers small,
white, crowded in dense clusters in the axils of the upper
leaves; calyx with 10 short teeth turned back and these and
the bracts becoming hooked at the tips. Leaves gray-green,
roundish, with prominent veins and wrinkles. Perennial
herbs with square white-woolly stems, in clumps a foot or two
high. Blooming from March until July, along roadsides and
in the neighborhood of settlements up and down the Pacific-
Coast.

Horehound is not indigenous to the Pacific Coast but is so
sure to attract the plant collector's attention, that it deserves
mention. It probably came into California with the American
invasion, and from a root or two planted in some settler's
garden for use as a household tonic and remedy for colds, it
has spread amazingly. No introduced plant finds our Pacific
Coast conditions more exactly to its liking than this. In the
late summer and autumn when the seed vessels are mature,
the plant is a good deal of a nuisance, as the tiny hooks on the
calyces attach themselves to one's clothing, plastering it with
myriads of the little nutlets.

182

THISTLE SAGE (Salvia carduacea, Benth.). Flowers light
blue or lavender, showy, an inch long, the divisions more or
less fringed, the large lower lip fan-shaped and edged with
white; stamens 2, long exserted; flowers disposed in many-
flowered, woolly, globular head at the summit of stout,
naked stems 1 to 2 feet high. Leaves gray green, spiny-
toothed and thistle-like, with cobwebby wool, all basal. A
winter annual, blooming from April to June on dry plains of
the interior valleys and in sandy washes, abundant in South-
ern California.

The Thistle Sage is an exquisite example of what Nature can
produce from apparently wasts material, for cften we find it
springing from the midst of the most arid and unpromising
of conditions. The California Indians in their practical way,
found a use for its seeds, which though small, are full of nutri-
tion, and after being ground, went into the aboriginal mush pot.

The name Thistle Sage is simply the English of the botanical
appellation, and is perfectly descriptive. Miss Armstrong
records another common name, Persian Prince, which is more
romantic than obvious.

183

CHIA (Sdlvia Columbaria, Benth). Flowers small, blue,
little exceeding the spiny-toothed calyx, in interrupted whorls
subtended by purplish, prickly, bracts. Leaves mostly basal,
dull green, deeply cut into toothed, blunt lobes, coarsely
wrinkled. A purplish-stemmed annual, from 4 inches to 2
feet tall, common on warm, dry hills throughout California
and eastward to Nevada and Arizona. Blooming from March
till May.

Chia (chee'd) is an odd-looking little plant, its flower heads
like bristling buttons impaled on a skewer. The tiny seeds,
rich in mucilage and oil, are famous as a staple food of the
Pacific Coast and Mexican Indians from very ancient times,
the plant having been a cultivated crop among the latter.
The Indian method of harvesting the seeds is to beat the ma-
ture heads with a paddle over a flat basket. After winnowing,
the seeds are parched over a fire and ground into meal, which
may then be boiled up in water and eaten as a straight mush;
or it may be mixed with wheat flour, and baked into cakes.
A pleasant beverage may also be > made from the crushed
parched seeds steeped in water, with the addition of lemon and
sugar.

184

BLADDER BUSH (Salazaria mexicana, Torr.). Flowers about
\ inch long, the upper lobe white or lilac, the spreading lower
lobe deep blue or magenta; in loose terminal racemes. Calyx
globular, enlarging remarkably in age and .becoming like a
blown-up bladder, | inch in diameter or more, yellowish or
pink. Leaves grayish, scattering, and small, the floral ones
reduced to little bracts. A shrubby, twiggy plant, 2 or 3 feet
high, the slender, twisting branches soft-downy; blooming
from March till May in the desert regions of Southern Califor-
nia, eastward to Nevada, Utah, and Arizona and southward
into Mexico.

The genus Salazaria includes, so far as known, only this one
species, which was brought to light during the work of the
United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, shortly after
our Mexican War, about three-quarters of a century ago.
The showy flowers — the more noticeable because of the sparse
foliage — and the pinkish bladdery calyces which succeed the
flowers and adorn the bare branches like so many tiny bal-
loons or paper lanterns, make a striking sight. The name
Salazaria was given in honor of Don Jose Salazar, the Mexican
Commissioner of the survey.

185

GIANT HYSSOP (Lophdnthus tirticifolius, Benth.). Flowers
white or violet, the upper lip erect, the lower spreading, calyx
with lavender teeth, the exserted stamens (4) with lavender
anthers and white filaments; -borne in crowded terminal spikes
sometimes 6 inches long. Leaves 1 to 3 inches long, sweetish-
aromatic, toothed, and nettle-like in look. An erect, coarse-
looking, perennial herb, 3 to 5 feet high, blooming in summer,
and abundant in mountain meadows usually at moderate
altitudes of the Sierra Nevada in California, northward to
Oregon and eastward to Nevada and Colorado.

Visitors in the Yosemite region cannot fail to notice the deli-
cate color often given to meadow borders by the plantations of
the Giant Hyssop. Its common name is an echo, I take it, of
the plant's association by older botanists with the genus
Hyssopus, the leaves of which, under the name of Garden
Hyssop, are still used medicinally by old-fashioned herbalists.
It should not be confused with the Hyssop of Scripture, whose
identity seems to be unsettled.

By some botanists the name Lophanthus has been discarded
for Agastache, and by these our plant is listed as Agdstache
urticifolia, O. Ktz.

186

NIGHTSHADE FAMILY

(Solanacea)

Herbs, shrubs or occasionally trees, usually rank-seen I eel,
with alternate leaves, no stipules and gamopetalous flowers
usually 5-parted, stamens as many as the corolla lobes and
inserted on the tube.

ToScACHE (Datura metelbides, DC.). Flowers fragrant,
white, often tinged with violet, trumpet-shaped, 6 to 9 inches
long and sometimes 6* inches across when fully expanded;
calyx tubular, some 3 inches long, tipped with sharp teeth.
Leaves dark green, coarse. A striking plant, 1 to 3 feet high,
forming a clump, the showy flowers wilting after noon; bloom-
ing from May until October,throughout Southern California,
east to Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Texas, and into Mexico.

Toluache (to'loo-ah'cha) is the Indian name for this hand-
some Datura, which has played a notable part in aboriginal
life because of its virulent, narcotic properties. An infusion
of the leaves or root has the effect of producing hallucinations,
stupefaction or frenzy, and it formerly was employed by medi-
cine men in ceremonial rites. Its resemblance to the Eastern
Jimson-weed (introduced about dwellings) is considerable.
187

BLACK NIGHTSHADE (Soldnum nigrum, L.). Flowers white,
little more than | inch across, wheel-shaped, the anthers
connivent like a yellow cone about the styles; borne in umbel-
like, lateral clusters. Leaves dull green, ovate with a wedge-
shaped base, 1 to 3 inches long. Fruit a pea-like berry becom-
ing black when ripe. A much branched, spreading annual,

2 or 3 feet high, frequent everywhere, blooming at all seasons
— & plant of cosmopolitan distribution.

On the Pacific Coast, the Black Nightshade is a common
wayside plant of rather unsavory reputation, its berries and
leaves being generally considered poisonous if eaten. The
green fruit probably is so, but the fully ripe berries have been
an article of diet with the Indians who appear to survive after-
ward. A nearly related species, apparently indigenous to
California and Arizona, is Solarium Douglasii, Dunal, with
rather larger white or violet flowers and often woody stems

3 to 5 or even 10 feet high. The juice of the berries was used
by the San Diego Indians for inflamed eyes and for tattooing.

188

VIOLET NIGHTSHADE (Solatium Xanti, Gray). Flowers
saucer-shaped, about an inch across, deep violet, with white-
encircled green spots in the centre, and a cone of yellow an-
thers clasping the style; borne in lateral or terminal umbel-
like clusters. Fruit a green or purplish berry about the size of
a cherry. Leaves ovate, thinnish, an inch or two long, occa-
sionally lobed at the base. A handsome perennial, shrubby at
the base, 2 to o feet high, more or less clothed with sticky
hairs. Blooming from April till June throughout California
and into Nevada.

An examination of the hairs upon Solanum Xanti shows
them to be jointed, a characteristic of importance to dis-
tinguish it from a nearly similar species S. umbelliferum, Esch.,
which is more woody and hoary with a pubescence of hairs
that are not jointed but branched. S. Xanti by its queer
specific name commemorates, in rather cryptic fashion, Mr.
L. J. Xantus de Vesey of the Smithsonian Institution, who
visited California about 60 years ago, and was one of the first
collectors of this species. On Santa Catalina island a robust
variety — WaHacei — is found with flowers 1| inches in diameter.

TREE TOBACCO (Nicotidna glauca, Graham). Flowers
greenish-yellow, tubular, l£ to 2 inches long, in loose panicles
at the ends of branches. Leaves ample, ovate, bluish-green,
very smooth with a "bloom." A straggling shrub or small
tree from 6 to 20 feet high, sometimes forming thickets, abund-
ant throughout Southern California in valleys and waste land
eastward to Arizona and down into Mexico; blooming through-
out much of the year.

The Tree Tobacco is a native of the Argentine, and found
its way into the Pacific United States half a century ago no-
body knows just how. Its dust-like seeds, borne on the
wind, enable it to find a foothold in some surprising places, as
high up on old Mission walls, or on mossy roofs. It is a real
tobacco, as the botanic name indicates, and its dried leaves
are sometimes used by the impecunious for smoking. By
Mexicans it is called tobaco, or sometimes Buena moza, which
means "a fine girl," a compliment to the unpretentious
beauty of what most Americans consider a tree-weed. In
Arizona it has been called San Juan Tree, for a reason not ap-
parent.

190

FIGWORT FAMILY

(Scrophulariaceoe)

Herbs or shrubs with a 2-lipped corolla (sometimes ob-
scurely so) ; stamens 2 or 4 (2 long and 2 short) or sometimes
J5 with one sterile; style one, undivided.

| CALIFORNIA BEE PLANT (Scrophularia calif ornica, Cham.).
Flowers dull red or greenish, | to 5 inch long, in a terminal
•panicle; stamens 4 in 2 pairs, with a rudimentary fifth stamen
in the shape of a scale on the corolla throat. The upper lip of
.the globular corolla is 4 lobed and erect, the lower lip consist-
ing of one lobe which is extended outward. Leaves opposite,
i ovate or triangular, 2 or 3 inches long, coarsely toothed.
Blooming May until August (sometimes in midwinter), in
.rather moist ground throughout much of California at low or
{moderate altitudes, and eastward to Nevada — a coarse,
branching plant with square stems, from 2 to 6 feet high.

The smallness of the flowers of the California Bee Plant
jmay cause it to be overlooked entirely, but if noticed at all,
fthey are sure to delight — alert little flowers with a grotesque,
Ignomelike sort of character that appeals to the imagination.
As the name indicates they are famous honey producers.
191

BIRD-BEAK (Cordyldnthus filifolius, Nutt.). Flowers green-
ish yellow or purplish, \ to f inch long, nearly hidden within
the green calyx, corolla 2-lipped, the upper lip enclosing stam-
ens and style; borne in many-flowered, terminal heads. Leaves
alternate, divided into 3 to 5 threadlike divisions, the floral
leaves and bracts more or less bristly on the margins and gen-
erally marked at the tip with a depressed gland or callosity.
A loosely branched annual, roughish-hairy and often some-
what sticky below, 1 to 3 feet high, blooming from June to
September in the hills throughout most of California.

The curious tip of the corolla, somewhat suggesting a bird's
beak, is responsible for the common name of this species, whose
grayish-green little bushes are often noticeably massed along
mountain roadsides and in dry glades. The San Diego In-
dians found the plant medicinally serviceable as an emetic,
according to the late Mr. P. S. Sparkman.

There are several species of Cordylanthus, all Far Western.
In the Yosemite region, C. tennis, Gray, is rather abundant, a
slender annual, distinguished by very narrow leaves \ to 1 inch
long without divisions.

192

CHINESE HOUSES (Collinsia blcolor, Benth.). Flowers
shaped somewhat like pea-blossoms, with a violet or rose-
purple (sometimes white) lower lip, the upper lip white or
lilac; disposed in a series of umbeled whorls, more or less one-
sided, along the upper part of the stem. Leaves opposite
without footstalks. A charming annual, 1 to 2 feet high, in
moist ground throughout Western California from San Diego
northward, blooming from April till June, often cultivated.

Collinsia is a North American genus which preserves in its
name the memory of an excellent botanist of a century ago,
Zaccheus Collins of Philadelphia. There are about 15 species,
but none more lovely than C. bicolor ("the two-colored"),
which is sometimes known as Innocence, a name as suggestive
of the flower's spiritual quality, as is Chinese Houses of its
outward make-up.

There is a closely allied species, Collinsia tinctoria, Hartweg,
found in the Yosemite region, and characterized by a sticky
brown or yellowish hairiness, which stains one's fingers. The
flowers of this species have a yellowish throat with purple dots.

193

COULTER'S SNAPDRAGON (Antirrhinum Coulteridnum,
Benth). Flowers white, tinged with purple, the lower lip
with its large palate forming most of the corolla, borne in a
close spike 2 to 10 inches long. Leaves linear or oval, distant
from one another. A stout, erect annual, 2 to 4 feet high,
hairy above, and remarkable for producing from the leaf axils
and the lower part of the flower spikes, long, threadlike, twist-
ing branchlets which curl about adjacent shrubbery and by
which the plant is disposed to climb. Blooming from May to
July, on dry hillsides throughout Southern California.

This interesting plant is another to commemorate in its
specific name that botanical pioneer of the Pacific Coast,
Dr. Thomas Coulter. A slender branched variety, with
purple flowers scattered along the stems, and the twisting
branchlets often springing from the base of the flowers, has
been considered worthy of specific distinction and is called
Antirrhinum vagans, Gray — "the wandering" — an allusion
to the branchlets twisting about for a support to grasp. It is
common throughout Western California.

194

INDIAN PAINT BRUSH (Castilleia foliolosa, H. & A.). Flow-
ers red, f inch long, tubular with a beak-like upper lip enclos-
ing the style and 4 stamens, the corolla all but hidden within
the bright red calyx; borne in terminal spikes with bright red
3-lobed bracts, the whole effect being that of a brush dipped
in red paint. Leaves narrow, an inch long or so, crowded be-
low and fascicled in the axils, these and the stems densely
white woolly. A perennial with bunched, somewhat woody
stems, a foot or two high, common on dry hills of Western
California from San Diego northward; blooming March till
July and sparingly at other seasons.

There are numerous Pacific Coast species of Indian Paint-
brush, all easily recognized generically (the color sometimes
varying to yellowish or white) though the specific differences
are sometimes troublesome to the amateur. An interesting
characteristic of the genus Castilleia (the name, by the way,
commemorates the Spanish botanist, Castillejo) is the presence
of suckers upon the roots, by means of which sustenance is
extracted from the root systems of other plants — an instance
of partial parasitLm.

195

INDIAN WARRIOR (Pedicularis densiflora, Benth.). Flow-
ers crimson (occasionally white) an inch long or so, 2-lipped,
the upper much the more conspicuous, compressed at the sides
and arched above; borne in dense terminal spikes, becoming
larger and looser in age, mingled with purplish bracts. Leaves
finely dissected, feather-like, many basal; dark red wrhen
young, becoming green in age. A stout perennial, common
in open' hillside forest from Central California to Oregon,
blooming in the spring.

According to Mr. Chesnut the Yuki Indian name for this
Pedicularis is the same as their word for Yellow-hammer —
wai-mok' — a bird that frequents the flowers for their abundant
nectar. Children, too, have discovered the plant's sweet secret
and such the blooms as they do honeysuckle blossoms.

In meadows of the Yosemite region and the High Sierra
two kindred species are met with — Pedicularis attollens, Gray,
and P. groenlandica, Retz., in which the pinkish, hooded,
upper lip ends in a curved or abruptly upturned beak. The
resemblance to an elephant's head and trunk has suggested
the common name Elephant-heads for both these species.
The likeness is more noticeable in P. groenlandica.

196

OWL'S CLOVER (Orihocdrpus purpurdscens, Benth.). Flow-
ers 2 lipped, the narrow, straight, upper lip crimson, the lower
inflated, in the form of a sac, creamy white at the centre
deepening outwardly to magenta; disposed in dense spikes
with bracts, these and the calyx lobes with purplish tips.
Leaves divided into many thread-like lobes. An erect, hairy
annual, common throughout California, blooming from March
to May in grasslands and on hillsides, often tinging the land-
scape for considerable distances with a purple bluish.

