Part 1

Produced by Bryan Ness, Mark Young and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print project.)

THE WILD FLOWERS OF CALIFORNIA

THE WILD FLOWERS OF CALIFORNIA

_THEIR NAMES, HAUNTS, AND HABITS_

BY MARY ELIZABETH PARSONS

ILLUSTRATED BY MARGARET WARRINER BUCK

_THIRD THOUSAND_

WILLIAM DOXEY AT THE SIGN OF THE LARK SAN FRANCISCO 1897

COPYRIGHT, 1897 WILLIAM DOXEY

THE DOXEY PRESS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

PREFACE vii

TABLE OF PLATES xiii

HOW TO USE THE BOOK xix

EXPLANATION OF TERMS xxii

IMPORTANT PLANT FAMILIES AND GENERA xxxi

INTRODUCTORY xlii

PRELUDE xlvii

FLOWER DESCRIPTIONS:--

I. WHITE 3

II. YELLOW 109

III. PINK 193

IV. BLUE AND PURPLE 255

V. RED 335

VI. MISCELLANEOUS 369

INDEX TO LATIN NAMES 393

INDEX TO ENGLISH NAMES 399

INDEX OF TECHNICAL TERMS 405

GLOSSARY 406

"Were I, O God, in churchless lands remaining, Far from all voice of teachers or divines, My soul would find in flowers of thy ordaining Priests, sermons, shrines!"

PREFACE

To the thoughtless a flower is often a trivial thing--beautiful perhaps, and worthy of a passing glance--but that is all. But to the mind open to the great truths of the universe, it takes on a deeper significance. Such a mind sees in its often humble beginnings the genesis of things far-reaching and mighty. Two thousand years ago one grain of the shower of pollen wafted upon the wind and falling upon a minute undeveloped cone, quickened a seed there into life, and this dropping into the soil pushed up a tiny thread of green, which, after the quiet process of the ages, you now behold in the giant Sequoia which tosses its branches aloft, swept by the four winds of heaven.

Whether manifesting itself in the inconspicuous flower upon the tree or in the equally unassuming inflorescence of the vegetable, or unfurling petals of satin or gauze of brilliant hue and marvelous beauty, the blossom is the origin of most that is useful or beautiful in the organic world about us. Strip the world of its blossoms, and the higher forms of life must come to a speedy termination. Thus we see the flower playing a wonderfully important part in the cosmos around us. It becomes henceforth not only a thing of beauty for the gratification of the aesthetic sense, but the instrument by which Nature brings about the fullness of her perfection in her own good season.

* * * * *

There is perhaps no nature-study that can yield the same amount of pure and unalloyed pleasure with so little outlay as the study of the wild flowers. When one is interested in them, every walk into the fields is transformed from an aimless ramble into a joyous, eager quest, and every journey upon stage or railroad becomes a rare opportunity for making new plant-acquaintances--a season of exhilarating excitement.

Mr. Burroughs, that devout lover of nature, says: "Most young people find botany a dull study. So it is, as taught from the text-books in the schools; but study it yourself in the fields and woods, and you will find it a source of perennial delight. Find your flower, and then name it by the aid of the botany. There is so much in a name. To find out what a thing is called is a great help. It is the beginning of knowledge; it is the first step. When we see a new person who interests us, we wish to know his or her name. A bird, a flower, a place--the first thing we wish to know about it is its name. Its name helps us to classify it; it gives us a handle to grasp it by; it sheds a ray of light where all before was darkness. As soon as we know the name of a thing, we seem to have established some sort of relation with it."

Having learned the name of a flower or plant, or having been formally introduced to it, as it were, our acquaintance has but just begun. Instead of being our end and aim, as it was with students of botany in the olden times, this is but the beginning. If this were our ultimate aim, all our pleasure would be at an end as soon as we had learned the names of all the plants within our reach. But the point of view has changed and broadened. The plant is now recognized as a _living organism_, not a dead, unchanging thing. It is _vital_; it grows; it is amenable to the great laws of the universe; and we see it daily complying with those laws, adapting itself to its surroundings--or perishing. It becomes a thing of absorbing interest when we trace the steps by which it has come to be what it is; when we note its relationship to other closely allied forms, and locate its place in the great world of plants.

