Part 13

Another species--_B. Clevelandi_, Wats.--is easily distinguished from the above by its numerous narrow leaves and its green-nerved perianth. This is found at San Diego, upon the mesas in midspring, growing abundantly in spots which, earlier in the season, have been mud-holes. Its open flowers are so outnumbered by the numerous undeveloped green buds, that, even though it grows in masses, it is not very showy, but makes the ground a dull yellow. But its flower-clusters are feathery and delicate.

There is another plant which closely resembles the _Bloomerias_. This is the "golden Brodiaea"--_Brodiaea ixioides_, Wats. But the filaments, instead of having a cuplike appendage, are winged, with the little anthers swinging prettily upon their summits. This is found in the Coast Ranges, from Santa Barbara northward, also in the Sierras. It is a beautiful flower; especially when seen starring the velvet alpine meadows in August.

Another plant--_Brodiaea lactea_, Wats.--the "white Brodiaea" has flowers similar to the above, but pure white (sometimes lilac), with a green mid-vein. This is common in late spring from Monterey to British Columbia.

YELLOW SWEET CLOVER.

_Melilotus parviflora_, Desf. Pea Family.

_Hab._--Widely naturalized from Europe.

In early summer the breezes come laden with fragrance from the sweet clover. This is easily recognized by its tall stems, its fragrant leaves, with three small, toothed leaflets, and its small crowded racemes of minute yellow flowers a line long.

A white form--_Melilotus alba_, Lam.--is found in the north. Its flowers are vanilla-scented.

This plant is a highly valued remedy in the pharmacopoeia for various ailments, and its sweet-scented flowers have been used for flavoring many products, such as Gruyère cheese, snuff, and tobacco. In Europe the blossoms are packed among furs to give them a pleasant odor and keep away moths.

CALIFORNIAN COMPASS-PLANT. SUNFLOWER.

_Wyethia angustifolia_, Nutt. Composite Family.

_Stems._--Six inches to two feet high. _Leaves._--Long-lanceolate; pointed at both ends; the radical and lower ones six to twelve inches long; the upper sessile, shorter, and often broader. _Flower-heads._--Yellow; composed of ray- and disk-flowers. Plume-like styles of the latter conspicuous. _Ray flowers._--Numerous; one inch long; six lines wide; early deciduous. _Involucre._--Broadly campanulate, of numerous erect, loose, foliaceous, ciliate scales, in several rows. _Hab._--Monterey, east to the Sierra foothills and north to Oregon.

In late spring our open plains and hillsides are often plentifully sown with the large golden flowers of these Californian compass-plants, called "sunflowers" by many people. There is a belief prevalent that their erect leaves always stand with their edges pointing north and south, whence the common name. This trait is said to be true of all the species.

_W. helenioides_, Nutt., has large, broad leaves, which are white-woolly when young. Its flower-heads are often four inches or more across.

This plant is used as a common domestic remedy for coughs and colds by Californian housewives, and goes under the unmerited name of "poison-weed." It has also been adopted among physicians as an officinal drug. The root, which is slightly bitter and aromatic, is made into a tincture and administered for asthma, throat disorders, and epidemic influenza, with excellent results. It blooms in early spring, and is common upon hillsides.

Another species, very similar to the above, is _W. glabra_, Gray. This may be known by its smooth green leaves, which are often very viscid. It is found from Marin County southward, in the Coast Ranges, and probably northward.

_W. mollis_, Gray, or "Indian wheat," is very abundant in the Sierras, growing all through the open woods, and covering great tracts of dry gravelly soil. Its large, coarse, somewhat woolly radical leaves stand erect and clustered, usually having a flower-stalk or two in their midst, bearing some smaller leaves, and several yellow flower-heads, which resemble small sunflowers with yellow centers. It has a strong odor, and gives a characteristic smell to the region where it grows. The common name, "Indian wheat," has been bestowed upon it not because it in the least resembles wheat, but because the Indians gather the seed in great quantities and grind it into a flour.

CALIFORNIAN SLIPPERY-ELM.

_Fremontia Californica_, Torr. Hand-tree Family.