The general appearance of Owl's Clover simulates a Castil-
leia of dull color. For this reason the name Pink Paint-brush
is sometimes applied to it — unfortunately, as the practice
tends to confuse two quite separate genera. Why it should be
called Owl's Clover is not obvious. Perhaps, it is because, as
Miss Armstrong suggests, the quaint flower-faces of some
species are of owlish look. The Spanish-Californian's name is
Escobita, meaning "little broom," which is really descriptive.

There are numerous species of Orthocarpus, some with
spikes that are white, and some that are yellowish. One of
the latter, 0. lithospermoides, Benth., has been graphically
called Coyote-tail by Northern California Indian children.

197

BUTTER AND EGGS (Orthocdrpus eridnthus, Benth.). Flow-
ers about an inch long, 2-lipped; the slender, straight upper
lip (which is slightly hooked at the tip) brownish-purple; the
lower lip inflated in the form of 3 conspicuous puffed-up sacs
which are deep sulphur yellow; the slender tube of the flower
white, and thrice the length of the calyx; borne in a many-
flowered, rather dense spike with pinnately divided bracts
that are more or less purplish. Leaves pinnately parted
above a broad base into thread-like divisions. A slender
much-branched annual with reddish stems, 4 to 10 inches tall,
blooming in the spring, from Central California northward to
Oregon, common on low grounds near the Coast.

People who object to the prosy name of Butter-and-eggs
for this pretty flower (suggested by the mixture of white and
yellow in its composition) may prefer Johnny Tuck, another
popular appellative. The elfin look of the blossoms of the
more showy species of Orthocarpus seems to challenge the
fancy to provide them with affectionate nick-names.

198

SCARLET MONKEY FLOWER (Mimulus cardindlis, Dougl.).
Flowers scarlet, about 2 inches long, corolla 2-lipped, upper
lip erect, its lobe and the lower lip turned back; stamens (4)
long exserted; flowers borne on upright peduncles about 3 inches
long, from the axils of the upper leaves. Leaves ovate or
lanceolate, opposite, without footstalks. A stout, branching
perennial herb, hairy and sticky, 2 to 4 feet high, blooming
from June to October, in swampy ground or along watercourses
throughout California and Oregon, and eastward to Arizona.

The Scarlet Monkey Flower was one of the discoveries of
David Douglas, who in the 1830's sent the seeds to England
from the Pacific Coast. The splendid flowers proved a note-
worthy novelty to florists, as no Mimulus of just this color
had been known until that time. It has continued to be a
favorite in cultivation. In its native haunts, it is one of the
most striking of wild flowers, and visitors to the Yosemite
Valley, as well as the Grand Canon of Arizona, are pretty
sure to be greeted with a sight of it — its unrivaled flowers glow-
ing brightly against the green background of the stream-
banks and denagas where it delights to dwell.

199

YELLOW MONKEY FLOWER (Mimulus luteus, L.). Flowers
bright yellow, often dark-dotted within, corolla 2-lipped, an
inch or two long, the prominent base of the lower lip often
blotched with brown; borne in a loose, terminal raceme.
Leaves opposite, roundish, sharp-toothed, an inch long or so,
the upper closely sessile. A small, leafy plant of very variable
habit, annual or perennial, from less than a foot to sometimes
4 feet high, spreading by slender, creeping stems. Blooming
from April till August in wet places and on stream banks
throughout California northward to Alaska, and eastward to
the Rocky Mountains.

There are many yellow flowered species of Monkey Flower,
but the frequency of Mimulus luteus over a wide territory of
the Pacific Coast, seems to entitle it to being called the Yel-
low Monkey Flower. A common yellow species of Southern
California, blooming from April to June upon dryish hillsides,
is Mimulus brevipes, Benth. — a sticky-hairy little annual a foot
or two high, with narrow, opposite leaves. The flowers are
borne on very short footstalks.

200

STICKY MONKEY FLOWER (Mimulus glutinosus, Wendl.).
Flowers showy, usually buff or salmon-color, sometimes reddish
or even crimson, funnel-form with spreading lobes ragged
edged, and somewhat suggesting azaleas, borne on short foot-
stalks in the leaf axils. Leaves narrow, opposite, 1 to 4 inches
long, evergreen and glutinous. A shrub 2 to 6 feet high.
Common throughout California from San Francisco southward
on hills and rocky banks, blooming from April till July and
sparingly at other seasons.

The shrubby character of this Mimulus puts it in a class to
itself as other species of this large and interesting genus are
herbaceous. On this account, mainly, it has been given gen-
eric distinction by some botanists as Diplacus glutinosus. It
runs into many varieties, one of which, var. linearis, is marked
by exceedingly narrow, rather stiff leaves, and flowers of a
rich crimson, though oddly enough one may find sometimes
on the same plant the buff blossoms of the type. The Sticky
Monkey Flower is very ornamental and is one of several species
that have been introduced into cultivation. It has a place in
some conservatories.

201

CRIMSON MONKEY FLOWER (Mimulus Bigelbvii, Gray).
Flowers about an inch long, crimson, with a yellow centre,
corolla funnel-form, the cylindrical tube' expanded into a
wheel-shaped limb about ^ inch in diameter; disposed mostly
in a terminal cluster. Leaves opposite, oblong, or ovate
nearly an inch long. A sticky-hairy annual, 3 or 4 inches tall,
of sandy places, Southern California and eastward in the
desert to Nevada and Utah, blooming in the spring.

This charming little plant was first collected by Dr. John
M. Bigelow, botanist of the Whipple Pacific R. R. Survey.
It was given its specific name in honor of him, but assigned to
the genus Eunanus. This genus, however, is now generally
disregarded and its dozen or so species are considered as a sec-
tion of Mimulus. All are beautiful little annuals of California
and adjacent territory, the corollas purple, crimson, or occa-
sionally yellow, mostly with a rather slender tube, and the
anthers of the 4 stamens set closely together so as to form
crosses.

Mimulus Douglasii, Gray, is a species frequently met with
throughout California on gravelly banks. Its crimson flow-
ers have a narrow tube an inch or more long, in the early state
much longer than the plant is high.
202

MUSK (Mimulus moschatus, Dougl.). Flowers light yellow,
brownish in the throat, 2-lipped, £ inch to an inch long, much
exceeding the calyx; usually borne in pairs on slender foot-
stalks from the upper leaf-axils. Leaves light green, opposite,
ovate, an inch or two long, the basal crowded. A white-hairy,
sticky, often slimy plant, musk-scented, ^ to 1| feet high,
spreading by creeping perennial rootstalks; common in damp,
shady places, particularly along brooks from California to
British Columbia and eastward to Utah. Blooming in spring
and summer. In California and Oregon the form usually
found is var. longiflorus, distinguished by the elongated cor-
olla, often an inch long, 3 times the length of the calyx, and
flower stalks exceeding the leaves.

This is the well-known Musk plant of old-fashioned gardens,
collected by David Douglas in Oregon in 1826, and by him in-
troduced to the world.

An interesting feature of the various species of Mimulus is
the pistil. The stigma is composed of twro flat plates, spread
apart when the flower is mature. These are sensitive and
close when touched, as on the visit of an insect, and are sup-
posed to play a part in cross-fertilization.

203

BLUE BEARD-TONGUE (Penstemon spectdbilis, Thurber.)
Flowers very showy, funnel-form, somewhat inflated at the
throat, and somewhat 2-lipped, an inch long, rose-purple or
lilac, the corolla limb blue or violet; on slender footstalks dis-
posed in loose, leafless, terminal, pyramidal panicles sometimes
3 feet long. Leaves opposite, pale green, ovate, rather leath-
ery, with spiny teeth, the upper pairs joined at their broad
bases and clasping the stem as though pierced by it. A
stately, handsome, herbaceous perennial, from 3 to 6 feet high
and sometimes even taller, found on dry hillsides and plains
of Southern California, thence eastward to Arizona and New
Mexico; blooming from March till June.

The genus Penstemon is a very large one of North America
and Mexico, and is represented on the Pacific Coast and con-
tiguous territory by at least 50 species and recognized varieties,
many of them with flowers of great beauty, which have been
introduced into gardens. A characteristic of the flowers is
that of the 5 stamens only 4 are provided with anthers, the
fifth being sterile but with a conspicuous filament. This in
some cases is bearded, whence the common name, Beard
tongue, though it is probably less used in popular speech than
the botanical name.

204

VIOLET BEARD-TONGUE (Penstemon heterophyllus, Lindl.).
Flowers funnel-formed, somewhat inflated on one side, 2-lipped
an inch long or more, rose-pink sometimes changing to or suf-
fused with violet, the buds frequently yellowish; disposed in a
narrow bracted panicle terminal on the stems and branches.
Leaves opposite, very narrow or lance-shaped. A slender,
many-stemmed, smooth perennial, 2 to 5 feet high, woody at
the base; common along roadsides and on dry hillsides of Cen-
tral and Southern California, blooming in the spring and early
summer.

The specific name heterophyllus given to this beautiful
species means "having different kinds of leaves on the same
plant."

Another species Penstemon aziireus, Benth., is very like it
and found in similar situations, though commoner northward.
It may be known by its rather large flowers — an inch across —
of azure blue, and the glaucous character of the foliage. It
is very variable, however, the variety angustissimus, with
very narrow leaves, being found in the Yosemite Valley. In
both species the anthers are an interesting sight under a glass,
resembling minute horseshoes, fringed along the edges.

205

YELLOW BEARD-TONGUE (Penstemon antirrhinbides, Benth.).
Flowers lemon-yellow, showy, the corolla 2-lipped, arched
above and widely gaping, an inch long or less, the one sterile
stamen densely bearded on one side; on short one-flowered
footstalks in leafy panicles. Leaves scarcely half an inch
long, narrowly oval. A much- branched, shrubby perennial
3 to 5 feet high, blooming in spring on dry hillsides of Southern
California.

The specific name of this Penstemon means "like an Antirr-
hinum," the Snapdragon, the large-lipped corolla with its
swelling throat suggesting a resemblance, less apparent I
think, to the collector in the field than it seems to have been
to the describer in his armchair in England.

Another Penstemon, with yellowish flowers in shape sug-
gesting those of the Yellow Beard-Tongue is P. breviflorus,
Lindl., which occurs in rocky places of the Yosemite region
and along the flanks of the Sierra Nevada. The yellowish
corolla is tinged with flesh color, striped inside with pink, the
arched upper lip hairy, but the sterile filament is without
beard. Doctor Hall states that the tough stems of this species
are used by the Indians in the making of storage baskets.

20fi

SCARLET BUGLER (Penstemon centranthifolius, Benth.).
Flowers bright scarlet, tubular, an inch long or more, borne in
showy, narrow panicles a foot or even 2 feet long. Leaves
opposite, thick, and mostly without footstalks, the upper clasp-
ing the stem by their heart-shaped bases. A stout, smooth
perennial, 2 to 4 feet high, stems and bluish-green foliage cov-
ered with a dense "bloom." Common in open ground, on
dry hillsides and on mountain slopes from Monterey southward
in California and eastward to Arizona, flowering from Febru-
ary till June.

The slender flowers of the Scarlet Bugler suggest the trum-
pets of the Coral Honeysuckle, and tempt people with limited
botanical knowledge to call them honeysuckle. They make a
blaze of color in the mountains in spring and early summer,
and few flowers are better known. Bees are their persistent
visitors, and also humming birds — whence another common
name sometimes heard, Humming-bird's Dinner Horn. In
the Sierra Nevada, including the Yosemite region, another
scarlet-flowered species somewhat resembling this is found —
Penstemon Bridgesii, Gray. The corolla of this is distinctly
"2-lipped, and the plant is not glaucous.

207

SCARLET HONEYSUCKLE (Penstemon cordifolius, Benth.).
Flowers scarlet, the narrow, tubular corolla about 1| inches
long, 2-lipped, the upper lip erect, the stamens and pistil con-
spicuous in the extended lower lip; flowers borne in short,
leafy, terminal panicles. Leaves roundish, heart-shaped,
toothed, an inch long or so, dark green and of somewhat leath-
ery texture. A vine-like perennial, rather woody, 6 or 8 feet
high, clambering over shrubs in Southern California; blooming
from May to July.

It is a -misnomer to call this Penstemon honeysuckle, which
is of quite another family, but the general look of the flower
and the habit of the plant lend color to the popular name.
The aspect of the foliage, however, is more suggestive of the
cultivated Fuchsia than of Honeysuckle. It is a frequent
plant in the chaparral belt of southern California mountains
and its showy flowers, nodding from the tips of the gracefully
drooping branches, are a familiar sight to travelers over the
hill trails.

A species that somewhat resembles this is Penstemon ternatus,
Torr., growing in similar situations. The wand-like flowering
shoots of this are glaucous, and the stiff, narrow leaves are
whorled in 3's above.

MULLEIN (Verbdscum virgatum, Withering). Flowers yel-
low, corolla flat, wheel-shaped with hardly any tube, stamens
5, all perfect, bearded with violet woolly hairs; borne in a
slender terminal raceme, the short footstalks usually in 2's
and 3's. Leaves oblong, somewhat toothed, without foot-
stalks, alternate. A slender, erect, somewhat sticky-hairy
plant, 4 to 6 feet high, blooming in summer in valley-lands
and along roads in California.

This so closely resembles the common Moth-mullein which
is a weed in Eastern fields, that it might be mistaken for a
tall form of the latter. Like this, also, it is an emigrant from
Europe, but in its distribution in the United States, seems con-
fined to the Pacific Coast. It has doubtless reached us by way
of Mexico, in the days of the Spanish or Mexican occupation.
If it were not for the association of the genus in the American
mind with weeds, the graceful beauty of these plants would
be more appreciated. The two common naturalized species
of the Atlantic slope have also found their way of late years to
California, and are now more or less abundant in the Sacra-
mento Valley.

209

MOHAVEA (Mohavea viscida, Gray). Flowers pale yellow,
purple-dotted, somewhat bell-shaped, 1| inches long, the
base swollen on one side, corolla of 2 fan-like lips, the upper
2-lobed, the lower 3-lobed with a prominent palate bearded
down the middle; stamens 4, 2 of them fertile and 2 reduced to
small, abortive filaments, disposed in short, terminal, few-
flowered racemes. Leaves narrow, an inch or two long, the
lower opposite, the upper alternate. An erect, sticky-hairy
annual, from a few inches to 2 feet high, flowering from March
till May in the desert regions of Southeastern California and
of Arizona.

Mohavea is one of those flowrers which surprise the visitor
in the desert with an exquisite delicacy born of the most deso-
late conditions — a pallid, ethereal blossom of silken texture and
a sort of orchid-like aspect. The honor of its discovery in
complete flower is due to John C. Fremont, in 1844, though im-
perfect specimens had been collected some years before by Dr.
Thomas Coulter, a pioneer collector on the desert. Fremont's
plants were gathered on the banks of the Mohave River, Cali-
nia, and the name Mohavea commemorates the fact.

210

BROOMRAPE FAMILY

(OrobanchacecB)

Parasitic plants on the roots of others, whitish, yellowish,
or brownish, never green, with alternate scales in place of
leaves. Flowers solitary, axillary.

CANCER ROOT (Aphyllon fasciculatum, Gray). Flowers
yellowish or brownish, corolla 2-lipped, with an elongated
somewhat curved tube, about f inch in length; solitary on
bunched, long footstalks rising from the axils of the scales.
Stem densely sticky-hairy, a few inches tall, parasitic on other
plant-roots, in sandy ground California to British Columbia,
and eastward through Arizona to the Mississippi Valley.

The name Cancer Root has been popularly applied to several
plants of the Broomrape family because of their fancied
efficacy in cancerous diseases. There are hah* a dozen species
of Aphyllon indigenous to the Pacific Coast, several of which
have their flowers in dense racemes or spikes. One of these — •
Aphyllon tuberosum, Gray — of Southern California has a
thickened tuber-like base, which the Indians roasted and ate.

By some botanists the plants of this genus are included in
the genus Orobanche.

211

ACANTHUS FAMILY

(Acanthacece)

Herbs or shrubs with opposite, simple leaves, more or less
2-lipped or irregular flowers with usually conspicuous bracts,
and the general character of the Figworts; stamens 4 (2 long and
2 short), or only 2; calyx persistent, of usually 5 unequal sepals.

