Part 12

_Corm._--Usually elongated. _Leaves._--Oblong; six to ten inches long; dark green, usually mottled in mahogany and dark brown. _Scape._--One- to many-flowered. _Perianth._--Broadly funnel-form, with six deciduous segments; at length revolute to the stem. _Segments._--Straw-color, with orange base, with often a transverse, brownish band across the base; broadly lanceolate; eighteen lines or so long. _Stamens._--Six. Filaments filiform. Anthers basifixed. _Ovary._--Three-celled. Style slender. Stigma three-lobed. _Hab._--The interior of the Coast Ranges, from Sonoma County to the Willamette Valley.

The dog's-tooth violets expand into larger, finer creations upon our shores than were ever dreamed of elsewhere. They seem to imbibe new vigor in the sweet life-giving air of our Coast Range forests. In Southern Oregon, they reach their maximum development, manifesting themselves in numerous beautiful species. With us the common title becomes still more inappropriate than for the Atlantic species--for nothing could be farther from a violet than these large pale flowers, which in reality look far more like lilies. Indeed, in Mendocino County they are commonly known as "chamise-lilies." Another name is "Adam and Eve," bestowed because the plant often bears a large and a small flower at the same time.

Personally, I am inclined to favor Mr. Burroughs' suggestion of "fawn-lily." It is both appropriate and pretty. The two erect leaves are like the ears of a fawn; their beautiful mottling is not without a hint of the fawn's spots; and the blossom is lily-like. The plant is shy, too, keeping to the seclusion of our deep cañons. In such situations we may find them in groups of a few, or occasionally in beds of hundreds. No more delightful surprise could be imagined than to come suddenly upon such a garden far from the habitations of man. The pale flowers, with orange centers, when fully open, roll their petals back to the stem, like those of the leopard-lily; but in cloudy weather they often maintain a campanulate outline. Plants have frequently been seen with from eight to sixteen flowers upon a stem, the flowers three or four inches across!

These are great favorites in gardens, and in cultivation are known as _E. grandiflorum_. We have several species of _Erythronium_, all of them beautiful.

STICKY MONKEY-FLOWER.

_Mimulus glutinosus_, Wend. Figwort Family.

Glutinous shrubs two to six feet high. _Leaves._--Narrowly oblong to linear; one to four inches long; with margins at length rolled backward. _Flowers._--Corn-color to red; eighteen lines to three inches long. _Calyx._--Irregularly five-toothed. _Corolla._--Funnel-form; five-lobed; the lobes gnawed. _Stigma._--White. (See _Mimulus_.) _Hab._--San Francisco to San Diego, and southward.

During a walk upon the hills, at almost any time of year, we may find the corn-colored blossoms of the sticky monkey-flower, but they are most abundant in spring and summer. When in full flower the small bushes are very ornamental, as they are a perfect mass of bloom. They are said to be especially handsome as greenhouse plants.

The flowers vary through a wide range of color, from almost white to a rich scarlet, but the commoner hue is the corn-color. The scarlet-flowered form, found at San Diego, constitutes the _var. puniceus_, Gray. Another form, with red-brown to salmon-colored flowers on very short pedicels, is the _var. linearis_, Gray. The very long-flowered form is the _var. brachypus_, Gray. The sensitive lips of the stigma close upon being touched or after receiving pollen.

CREEPING WOOD-VIOLET.

_Viola sarmentosa_, Dougl. Violet Family.

_Stems._--Creeping. _Leaves._--Round-cordate; six to eighteen lines broad; finely crenate; often rusty beneath; usually punctate with dark dots. _Peduncles._--Slender. _Flowers._--Small; light yellow without and within. (Flower structure as in _V. pedunculata_.) _Hab._--Coast Ranges, from Monterey to British Columbia.

This modest little violet is found commonly in woods,--often in redwood forests,--where it carpets the ground with its shapely little round leaves.

Its specific name refers to its running habit.

COMMON BLACK MUSTARD.

_Brassica nigra_, Koch. Mustard Family.

_Stems._--Six inches to twelve feet high. _Lower leaves._--Lyrate; with large terminal lobes. _Upper leaves._--Lobed or entire. _Flowers._--Yellow. _Sepals._--Four. _Petals._--Four; three to four lines long. _Stamens._--Six. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style long. _Pod._--Six to nine lines long, with seeds in one row. _Hab._--Common everywhere; introduced.