A thoughtful observation of the structure of plants alone will fill the mind with amazement at the beauty of their minutest parts, the exquisite perfection of every organ. Then it is most interesting to notice the various kinds of places where the same plants grow; how they flourish in different soils and climates; how they parry the difficulties of new and unaccustomed surroundings, by some change of structure or habit to meet the altered conditions--as clothing themselves with wool, to prevent the undue escape of moisture, or twisting their leaves to a vertical position for the same purpose, or sending their roots deep into the earth to seek perennial sources of moisture, which enables them to flourish in our driest times. It is wonderful to note, too, the methods employed to secure the distribution of the seed--how it is sometimes imbedded in a delicious edible fruit, again furnished with hooks or bristles or springs, or provided with silken sails to waft it away upon the wings of the wind. Then the insects that visit plants. It is marvelous to note how plants spread their attractions in bright colors and perfumes and offerings of honey to bees, butterflies, and moths that can carry their pollen abroad, and how they even place hindrances in the way of such as are undesirable.

Studied in this way, botany is no longer the dry science it used to be, but becomes a most fascinating pursuit; and we know of no richer field in which to carry on the study of flowers than that afforded in California.

* * * * *

There has been a long-felt need of a popular work upon the wild flowers of California. Though celebrated throughout the world for their wealth and beauty, and though many of them have found their way across the waters and endeared themselves to plant lovers in many a foreign garden, the story of their home life has never yet been told.

It has been the delightful task of the author and the illustrator of the present work to seek them out in their native haunts--on seashore and mesa, in deep, cool cañon, on dry and open hill-slope, on mountain-top, in glacier meadow, by stream and lake, in marsh and woodland, and to listen to the ofttimes marvelous tales they have had to unfold. If they shall have succeeded in making better known these children of Mother Nature to her lovers and appreciators, and in arousing an interest in them among those who have hitherto found the technical difficulties of scientific botany insurmountable, they will feel amply rewarded for their labors.

The present work does not claim by any means to be a complete flora of the region treated. Our State is so new, and many parts of it have as yet been so imperfectly explored, that a comprehensive and exhaustive flora of it must be the work of a future time, and will doubtless be undertaken by some one when all the data have been procured. Such an attempt, however, were it possible, is without the scope of the present work.

California, with her wonderfully varied climate and topography, has a flora correspondingly rich and varied, probably not surpassed by any region of like area in the Northern Hemisphere. Thus the author finds herself confronted with an embarrassment of riches rather than with any lack of material; and it has often been exceedingly difficult to exclude some beautiful flower that seemed to have strong claims to representation. She therefore craves beforehand the indulgence of the reader, should he find some favorite missing.

In making a choice, she has been guided by the following general principles, and selected, _first_--the flowers most general in their distribution; _second_--those remarkable for their beauty of form or color, their interesting structure, history, or economic uses; _third_--those which are characteristically Californian. At the same time, those which are too insignificant in appearance to attract attention and those too difficult of determination by the non-botanist have been omitted. Flowering plants only have been included.

Many of our species extend northward into Oregon and Washington. Thus, while this work is called "THE WILD FLOWERS OF CALIFORNIA," it will in a certain measure apply equally well to Oregon and Washington.

It has been the aim of the author to picture for the most part the flowers peculiarly Californian, leaving Mrs. Dana's charming book, "How to Know the Wild Flowers," to illustrate those we possess in common with the Atlantic Slope, thus making the works the complements one of the other.

Mrs. Dana has kindly permitted the author to use her plan of arrangement--_i.e._ of grouping all the white flowers in one section, the yellow in another, the pink in a third, and so on, which, in the absence of a key, greatly facilitates the finding of any given flower. The flowers of each section have been arranged as nearly as possible according to their natural succession in the seasons, with one or two exceptions.

Such confusion is rife in the nomenclature of Californian plants, and the same plant is so often furnished with several names,--and several plants sometimes with the same name,--that the authority is in every instance quoted, in order to make it perfectly clear what plant is meant by the name given. Wherever allusion is made to the Spanish-Californians, the Spanish-_speaking_ Californians are meant, very few of whom are Castilians at the present day, most of whom are of an admixture of races.