CHUPAROSA (Beloperone californica, Benth.). Flowers
dull scarlet, tubular, about an inch long, 2-lipped, stamens
2; borne in short, rather loose racemes terminating the
branches, which are often leafless. Leaves, when present,
small, ovate, or oval, grayish green. A low shrub, forming a
clump of ashen-gray, downy, interlacing branches, indigenous
to the desert regions of Southern California and Arizona, south-
ward to Mexico; flowering in the spring. One of the most
striking of desert flowers, when the leafless and apparently
lifeless tangle of branches is adorned with the numerous bright
corollas, like so many tongues of flame. The blossoms may be
easily mistaken by the careless for Penstemon, and sometimes
are. Mexicans call the plant Chuparosa, which may be trans-
lated Humming-bird Flower — the hummers feeding on its
sweets.

212

HONEYSUCKLE FAMILY

(Caprifoliaceoe)

Shrubby plants, often vines, with opposite leaves, the regular
and irregular flowers gamopetalous, and commonly in parts of 5.

ELDER (Sambucus glauca, Nutt.). Flowers white, small,
in large, flat-topped, compound clusters; leaves opposite,
compound with smooth leaflets, deciduous; berries blue with a
dense mealy-white "bloom." Usually a tree 15 to 20 feet
tall, but sometimes attaining a height of 30 or even 40 feet;
blooming April till June on moist hillsides and in canon bottoms
from Southern California to British Columbia, eastward to
Idaho, Nevada, and Utah.

The berries of this Pacific Coast Elder are used for pies and
jellies. The Indians not only ate the fruit, but from the dried
blossoms made a tea for fevers and digestive troubles, as well
as a wash for sprains and the itch. The wood, after the pith
was pushed out, was turned into whistles and flutes, or split
and fashioned into clappers for dancers. Bows were also made
from it.

S. Mexicana, Presl., occurs in parts of California and Arizona,
the leaves downy and the berries without "bloom."
213

GOURD FAMILY

(Cucurbitaceoe)

Herbaceous vines usually with tendrils. Leaves alternate,
generally more or less lobed. Petals usually 5, often more
or less united; flowers of 2 sexes, on the same or different
plants. Stamens usually 3, one of them with a 1-celled anther,
and the filaments often united.

MOCK ORANGE (Cuc-arUta foetidissima, HBK.). Flowers
large, yellow, bell-shaped with 5 recurving lobes, of 2
sexes on the same vine, solitary on axillary footstalks 1 or 2
inches long. Leaves rough, somewhat triangular, with
heart-shaped base and slightly 3 to 5-lobed. A rough, hairy,
prostrate vine, ill-smelling when disturbed, from a large peren-
nial root, blooming from April to July or later, in dry soil,
California (especially southern) eastward to Nebraska and
Texas and south into Mexico.

The name Mock Orange, commonly applied to this gourd,
describes the mature fruit. They are of saponaceous composi-
tion and the Indians crushed them for soap. They also used
the seeds for food. The plant is nearly related to the pumpkin.

214

BIG ROOT (Echinocystis fabacea, Naudin). Flowers yel-
lowish-white, wheel-shaped, about \ inch across, of 2 sexes in
the same plant, the staminate in axillary racemes at the base
of which a solitary pistillate flower is usually borne on a foot-
stalk. Leaves palmate, about 5-lobed. A graceful vine,
sometimes 25 or 30 feet long, clambering over bushes, growing
rapidly in the spring from a huge root, Southern and Central
California, blooming February to May.

The remarkable root of this common plant is as big often
as a man's body. Seen exposed at the surface of the ground
it might be mistaken for a jutting rock, but for the vine stems
rising from it. The curious prickly burs or seed vessels con-
tain a few large, smooth seeds which have long served Cali-
fornia children as playthings. Another purpose to which they
were put by Spanish-Californians was to make necklaces of
them— the meat first having been extracted through small
holes cut in the shell. They called the plant Chilicothe — a
form apparently of the Aztec chilacoyote, wild cucumber.

The nomenclature of the genus is much confused. Some
botanists call it Micrampelis, others Megarrhiza.

215

BELL FLOWER FAMILY

(Campanulacece)

Herbs with alternate leaves, usually with milky juice, and
regular 5-divided gamopetalous flowers, the corolla usually
withering instead of dropping; stamens 5; style hairy with a
stigma of 2 to 5 lobes, at first shut together. The anthers
expand while the flower is still in bud and discharge their
pollen against the hairy style. The stigma matures later
after the flower opens; it then expands for the reception of
pollen brought by insects from other flowers.

CALIFORNIA HAREBELL (Campdnula prenanthbides, Durand).
Flowers blue, about % inch long, bell-shaped, divided into 5
slender, recurving lobes, stamens and the longer pistil much
exserted; scattered or clustered in terminal racemes. Leaves
lanceolate to ovate, sharply toothed, about 1 inch long.

The California Harebell is a perennial with rather stiff, clus-
tered stems, a foot or two high, blooming in summer, in moist,
shady places of the redwood forests of California, and in foot-
hills of the Sierra Nevada. The seed vessels of this genus
have 3 or 4 round porthole-like valves on the side, which open
up for the discharge of the seeds.
216

LOBELIA FAMILY

(Lobeliaceoe)

Herbs with milky juice, alternate leaves, and irregular flow-
ers, apparently 2-lipped; stamens 5, united into a tube by
their filaments or the anthers cohering into a ring about the
top of the style, which is single and surmounted by a usually
2-lobed stigma encircled with hairs. (A family united by some
botanists with Campanulacese, into which it seems to pass.)

WESTERN CARDINAL FLOWER (Lobelia splendens, Willd.).
Flowers flaming red, 2-lipped; the corolla tube about an inch
long, split down the upper side, the lower lip 3-parted and
spreading, the upper 2-cleft and erect; borne in showy, wand-
like racemes at the summit of slender, smoothish stems 2 to 4
feet high. Leaves without petioles, lance-shaped to linear,
with gland-tipped teeth. Blooming in summer and early
autumn in wet grounds, Southern California eastward to Ari-
zona and New Mexico, thence south to Mexico.

This glorious flower is so nearly a duplicate of the well-
known Eastern Cardinal Flower, that one knowing the latter
easily recognizes this. It is slenderer and smoother than the
Eastern, and the leaves narrower.
217

SUNFLOWER FAMILY

(Composi tee)

Herbs, shrubs, or even trees; flowers numerous in a dense
head on a common receptacle, which is the enlarged top of the
peduncle, and surrounded by a circle of bracts called the invol-
ucre. Corolla either tubular, or the limb prolonged into a
strap, toothed at the summit. In some cases both sorts of
flowers are present in the head — the tubular occupying the
centre and called "disk flowers," the strap-shaped occupying
the margin and called "ray. flowers." Calyx tube united
with the seed-vessels (achenes), often continued into a ring of
bristles, hairs, or scales known collectively as a "pappus."

ENCELIA (Encelia californica, Nutt.). Flower heads showy
with golden-yellow rays and brownish-purple disks, solitary
on long, naked peduncles. Leaves short petioled, mostly
alternate, broadly lance-shaped, about 2 inches long, green
both sides and prominently 3-nerved from the base. A bushy
perennial common on dry hillsides, Southern California east-
ward to Arizona, blooming more or less at all seasons. A
showy sunflower-like blossom.

218

IXCIEXSO. IXCEXSE • PLANT (Encelia farinosa, Gray).
Flower heads yellow, both ray and disk, the heads somewhat
clustered at the tips of numerous nearly leafless branches,
rising above the compact plant. Leaves ovate, narrowed to a
rather long footstalk, silvery white with a dense scurfy wool.
A woody perennial, forming a round-topped bush 2 to 5 feet
high, with usually a stout, trunk-like stem; blooming in spring
on dry hills and mesas in Southeastern California, throughout
the deserts to Arizona and southward to Mexico.

This is one of the commonest of desert under-shrubs, and a
close look at it shows its stem and branches exuding globules
of resinous gum. This plays a considerable part in the human
life of the desert. In Lower California it has been burned as
incense in the churches (whence the name Incienso); Indian
children use it as chewing gum; and their fathers make a var-
nish of it. According to Mr. Karl S. Lumholtz ("New Trails
in Mexico") Mexicans warm the gum and smear it on the left
side of the body belowT the ribs for pain there. On this ac-
count the plant is sometimes called Yerba del Vaso, "waist
herb."

219

SUNSHINE. DESERT SUNFLOWER (Encelia eriocephala,
Gray). Flower heads golden yellow, about l£ inches in
diameter, the base and margins of the green involucral bracts
conspicuously white with long hairs; heads single or panicled
at the tips of the stems. Leaves ovate or lance-shaped, 1 to
3 inches long, alternate, most abundant toward the base of
the plant, which is a rather hairy, herbaceous annual from a
few inches to 2 feet high, or sometimes higher. Blooming in
spring in the sands of the California desert region, eastward
to Nevada and Arizona.

Even the most hurried travelers in spring across the open
desert by train or motor car can hardly fail to be attracted
by the sight of this charming flower. Its blossoms of lively
yellow in favorable seasons make sheets of solid color over
the wastes, quite justifying the pretty common name Sun-
shine applied to it in some localities. The botanical name
for the genus was given in honor of an old-time botanist,
Christopher Encel. There is a doubt with some botanists
about the propriety of including this species Sunshine in En-
celia, and by such it is called Gerdea canescens, T. & G.

220

WILD SUNFLOWER (Helidnthus dnnuus, L.). Flower heads
3 to 5 inches across, with yellow rays and purple-brown disks,
borne singly at the branch ends; involucral bracts abruptly
narrowing to a slender point. Leaves 3 to 10 niches long,
mostly alternate and toothed, ovate, 3-ribbed from the base,
rough-hairy. A coarse, erect, branching annual, with rough,
often mottled stems, from 2 to 10 feet high, by roadsides and
on plains — California to Washington, eastward to the Missouri
River. Blooming mostly in the autumn, but on the Pacific
Coast flowering almost all the year, often covering great areas
with gay bloom.

The giant sunflower of gardens is a development from this
wild species, which from time immemorial has been a valuable
plant in the aboriginal economy. Indians from Canada to
Mexico cultivated wild sunflower as a crop, the seeds being
parched and ground into a meal which for nutrition and pal-
atability is said to be almost equal to cornmeal. The seeds
also yield an oil, which the aborigines used both dietetically
and as an ointment. The large, coarse stalks yield a utilizable
fibre, and from the flowers a good dye has been made.

221

TIDY-TIPS (Layia platygUssa, Gray). Flower heads about
an inch in diameter, ray flowers yellow, usually tipped with
white, the disk flowers yellow with black anthers; borne singly
at the tips of the stems. Leaves alternate, narrow, without
footstalks, more or less toothed and hairy, some of the upper
deeply cut. Simple or branching, hairy annuals, 1 to 3 feet
high, blooming from April till June, in valleys and on sunny
mesas throughout western and southern California.

The common name most appropriately describes this neat
little wilding, which captivates all hearts. There is consider-
able variation in the flower, the white tips being sometimes
absent or occasionally turned to purple. There is another
Layia, common from Santa Barbara southward into Lower
California, which may be confused with Tidy-tips, and that is
Layia 6legans, T. & G. The rays, however, are more usually
altogether yellow than white-tipped. An essential difference,
however, is in the character of the pappus. This in Tidy-
tips consists of awn-like bristles, which are naked their whole
length, while in Layia elegans the bristles below the middle
are feathered or white-hairy.

222

WHITE DAISY (Layia glandulosa, H. & A.). Flower heads
very showy, 2 inches or so in diameter, with rays of pure, clear
white, the disk yellow; terminating the branches. Leaves
narrow, without footstalks, grayish green, rough-hairy and
somewhat sticky, especially above, from the presence of little,
blackish, stalked glands. Blooming from April till June,
common from Southern California to British Columbia, and
eastward to Idaho and New Mexico. A usually much-
branched, roughish plant from a few inches to 2 feet high,
affecting sandy soil.

This lovely Layia deserves a more distinctive common
name than White Daisy, which is rather inept. As the botan-
ical name for the genus is easy of pronunciation and euphoni-
ous, it would be well enough to call the plant White Layia.
Layia, by the way, is in memory of G. Tradescant Lay, nat-
uralist of the Beechey Exploring Expedition which visited
the Pacific Coast in 1827. The plant is not entirely constant
in the whiteness of its rays. Sometimes these are rose-purple.
In fact, specimens have been collected with both white rays
and purple on the same plant. The San Diego Indians used
the seeds for food.

SEASIDE DAISY. BEACH ASTER (Erigeron glaucus, Ker.).
Flower heads a couple of inches across or more, disk florets
yellow, rays violet or lilac, narrow, exceedingly numerous
(sometimes 100 or more) in several rows; borne singly at the
tips of ascending stems 4 inches to a foot high. Leaves alter-
nate, mostly clustered at the base forming a crown to a fleshy
rootstalk, pale green and succulent, the largest 3 or 4 inches
long and 1 inch wide, those of the stem small and few. A
perennial plant common along the coast within the influence
of the ocean, from Oregon to the Santa Barbara Channel Is-
lands, flowering throughout most of the year.

The Seaside Daisy, or Beach Aster, is one of the noticeable
wild flowers on seaside downs, especially from Monterey
northward, and its resemblance to the single, bluish-flowered
China Asters of gardens is marked enough to make it of easy
recognition. The genus Erigeron is, indeed, exceedingly near
to Aster, the distinguishing characters being mostly of tech-
nical importance only. To the amateur the feature of Erig-
eron that is most striking is the narrowness and great number
of the rays, which, moreover, are arranged usually in several

224

MALACOTHREX (Malacbthrix californica, DC.). Flower
heads pale yellow, showy, about 2 inches across, composed en-
tirely of strap-shaped ray flowers (like the dandelion); solitary
and "terminating usually naked stalks 6 inches to a foot high,
nodding in the bud. Leaves tufted at the base of the flower
stalk, cut into narrow linear divisions, wrhich when young are
clothed with loose, long, soft hairs. An herbaceous annual,
blooming from March till May, in sandy soil of the California
Coast region from San Diego to San Francisco, and on plains
of the interior valleys.

This is a charming flower, the large heads resembling the
bloom of the Hawkweed, and of a delicate tone of yellow fused
with cream, and often with a purplish tone at the centre. In
the California desert region and eastward to Nevada and
Arizona, and northward to Oregon, there is a variety glabrata
quite common, which is devoid of hairiness, and usually with
flower heads borne laterally on the flowering stem as well as at
the top. Some botanists consider this a separate species, M.
glabrata, Gray. Malacothrix means "soft hair," an allusion
to the woolliness of the young plant.

225

YELLOW DAISY. DOUGLAS COREOPSIS (Leptdsyne Dougldsii,
DC.). Flower heads showy, 1 to 1^ inches across, both disk
and ray florets, bright yellow, borne singly at the summit of a
naked stalk. Involucral bracts in 2 series, the inner 8 to 12,
erect and broad; the outer fewer, narrower, loose, and leaf-
like. Leaves mostly basal, divided into a few thread-like
divisions. An herbaceous annual, a few inches to a foot
high, blooming from March till summer on dry plains and foot-
hills, Southern California and eastward to Arizona. Rather
variable, being much reduced in size when growing amid
brush, while along the seashore leaves and stems are thickish,
and the flower heads larger.

The Yellow Daisy was one of David Douglas's discoveries,
which accounts for his name being linked with it. It is a
flower of peculiar attractiveness because of the clear, sun-
shiny quality of its yellow. Its general appearance suggests a
garden Coreopsis, and some botanists, indeed, class it as
Coreopsis Douglasii. The characteristic feature of the genus
Leptosyne is the presence of a thickened ring (sometimes hairy)
around the tube of the disk corollas. This may be readily
seen under a pocket lens.

226

SEA DAHLIA (Leptosyne maritimay Gray). Flower heads
showy, 3 or 4 inches across, with both ray and disk florets and
both kinds yellow; solitary, topping naked flower stalks 6
inches long or more. Leaves alternate, fleshy, 2 or 3
times divided into narrow linear lobes. A striking, much-
branched, herbaceous perennial with a stout base, 1 to 2£
feet high, blooming in spring and summer, along the Southern
California coast near San Diego, in Lower California, and on
the adjacent islands.

The resemblance of this showy flower to a single Yellow
Dahlia has suggested the common name. Both the beauty of
the blossom and the striking appearance of the coarse lace-like
foliage have gained for it a place in gardens, arid its complais-
ance as a cut flower gives it an additional value in cultiva-
tion.