I can give no truer idea of the manner of growth of this common plant in California than by quoting Mrs. Jackson's charming description of it from "Ramona":--

"The wild mustard in Southern California is like that spoken of in the New Testament, in the branches of which the birds of the air may rest. Coming up out of the earth, so slender a stem that dozens can find starting-point in an inch, it darts up a slender, straight shoot, five, ten, twenty feet, with hundreds of fine, feathery branches locking and interlocking with all the other hundreds around it, till it is an inextricable network, like lace. Then it bursts into yellow bloom, still finer, more feathery and lacelike. The stems are so infinitesimally small and of so dark a green, that at a short distance they do not show, and the cloud of blossoms seems floating in the air; at times it looks like a golden dust. With a clear, blue sky behind it, as it is often seen, it looks like a golden snowstorm."

The tall stems are favorite haunts of the red-winged blackbird, who tilts about among them, showing his scarlet wings and occasionally plunging into the depths below, as though he found a spot there much to his mind.

A very superior oil is made from the seed of the mustard, which is one of the strongest antiseptics known. It is especially adapted to the needs of the druggist, because it does not become rancid. The flour of mustard is now much used by surgeons to render their hands aseptic. Tons of the seed are exported from California every year.

ECHEVERIA.

_Cotyledon lanceolata_, Benth. and Hook. Stonecrop or Orpine Family.

Fleshy plants, with tufted radical leaves. _Leaves._--Narrowly lanceolate; the outer ones two to four inches long; acuminate. _Scapes._--Fifteen inches high; their lower leaves lanceolate; becoming above broadly triangular-ovate, clasping, acute; bearing on their summit a branching flower-cluster. _Calyx._--Five-parted. _Corolla._--Cylindrical; of five almost distinct, oblong, acute petals, four to six lines long, reddish-yellow. _Stamens._--Ten. _Ovaries._--Five; distinct; one-celled. _Hab._--Los Angeles to San Diego.

These plants, which are of frequent occurrence in the south, usually affect dry, sandy soils. The fleshy foliage is of a warm tone, owing to a suffusion of pink in the leaves. These have a loose, erect habit, and are not crowded in dense rosettes, as are those of some species, and they are so weak that they pull apart easily. The tall flowering stems have but few leaves, and are sometimes nearly naked.

In early summer these plants put forth a strong effort, quickly sending up several tall, vigorous flower-shoots, drawing upon the nourishment stored in the fleshy leaves, which then become limp and shriveled.

Growing upon the coast at San Diego is a very curious and interesting species--_C. edulis_, Brew. This has cylindrical leaves, about the size of a lead-pencil, which grow in tufts, often a foot or two across. Its flowers are greenish-yellow. It is commonly known as "finger-tips." Its young leaves are considered very palatable by the Indians, who use them as a salad.

HEN-AND-CHICKENS.

_Cotyledon Californicum_, Trelease. Stonecrop or Orpine Family.

(For flower structure, see _Cotyledon lanceolata_.) _Hab._--Central California.

The word "cotyledon" signifies any cup-shaped hollow or cavity, and has been applied to the plants of this genus on account of the manner of growth of the leaves, which is usually in a hollow rosette. The fleshy leaves are often covered with a bloom or a floury powder. These plants are familiar to most of us, as some of the species are extensively cultivated in our gardens as border-plants. Owing to their habit of producing a circle of young plants around the parent, they are commonly called "hen-and-chickens." We have several native species, which are usually found upon warm, rocky hill-slopes, or upon rocks near the sea.

_C. Californicum_ is a beautiful form, with pointed, ovate leaves, of a light glaucous green, often tinged with pink. Its flowers are yellow, and have their petals distinct almost to the base, and its carpels are distinct. We are told that the Indians make soothing poultices of these leaves.

Another species--_C. pulverulenta_, Benth. and Hook.,--found from Santa Barbara to San Diego, is a very beautiful plant. It bears its leaves in a symmetrical rosette, like a diminutive century-plant. These leaves are usually covered with a dense white bloom, and the outer ones are spatulate, abruptly pointed, and two to four inches broad at the tip, while the inner are pointed. The plants are sometimes a foot and a half across, and send up as many as eight of the leafy flowering stems, which look like many-storied, slender Chinese pagodas. The blossoms are pale-red.