The flower-cuts are all from pen-and-ink drawings by the illustrator; and all but four are from her own original studies from nature. These four, which it was impossible for her to procure, have been adapted by her from other drawings, by the aid of herbarium specimens. They include _Aphyllon fasciculatum_, _Fremontia Californica_, _Hosackia gracilis_, and _Brodiaea volubilis_. It has been impossible upon so small a page to maintain a uniform relative size in the drawings, for which reason the plant-descriptions in fine print should be consulted for the size.

The author and the illustrator desire to make grateful acknowledgments to many kind friends throughout the State who have rendered them assistance in numerous ways. Their gratitude is due in particular to Miss Alice Eastwood, of the California Academy of Sciences, who, by her unfailing kindness and encouragement, as well as by her personal assistance, has rendered them invaluable aid. Also, to Mr. Carl Purdy, of Ukiah, who from his wide experience, as a grower of our native liliaceous plants, has a knowledge of them shared by few or none, and who has generously placed at their disposal the results of his observations. They also tender their thanks to the Southern Pacific and the North Pacific Railways, who, by their generous granting of reduced rates and passes, have made possible a wider personal acquaintance with the flowers than could have otherwise been enjoyed.

San Rafael, Cal., October 15, 1897.

TABLE OF PLATES

PAGE

ACONITE _Aconitum Columbianum_ 329 ALFALFA _Medicago sativa_ 327 ALFILERILLA _Erodium cicutarium_ 195 ALPINE HEATHER _Bryanthus Breweri_ 247 ALPINE PHLOX _Phlox Douglasii_ 249 ALUM-ROOT _Heuchera micrantha_ 59 AMERICAN BARRENWORT _Vancouveria parviflora_ 89 ANEMONE, WOOD _Anemone quinquefolia_ 19 AUGUST-FLOWER _Grindelia cuneifolia_ 177 AZULEA _Sisyrinchium bellum_ 285 AZURE BEARD-TONGUE _Pentstemon azureus_ 309

BABY-BLUE-EYES _Nemophila insignis_ 291 BEACH-ASTER _Erigeron glaucus_ 305 BEAUTIFUL CLARKIA _Clarkia concinna_ 237 BEE-PLANT, CALIFORNIAN _Scrophularia Californica_ 343 BELLFLOWER _Campanula prenanthoides_ 323 BIG-ROOT _Echinocystis fabacea_ 27 BLAZING-STAR _Mentzelia Lindleyi_ 169 BLEEDING-HEART _Dicentra formosa_ 243 BLUE-BLOSSOM _Ceanothus thyrsiflorus_ 275 BLUE-EYED GRASS _Sisyrinchium bellum_ 285 BLUE GENTIAN _Gentiana calycosa_ 331 BLUE GILIA _Gilia Chamissonis_ 297 BLUE LARKSPUR _Delphinium_ 277 BLUE-AND-WHITE LUPINE _Lupinus bicolor_ 301 BLUE MILLA _Brodiaea laxa_ 303 BLUE MYRTLE _Ceanothus thyrsiflorus_ 275 BLUEWEED _Aconitum Columbianum_ 329 BRODIAEA _Brodiaea capitata_ 263 BRONZE-BELLS } BROWN LILY } _Fritillaria lanceolata_ 265

CALF'S-HEAD _Darlingtonia Californica_ 391 CALIFORNIA FUCHSIA _Zauschneria Californica_ 367 CALIFORNIA LILAC _Ceanothus thyrsiflorus_ 275 CALIFORNIA POPPY _Eschscholtzia Californica_ 115 CALIFORNIAN AZALEA _Rhododendron occidentale_ 87 CALIFORNIAN CENTAURY _Erythraea venusta_ 219 CALIFORNIAN ROSE-BAY _Rhododendron Californicum_ 235 CALIFORNIAN SLIPPERY-ELM _Fremontia Californica_ 159 CALYPSO _Calypso borealis_ 211 CANAIGRE _Rumex hymenosepalus_ 379 CANCER-ROOT _Aphyllon fasciculatum_ 173 CANCHALAGUA _Erythraea venusta_ 219 CAT'S-EARS _Calochortus Maweanus_ 279 CHAMISE LILY _Erythronium giganteum_ 137 CHAPARRAL LILY _Lilium rubescens_ 73 CHAPARRAL PEA _Pickeringia montana_ 231 CHIA _Salvia Columbariae_ 299 CHILICOTHE _Echinocystis fabacea_ 27 CHRISTMAS-HORNS _Delphinium nudicaule_ 347 CLIMBING PENTSTEMON _Pentstemon cordifolius_ 351 CLOCKS _Erodium cicutarium_ 195 CLUSTER-LILY _Brodiaea capitata_ 263 COLLINSIA _Collinsia bicolor_ 295 COLUMBINE _Aquilegia truncata_ 349 COMMON ASTER _Aster Chamissonis_ 333 COMMON MONKEY-FLOWER _Mimulus luteus_ 135 CORAL-ROOT _Corallorhiza Bigelovii_ 273 CREAM-COLORED WALL-FLOWER _Erysimum grandiflorum_ 133 CREAM-CUPS _Platystemon Californicus_ 113 CURRANT, CALIFORNIAN WILD _Ribes glutinosum_ 215