Also along the coast of Southern California and upon the
islands near, by one comes upon Leptdsyne gigantea, Kellogg,
which seems a robust form of the Sea Dahlia, but is readily
distinguished by its trunk-like woody stem, 2 to 8 feet high, 1
to 5 inches thick, and crowned at the summit with a bunch of
finely cut leaves and coreopsis-like flowers.

227

TELEGRAPH PLANT (Stephanomeria virgata, Benth.). Flow*
er heads an inch across or less, entirely of strap-shaped flor-
ets (4 to 16) white or flesh colored above, purplish on the back,
almost sessile along the leafless upper part of the wand-like
stem or slender panicled branches, open only in the early
morning. Leaves of lower stem wavy- toothed or deeply
divided, upper leaves small, linear. A smooth, upright, rigid-
stemmed annual, usually 2 to 6 feet high, but sometimes even
15 feet; very common on the dry plains and foothills of South-
ern California, eastward to Nevada and Utah, and northward
to Oregon; blooming July to October.

A feature of the floral life of California is the presence of
many herbaceous plants which take no interest hi a world
that is not bone-dry, blooming only after the rainy season is
long past and most flowers have seeded and vanished. Among
these is the Telegraph-plant, which owes its name doubtless to
its tall, rigid, pole-like stems, practically leafless. The flowers
suggest those of chicory, save that they are not blue. Some
botanists prefer to call the plant Ptiloria virgata, Greene.

228

GUM PLANT (Grindelia cuneifolia, Nutt.). Flower heads
about 2 inches across, both disk florets and rays present and
both yellow, solitary at the tips of panicled branchlets, the
buds remarkable for a covering of whitish gum. Leaves
thick, narrow, 3 or 4 inches long, the upper disposed to be
clasping at the base and without footstalks. A coarse, bushy
plant, woody at the base, 2^ to 4 feet high, blooming showily
in late summer and autumn in salt marshes and on seaside
shores from Southern California northward.

There are several species of Grindelia indigenous to the
Pacific Coast, recognized in a general way by the peculiar
gumminess of the buds and flower heads, which occasions the
common name Gum Plant. These resinous tops were used
medicinally by the Indians — both internally, made into a tea,
for troubles of the respiratory organs, and as a wash for rhus
poisoning-^uses to which modern whites also put them. On
the dry hillsides of inland- California Grindelia robusta, Nutt.
is common, which resembles G. cuneifolia, but the stem is her-
baceous at the base instead of woody, and the larger, more
rigid leaves are mostly sharp toothed. Grindelia commem-
orates a European botanist of a century ago named Grindel.

229

RABBIT BRUSH (Chrysothdmnus nausebsus (Pursh) Britt.).
Flower heads each of 5 yellow disk florets, narrow and about
^ inch high (no rays), and disposed in numerous, flattish-
topped, compound clusters. Leaves linear (to almost thread-
like in some forms), grayish with loose white wool in the typical
form, but this sometimes entirely absent or disappearing in
age. A rather rank-smelling, bushy shrub 3 to 10 feet high,
the woolly branchlets grayish white, or in some forms becom-
ing smooth and yellowish green in age; abounding in sandy or
sterile ground from Southern California along the desert bor-
ders and in arid regions northward to British Columbia and
eastward to Wyoming and New Mexico; blooming in summer
and autumn.

The Rabbit Brush is as typical a plant of the arid regions of
the Far West as Sage Brush, in company with which it fre-
quently grows. The species is very variable and its different
forms have given botanists no end of trouble to systematize.
The name Chrysothamnus means "golden-bush," and very
accurately describes the plant when covered with its abound-
ing golden-yellow flowers, which though individually small are
showy in the mass. Immense areas are sometimes covered
by it.

230

GUATAMOTE (Bdccharis viminea, DC.). Flower heads about
I inch high of many whitish or tawny disk florets, no rays pres-
ent, disposed in small flattish clusters terminating numerous
lateral branchlets. Leaves alternate, narrow, willowlike, 2
or 3 inches long. An evergreen, willow-like shrub, the very
leafy stems 6 to 12 feet high, often forming dense thickets along
water courses and ditches from Southern California to the
Sacramento Valley, and from the ocean to the desert borders.
Flowering in late winter and early spring.

This common California shrub holds its foliage through the
winter and is a favorite browse for live stock, which seem to
do well on it, whence the name Mule-fat given to it in some
districts. The curious term Guatamote (commonly pro-
nounced wah-ta-mo'td], by which it frequently goes in Southern
California, is a Mexican word, and is apt to become distorted
by the English-speaking to "water-motor." -In this corrupt
form it has even got into print.

There are several species of Baccharis on the Pacific Coast,
mostly shrubs, but some herbaceous. From the wood of one
the San Diego Indians were accustomed to make then* fire-
drills.

231

ARROW-WEED (Pluchea sericea (Nutt.) Coville). Flower
heads of disk florets only, purple, or whitish tinged with red or
purple, in terminal clusters. These florets are of two kinds,
those of the margin pistillate with slender style branches long
exserted and thread-like corollas, the central florets often ster-
ile and with tubular 5-cleft corollas. Leaves alternate, nar-
row and tapering to both ends, about an inch long, silvery-
silky. An erect, grayish, willow-like shrub, 6 to 15 feet high,
very leafy, common along streams and in damp ground, form-
ing thickets, .Southern California, east through the deserts
to the Rio Grande; flowering April to July.

A thicket of Arrow-weed is a welcome feature in the land-
scape for campers. The perfectly straight, slender stems,
abundantly clothed with silky leaves, are readily gathered in
quantity sufficient for spreading on the ground as a foundation
upon which to lay one's blankets, making a capital substitute
for a mattress. Indians found the plant serviceable for
thatching their huts, and also made arrow shafts of the stems,
whence, doubtless, the common name. The Mexican name
for the plant is Cachanilla. In the older botanical reports it
was called Tessaria borealis.

232

MULE EAKS (Wyethia angustifdlia, Nutt.). Flower heads
solitary, 3 to 4 inches across, composed of both ray and disk
florets, and both yellow, the involucre an inch high of loose,
leaf-like bracts. Leaves alternate, lance-shaped, tapering to
both ends, hairy and often somewhat glutinous, the lower
ones tufted, 6 inches to a foot or more long, with an erect
habit; the stem leaves shorter and usually broader. A peren-
nial herb a few inches to 2 feet high, from a strong root crowned
with a short trunk; common from Central California north to
Oregon, in moist ground and valley lands, and on hillsides,
blooming in late spring and summer.

Wyethia is a genus of several species peculiar to the Far
West. Because of the large, bright yellow flowers most of
them are lumped in popular parlance as Sunflowers. The
ample root leaves with an alert, upright habit are also con-
spicuous, whence the name Mule Ears. Several species have
played an important part in aboriginal economy; the seeds
being gathered for food, and the resinous root used in the
form of a decoction for an emetic. The edges of the leaves
are popularly thought to face north and south.

233

TAR WEED (Madia Slegans, Don.). Flower heads yellow,
of both ray and disk florets, the showy rays about f inch long,
acutely 3-lobed and often with a dark red spot at the base,
opening at evening and closing the next morning; the involucre
angled by the keel-shaped bracts, of which each completely
enfolds the seed of its corresponding ray; heads axillary and
terminal. Leaves narrow, alternate, the basal crowded, 6
inches long or more, the upper much smaller, and sticky
with gland-tipped hairs. A stout, gummy annual, 2 to 5 feet
high, common on hills from Southern California to Oregon,
and east to Nevada; blooming in summer.

The appearance of this flower suggests a Coreopsis, but as it
is a night-owl among blossoms, many people never see the
flower and know the plant only to be repelled by its unpleas-
ant stickiness of stem and leaf. This is the showiest of sev-
eral species of Madia, whose seeds entered largely into the food
supply of the Pacific Coast Indians. The name is a modifica-
tion of the Chilean word Modi, applied to a species (M. saliva,
Mol.) growing in Chile as well as in California, whose oily seeds
yield an oil once used in cooking.

234

TARWEED (Hemizonia luzulcefolia, D. C.). Flower heads
an inch across or less, of both ray and disk florets, rays 5 to
10, 3-lobed, white (sometimes with a pinkish tinge) or even
light yellow, opening only in bright sunshine; heads termi-
nating the panicled branchlets; the seed of each ray floret par-
tially enfolded by the involucral bract. Leaves linear, the
upper quite small and sticky, the lower elongated and silky.
A sticky, strong-scented, much-branched annual, 8 inches to
2 feet high, common in dry, open grounds, Central and North-
ern California, blooming from April till November, and often
covering extensive areas.

Of the numerous plants on the Pacific Coast known as Tar-
weed from their disagreeable sticky exudations on stem and
leaf, this Hemizonia is one of the commonest. The name
means "half-girdle," and is applied to the genus because of
the characteristic half encircling of the ray seeds by the in-
volucral bract. Hemizonia luzulcefolia is an abundant pro-
ducer of seeds, which, roasted and ground into meal, contrib-
uted an important item of food to the Northern California
Indians. The toasted seeds have a pleasant spicy odor.

235

PINCUSHION (Chamdctis glabritisda, DC.). Flower heads
golden yellow throughout, the corollas of the marginal flor-
ets with an enlarged throat and fan-like limb (the latter divided
into 5 fingers) thus creating the effect of rays about the disk;
heads about f inch high, solitary at the tips of stout, naked
peduncles. Leaves thickish, once to twice divided into a
few very narrow lobes. An herbaceous, branching annual,
6 inches to 1^ feet high, common in sandy soil and rocky
ground, throughout Central and Southern California, from the
coast to the mountains and borders of the desert — blooming
from April till June.

The trig, roundish-topped heads of this charming flower,
abundant in spring by waysides and on hills, are quite sug-
gestive of the common name Pincushion especially when
studded with the protruding stamens and pistils. The species
is exceedingly variable, and 4 or 5 varieties are described in
the books. Variety tenuifolia has almost threadlike divisions
to the leaves, and the marginal corollas have the limb so little
developed as to be hardly noticeable — the head appearing
all disk. Variety lanosa is rarely a foot high, leafy only at the
base and the herbage whitish with woolliness.

236

(Chamddis artemiscefblia, Gray.). Flower
heads white, without ray florets, the involucre sticky to the
touch, borne on naked peduncles in loose, leafless panicles.
Leaves alternate, about 4 inches long, twice or thrice divided
into very narrow divisions, more or less sticky-hairy. An up-
right, branching annual, from 1 to 5 feet high* common in the
hills of some parts of Southern California from the vicinity of
Los Angeles to San Diego, and southward into Mexico; bloom-
ing April to July.

In default of a popular name, the by no means hard botan-
ical generic name (pronounced Ke-nac'tis) may serve. Chaen-
actis means " a gaping ray," and was given to the genus because
in most species the ray florets are enlarged into a sort of wide-
open mouth. This character, however, is not obvious in this
species.

There is another white-flowered species, but with marginal
florets much enlarged, quite common on the Colorado Desert
of California and eastward to Arizona— ^Chcenactis FremiSnti,
Gray. It is a rather slender annual, sometimes only a couple
of inches high, and rarely more than a foot tall.

237

CALIFORNIA SAGE BRUSH (Artemisia calif ornica, Less.).
Flower heads yellowish or whitish, all tubular, very numerous,
nodding in panicled racemes. Leaves grayish green, once or
twice parted into threadlike divisions, or the uppermost
threadlike entire and clustered; pleasantly aromatic. A
shrub 2 to 5 feet high, much branched, abundant on hillsides
in California from San Francisco southward to Mexico, par-
ticularly near the Coast, blooming from May to August.

No fragrance of the hills is more grateful to the average
rambler than that of the California Sage when it is released
as his clothing brushes against it. Both this and the appear-
ance of the plant suggest the Southernwood of old-fashioned
gardens, which is, indeed, an Old World cousin of our plant.
I have heard that Spanish-Calif ornians call the California Sage
"romerillo," and they make a tea of it for bronchial troubles.
It is near akin to wormwood, and a similar bitter principle is
resident in it. Owing to the plant's abundance on many hill-
sides, forming extensive thickets, it is also known in some
sections as Hill Brush.

238

DESERT SAGE BRUSH (Artemisia tridentata, Nutt.). Flower
heads small, yellowish, all of disk florets, in dense panicles a
foot long; leaves silver gray on both sides, about an inch long,
wedge-shaped, the broad, square summit 3-toothed or 3-lobed,
aromatic. An erect, much-branched shrub 1 to 6 feet tall
(sometimes 10 to 12), with a short trunk and shrubby bark;
abundant from Lower California to Washington on plains and
mountains bordering the desert and eastward to Montana,
Colorado, and Utah; blooming in late spring and summer.

This is the characteristic Sage Brush of the Far West, in
places forming the entire vegetal covering of mile after mile.
Aside from the use of the short trunks for fuel when timber is
unprocurable, white men have small regard for it; but the
Indians turned it to account also in a medicinal way. A de-
coction of the leaves was used in diarrhea, and the mashed
leaves were applied to bruises. A variety (angustifolia) with
narrower leaves, the lower with a roundish summit barely
3-toothed, occurs from Southern California eastward to New
Mexico.

SNEEZEWEED (Helenium pubentlum, D.C.). Flower heads
solitary on long peduncles, at the ends of clustered branch-
lets, the spherical disk about \ inch across of reddish-brown
florets, the rays yellow, much shorter than the disk is wide,
rather inconspicuous, and usually drooping. Leaves alter-
nate, lance-shaped, the upper an inch or two long (the lowest
4 to 6 inches long), without footstalks and their margins con-
tinuous with the stems for a considerable distance. A dark
green herbaceous perennial, 2 to 5 feet high, frequent along
shady mountain streams and in moist ground throughout
California, blooming from June to October.

The flower heads of Sneezeweed are very peppery and bitter.
The powdered flowers and leaves of an eastern species (H.
autumnale, L.) have been used to produce sneezing, whence
the common name; and doubtless our species would have the
same effect. Mr. Chesnut records a Yokia Indian name for
the plant that means Beaver Flower — probably originating
in a fancied resemblance of the winged stems to a beaver's
tail. A Spanish-California name for it is Rosilla — "little

240

DOUGLAS'S GROUNDSEL (Senecio Dougldsii, DC.). Flower
heads yellow, with both ray florets and disk, the rays about a
dozen, light yellow, narrowish, and barely ^ inch long, in ter-
minal, loose-branching clusters. Leaves alternate, white-
woolly, divided into narrow almost thread-like lobes. A
somewhat shrubby perennial, forming a bush usually 3 or 4
feet high, but sometimes taller, common on open plains, in
gravelly washes, and on foothill slopes in Southern and Cen-
tral California, eastward through Arizona and Utah to Texas
and Nebraska; blooming from July to December.

The genus Senecio is an exceedingly numerous one, com-
prising perhaps 1,000 species altogether, distributed almost
throughout the world. Of these there are more than 40
species indigenous to the Pacific Slope. They are of varied as-
pect, some being entirely devoid of rays. In most species
the copious pappus of soft white bristles is a noticeable feature.
This character is probably responsible for the name Senecio,
which is a modification of the Latin senex, an old man. Doug-
las's Senecio is one of the most conspicuous wild plants of the
late year in Southern California, a period when the floral tide
is at its lowest.

241

BRASS BUTTONS (Cbtula cordnopifdlia, L.). Flower heads
yellow without rays, about ? inch in diameter, solitary on
slender peduncles. Leaves linear, lance-shaped, or coarsely
toothed on the same plant, and clasping at the base around
the stem. An herbaceous, rather succulent perennial, a foot
or so high, quite common in marshes and along streams and
ditches in California; blooming pretty much the entire year.

The cheerful rotund flowers of this Cotula are well described
by the common name of Brass Buttons. They give a lively
sparkle of color to many a wet wayside particularly near the
coast. I believe the Spanish-Californians call the plant a
little more courteously, Boton de pro, that is "gold button."
It is an immigrant to our shores, its native home being South
Africa. The foliage is strongly but not unpleasantly scented.

There is a dainty little Australian cousin of Brass Buttons
which has become noticeable in spring along city streets and
in lawns in California. Its flower heads are barely | inch in
diameter, yellowish white, rising on threadlike peduncles out
of the parsley-like foliage of the plant, which spreads close
to the ground. It is Cdtula australis, Hook, f .