BLADDERPOD.

_Isomeris arborea_, Nutt. Caper Family.

Shrubby; evil-scented. _Leaves._--Alternate; compound, with three leaflets. _Flowers._--With their parts in fours. _Petals._--Yellow; five to eight lines long. _Stamens._--Eight; of equal length. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style short. _Pod._--Pendulous; inflated; pear-shaped; on a long stalk. _Hab._--Santa Barbara to San Diego.

This low shrub is somewhat plentiful upon the mesas of the south. Its yellow flowers attract one to it, only to be repulsed by the dreadful odor of its foliage. It certainly ought to have some compensating utility for so repellent a characteristic. The ovary is so long-stalked, even in the flower, that it looks like an abnormal, inflated stigma.

This is the only species of the genus.

YELLOW GLOBE-TULIP. DIOGENES' LANTERN. GOLDEN LILY-BELL.

_Calochortus pulchellus_, Dougl. Lily Family.

_Stems._--Somewhat flexuous, with spreading branches; two inches to a foot or more high. _Radical leaf._--Equaling or exceeding the stem; four to twelve lines broad. _Sepals._--Greenish or yellow; eight to twelve lines long. _Petals._--Yellow; strongly arched; glandular ciliate. _Gland._--A deep pit, conspicuously prominent on the outside of the petals, covered within by appressed hairs. (See _Calochortus_.) _Hab._--Coast Ranges, from Monterey to Mendocino County.

We have no more charmingly graceful flower than the yellow globe-tulip. A single, long, grasslike leaf precedes the flexuous stem, with its quaintly arched and delicately fringed blossoms. There is a certain quizzical look about these flowers--something akin to the inquiring look of Diogenes, as he thrust his lantern into all sorts of out-of-the-way places in broad daylight. The margins of the petals look as though they had been snipped into a very fine, delicate fringe, unlike the slender, tapering hairs of _C. alba_.

The Indians are fond of the bulbs, which they eat with great relish, calling them "Bo."

YELLOW SAND-VERBENA.

_Abronia latifolia_, Esch. Four-o'clock Family.

_Stems._--Prostrate; rubbery. _Leaves._--Opposite; unequal; roundish; an inch or so across; petioled; leathery; gummy. _Flowers._--Yellow; five or six lines long; in dense clusters, subtended by an involucre of five distinct bracts. _Perianth._--Salver-shaped. Tube green; its base strongly angled or winged. Limb yellow; four or five-lobed. _Stamens._--Mostly five, within the perianth. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style filiform. Stigma club-shaped. _Hab._--The seashore from Vancouver Island to Monterey.

The fragrant blossoms of the yellow sand-verbena may be found upon the beach at almost any time of year. The stout root, which often becomes several feet long, is sometimes eaten by the Indians.

SEA-DAHLIA.

_Leptosyne maritima_, Gray. Composite Family.

_Leaves._--Alternate; sometimes six inches long; two or three times divided into rather sparse, linear divisions; quite succulent. _Flower-heads._--Solitary; on naked peduncles from six inches to two feet long; large; three or four inches across; yellow; of disk- and ray-flowers. _Rays._--Narrowly oblong; ten-nerved; three-toothed. _Involucre._--Double; the outer part of several loose, leafy scales; the inner of eight to twelve, erect, more chaffy ones. _Hab._--The seashore of San Diego and the islands.

On the cliffs overlooking the sea, where its merry yellow faces can watch the white-crested breakers as they chase one another ashore in never-ending succession, and where the pelicans sail lazily over in lines, and gulls circle and scream, the sea-dahlia flaunts its large yellow flowers. They closely resemble the yellow single dahlias of our gardens; but the foliage is cut into long lobes, and has the appearance of a coarse, very open lace. The odor of the flowers is not especially agreeable, but the plant merits a place in the garden for its beauty.

FALSE LUPINE.

_Thermopsis Californica_, Wats. Pea Family.

_Stems._--Two feet tall. _Leaves._--With leafy stipules an inch long. _Leaflets._--Three; obovate to oblanceolate; an inch or two long; somewhat woolly. _Flowers._--Yellow; in long-peduncled recemes. _Calyx._--Deeply five-cleft; the two upper teeth often united. _Corolla._--Papilionaceous; eight lines long. _Stamens._--Ten; all distinct. _Ovary._--One-celled. _Pod._--Silky; six- to eight-seeded. _Hab._--Marin County and southward.