Shrubs or trees from two to twenty feet high. _Leaves._--Alternate; petioled; round-cordate to round-ovate; moderately three- to five-lobed or cleft; woolly or whitish beneath; the larger two inches wide. _Flowers._--Short-peduncled on very short lateral branches; numerous; one to three inches across; having three to five small bractlets. _Calyx._--Corolla-like; brilliant gold, five-cleft nearly to the base; the lobes having a rounded, hairy pit at base. _Corolla._--Wanting. _Filaments._--United to their middle; each bearing a linear, adnate, curved, two-celled anther. _Ovary._--Five-celled. Style filiform. _Hab._--Dry Sierra foothills, from Lake County southward.

No more beautiful sight is often seen than a slope covered with the wild slippery-elm in blossom. The bushes are almost obscured from view by the masses of large golden flowers. This shrub takes on various forms; sometimes sending out in every direction long slender branches, which are solid wreaths of the magnificent blooms; and again assuming a more erect, treelike habit. It has been hailed with delight in the gardens of our Southern States, and heartily welcomed in France and England. Why do not _we_ honor it with a place in our own gardens, instead of giving room to so many far less beautiful exotics?

It flowers in early summer, and its season of bloom is said to last only about two weeks, but the brilliant hibiscus-like blossoms, drying upon their stems, maintain for a long time a semblance of their first beauty. The branches are tough and flexible, and are often cut for whips by teamsters. Among the mountaineers it is generally known as "leatherwood." But this name properly belongs to another entirely different plant, _Dirca palustris_.

The bark of the _Fremontia_ so closely resembles that of the slippery-elm in taste and other qualities, that it is difficult to distinguish between them; and it is used in the same manner for making poultices.

We are told that this shrub thrives best upon a disintegrated granite soil, and reaches its finest development upon the arid slopes bordering such rainless regions as the Mojave Desert. It was first discovered by General Fremont when crossing the Sierras, about half a century ago, and was named in his honor. It is closely related to the mallows.

DODDER. LOVE-VINE. GOLDEN-THREAD.

_Cuscuta_, Tourn. Morning-Glory Family.

Leafless plants with filiform, yellow or orange-colored stems; germinating in the soil; soon breaking off and becoming parasitic upon other plants. _Flowers._--Small; white; densely clustered. _Calyx._--Usually five-cleft or parted. _Corolla._--Tubular or campanulate; four- or five-toothed or lobed. _Stamens._--On the corolla, alternate with its lobes. Filaments with fringed scales below. _Ovary._--Globose; two-celled. Styles two.

. . . "while everywhere The love-vine spreads a silken snare, The tangles of her yellow hair."

Though popularly known as the love-vine, because of its clinging habit, it must be confessed that this pernicious plant in no respect merits the title. On the other hand, it might with propriety be called the octopus of the plant world. If you break a branch from a plant which has become its victim, you can see how it has twined itself about it, drawing its very life-blood from it at every turn, by means of ugly, wartlike suckers.

It is no wonder, however, that people are generally deceived as to the moral character of this plant--for it is indeed a beautiful sight, when it spreads its golden tangle over the chamisal, wild buckwheat, and other plants, often completely hiding them from view.

We have a number of species. _C. salina_ often covers our salt marshes with brilliant patches of orange.

LARGE YELLOW LUPINE.

_Lupinus arboreus_, Sims. Pea Family.

Shrubby; four to ten feet high. _Flowers._--Large; in a loose, whorled raceme; sulphur-yellow; very fragrant. _Leaflets._--Four to eleven; generally about nine; narrowly lanceolate; nine to twenty lines long. _Pods._--Two to three inches long; ten- to twelve-seeded; silky pubescent. (See _Lupinus_.) _Hab._--Common from the Sacramento to San Diego.

The large yellow lupine is a common plant upon our wind-swept mesas, growing in sandy soil. Its shrubby form, somewhat silvery foliage, and large canary-colored, very fragrant flowers make it always a conspicuous and beautiful plant.