242

MANZAXILLA (Matricdria discoidea. D.C.). Flower heads
greenish yellow, with a fringe of white at base, somewhat
egg-shaped, about | inch high, borne in loose, terminal clusters.
Leaves much dissected into short, very narrow lobes, pleas-
antly scented. A leafy annual, a few inches to a foot high,
blooming from February to July, common along waysides and
in open grounds from Southern California to Alaska, and east-
ward more sparingly along the railroads even to the Atlantic
Coast.

This familiar little plant shows its chubby round face in
the spring, and is worthy of more respect than it usually gets.
Pinch its leaves and you are rewarded with a delicious, if faint,
fragrance of apples. Perhaps from this has originated the
name by which the Spanish-Californians call it — Manzanilla,
which means, a "little apple." They have long recognized
it as a medicinal herb, and have employed it, I believe, for
bowel complaints and ague. It is a confirmed globe-trotter,
having spread from its native home in northern Asia not only
eastward to our Pacific Coast (its first foothold in America)
but westward to Europe, where it has long been naturalized.

248

ERIOPHYLLUM. GOLDEN YARROW (Eriophyllum conftrti-
flbrum (DC.), Gray). Flower heads golden yellow, about
| inch across, with both disk and ray florets (the rays rather
roundish), in crowded, flat-topped clusters with short pedun-
cles. Leaves alternate, wedge-shaped in outline and parted
into several narrow divisions. A plant 1 to 2 feet high, white at
first with a close woolliness that later disappears; frequent on
hills and in the mountain chaparral belt at low altitudes; South-
ern and Central California, blooming from March till August.

This is one of the noticeable plants of the Yosemite wood-
lands, and is readily recognized by its blossoms suggesting
in form and arrangement those of the yarrow, but yellow in-
stead of white. The botanical name of the genus means
"woolly foliage," suggested by the white tomentum that
clothes most of the species in youth. Confertiflorum, the
specific appellative, means "with crowded flowers."

A kindred species is E. caspitosum, Dougl., widely dis-
tributed in several varieties from British Columbia to South-
ern California. It is noticeable in the redwood and the Sierra
forests, with numerous stems sprawling about the ground
from one root, and showy flower heads usually solitary on
prominent peduncles.

244

COXE FLOWER (Rudbtckia calif ornica, Gray). Flower
heads composed of both disk and ray florets, the disk brown-
purple becoming conical in age, the rays pure yellow, drooping,
1 to 2 inches long or even more; the heads solitary on a long
flower stalk. Leaves alternate, more or less toothed, ovate to
lance-shaped, the upper without footstalks. A somewhat
hairy plant with a simple stem 2 to 4 feet high, of frequent
occurrence in meadows and in moist ground in the Sierra Ne-
vada, including the Yosemite region; blooming in summer.

A conspicuous feature of the Cone Flower is the conical or
cylindrical disk wrhich increases in height with age until it
often stands an inch high in the midst of the rays, and some-
times as much as 2£ inches high. In the mountains of North-
ern California and Oregon and eastward to Wyoming is a
curious species — Rudbeckia occidentdlis, Nutt. — in which the
rays are wholly wanting, and the brownish disk stands in
lonely grandeur 1 to l£ inches high. The name Rudbeckia
was given to this beautiful genus in honor of two Swedish
scientists, father and son, named Rudbeck, who preceded Lin-
naeus at the University of Upsala. Several species have long
been cultivated in European gardens.

245

BAILEYA (Bailey a paudradiata, H. & G.). Flower heads
yellow composed of both disk and ray florets, the latter 5 or 6
in number, short and of a pale lemon tone becoming papery
at maturity and reflexed; borne singly on short peduncles.
Leaves densely white woolly, alternate, narrow, without foot-
stalks. A much-branched, leafy, herbaceous plant from a few
inches to 1^ feet high, abundant in the desert regions of South-
eastern California, eastward to Arizona, blooming March to
May.

Baileya is one of the flowers sure to attract the eye of the
tourist on the California desert in spring, both because of the
rather ghostly aspect of the plant in its white woollens and the
pale look of the flowers with their wan, turned-do\vn rays —
altogether a somewhat unhappy appearing specimen, yet very
lovely. A kindred species, found on the Mojave Desert and
thence eastward to New Mexico, is Baileya multiradiata (var.
pleniradiata (H. & G.), Coville), with very numerous rays, and
flower heads on long peduncles.

The name Baileya preserves the memory of Prof. Jacob
Whitman Bailey, "the father of microscopic research in
America."

246

VEXEGASIA (Venegasia carpesioides, DC.). Flower heads
showy, 2 inches across or more, yellow, composed of both disk
and ray florets, the latter 15 to 20 in number, usually entire
and acute but not infrequently toothed or gashed at the tip;
heads few, terminal, and in the upper axils on short footstalks.
Leaves alternate, thin, slender-petioled, ovate with a somewhat
heart-shaped base, resinous-dotted underneath. A leafy per-
ennial, frequent on rocky banks of streams and under the
shade of trees in the canons of the Southern California moun-
tains below 3,000 feet; blooming in summer.

The general aspect of Venegasia suggests a sunflower. The
smoothness of stem and herbage is, however, in marked con-
trast to the harshness of the sunflower plant; while an exami-
nation of the flower head reveals several differences. In Ven-
egasia, for instance, the receptacle is naked, and the ray florets
fertile, while in the sunflower the receptacle is chaffy and the
rays sterile. The name Venegasia was given in commemora-
tion of Padre Miguel Venegas, a gallant old Jesuit missionary
to the Indians and early writer on Lower California.

247

STAR THISTLE (Centaurea melitensis, L.). Flower heads
small, the florets yellow and all tubular, rising out of a globular
involucre which is armed with prickly spines. Leaves alter-
nate, gray green, the upper narrow, without footstalks and
decurrent upon the stem, in the form of long, narrow, wings;
the basal leaves lyre-shaped and deep-lobed. An erecj . much-
branched annual 1 to 2| feet high, common in fieL and by
roadsides, California and Arizona, blooming May to Novem-
ber.

The Star This tie attracts attention both because of its pretty,
thistle-like golden flowers, and because of its vicious prick-
liness. On the latter account it is in general disgrace; yet
it is of good family and its cousins, the Cornflowers, the Sweet
Sultans, and the Dusty Millers, are cherished garden plants.
The Star Thistle is an immigrant on the Pacific Coast, its
original home being southern Europe. The specific name,
Melitensis, indeed, means "Maltese." The popular name,
Star Thistle, also is of interesting etymology — the spiny, glob-
ular involucre suggesting the medieval weapon called " morn-
ing star" — a metal ball set with spikes, and mounted on a
long handle.

248

MILK THISTLE (Sttybum Maridnum, Gsertn.). Flower
heads 1 to 2 inches across, with tubular rose-purple florets;
solitary at the branch ends. Leaves prickly, deeply lobed
and wavy margined, the shiny green surface conspicuously
blotched with white along the veins. Stout annuals or bien-
nials, 3 ^o 6 feet high, along roadsides and in fields, Central
and Souifferh California, flowering in summer.

An immigrant from the Mediterranean region, the beautiful
Milk Thistle has abused its freedom in our Land of Liberty,
and in some places has become a persistent interloper and a
nuisance in cultivated grounds. There is an Old World tradi-
tion that the white markings upon the leaves are due to drops
of milk that fell from the Virgin's breast as she nursed the
infant Christ. For this reason the plant has also been called
Our Lady's Thistle and Blessed Thistle. In old European gar-
dens it used to be grown both for ornament and for its edi-
bleness. The roots were boiled for pot herbs, the heads
treated as the artichoke, and the young leaves made into
spring salads.

249

jit

WESTERN THISTLE (Cdrduus occidentdlis, Nutt.). Heads
solitary on long peduncles, the tubular florets a clear red or
crimson, 1 to 1| inches long, the involucre densely covered
with cobwebby hairs. Leaves rather deeply lobed, only
mildly prickly, smoothish above, white-hairy beneath. A
stout plant 2 to 5 feet high, the stems when young very white
with a coating of cottony wool. In its different forms-— it is
quite variable — it is common from the Lower California line
to Southern Oregon, and from the coast to the desert; bloom-
ing in spring and summer.

This lovely thistle catches the eye instantly when seen amid
the dun chaparral of the foothills, where its bright red showy
heads glow like coals. One variety — candidissimus — com-
mon in northeastern California, is remarkable for having the
entire foliage almost snow white with a persistent woolliness.

A peculiar thistle frequently found in mountain meadows of
the Pacific Slope from Lower California northward is Carduus
Drummondii, var. acaulescens (Gray) Coville, characterized
by having several heads of white flowers (but sometimes
magenta) sessile in the centre of a rosette of leaves flat upon
the ground.

250

ARTICHOKE (Cynara Scolymus, L.). Flower heads very
large, 2 to 3 inches in diameter, of disk florets only which are
bright blue, borne at the tip of loosely clustered branchlets;
involucral bracts broad, leathery, and tipped usually with
a long spine. Leaves ample, 2 to 3 feet long, deeply lobed
(the lobes sharply toothed), and silvery green with a hoary
woolliness. Robust herbs, 2 to 4 feet high, from perennial
roots, occasional by roadsides in California, blooming in June
or July.

This regal plant, whose flowers suggest a glorified blue thistle,
is a native of the Mediterranean region, and is extensively cul-
tivated as a vegetable in some parts of California — the in-
volucral bracts being eaten. Its seeds, like the thistle's,
supplied with generous plumes, are borne by the winds consid-
erable distances. In this way the plant has escaped from gar-
dens, and set up for tself in the open.

There is a native American plant also known as Artichoke,
but of quite a different aspect from this Cynara. It is
Helianthus tuberosus, L., a sunflower of the Middle West.
Its tubers are the edible part.

251

WESTERN DANDELION (Trdximon grandifldrum, Gray).
Flower heads yellow, 1 to 1| inches high, all florets strap-
shaped, borne singly at the top of stout, naked, hollow stems,
a foot or two high. Leaves all basal, lance-shaped, deeply cut.
A perennial herb with a strong, deep taproot. Common on
plains and moist hillsides from Southern California to Wash-
ington, blooming in spring and summer.

Troximon is so much like the common dandelion of the
East that the difference, while apparent in a general way, is
yet hard to define. Botanists find an essential distinction in
the character of the seeds (achenes) — those of the dandelion
being roughened above with tiny, hard processes, while those
of Troximon are not so. These achenes in Troximon grandi-
florum have a noticeably long, capillary beak — 3 or 4 times
the length of the seed body. Troximon is indigenous only
.to the New World, principally to the United States west of
the Mississippi. One or two species have been introduced in a
small way into European gardens. There are a dozen or more
species and varieties found on the Pacific Slope, 2 or 3 with
purple flowers, and as many with orange flowers.

252

INDEX TO FAMILIES

Acanthacese

Amaryllidaceae

Anacardiaceae

Aristolochiaceae

Asclepiadaceae

Berberidaceae
Boraginaceae

Cactaceae . .

Calycanthaceae

Campanulaceae

Capparidaceae

Caprifoliaceae

Caryophyllacese

Composites

Cornaceas

Crassulaceae

Cruciferse .

FAMILY

Acanthus

Amaryllis

Sumac

Birthwort

Milkweed

Barberry
Borage

Cactus

Calycanthus

Bellflower

Caper

Honeysuckle

Pink

Sunflower

Dogwood

Stonecrop

Mustard

Cucurbitaceae

Ericaceae . .
Euphorbiaceae .

Ficoideae
Funiariaceae

Gentianaceae
Geraniaceas

Hydrophyllacese
Iridaceae

Labiatae
Leguminosae
Liliaceae
Loasaceaa

FAMILY

Gourd

Heath
Spurge

Fig-marigold
Fumitory

Gentian
Geranium

Waterleaf
Iris

Mint
Pea
Lily
Loasa

253

Lobeliaceae .

FAMILY

Lobelia

Rhamnaceae

FAMILY

. Buckthorn

Malvaceae .

. . Mallow

Rosaceae

. . Rose

Nyctaginaceae .

Four-o'clock

Sapindaceae

M^aple

Onagraceae

Evening Primrose

Saururaceae
Saxifragacese

Lizardtail

Orchidaceae .
Orobanchaceae .

Papaveraceae .
Plumbaginaceee
Polemoniaceae .
Polygonaceae .
Portulacacese .
Primulaceae . .

Ranunculaceae .

. . . Orchid
Broomrape

. . . Poppy
Plumbago
. . . Phlox
Buckwheat
Purslane
. . . Primrose

. . . Crowfoot

Scrophulariacese
Solanaceae .
Styracacese

Tamariscineae .
Umbelliferae
Violaceae
Zygophyllacese .

Figwort
Nightshade
Storax

. Tamarisk
. . Parsley
. . Violet
Caltrop

254

INDEX TO FLOWERS BY COLOR

WHITE, or WHITISH

1 . Flowers clustered or racemose

MUILLA. Small (tinged with green) wheel-
shaped flowers in umbels.

DESERT LILY. Suggesting an Easter Lily;
in racemes; basal leaves long and crinkly.

WASHINGTON LILY. Horizontal, fragrant; in
pyramidal racemes.

OUR LORD'S CANDLE. A huge panicle rising
out of a. round mass of dagger-like leaves.

SOAP PLANT. Small with recurved segments;
in loose, wide-spreading panicles; opening
in the afternoon.

ZYGADENE. Star-like with a greenish spot
at base of each segment; in racemes or pan-
icles.

SQUAW GRASS. Dense racemes; leaves grass-
like in a large basal tuft.

KNOTWEED. In dense spikes, a plant of wet
mountain meadows.

MINER'S LETTUCE. Small flowers in racemes,
rising out of two united leaves that make a
cup around the stem.

GHOST FLOWER. Whole plant pure white,
the leaves reduced to scales.

INSIDE-OUT FLOWER. Small, drooping, num-
erous in a loose panicle.

PEPPER-ROOT. In loose racemes, 4 petals.

WHIPPLEA. Small, calyx and corolla colored
alike, in clusters at branch-ends.

ALUM-ROOT. In a loose, feathery panicle;
leaves basal.

RATTLE WEED. Pea-like, narrow; leaves pin-
nate; seedpods inflated like bladders.

EULOPHUS. In long-stalked compound um-
bels. In damp mountain meadows.

SALAL. LTrn-shaped, in racemes. A low,
evergreen shrub.

255

PINE DROPS, In a many-flowered raceme.
Plant leafless, brownish red.

SHOOTING STAR. Corolla lobes sharply turned
back as in cyclamen.

SEA PINK. In clustered heads with chaffy
bracts. Seaside.

WOOLLY MILKWEED. Corolla with reflexed
divisions, in umbels; milky juice.

POPCORN FLOWER. Small but numerous in fist
like coiled clusters.

PITCHER SAGE. Large, with purplish tinge,
pitcher-shaped. Aromatic.

WHITE SAGE. Corolla 2-lipped, the lower ruf-
fled; in panicles. Shrubby, with whitish,
aromatic leaves.

HOREHOUND. Small, crowded in dense clus-
ters. Leaves gray-green, wrinkled.

BLACK NIGHTSHADE. Small, wheel-shaped,
anthers forming a yellow cone at centre.

COULTER'S SNAPDRAGON. 2-lipped, the lower
much puffed out; in spikes.

ELDER. Small in flat-topped clusters. A
shrub or tree.

2. Flowers solitary, or nearly or apparently so

FAIRY BELLS. Small, bell-shaped flowers on
slender stalks almost hidden beneath the
leaves.

CALIFORNIA WAKE ROBIN. Flower sessile
upon a whorl of leaves.

LANTERN OF THE FAIRIES. Globe-like, nod-
ding; at tips of the branches.

MARIPOSA TULIP. Tulip-like, with a dark red
blotch at the base of each petal.

YERBA MANSA. Flowers in a conical spike in
the midst of white bracts; leaves like a dock.

ICE PLANT. Very numerous linear petals;
seaside plant with a glistening encrustation

BITTER-ROOT. Large flowers opening in the
sunshine; on a low plant with thick linear
leaves.

PRICKLY POPPY. Large, with crumpled petals,

256

a golden centre of many yellow stamens; a
prickly herb.

CREAM-CUPS. Solitary on leafless flower stalks.

MOUNTAIN MISERY. In few-flowered ter-
minal clusters, resembling strawberry blos-
soms; plant resinous.

\VooD SORREL. Solitary, leaves clover-like.

STRAWBERRY CACTUS. Small; a little round
cactus bearing a scarlet berry.

DESERT EVENING PRIMROSE. Single on long
axillary peduncles, turning gradually pink.

WHITE HEATHER. Solitary from axils of
seed-like leaves. Sub-alpine.