The false lupine very closely resembles the true lupines, but may be distinguished from them by the stamens, which are all distinct, instead of being united into a sheath. Its silvery foliage and racemes of rather large canary-colored flowers are common upon open hill-slopes by April.

TIDY-TIPS. YELLOW DAISY.

_Layia platyglossa_, Gray. Composite Family.

_Stems._--A foot or so high; loosely branching. _Leaves._--Alternate; sessile; the lower linear and pinnatifid, the upper entire. _Flowerheads._--Solitary; terminal; of disk- and ray-flowers. _Disk-flowers._--Yellow, with black stamens. _Rays._--Bright yellow, tipped with white; six lines long; four lines wide; three-lobed. _Hab._--Throughout Western California; in low ground.

Among the most charming of our flowers are the beautiful tidy-tips. In midspring, countless millions of them lift themselves above the sheets of golden _Baeria_ on our flower-tapestried plains. The fresh winds come sweetly laden with their delicate fragrance. Were they not scattered everywhere in such lavish profusion, we would doubtless cherish them in our gardens.

Growing among these blossoms is often found another flower, somewhat similar to them. This is _Leptosyne Douglasii_, DC., the false tidy-tip. It has not the clean, natty appearance of _Layia platyglossa_; for the gradual blending of the light tips into the darker yellow below gives it an indefinite, unattractive look. There is a difference in the involucre, which has two series of bracts, and there are no touches of black among the disk-flowers.

GOLDEN BUTTERFLY-TULIP.

_Calochortus clavatus_, Wats. Lily Family.

_Hab._--Los Angeles County to San Luis Obispo and El Dorado County.

Of all our Mariposa tulips, this is the largest-flowered and stoutest-stemmed, and once seen is not readily forgotten. Its magnificent flowers are sometimes six inches across, though not usually so large, and have the form of a broad-based cup. The sturdy, zigzagging stems and glaucous leaves and bracts, combined with the large rich, canary-colored or golden flowers, make a striking plant. The first glance within the cup shows the ring of club-shaped hairs, characteristic of this species, and the anthers radiating starlike in the center; and as the latter are often a dark, rich prune-purple, the effect can readily be imagined.

I saw this charming Mariposa blooming in abundance in May near Newhall, where its golden cups were conspicuously beautiful against the soft browns of the drying fields and hill-slopes. It is usually found growing upon lava soil.

_C. Weedii_, Wood., found from San Diego to San Luis Obispo, is a charming species, somewhat similar to the above. Its flowers are yellow, purple, or pure white, and it may be known by several characteristics. Its bulb is heavily coated with coarse fibers; it has a single, long radical leaf, like _C. albus_, but unusual among the Mariposas; and its cups are covered all over within with silky hairs.

* * * * *

_Malacothrix Californica_, DC. Composite Family.

_Leaves._--All radical; pinnately parted into very narrow linear divisions. _Scape._--Six inches to a foot high; bearing a solitary, large, light-yellow head. _Flower-head._--Composed of strap-shaped ray-flowers only; five-toothed at the apex. _Involucres._--Of narrow acute scales in two or three series. _Receptacle._--Nearly naked. _Hab._--San Francisco to San Diego, and eastward.

These beautiful _Compositae_ are conspicuous upon our open plains in late spring, and are among the handsomest plants of the family. The fine flowers seem to be sown like disks of light over the flower-carpet of the plain.

BUTTER-AND-EGGS.

_Orthocarpus erianthus_, Benth. Figwort Family.

Slender, with many erect branches; stems and bracts usually dark-reddish; soft pubescent. _Corolla._--Deep sulphur-yellow; the slender falcate upper lip dark purple; the tube very slender, but the sacs of the lower lip large and deep, their folds hairy within. (See _Orthocarpus_.) _Hab._--Monterey County and northward; very common.

There are many species of _Orthocarpus_, and they are more numerous in Middle and Northern California and in the Sierras, few of them reaching the south. They are very difficult of determination, and are not well understood by botanists yet. A common name for the plants of this genus is "owl's clover."

BRASS BUTTONS.

_Cotula coronopifolia_, L. Composite Family.