This species, together with _L. albifrons_, have been found most useful in anchoring the shifting sands of the dunes near San Francisco. It was accidentally discovered in a deep cutting that these lupines sent their roots down sometimes twenty feet, and the idea was conceived of making use of them in the above manner. Barley, which grows more rapidly than the lupine, was sown to protect the plants while very young. In a single year the lupines covered the sands with a dense growth, two or three feet high, sufficient to prevent them from shifting during the severest storms, and to allow of the subsequent planting of various pines, willows, and other trees. Thus the way was prepared for one of the most beautiful of pleasure-grounds--the Golden Gate Park of San Francisco which can hardly be rivaled anywhere for natural situation and diversity of scene.

One of our handsomest species is _L. Stiveri_, Kell., found in the Yosemite. Its blossoms have yellow standards and rose-colored wings.

ST. JOHN'S-WORT.

_Hypericum concinnum_, Benth. St. John's-wort Family.

_Stems._--Three to eighteen inches high; branching from a woody base. _Leaves._--Opposite; often in four ranks; linear to oblong; six lines to an inch or more long; usually folded; translucently dotted. _Flowers._--Golden yellow; over an inch across. _Sepals._--Five. _Petals._--Five; margins black-dotted. _Stamens._--Numerous; in three bunches. _Ovary._--Usually three-celled. Styles three. _Hab._--Central California.

Just as spring is merging into summer, we may look for the bright golden flowers of our common St. John's-wort. The numerous stamens give these blossoms a feathery appearance, and the leaves often group themselves characteristically in four ranks upon the stems.

All the plants of the genus are known as St. John's-wort, because certain of the species were supposed to flower upon the anniversary of this saint. Perhaps there are no other plants around which tradition has thrown such a glamour. Mr. Dyer says, in his interesting book, "The Folk-Lore of Plants," that the St. John's-wort was supposed to be an excellent amulet against lightning, and that it had the magic property of revealing the presence of witches; whence in Germany it was extensively worn on St. John's Eve, when the air was supposed to be peopled with witches and evil spirits, who wandered abroad upon no friendly errands. In Denmark it is resorted to by anxious lovers who wish to divine their future.

GOLDEN DICENTRA.

_Dicentra chrysantha_, Hook. and Arn. Bleeding-heart Family.

_Stems._--Glaucous and smooth; two to five feet high. _Leaves._--The larger ones a foot long or more; finely dissected into small linear lobes. _Flowers._--Erect; yellow; six to nine lines long; in a loose terminal panicle a foot or two long. _Sepals._--Two; small; caducous. _Corolla._--Flattened and cordate; of two pairs of petals; the outer larger, saccate at base, and with spreading tips; the inner much narrower, spoon-shaped, their tips cohering and inclosing the anthers and stigma. _Stamens._--Six. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style slender. Stigma two-lobed. _Hab._--Dry hills, Lake County to San Diego.

The arrangement of the essential organs in the genus _Dicentra_ is very curious and interesting. The six stamens are borne in two companies of three each, which stand in front of the outer petals, and have their filaments more or less united at the base. The central stamen in each group has a two-celled anther, while its neighbor on either hand has but a one-celled anther. The stigma-lobes often bend downward prettily, like the flukes of a little anchor.

To this genus belongs the beautiful Oriental bleeding-heart of the garden; and we have two or three interesting native species.

_D. chrysantha_ is usually a somewhat coarse plant, lacking the grace of _D. formosa_, the Californian bleeding-heart. The pale leaves, which are minutely and delicately dissected, are suggestive of the fronds of certain Japanese ferns. But the flower-stalks are often stiff and sparsely flowered, and the blossoms, which are erect, not pendulous, have an over-powering narcotic odor, much like that of the poppy. These plants may be found upon dry hillsides or in sandy washes in early summer, where the brilliant yellow blossoms are quite conspicuous. One view of these flowers is not unlike the conventionalized tulip.

This species is said to thrive well in cultivation and make a very effective plant when grown in rich garden soil.

CALIFORNIAN DANDELION.

_Troximon grandiflorum_, Gray. Composite Family.