PRINCE'S PINE. Petals roundish, concave,
and turned back.

EVENING SNOW. Salver-form, fragrant,
brownish outside. Opening toward eve-
ning.

SPOTTED NEMOPHILA. Saucer-shaped, a pur-
ple blotch at tip of each corolla lobe.

YERBA BUENA. Small, solitary on axillary
footstalks. A fragrant, creeping vine.

TOLUACHE. Trumpet-shaped, wilting after
noon.

3. Flowers composite; herbs

WHITE DAISY. Yellow disk; stalk sticky

above.
TELEGRAPH PLANT. Florets strap-shaped,

sessile on wand-like branches — open only

in morning.

CH^NACTIS. Without rays, in leafless panicles.
TAR WEED. Rays 3-lobed, opening in the

sunshine. A sticky annual.

4. Shrubs, Climbing Vines or Trees

JOSHUA TREE. Small, gjrotesque tree, flowers
clustered at ends of limbs with dagger-like
leaves.

WILD BUCKWHEAT. Small shrub; flowers in
dense terminal heads.

257

WILD CLEMATIS. A woody vine, with panicles
of creamy white flowers.

MATILIJA POPPY. Similar to Prickly Poppy
in flower, but the plant a smooth shrub.

SYRINGA. Large, fragrant, in terminal pan-
icles; a shrub.

ISLAY. In rather dense axillary racemes. An
evergreen shrub or small tree.

THIMBLE-BERRY. In few flowered clusters
terminal on long stems. A shrubby bush.

CHAMISE. Small, in showy, crowded panicles;
a shrub of the foothills, with needle-like
leaves.

CALIFORNIA HOLLY. Small, in dense panicles;
an evergreen shrub or small tree.

MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY. Inconspicuous flow-
ers without corolla, resembling a tiny cup
full of stamens.

LEMONADE BERRY. Small in dense clusters.
A stout evergreen shrub.

SUMAC. Small in showy, terminal panicles.
An evergreen shrub.

CALIFORNIA BUCKEYE. Irregular corollas in
dense showy panicles. A shrub or low tree.

DEER-BRUSH. Petals small with a long claw
ending in a little hood; in showy feathery
clusters; a mountain shrub.

NUTTALL'S DOGWOOD. Conspicuous white
bracts encircling a button-like cluster of
little greenish flowers. . A small tree.

CALIFORNIA HUCKLEBERRY. Small, waxen,
bellshaped. A shrub.

MADRONO. Waxen, urn-shaped in large showy
clusters. A tree.

MANZANITA. Urn-shaped in short racemes; a
smooth, red-barked shrub.

WESTERN AZALEA. Showy, fragrant, a yellow
blotch on one petal. A mountain shrub.

CALIFORNIA STORAX. Bell-shaped in droop-
ing racemes; shrub.

BIG ROOT. Rather small, wheel-shaped, in
axillary racemes. An herbaceous vine.

GUATAMOTE. Composite, small, without rays;

a willow-like shrub along water courses.
258

YELLOW OR ORANGE

1. Flowers clustered or racemose

LEOPARD LILY. Nodding in pyramidal ra-
cemes; tips rolled back.

GOLDEN STARS. Numerous star-like flowers
in umbels on long stalks; filaments not
winged.

GOLDEN BRODLEA. Flowers funnel-formed,
filaments winged.

MESCAL. Panicled on a stalk 8 to 10 feet
high, from clustered basal, dagger-like
leaves. Desert.

DESERT TRUMPET. A desert plant with tiny
flowers and inflated stalks, swelling grad-
ually upward.

SULPHUR FLOWER. Umbeled heads on stalks
from a rosette of grayish green leaves; a
mountain plant.

CALIFORNIA BUTTERCUP. Petals (10 to 15)
shining yellow.

GOLDEN EAR-DROPS. Flattened, heart-shaped
flowers.

WILD MUSTARD. Tall, branching, herbaceous
plants, sometimes 12 feet high, often form-
ing thickets.

ORANGE WALL-FLOWER. In showy racemes,
somewhat fragrant.

LUPINE (STIVERS'). Pea-like, with yellow
banner, rose pink lateral petals.

BUTTER-AND-EGGS. 2-lipped, the lower in-
flated with 3 sacs; upper lip purple.

YELLOW MONKEY FLOWER. In racemes; cor-
olla 2-lipped, the bright yellow lower lip
often blotched with brown.

MUSK. 2-lipped, in pairs in axils of upper
leaves; musk scented, plant of damp, places.

MULLEIN. Flat wheel-shaped, stamens
bearded with violet wool.

FENNEL. In compound, flat umbels. Leaves
very finely dissected, with a fragrance of
licorice.

259

WILD BOUVARDIA. Funnel form, in salmon-
colored hemispherical heads.

WHISPERING BELLS. Bell-shaped, drooping on
thread-like stalks.

FIDDLENECK. In coiled spikes. Hairy.

2. Flowers solitary, or nearly or apparently so

GOLDEN TULIP. Cup-shaped, rather small,

purplish within, grass-like leaves.
CHAMISE LILY. Lily-like flowers in a loose

raceme, on a stalk from 2 mottled, basal

leaves.
CALIFORNIA POPPY. Solitary, 2 to 4 inches in

diameter, cup-shaped.
BUR-CLOVER. Small, pea-like, 2 or 3 together

on an axillary footstalk.
MEADOW FOAM. Solitary, conspicuously

veined; leaves much dissected.
MOCK ORANGE. Bell-shaped with recurving

lobes; solitary. A prostrate vine.

MOHAVEA. Somewhat bell-shaped, purple

dotted; a delicate desert annual.
WILD PANSY. Upper petals tinged with

brown outside.
CREEPING VIOLET. Small; plant prostrate

and creeping.
BLAZING STAR. Petals terminating in pointed

tips; stamens very numerous.
CHOLLA. A cactus with cylindrical, jointed

stems.

NOPAL. A cactus with flat, jointed stems.
BISNAGA. Flowers in a circle at top of a large

cylindric plant of the desert.
SUNCUPS. Axillary on leafy stems; stigma a

tiny round ball; seed vessels twisted.
BEACH PRIMROSE. Turning greenish when

withering. A gray plant of the sea-beaches.

3. Flowers composite; herbs

TIDY-TIPS. Rays usually tipped with white;

solitary.
260

MALACOTHRIX. Florets strap-shaped; leaves
basal.

YELLOW DAISY. Disk florets yellow; coreop-
sis-like.

SEA DAHLIA. Disk yellow; solitary and large;
fleshy leaved seaside plants.

CALIFORNIA SAGE BRUSH. No rays, incon-
spicuous, clustered, nodding in panicled race-
mes. An aromatic shrub with finely dis-
sected leaves.

GUM PLANT. Disk yellow; buds sticky with
a whitish gum.

MULE EARS. Large, disk yellow; leaves of
upright habit.

TAR WEED. Disk yellow, a dark red spot at
base of each ray ; opening at evening. Plants
sticky.

PINCUSHION. Disk yellow, marginal florets
with a fan-like limb.

SNEEZEWEED. With spherical disk, and in-
conspicuous drooping rays.

DOUGLAS'S GROUNDSEL. Rays narrowish,
disk yellow, leaves white woolly.

BRASS BUTTONS. Without rays, solitary.
Wet places.

MANZANILLA. Without rays, disk egg-shaped.
A small plant with fragrance of apples.

ERIOPHYLLUM. Ray florets with rather round-
ish limbs; in crowded flat-topped clus-
ters.

CONE FLOWER. With a conspicuous brownish-
purple disk becoming conical hi age.

SUNSHINE. Base and margins of involucre
white with hairs. A desert herb.

WILD SUNFLOWER. Dark disk; a tall, rough,
branching annual.

BAILEYA. Rays short, pale, and reflexed at
maturity. A desert annual.

VENEGASIA. Showy, resembling a sunflower.

STAR THISTLE. Small thistle-like heads of
tubular yellow disk florets; no rays.

WESTERN DANDELION. Florets strap-shaped.
Leaves basal.

261

RABBIT BRUSH. Small, without rays, flat-
clustered; bushy shrub.

DESERT SAGE BRUSH. No rays, inconspicuous
leaves wedge-shaped, 3-toothed. Desert
and desert borders.

4. Shrubs, Climbing Vines or Trees

OREGON GRAPE. In terminal, clustered ra-
cemes; leaves odd-pinnate; a shrub.

TREE POPPY. A shrub with willow-like leaves;
flowers solitary on the bfanchlets.

BLADDER POD. In terminal racemes; soon
developing long-stalked, bladdery seed
pods; a shrub.

YELLOW WILD CURRANT. Both calyx and
petals yellow; in green bracted racemes
scattered along the branches; a shrub.

YELLOW LUPINE. Pea-like, in long racemes;
a shrub of the seaside sands.

DEER- WEED. Pea-like, small, turning reddish,
in umbels. A woody perennial of the hills.

MESQUIT. In dense, cylindric, narrow spikes.

A desert tree.
CREOSOTE BUSH. Solitary, the 5 petals

twisted edgewise to the light. A desert

shrub.
RABBIT BRUSH. Composite; small, without

rays, flat-clustered; a bushy shrub 'of the

desert and desert borders.
CALIFORNIA SAGE BRUSH. Composite, no

rays, inconspicuous, clustered, nodding in

panicled racemes. An aromatic shrub

with finely dissected leaves.
DESERT SAGE BRUSH. Composite, no rays,

inconspicuous; leaves wedge-shaped, 3-

toothed. Desert and desert borders.
STICKY MONKEY FLOWER. Funnel-form, with

ragged-edged lobes, on axillary footstalks;

salmon color.
YELLOW BEARD-TONGUE. Corolla 2-lipped,

arched above, and gaping.
SQUAW BUSH. Small, in spike-like clusters be-
fore the leaves. A shrub.

262

FEEMONTIA. Without petals, the calyx cor-
olla-like. A small tree with leathery leaves.

TREE TOBACCO. Tubular in loose panicles.
Shrub or small tree.

INCIENSO. Composite, rays and disk alike
yellow; leaves silvery white; a desert shrub.

ENCELIA. Composite, rays yellow, brownish
purple disk.

RED

(Including Reddish Purple)
1. Flowers clustered or racemose

FIRECRACKER FLOWER. Tubular, in a loose
umbel like a little bunch of firecrackers on
a stalk.

CLINTONIA. Many-flowered globose umbels;
leaves radical.

TURKISH RUGGING. A much branched, brittle,

practically leafless little plant of the dry

hillsides.
CALIFORNIA FOUR O'CLOCK. Open bell shaped,

expanding about mid-afternoon.
RED MAIDS. Loose, leafy racemes; common

in grassy places.
RED COLUMBINE. Petals produced downward

into long hollow spurs.
SCARLET LARKSPUR. Upper sepal prolonged

backward into a spur.

HEN-AND-CHICKENS. Corolla cylindrical, pet-
als upright.
GOLONDRINA. Inconspicuous in a cup-shaped

involucre, margined with white or rosy

appendages resembling petals. A prostrate

little plant with milky juice.
DESERT MALLOW. Brick-red, in wand-like

panicles.
WILD FUCHSIA. Funnel-form, both calyx and

corolla colored.
FAREWELL-TO-SPRING. Funnel-form, calyx

tube produced above the ovary, the lobe
263

more or less cohering and turned to one
side.

HEATHER. Saucer-shaped in clusters. High-
mountain plant.

SNOW PLANT. A fleshy, leafless, columnar
plant, red throughout.

SIERRA PRIMROSE. In umbels. High-moun-
tain plant.

CALIFORNIA BEE PLANT. Corolla globular,
upper lip erect.

CHINESE HOUSES. 2-lipped, the upper white;
in a series of interrupted whorls.

INDIAN PAINT BRUSH. In spikes; corolla
hidden in brightly colored calyx.

INDIAN WARRIOR. 2-lipped, compressed at
sides and arched above;. in spikes.

OWL'S CLOVER. 2-lipped, the lower sac-like
and white; in dense spikes.

SCARLET MONKEY FLOWER. 2-lipped; the
upper erect, the lower turned back.

CRIMSON MONKEY FLOWER. Funnel-form
with a yellow centre; sticky, hairy.

SCARLET BUGLER. Tubular, in narrow pani-
cles.

WESTERN CARDINAL FLOWER. 2-lipped, co-
rolla tube split down the upper side.

CANON LUPINE. Pea-like, in long, terminal
racemes, tending to pink.

2. Flowers solitary or nearly or apparently so

CALIFORNIA WAKE ROBIN. Flower sessile

upon a whorl of 3 leaves.
DESERT MARIPOSA TULIP. Tulip-like flowers

of the desert region.

FIG MARIGOLD. Very numerous linear pet-
als; seaside plant with fleshy, 3-sided leaves.
BITTER-ROOT. Large flowers, opening in the

sunshine on a low plant with thick, linear

leaves.
INDIAN PINK. Petals deeply slashed into 4

narrow divisions.
WILD PEONY. Flowers globular in form; a

dark crimson.

264

FLAMING POPPY. Petals fugacious.

HEDGEHOG CACTUS. Showy with green stig-
mas; the plant a cluster of short, cylindrical
heads.

PIMPERNEL. Wheel-shaped, on thread-like
axillary footstalks.

3. Flowers composite; herbs

MILK THISTLE. With thistle-like heads of
tubular florets. Leaves blotched with
white.

WESTERX THISTLE. Thistle-like heads, soli-
tary on long peduncles.

4. Shrubs, Climbing Vines or Trees

SWEET SHRUB. Petals, sepals, and stamens
passing into one another.

WILD GOOSEBERRY. Drooping in few-flow-
ered racemes, scattered along prickly
branches; a shrub.

PRIDE OF CALIFORNIA. Pea-like, the banner
(an inch long) leaning back upon the flower
stalk. A vine.

OCOTILLO. Tubular in terminal spikes, on
thorny, whip-like, leafy stalks; a desert
shrub.

SCARLET HONEYSUCKLE. 2-lipped, and nar-
row, stamens and pistils included in pro-
truding lower lip. Vine-like.

CHUPAROSA. Tubular, 2-lipped; an almost
leafless desert shrub.

ARROW-WEED. Composite, small, without
rays, clustered; a grayish shrub of wet
places.

PINK

1. Flowers clustered or racemose

TWTNING WILD HYACINTH. In a many-flow-
ered umbel at the top of a leafless, twisting,
vine-like stem.
265

CLINTONIA. Many-flowered globose umbel;
leaves radical.

SAND VERBENA. A low trailing plant of sea-
coast and desert; many-flowered, long-
stalked heads.

PUSSY PAWS. Cushion-like clusters; leaves in
a basal rosette.

BLEEDING HEART. Flattened, heart-shaped
flowers.

INDIAN RHUBARB. In panicles, blooming
before the leaves, which appear in summer
1 to 2 feet across.

LUPINE (STIVERS'). Pea-like, with yellow-
banner and rose-pink lateral petals.

CANON LUPINE. Pea-like, in showy terminal
racemes a foot long.

WILD CLOVER. In broad, flattish heads an
inch across.

FILAREE. Small in few-flowered umbels.

WILD HOLLYHOCK. In terminal racemes; stem
leaves much divided.

CLARKIA (Elegans). Petals rhomboidal,

abruptly narrowed to slender claws.
CLARKIA (Concinna). Petals with 3 terminal

lobes.
JEFFREY'S SHOOTING STAR. Petals strongly

turned back, like cyclamen.
SEA PINK. In clustered heads with chaffy

bracts. Seaside.
CANCHALAGUA. Star-like, with yellow eye,

in a loose panicle.
FRINGED GILIA. Funnel-form, with a yellow

throat, corolla segments fringed.
PRICKLY PHLOX. Salver-form, with a white

centre; leaves crowded, needle-like.

2. Flowers solitary, or nearly or apparently so

ICE PLANT. Very numerous linear petals;
seaside plant with a glistening • encrusta-
tion.

WOOD SORREL. Solitary, leaves clover-
like.

3. Shrubs, Climbing Vines or Trees

WILD BUCKWHEAT. Small shrub; flowers in

dense terminal heads.
PINK WILD CURRANT. Calyx colored like a

corolla, in long, drooping racemes; a shrub.
THIMBLE-BERRY. In few-flowered clusters

terminal on long stems. A shrubby

bush.
CALIFORNIA WILD ROSE. Flowers 1 to 2

inches across.
LEMONADE BERRY. Small in dense clusters.