_Stems._--Six inches to a foot long. _Leaves._--Alternate; lanceolate or oblong-linear; pinnatifid or entire. _Flower-heads._--Solitary; yellow; three to six lines across; without rays. _Involucre._--Of two ranks of nearly equal, scarious-margined scales. _Hab._--Common everywhere.

These little weeds are natives of the Southern Hemisphere, but are now common everywhere. They affect wet places, and their little flowers, like brass buttons, are very familiar objects along our roadsides. The foliage when crushed gives out a curious odor, between lemon-verbena and camphor.

DEER-WEED. WILD BROOM.

_Hosackia glabra_, Torr. Pea Family.

Woody at base; two to eight feet high; erect or decumbent. _Stems._--Many; slender; branching; reed-like. _Leaves._--Sparse; short-petioled; mostly trifoliolate. Leaflets three to six lines long; oblong to linear-oblong; nearly glabrous. _Flowers._--In numerous small axillary umbels; yellow; four lines long. _Calyx._--Less than three lines long; five-toothed. _Corolla._--Papilionaceous. _Stamens._--Nine united and one free. _Pod._--Elongated; exserted. Seeds two. (See _Leguminosae_.) _Hab._--Common throughout the State.

This graceful, willowy plant, whose slender branches are closely set with small golden-yellow flowers, in which there is often a hint of red, is as ornamental as any of the small-flowered foreign _Genestas_, or brooms, we grow in our gardens; but because it is so very abundant throughout our borders, we have become blind to its merits. It is especially beautiful and symmetrical in the south, where the low, bushy plants often spread over several feet of ground; and on the mesas of Coronado, the plants growing not far removed from one another, lend to the natural scene the aspect of a garden. There it is in full flower in April; but in the north the blossoms are usually later in arriving, and it is often June before they show themselves; then making whole hill-slopes dull-yellow among the chaparral.

It is a great favorite with the bees, and for them holds untold treasure in honey-making sweets. Among the mountaineers it is known as "deer-weed" and "buck-brush," as both deer and stock are said to feed upon it and flourish, when pasturage is scarce, though they rarely touch it when other food is plenty.

TREFOIL SUMACH. FRAGRANT SUMACH. SQUAW-BERRY.

_Rhus Canadensis, var. trilobata_, Gray. Poison-Oak or Cashew Family.

Shrubs two to five feet high; spreading. _Leaves._--Three-foliolate. _Leaflets._--Sessile; wedge-shaped; six lines to an inch long; pubescent, becoming smooth. _Flowers._--Yellowish; minute; borne in short, scaly-bracted spikes preceding the leaves. _Fruit._--Viscid; reddish; two or three lines in diameter; pleasantly acid. _Syn._--_R. aromatica, var. trilobata_, Gray. _Hab._--Dakota to Texas, and west to California and Oregon.

The dense foliage of these little bushes has a strong odor, which is not altogether agreeable, while their small fruit has a pleasant acid taste, and is much relished by the Indians.

Dr. Edward Palmer writes that this shrub furnishes the Indians of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Southern California with one of the most valuable of basket materials. The young twigs, which are much tougher than those of the willow, are soaked, scraped, and split. The baskets are then built up of a succession of small rolls of grass, over which the split twigs are closely and firmly bound. The baskets thus made are very durable, will hold water, and are often used to cook in, by dropping hot stones into them till the food is done. The wood exhales a peculiar odor, which is always recognizable about the camps of these Indians, and never leaves articles made from it.

This is grown in England as an ornamental shrub.

GOLDEN STARS.

_Bloomeria aurea_, Kell. Lily Family.

_Bulb._--Six lines in diameter. _Leaf._--Solitary; about equaling the scape; three to six lines broad. _Scape._--Six to eighteen inches high. _Flowers._--Yellow; fifteen to sixty in an umbel. _Perianth._--About an inch across. _Stamens._--Six; with cup-shaped appendages. _Ovary._--Three-celled. Style club-shaped. Stigma three-lobed. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from Monterey to San Diego.

Just as the floral procession begins to slacken a little before the oncoming of summer, the fields suddenly blossom out anew and twinkle with millions of the golden stars of the _Bloomeria_. These plants are closely allied to the _Brodiaeas_, and by some authorities are classed as such. They are especially characterized by the structure of the stamens, which rise out of a tiny cup. Under a glass this cup is seen to be granular, somewhat flattened, and furnished with two cusps, or points. The anthers are a very pretty Nile or peacock green.