Herbs with woody tap-root and milky juice. _Leaves._--All radical; lanceolate or oblanceolate; mostly laciniately pinnatifid. _Scapes._--One to two and one half feet high. _Heads._--Solitary; two inches or so across; of strap-shaped yellow rays only. _Involucre._--Of several series of imbricated scales, the outer foliaceous and loose. _Receptacle._--Mostly naked; pitted. _Akenes._--Two lines long; tapering into a filiform beak six or eight lines long, surmounted by a tuft of silk. _Hab._--Washington to Southern California near the Coast.

The common dandelion of the East has found its way into our lawns, but it never adapts itself as a wild plant to the vicissitudes of our dry summer climate. Nature has given us a dandelion of our own, of a different genus, which is quite as beautiful, though its flowers are not so vivid a gold. They are larger than those of the Eastern plant, and are borne upon taller stems. In early summer the large, ethereal globes of the ripened seed are conspicuous objects, hovering over our straw-tinted fields.

Mr. Burroughs writes of the dandelion:--"After its first blooming, comes its second and finer and more spiritual inflorescence, when its stalk, dropping its more earthly and carnal flower, shoots upward and is presently crowned by a globe of the most delicate and aerial texture. It is like the poet's dream, which succeeds his rank and golden youth. This globe is a fleet of a hundred fairy balloons, each one of which bears a seed which it is destined to drop far from the parent source."

If gathered just before they open and allowed to expand in the house, these down-globes will remain perfect for a long time and make an exquisite adornment for some delicate vase.

We have several other species of _Troximon_, but this is our finest.

* * * * *

_Hosackia bicolor_, Dougl. Pea Family.

Smooth throughout; erect; two feet high. _Leaves._--With rather large, scarious, triangular stipules; pinnate. _Leaflets._--Five to nine; obovate or oblong; six to twelve lines long. _Peduncles._--Three- to seven-flowered; naked or with a small scarious, one- to three-leaved bract. _Flowers._--Seven lines long. _Calyx-teeth._--Triangular; half as long as the tube. _Standard._--Yellow; wings and keel white. _Stamens._--Nine united; one free. _Pod._--Linear; nearly two inches long; acute. _Hab._--Middle California to the State of Washington.

The yellow and white blossoms of this pretty _Hosackia_ are quite showy, and are usually found upon low ground near the seaboard.

Another similar species, also having a yellow standard and white wings and keel, is _H. Torreyi_, Gray. This is more or less silky pubescent; its wings are not spreading, its leaflets are narrower, and the bract of the umbel is sessile. This is found along shaded stream-banks both in the higher Coast Ranges and in the Sierras, and blooms in summer.

_H. gracilis_, Benth., with the standard yellow and the widespreading wings and shorter keel of rose-color, occurs in moist meadows along the coast from Monterey to the Columbia. It blooms by the middle of April.

_H. crassifolia_, Benth., a very large species, two or three feet high, with greenish-yellow or purplish flowers, is abundant in the Yosemite Valley about the borders of meadows. It is also common in the foothill region.

SKUNK-CABBAGE.

_Lysichiton Camtschatcensis_, Schott. Arum Family.

_Rootstock._--Thick; horizontal. _Leaves._--All radical; oblong-lanceolate; acute; one to three feet or more long; three to ten inches broad; narrowed to a short petiole or sessile. _Flowers._--Small, crowded on a spadix, at the summit of a stout peduncle becoming six to twelve inches long. _Spadix._--With an erect, spoon-shaped spathe, one and one-half to two feet long; bright yellow. _Perianth._--Four-lobed. _Stamens._--Four. Filaments short, flat. _Ovary._--Conical; two-celled. Stigma depressed. _Fruit._--Fleshy, coalescent and sunk in the rachis. _Hab._--Peat bogs; from Mendocino County northward to Alaska; also, perhaps, in the Rocky Mountains.

In our northwestern counties, before the frost is entirely out of the ground, the leaves of the skunk-cabbage may be seen pushing their way up through the standing water of marshy localities. They soon attain a great size, and resemble the leaves of the banana-tree. They are of a rich velvet-green, slightly mottled, and are said to rival some of the tropical productions of our greenhouses.

There seems to be a difference of opinion as to the disagreeableness of these leaves. I suspect the odor lies mostly in the slimy, soapy sap, and is not very noticeable if they are not bruised or cut.