A stout, evergreen shrub.
MALVA ROSA. About 2 inches across, single,

on axillary drooping footstalks; leaves

maple-like.
CALIFORNIA HUCKLEBERRY. Small, waxen,

bell-shaped. A shrub.
WESTERN AZALEA. Showy, a yellow blotch on

one petal. A mountain shrub.
ROSE BAY. In terminal umbels without frag-
rance. An evergreen shrub.

SALAL. Urn-shaped, in racemes. A low,
evergreen shrub.

BLUE

(Including Bluish Purple)
1 . Flowers clustered or racemose

BRODLEA. Flowers in compact heads on tall

stalks; leaves grass-like.
HARVEST BRODLEA. Like small blue lilies

bunched at the top of a leafless stalk.
CAMASS. Loose racemes of 6-parted flowers

on scapes a foot or two high.
BLUE-EYED-GRASS. Star-like with a yellow

centre. Leaves grass-like.
BLUE LARKSPUR. Upper sepal produced

backward into a spur.
MONKSHOOD. One enlarged sepal shaped

like a hood.

WILD RADISH . 4 petals, forming a cross.
267

BEACH BLUB LUPINE. Pea-like, the banner
with a yellow spot; in racemes. Shrubby.

WILD CLOVER. In broad, flattish heads an
inch across.

WILD HOLLYHOCK. In terminal racemes;
stem leaves much divided.

BIRD'S EYE. Funnel-form, 5 purple spots at
the throat; in few-flowered clusters.

BLUE GILIA. Corollas rather small in crowded
heads.

WILD HELIOTROPE. In clustered coils, un-
rolling as flowers expand.

WILD CANTERBURY BELL. Large, bell-
shaped, in loose racemes.

TURPENTINE WEED. A one-sided raceme;
stamens exserted and curving; odorous of
turpentine.

PENNYROYAL. In crowded heads with]purplish
bracts. Aromatic.

CHIA. Small, in interrupted whorls, with
purplish, prickly bracts.

VIOLET NIGHTSHADE. Saucer-shaped, showy,

with green-encircled white spots at centre;

in umbeled clusters.
CHINESE HOUSES. 2-lipped, the upper white;

in a series of interrupted whorls.
BLUE BEARD-TONGUE. Funnel-form, inflated

at throat, in showy panicles. Upper leaves

joined at base.
VIOLET BEARD-TONGUE. Funnel-form, 2-

lipped; in narrow panicles.
CALIFORNIA HAREBELL. Bell-shaped with

5 slender, recurving lobes.

2. Flowers solitary, or nearly or apparently so

FETID ADDER'S TONGUE. Petals upright,
thread-like; sepals whitish, purple-striped.

CALIFORNIA WAKE ROBIN. Flower sessile
upon a whorl of 3 leaves.

BLUE FLAG. Stemless plants forming mats
over the ground.

BABY-BLUE-EYES. With a white centre; soli-
tary.
268

3. Flowers composite; herb

ARTICHOKE. Composite; huge thistle-like
heads; ample leaves silvery green.

4. Shrubs or Trees

DALEA. Pea-like, in loose clusters. A desert
shrub.

CALIFORNIA LILAC. Petals small with a long
claw ending in a little hood; in showy pan-
icles; a shrub or small tree.

ROMERO. Flowers clothed in violet wool;
stamens exserted and curving. Small shrub.

BLADDER BUSH. 2-lipped, the lower blue, the
upper white. Calyx bladder-like in age.

LAVENDER or LILAC

FIVE-SPOT. Globe-like, the petalsVith a red-
dish spot at base. A desert plant.

SHOOTING STAR. Corolla lobes sharply turned
back, as in cyclamen.

PRICKLY PHLOX. Salver-form, with a white
centre; leaves crowded, needle-like.

LARGE-FLOWERED PHACELIA. Saucer-shaped,
showy, in loose racemes.

YERBA SANTA. Funnel-form, in coils of a
terminal panicle; shrub with resinous leaves.

BLACK SAGE. Flowers small, 2-lipped, in
dense interrupted whorls. Shrubby, aro-
matic.

THISTLE SAGE. Flowers 2-lipped, lower lip
fan-shaped; woolly, globular heads.

GIANT HYSSOP. Small, in crowded spikes;
plant nettle-like in appearance.

SEASIDE DAISY. Composite, numerous, very
narrow rays. Seaside.

MARIPOSA TULIP. Tulip-like, a dark red
blotch at base of each petal.

GREENISH

MUILLA. Small, wheel-shaped flowers in
umbels.

FALSE HELLEBORE. In large panicles; plants

3 to 7 feet tall, with plaited sheathing

leaves.
STREAM ORCHIS. A leafy orchid, 1 to 4 feet

high with clasping, parallel-nerved leaves

in wet places.
CASTOR OIL PLANT. In terminal racemes. A

tall, herbaceous plant with large palmate

leaves.
SQUAW BUSH. Small (yellowish) in spike-like

clusters, before the leaves. A shrub.
CASCARA SAGRADA. Small, in umbel-like

clusters. An evergreen shrub or small

tree.
QUININE BUSH. In drooping catkins of 2 sexes.

A shrub.
CALIFORNIA BEE-PLANT. Corolla globular,

upper lip erect.
BIRD-BEAK. Nearly hidden within green

calyx, upper lip beak-like and protrud-
ing.

BROWN

MISSION BELLS. Nodding in a raceme; leaves
in whorls.

CHOCOLATE LILY. Flowers 1 to 3, leaves scat-
tered, mostly near the base.

LADY'S SLIPPER. Flower an inflated sac, 2
wavy-twisted lateral petals, and stringy

WILD GINGER. Bell-shaped, the 3 divisions
extended into long tails.

CANCER ROOT. Small, 2-lipped, solitary on
long branched stalks. A leafless parasite.

CONE FLOWER. Composite with yellow rays,
and conspicuous brownish purple disk be-
coming conical in age.

270

INDEX

Abronia latifolia, 46
Abronia umbellata, 46
Abronia villosa, 46
Aconitum columbianum, 58
Adder's Tongue, Fetid, 7
Adenostoma fasciculatum, 87
Adenostoma sparsifolium, 87
Aesculus californica, 112
As?astache urticifolia, 186
Agave deserti, 32
Ajo, 4

Alfalfa, Wild, 95
Alpine Smartweed, 43
Alum-Root, 84
Amole, 24

Amsinckia spectabilis, 173
Anagallis arvensis, 154
Anemopsis californica, 38
Anis Hinojo, 138
Anise, Sweet, 138
Anogra trichocalyx, 134
Antirrhinum Coulterianum, 194
Antirrhinum vagans, 194

Aphyllon fasciculatum, 211
Aphyllon tuberosum, 211
Aquilegia coerulea, 55
Aquilegia truncata, 55
Arbutus Menziesii, 142
Arctostaphylos Manzanita, 143
Argemone platyceras, 64
Armeria vulgaris, 156
Arrow- Weed, 232
Artichoke, 251
Artemisia californica, 239
Artemisia tridentata, 239
Asarum caudatum, 39
Asarum Hartwegi, 39
Asclepias eriocarpa, 159
Aster, Beach, 224
Astragalus leucopsis, 97
Audibertia, polys tachya, 180
Audibertia stachyoides, 181
Azalea, Western, 144
Baby-Blue-Eyes, 166
Baccharis viminea, 231
Baileya Buultiradiata, 246

271

Baileya pauciradiata, 246

J?l Barberry, Creeping, 61

Barrel Cactus, 127
Bastard Cedar, 87
Beach Aster, 224

Si Beach Blue Lupine, 98

Beach Primrose, 136
Beard-Tongue, Blue, 204
Beard-Tongue, Violet, 205

C Beard-Tongue, Yellow, 206

Bear's Clover, 91
Beaver Flower, 240
Bee Plant, California, 191

Sc Bell-Flo wer, California, 171

Bells, Fairy, 10

^ Beloperone californica, 212

Berberis Aquifolium, 61
Berberis repens, 61
Bicuculla formosa, 71

~ Big Root, 215

Q Bird-Beak, 192

Bird's Eye, 160

C Bisnaga, 127

Bitter-root, 52
Black Nightshade, 188

B: Black Sage, 181

Bladder Bush, 185
Bladderpod, 76
Blazing Star, 124

Bleeding Heart, 71
Blood-drops, 66
Bloomeria aurea, 12
Bloomeria Cleveland!, 12
Blue Beard-Tongue, 204
Bluebell, California, 171
Blue Columbine, 55
Blue Curls, 176
Blue Eyed Grass, 33
Blue Flag, 34
Blue Gilia, 161
Blue Larkspur, 57
Blue-weed, 58
Boton de Oro, 242
Bouvardia, Wild, 165
Brass Buttons, 242
Brassica nigra, 72
Brevoortia Ida-Maise, 16
Brodisea capitata, 13
Brodisea coccinea, 16
Brodisea, Golden, 17
Brodisea gracilis, 17
Brodisea grandiflora, 15
Brodisea, Harvest, 15
Brodisea ixioides, 17
Brodisea laxa, 15
Brodisea volubilis, 14
Bryanthus Breweri, 146
Buckeye, California, 112

272

Buckwheat, Wild, 41
Buena Moza, 190
Buena Mujer, 124
Bur Clover, 96
Butter and Eggs, 198
Buttercup, California, 54
Butter- Weed, 93
Cacamita, 13
Cachanilla, 232
Cactus, Barrel, 127
Cactus, Fishhook, 128
Cactus, Hedgehog, 129
Cactus, Nipple, 128
Cactus, Strawberry, 128
California Bee Plant, 191
California Bell-Flower, 171
California Bluebell, 171
California Buckeye, 112
California Buttercup, 54
California Four o'clock, 45
California Harebell, 216
California Holly, 88
California Huckleberry, 141
California Hyacinth, 13
California Lilac, 114
California Sage Brush, 238
California Storax, 157
California Wake Robin, 11
California Wild Rose, 89

Calochortus albus, 18
Calochortus benthami, 21
Calochortus eatalinse, 19
Calochartus luteus, 22
Calochortus Kennedyi, 20
Calochortus Nuttallii, 18
Calochortus pulchellus, 18
Calochortus, Maweanus, 21
Calycanthus occidentalis, 63
Calyptridium umbellatum, 51
Camass, 23
Camass, Death, 27
Camassia esculenta, 23
Campanula prenanthoides, 216
Cancer Root, 211
Canchalagua, 158
Candle, Our Lord's, 8
Candlewood, 123
Canon Lupine, 94
Canterbury Bell, WTild, 171
Cardinal Flower, Western, 217
Carduus Drummondii, 250
Carduus occidentalis, 250
Cascara Sagrada, 113
Cassiope Mertensiana, 147
Castilleia foliolosa, 195
Castor Oil Plant, 108
Ceanothus integerrimus, 115
Ceanothus thyrsiflorus, 114

273

Cedar, Bastard, 87
Celandrinia cauleseens, 49
Centaurea melitensis, 248
Cephalanthera Austinae, 37
Cephalanthera oregana, 37
Cercocarpus betuloides, 90
Cereus Engelmanni, 129
Cereus giganteus, 129
Chsenactis Fremonti, 237
Chsenactis gabriuscla, 236
Chamaebatia foliosa, 91
Chamise, 87

Chamise Lily, 28

Chamissos Lupine, 98

Chaparral Lily, 5

Charlock, Jointed, 73

Chenactis artemisjefotia, 237

Cherry, Wild, 85

Chia, 184

Chicalote, 64

Chilicothe, 215

Chimaphila Menziesii, 149

Chinese Houses, 193

Chlorogalum pomeridianum, 24

Chocolate Lily, 26

Cholla, 125

Chorizanthe staticoides, 40
Christmas-Berry, 88
Christmas Rose, 60

274

Chrysothamnus nauseosus, 230

Chuparosa, 212

Clarkia concinna, 133

Clarkia elegans, 132

Clarkia pulchella, 133

Clarkia rhomboidea, 132

Clematis lasiantha, 59

Clematis ligusticifolia, 59

Clematis, Wild, 59

Chntonia Andrewsiana, 31

Clmtonia uniflora, 31

Clocks, 104

Clover, Bur, 96

Clover, Wild, 100

Cluster Lily, 13

Colhnsia bicolor, 193

Collinsia'tinctoria, 193
Collomia grandiflora, 165
Columbine, Blue, 55
Columbine, Red, 55
Cone Flower, 245
Cordylanthus filifolius, 192
Cordylanthus tenuis, 192
Coreopsis, Douglas, 226
Cornus Nuttallii, 140
Cotula australis, 242
Cotula coronopifolia, 242
Cotyledon pulverulenta, 77
Coulter's Snapdragon, 194

Coyote-Tail, 197
Cream-cups, 68
Creeping Barberry, 61
Creeping Violet, 122
Creosote Bush, 106
Crimson, Monkey Flower, 202
Cucurbita foetidissima, 214
Currant, Pink Wild, 81
Currant, Yellow Wild, 80
Cyclamen, Wild, 152
Cynara Scolymus, 251
Cypripedium californicum, 35
Cypripedium montanum, 35
Dahlia, Sea, 227
Daisy, Seaside, 224
Daisy, WTiite, 223
Daisy, Yellow, 226
Dalea, 102

Dalea californica, 102
Dalea Schottii, 102
Dalea spinosa, 102
Dandelion, Western, 252
Datura meteloides, 187
Death Camass, 27
Deer-Brush, 115
Deerweed, 95
Delphinium cardinale, 56
Delphinium nudicaule, 56
Delphinium Parryi, 57

Dendromeeon rigidum, 67
Dentaria californica, 74
Desert Evening Primrose, 134
Desert Lily, 4
Desert Mallow, 118 ,
Desert Mariposa, 20
Desert Sage Brush, 239
Desert Sunflower, 220
Desert Trumpet, 42
Dicentra chrysantha, 70
Dicentra formosa, 71
Diplacus glutinosus, 201
Disporum Menziesii, 10
Dodocatheon Cleveland!, 152
Dodocatheon Jeffreyi, 153
Dog's-Tooth Violet, 28
Dogwood, Nuttall's, 140
Douglas Coreopsis, 226
Douglas's Groundsel, 241
Ear Drops, Golden, 70
Echinocactus, cylindraceus, 127
Echinocystis fabacea, 215
Elder, 213

Elephant-Heads, 196
Ernmenanthe penduliflora, 168
Encelia californica, 218
Encelia eriocephala, 220
Encelia farinosa, 219
Epipactis gigantea, 36

275

Erigeron glaucus, 224
Eriodictyon glutinosum, 172
Eriodictyon tomentosum, 172
Eriogonum fasciculatum, 41
Eriogonum inflatum, 42
Eriogonum umbellatum, 44
Eriophyllum csespitosum, 244
Eriophyllum confertiflorum, 244
ErooUum cicutarium, 104
Erysimum asperum, 75
Erysimum grandiflorum, 75
Erythrsea venusta, 158
Erythronium giganteum, 28
Eschscholtzia californica, 69
Eseobita, 197

Eucharidium concinnum, 133
Eulophus Bolanderi, 137
Eulophus Parishii, 137
Euphorbia albomarginata, 107
Evening Primrose, Desert, 134
Evening Snow, 163
Faeniculum vulgare, 138
Fairy Bells, 10
False Hellebore, 30
Farewell-to-Spring, 131
Fennel, 138

Fenzlia dianthiflora, 162
Fetid Adder's Tongue, 7
Fiddle Neck, 173

Fig Marigold, 48

Filaree, 104

Firecracker Flower, 16

Fishhook Cactus, 128

Five Spot, 119

Flaming Poppy, 66

Flat-top, 41

Floerkea Douglasii, 105

Fouquiera splendens, 123

Four o'Clock, California, 45

Fremontia californica, 120

Fried Eggs, 64

Fringed Gilia, 162

Fritillaria biflora, 26

Fritillaria lattceolata, 25

Fritillaria liliacea, 26

Fritillaria pudica, 26

Fritillaria recurva, 26

Fritillary, Yellow, 26

Fuchsia-flowered Gooseberry, 79

Fuchsia, Wild, 130

Gallito, 121

Garrya elliptica, 139

Gaultheria Shallon, 148

Geraea canescens, 220

Ghost Flower, 37

Giant Hyssop, 186

Gilia achillesefolia, 161

Gilia aggregata, 165

276

Gilia, Blue, 161
Gilia, californica, 164
Gilia capitate, 161
Gilia dianthoides, 162
Gilia dichotoma, 163
Gilia, Finged, 162
Gilia grandiflora, 165
Gilia tricolor, 160
Ginger, Wild, 39
Globe-tulip, Yellow, 18
Gobernadora, 106
Godetia Bottaw, 132
Godetia viminea, 131
Gold Drops, 10
Golden Broditea, 17
Golden Ear Drops, 70
Golden Stars, 12
Golden Tulip, 22
Golden Yarrow, 244
Golondrina, 107
Gooseberry, Wild, 79
Grass Nuts, 13
Grease wood, 87, 180
Grindelia cuneifolia, 229
Grindelia robusta, 229
Groundsel, Douglas's, 241
Guatamote, 231
Gum Plant, 229
Harebell, California, 216