DEERWEED _Hosackia glabra_ 153 DIOGENES' LANTERN _Calochortus pulchellus_ 145 DOG'S-TOOTH VIOLET _Erythronium giganteum_ 137 DUTCHMAN'S PIPE _Aristolochia Californica_ 375

FALSE LADY'S SLIPPER _Epipactis gigantea_ 389 FALSE MALLOW _Malvastrum Thurberi_ 221 FALSE TIDY-TIPS _Leptosyne Douglasii_ 149 FAREWELL TO SPRING _Godetia viminea_ 241 FAWN-LILY _Erythronium giganteum_ 137 FETID ADDER'S-TONGUE _Scoliopus Bigelovii_ 257 FIRECRACKER FLOWER _Brodiaea coccinea_ 239

FIREWEED _Epilobium spicatum_ 245 FOUR-O'CLOCK, CALIFORNIAN _Mirabilis Californica_ 209 FRINGED GILIA _Gilia dianthoides_ 217

GODETIA _Godetia viminea_ 241 GOLDEN LILY-BELL _Calochortus pulchellus_ 145 GOLDEN STARS _Bloomeria aurea_ 155 GOOSEBERRY, FUCHSIA-FLOWERED _Ribes speciosum_ 339 GREAT WILLOW-HERB _Epilobium spicatum_ 245 GROUND-IRIS _Iris macrosiphon_ 281 GROUND-PINK _Gilia dianthoides_ 217 GUM-PLANT _Grindelia cuneifolia_ 177

HAIRBELL _Calochortus albus_ 55 HAREBELL, CALIFORNIAN _Campanula prenanthoides_ 323 HARVEST BRODIAEA _Brodiaea grandiflora_ 319 HEN-AND-CHICKENS _Cotyledon Californicum_ 143 HOUND'S-TONGUE _Cynoglossum grande_ 259 HUCKLEBERRY _Vaccinium ovatum_ 201 HUMMING-BIRD'S TRUMPET _Zauschneria Californica_ 367

INDIAN LETTUCE _Montia perfoliata_ 17 INDIAN PAINT-BRUSH _Castilleia parviflora_ 345 INDIAN PINK _Silene Californica_ 355 INDIAN WARRIOR _Pedicularis densiflora_ 337 ITHURIEL'S SPEAR _Brodiaea laxa_ 303

LADIES' TRESSES _Spiranthes Romanzoffianum_ 93 LANTERN OF THE FAIRIES _Calochortus albus_ 55 LARGE-FLOWERED BRODIAEA _Brodiaea grandiflora_ 319 LESSINGIA _Lessingia leptoclada_ 253 LITTLE ALPINE LILY _Lilium parvum_ 181 LOCO-WEED _Astragalus leucopsis_ 41 LUCERN _Medicago sativa_ 327

MANZANITA _Arctostaphylos manzanita_ 13 MARIPOSA TULIP _Calochortus venustus_ 79 MATILIJA POPPY _Romneya Coulteri_ 65 MEADOW-FOAM _Floerkia Douglasii_ 127 MILKWEED, COMMON _Asclepias Mexicana_ 313 MILKWEED, HORNLESS WOOLLY _Gomphocarpus tomentosus_ 381 MILK-WHITE REIN-ORCHIS _Habenaria leucostachys_ 95 MILKWORT, CALIFORNIAN _Polygala Californica_ 287 MINER'S LETTUCE _Montia perfoliata_ 17

MIST-MAIDENS _Romanzoffia Sitchensis_ 23 MONK'S-HOOD _Aconitum Columbianum_ 329 MOTTLED SWAMP-ORCHIS _Epipactis gigantea_ 389 MOUNTAIN BALM _Eriodictyon glutinosum_ 57 MOUNTAIN LADY'S SLIPPER _Cypripedium montanum_ 383

PENNYROYAL _Monardella villosa_ 325 PENTACHAETA _PentachAEta aurea_ 125 PEPPER-ROOT _Dentaria Californica_ 5 PIN-CLOVER _Erodium cicutarium_ 195 PINE-DROPS _Pterospora andromedea_ 187 PINK PAINT-BRUSH _Orthocarpus purpurascens_ 229 PIPE-VINE _Aristolochia Californica_ 375 PIPSISSIWA _Chimaphila Menziesii_ 105 PITCHER-PLANT, CALIFORNIAN _Darlingtonia Californica_ 391 PITCHER-SAGE _Sphacele calycina_ 43 POISON-OAK _Rhus diversiloba_ 9 POLÉO _Monardella villosa_ 325 POP-CORN FLOWER 31 PRICKLY PHLOX _Gilia Californica_ 207 PRINCE'S PINE _Chimaphila Menziesii_ 105 PUSSY'S-EARS _Calochortus Maweanus_ 279 PUSSY'S-PAWS _Spraguea umbellata_ 71

QUININE-BUSH _Garrya elliptica_ 371

RATTLESNAKE PLANTAIN _Goodyera Menziesii_ 99 RATTLE-WEED _Astragalus leucopsis_ 41 RED-STEMMED FILAREE _Erodium cicutarium_ 195 REDWOOD-SORREL _Oxalis Oregana_ 197 REIN-ORCHIS _Habenaria elegans_ 385 RESIN-WEED _Grindelia cuneifolia_ 177 RICE-ROOT _Fritillaria lanceolata_ 265 ROMERO _Trichostema lanatum_ 317 RUBY LILY _Lilium rubescens_ 73

SAXIFRAGE, CALIFORNIAN _Saxifraga Californica_ 15 SCARLET BUGLER _Pentstemon centranthifolius_ 359 SCARLET GILIA _gilia Aggregata_ 361 SCARLET HONEYSUCKLE _Pentstemon cordifolius_ 351 SCARLET LARKSPUR, NORTHERN _Delphinium nudicaule_ 347 SCARLET PAINT-BRUSH _Castilleia parviflora_ 345 SHOOTING-STARS _Dodecatheon Meadia_ 205 SIERRA PRIMROSE _Primula Suffrutescens_ 251

SILK-TASSEL TREE _Garrya elliptica_ 371 SKULLCAP _Scutellaria tuberosa_ 271 SNAPDRAGON, VIOLET _Antirrhinum vagans_ 321 SNOW-PLANT _Sarcodes sanguinea_ 363 SOAP-PLANT _Chlorogalum pomeridianum_ 83 SPRING-BLOSSOM _Dentaria Californica_ 5 STICKY MONKEY-FLOWER _Mimulus glutinosus_ 139 ST. JOHN'S-WORT _Hypericum concinnum_ 163 SULPHUR-FLOWER _Eriogonum umbellatum_ 179 SUN-CUPS _OEnothera ovata_ 111 SUNSHINE _Baeria gracilis_ 125 SWEET-SCENTED SHRUB, CALIF'N. _Calycanthus occidentalis_ 353

TARWEED _Hemizonia luzulaefolia_ 189 TARWEED _Madia elegans_ 183 TIDY-TIPS _Layia platyglossa_ 149 TOOTHWORT _Dentaria Californica_ 5 TOROSA _Eschscholtzia Californica_ 115 TREE-MALLOW _Lavatera assurgentiflora_ 227 TREE-POPPY _Dendromecon rigidum_ 119 TRILLIUM, CALIFORNIAN _Trillium sessile_ 261 TWIN-BERRY _Lonicera involucrata_ 123 TWINING HYACINTH _Brodiaea volubilis_ 233

VILLELA _Sisyrinchium bellum_ 285 VIOLET NIGHTSHADE _Solanum Xanti_ 269