Harvest Brodisea, 15
Heather, 146
Heather, White, 147
Hedeondilla, 106
Hedgehog Cactus, 129
Helenium autumnale, 240
Helenium puberulem, 240
Helianthus annuus, 221
Helianthus tuberosus, 251
Heliotrope, Wild, 169
Hellebore, False, 30
Hemizonia luzulaefolia, 235
Hen-and-Chickens, 77
Hesperocallis undulatus, 4
Heteromeles arbutifolia, 88
Heuchera micrantha, 84
Highland Potato, 15
Higuerilla, 108
Hill Brush, 238
Hog's Potato, 27
Holly, California, 88
Hollyhock, WTild, 117
Honeysuckle, Scarlet, 208
Horehound, 182
Hosackia glabra, 95
Huckleberry, California, 141
Humboldt's Lily, 6
Humming-bird's Dinner Horn, 207
Hunter's Rock Leek, 77

277

Hyacinth, California, 13
Hyacinth, Wild Twining, 14
Hyssop, Giant, 186
Ice Plant, 47
Incense Plant, 219
Incense Shrub, 81
Incienso, 219
Indian Lettuce, 50
Indian Paint Brush, 195
Indian Pink, 53
Indian Potatoes, 22
Indian Rhubarb, 83
Indian Warrior, 196
Indigo-Bush, 102
Inside-out Flower, 62
Iris Douglasiana, 34
Iris Macrosiphon, 34
Islay, 85

Isomeris arborea, 76
Ithuriel's Spear, 15
Jeffrey's Shooting Star, 153
Johnny Tuck, 198
Jointed Charlock, 73
Joshua Tree, 9
Kisses, 49
Knotweed, 43
Lady Washington Lily, 5
Lady's Slipper, 35
Lantern of the Fairies, 18

Large-flowered Phacelia, 170
Larkspur, Blue, 57
Larkspur, Scarlet, 56
Larrea Mexicana, 106
Lathyrus splendens, 99
Lathyrus vestitus, 99
Lavatera assurgentiflora, 116
Layia elegans, 222
Layia glandulosa, 223
Layia platyglossa, 222
Leatherwood, 120
Lemonade Berry. 109
Leopard Lily, 6
Leptosyne Douglasii, 226
Leptosyne gigantea, 227
Leptosyne maritima, 227
Lewisia rediviva, 52
Lilac, California, 114
Lilium Humbpldtii, 6
Lilium pardalinum, 6
Lilium rubescens, 5
Lilium Washingtonianum, 5
Lily, Chamise, 28
Lily, Chaparral, 5
Lily, Chocolate, 26
Lily, Cluster, 13
Lily, Desert, 4
Lily, Humboldt's, 6
Lily, Leopard, 6

278

Lily, Mariposa, 19
Lily, Redwood, 5
Lily, Sego, 18
Lily, Tiger, 6
Lily, Washington, 5
Limnanthes, Douglasii, 105
Lobelia splendens, 217
Locoweed, 97

Lophanthus urticifolius, 186
Lotus glaber, 95
Lupine, 92

Lupine, Beach Blue, 98
Lupine, Canon, 94
Lupine, Chamisso's, 98
Lupine, Yellow, 93
Lupinus arboreus, 93
Lupinus Chamissonis, 98
Lupinus citrinus, 92
Lupinus cytisoides, 94
Lupinus luteolus, 93
Lupinus Stiversii, 92
Madia elegans, 234
Madrono, 142
Mahogany, 109
Mahogany, Mountain, 90
Mahonia, 61

Malaeothrix californica, 225
Malacothrix glabrata, 225
Mallow, Desert, 118

Mallow, Spotted, 119

Malva Rosa, 116

Malvastrum rotundifolium, 119

Mamillaria Goodridgii, 128

Mangla, 110

Manzanilla, 243

Manzanita, 143

Mariposa, Desert, 20

Mariopsa Lily, 19

Mariposa Tulip, 19

Marrubium vulgare, 182

Matilija Poppy, 65

Matricaria discoidea, 243

May-Bush, California, 88

Meadow Foam, 105

Meconopsis heterophylla, 66

Medicago denticulata, 96

Medicago lupulina, 96 •

Mentzelia Lindleyi, 124

Mescal, 32

Mesembryanthemum aequilaterale, 48

Mesembryanthemum crystalh'num, 47

Mesquit, 101

Micromeria Douglasii, 177

Milk Thistle, 249

Milkmaids, 74

Milkweed, Woolly, 159

Mimulus Bigelovii, 202

Mimulus brevipes, 200

279

Mimulus cardinalis, 190
Mimulus Douglasii, 202
Mimulus glutinosus, 201
Mimulus luteus, 200
Mimulus moschatus, 203
Miner's Lettuce, 50
Mint, Mustang, 178
Mirabilis californica, 45
Mirabilis Froebellii, 45
Mission Bells, 25
Mock Orange, 214
Mohavea viscida, 210
Monardella lanceolata, 178
Monardella odoratissima, 178
Monkey Flower, Crimson, 202
Monkey Flower, Scarlet, 199
Monkey Flower, Sticky, 201
Monkey Flower, Yellow, 200
Monkshood, 58
Montia perfoliata, 50
Mountain Mahogany, 90
Mountain Misery, 91
Mountain Pennyroyal, 178
Mountain Pink, 164
Mouse Ears, 21
Muilla maritima, 3
Muilla serotina, 3
Mule Ears, 233
Mullein, 209

Musk, 203
Mustang Mint, 178
Mustard, Wild, 72
Myrtle, 115

Nemophila, Spotted, 167
Nemophila insignis, 166
Nemophila maculata, 167
Nicotiana glauca, 190
Nievitas, 174
Nightshade, Black, 188*
Nightshade, Violet, 189
Nipple Cactus, 128
Nopal, 126

Nuttall's Dogwood, 140
Ocotillo, 123
Oenothera bistorta, 135
Oenothera cheiranthifolia, 136
Oenothera ovata, 135
Oenothera trichocalyx, 134
Opuntia Bernardina, 125
Opuntia Ficus-Indica, 126
Opuntia Lindheimeri, 126
Opuntia Tuna, 126
Orange Wall-Flower, 75
Orchis, Phantom, 37
Orchis, Stream, 36
Oregon Grape, 61
Orthocarpus erianthus, 198
Orthocarpus lithospermoides, 197

280

Orthocarpus purpurascens, 197
Our Lord's Candle, 8
Owl's Clover, 197
Oxalis oregana, 103
Pseonia Brownii, 60
Paint Brush, Indian, 195
Paint Brush, Pink, 197
Painted Snow Flower, 51
Palma Christi, 108
Pansy, Wild, 121
Pea, Wild, 99
Pedicularis attollens, 196
Pedicularis densiflora, 196
Pedicularis groenlandica, 196
Pennyroyal, Mountain, 178
Pennyroyal, Poleo, 178
Penstemon antirrhinoides, 206
Penstemon azureus, 205
Penstemon breviflorus, 206
Penstemon Bridgesii, 207
Penstemon centranthifolius, 207
Penstemon cordifolius, 208
Penstemon heterophyllus, 205
Penstemoa spectabilis, 204
Penstemon ternatus, 208
Peony, Wild, 60
Pepper-Root, 74
Persian Prince, 183
Phacelia, Large-flowered, 170

Phacelia circinata, 170

Phacelia distans, 169

Phacelia grandiflora, 170

Phacelia tanacetifolia, 169

Phacelia Whitlavia, 171

Phantom Orchis, 37

Philadelphia Gordonianus, 78

Philadelphus Lewissii californicus, 73

Phlox, Prickly, 164

Pincushion, 236

Pine Drops, 151

Pimpernel, 154

Pink, Indian, 53

Pink Paint Brush, 197

Pink Wild Currant, 81

Pitcher Sage, 179

Plagiobothrys nothofulvus, 174

Platystemon californicus, 68

Pluchea sericea, 232

Poleo Pennyroyal, 178

Polygonum bistortoides, 43

Popcorn Flower, 174

Poppy, California, 69

Poppy, Flaming, 66

Poppy, Matilija, 65

Poppy, Prickly, 64

Poppy, Tree, 67

Porsartes, Menziesii, 10

Prickly Pear 126

281

Prickly Phlox, 164
Prickly Poppy, 64
Pride of California, 99
Primrose, Beach, 136
Primrose, Sierra, 155
Primula suffrutescens, 155
Prince's Pine, 149
Prosopis juliflora, 101
Prunus ilicifolia, 85
Pterospora Andromedea, 151
Ptiloria virgata, 228
Purslane, Winter, 50
Pussy Paws, 51
Pussy's Ears, 21
^uiote, 8

Quinine Bush, 139
Quinine, Wild, 158
Rabbit Brush, 230
Radish, Wild, 73
Ramona, 180

Ranunculus californicus, 54
Raphanus Raphanistrum, 73
Raphanus sativus, 73
Rattlesnake Weed, 107
Rattleweed, 97
Red Columbine, 55
Red Maids, 49
Red Shank, 87
Redwood Lily, 5

Redwood Rose, 89

Rhamnus californica, 113

Rhamnus Purshiana, 113

Rhododendron californicum, 145

Rhododendron occidentale, 144

Rhubarb, Indian, 83

Rhus integrifolia, 109

Rhus laurina, 110

Rhus ovata, 109

Rhus trilobata, 111

Ribes glutinosum, 81

Ribes malvaceum, 81

Ribes sanguineum, 81

Ribes speciosum, 79

Ribes tenuiflorum, 80

Ricinus communis, 108

Romerillo, 238

Romero, 175

Romneya Coulteri, 65

Rosa californica, 89

Rosa gymnocarpa, 89

Rose Bay, 145

Rose, California Wild, 89

Rose of Castile, 89

Rose, Redwood, 89

Rosilla, 240

Rubus nutkanus, 86

Rubus parviflqrus, 86

Rudbeckia californica, 245

282

Rudbeckia occidentalis, 245
Sacate gordo, 173
Sage, Black, 181
Sage, Pitcher, 179
Sage, Thistle, 183
Sage, White, 180
Sage Brush, California, 238
Sage Brush, Desert, 239
Salal, 148

Salazaria mexicana, 185
Salmon-Berry, 86
Salvia carduacea, 183
Salvia Columbariae, 184
Sambucus glauca, 213
Sambucus mexicana, 213
San Juan Tree, 190
Sand Verbena, 46
Sarcodes sanguinea, 150
Saxifraga peltata, 83
Scarlet Bugler, 207
Scarlet Honeysuckle, 208
Scarlet Larkspur, 56
Scarlet Monkey Flower, 199
Scoliopus Bigejpvii, 7
Scoliopus Hallii, 7
Scrophularia californica, 191
Sea Dahlia, 227
Sea Pink, 156
Seaside Daisy, 224

Sego, Lily, 18
Senecio Douglasii, 241
Shooting Star, 152
Shooting Star, Jeffrey's, 153
Sidalcea humilis, 117
Sierra Primrose, 155
Sierran Dog Violet, 122
Silene californica, 53
Silene laciniata, 53
Silybum Marianum, 249
Sisyrinchium bellum, 33
Skunk Cabbage, 30
Slippery Elm, 120
Smartweed, Alpine, 43
Smoke-Tree, 102
Snapdragon, Coulter's, 194
Sneezeweed, 240
Snow Plant, 150
Soap Plant, 24
Solanum Douglasii, 188
Solanum nigrum, 188
Solanum umbelliferum, 189
Solanum Xanti, 189
Sorrel, Wood, 103
Sphacele calycina, 179
Sphaeralcea ambigua, 118
Sphseralcea Emoryi, 118
Sphseralcea Munroana, 118
Spotted Mallow, 119

283

Spotted Nemophila, 167
Spice Bush, 63
Spraguea umbellata, 51
Squaw Bush, 111
Squaw Grass, 29
Squaw's Cabbage, 50
Star, Blazing, 124
Star Thistle, 248
Stephanomeria virgata, 228
Sticky Monkey Flower, 201
Storax, California, 157
Strawberry Cactus, 128
Stream Orchis, 36
Styrax californica, 157
Sulphur Flower, 44
Sumac, 110
Sun-Cups, 135
Sunflower, Desert, 220
Sunflower, Wild, 221
Sunshine, 220
Sweet Anise, 138
Sweet Shrub, 63
Syringa, 78
Tarweed, 91, 234, 235
Telegraph Plant, 228
Tessaria borealis, 232
Thimble-Berry, 86
Thistle, Milk, 249
Thistle, Star, 248

Thistle, Western, 250
Thistle, Poppy, 64
Thistle Sage, 183
Tidy-Tips, 222
Tiger Lily, 6
Tobacco, Tree,'190
Toluache, 187 "
Toyon, 88
Tree Poppy, 67
Tree Tobacco, 190
Tree Yucca, 9
Trichostema lanatum, 175
Trichostema lanceolatum, 176
Trifolium tridentatum, 100
Trillium ovatum, 1 1
Trillium sessile, 11
Troximon grandiflorum, 252
Trumpet, Desert, 42
Tulip, Golden, 22
Tulip, Mariposa, 19
Turkish Rugging, 40
Turpentine Weed, 176
Twining Wild Hyacinth, 14
Vaccinium ovatum, 141
Vancouveria parviflora, 62
Venegasia earpesioides, 247
Veratrum californicum, 30
Veratrum fimbriatum, 30
Veratrum viride, 30

284

Verbascum virgatum, 209
Verbena, Sand, 46
Vervenia, 169
Vinegar, Weed, 176
Viola oxyceras, 122
Viola pedunculata, 121
Viola sarmentosa, 122
Violet, Creeping, 122
Violet, Dog's-tooth, 28
Violet, Sierran Dog, 122
Violet, Yellow, 121
Violet Beard-Tongue, 205
Violet Nightshade, 189
Virgin's Bower, 59
Wall-Flower, Orange, 75
Wake Robin, California, 11
Washington Lily, 5
Western Azalea, 144
Western Cardinal Flower, 217
Western Dandelion, 252
Western Thistle, 250
Western Wall-Flower, 75
Whipplea modesta, 82
Whispering Bells, 168
White Daisy, 223
White Heather, 147
White Sage, 180
Whitlavia grandiflora, 171
Wild Alfalfa, 95

Wild Bouvardia, 165

Wild Buckwheat, 41

Wild Canterbury Bell, 171

Wild Cherry, 85

Wild Clematis, 59

Wild Clover, 100

Wild Currant, Pink, 81

Wild Currant, Yellow, 80

Wild Cyclamen, 152

Wild Fuchsia, 130

Wild Ginger, 39

Wild Gooseberry, 79

Wild Heliotrope, 169

Wild Hollyhock, 117

Wild Hyacinth, Twining, 14

Wild Mustard, 72

Wild Onion, 13

Wild Pansy, 121

Wild Pea, 99

Wild Peony, 60

Wild Potatoes, 22

Wild Quinine, 158

Wild Radish, 73

Wild Rose, California, 89

Wild Sunflower, 221

Wind-Poppy, 66

Wine-flower, 63

Winter Purslane, 50

Wood Sorrel, 103

285

Woolly Milkweed, 159
Wyethia angustifolia, 233
Xerophyllum Douglasii, 29
Xerophyllum tenax, 29
Yarrow, Golden, 244
Yellow Beard-Tongue, 206
Yellow Daisy, 226
Yellow Fritillary, 26
Yellow Globe-tulip, 18
Yellow Lupine, 93
Yellow Monkey Flower, 200
Yellow Sand Verbena, 46
Yellow Violet, 121

Yellow Wild Currant, 80
Yerba Buena, 177
Yerba del Vaso, 219
Yerba Mansa, 38
Yerba Santa, 172
Yucca arborescens, 9
Yucca Whipplei, 8
Yucca Palm, 9
Zauschneria calif ornica, 130
Zygadene, 27
Zygadenus Fremonti, 27
Zygadenus venenosus, 27

286

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