When the plants are in bloom, in May and June, they are very handsome, the large spoon-shaped, golden spathes being conspicuous at some distance. As this spathe withers away, the flower-stalk continues to grow, and its little greenish-yellow blossoms become brown.

The peppery root is highly esteemed for medicinal purposes, and is gathered and made into a salve, which is considered a specific for ringworm, white swelling, inflammatory rheumatism, etc. The root is said to enter largely into the composition of a patent medicine called "Skookum."

Mr. Johnson, of the U.S. Forestry Department in Oregon, tells me that the bears are very fond of this root, and dig industriously for it, often making a hole large enough to bury themselves, and he mentions having seen whole fields plowed up by them in their search for it.

This plant belongs to the same family as the skunk-cabbage of the East and the calla-lily. It has been found in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

BLAZING-STAR.

_Mentzelia laevicaulis_, Torr. and Gray. Loasa or Blazing-star Family.

_Stems._--Stout; two or three feet high; white. _Leaves._--Alternate; sessile; lanceolate; sinuate-toothed; two to eight inches long. _Flowers._--Sessile, on short branches; light yellow or cream-color; three or four inches across. _Calyx-tube._--Cylindrical; naked; limb five-cleft nearly to the base. _Petals._--About ten; oblanceolate; acute. _Stamens._--Numerous on the calyx; almost equaling the petals. _Ovary._--One-celled; truncate at summit. Style three-cleft. _Capsule._--Fifteen lines long. _Hab._--San Diego to the Columbia River, and eastward to Wyoming.

After most other flowers have departed, the magnificent blossoms of the _Mentzelia_ come forth. It seems as though they had waited for the firmament to be clear of other stars before bursting upon the sight. Their enormous blossoms are crowned by the soft radiance of the long stamens, "like the lashes of light that trim the stars."

These plants are furnished with barbed hairs, which cause them to cling to whatever they come in contact with. They are of tall and spreading habit, and are often found in the dry beds of streams, where their flowers open in the daytime--unlike those of _M. Lindleyi_, which open at night.

_M. Lindleyi_, Torr. and Gray, is one of the most brilliantly radiant of all our flowers. Its charming blossoms, which open on the edge of evening, are of a delicate silken texture, and of the richest gold. When the flowers first open, the stamens lie flat upon the petals; but they gradually rise up, forming a large tuft in the center of the flower. The faded sepals crown the long seed-vessel, like the flame of the conventional torch seen in old pictures. This grows in the Monte Diablo Range; and Niles and Alum Rock are convenient places to find it. It is cultivated in Eastern gardens under the name of _Bartonia aurea_.

STONECROP.

_Sedum spathulifolium_, Hook. Stonecrop or Orpine Family.

_Leaves._--Alternate; fleshy; spatulate; six to ten lines long; sessile; crowded in rosettes at the ends of the decumbent branches. _Scapes._--Four to six inches high. _Flowers._--In compound, one-sided, loose cymes; their parts four or five; pale-yellow. _Sepals._--United at base. _Petals._--Lanceolate; three lines long. _Stamens._--Twice the number of the petals. _Pistils._--Equaling the number of the petals; attenuate into the short styles. _Ovaries._--One-celled. _Hab._--Middle California to Vancouver Island.

Blooming somewhat earlier than the "hen-and-chickens," but in similar situations, the stonecrop often clothes rock-masses with beautiful color. The common name, "orpine," was given on account of the yellow, or orpine, flowers; and the name "stonecrop," from its always growing in stony places.

PRICKLY-PEAR. TUNA.

_Opuntia Engelmanni_, Salm. Cactus Family.

Erect, bushy, spreading shrubs without leaves, with flattened stems produced in successive, compressed oval Joints. _Joints._--Six to twelve inches long; studded sparsely with bundles of stout spines. _Flowers._--Solitary; sessile; yellow or red; about three inches across. _Sepals_, petals, and stamens numerous in many series, their cohering bases coating the one-celled ovary and forming a cup above it. _Petals._--Spreading. Style one, with several stigmas. _Fruit._--Purple; oval; pulpy; juicy; two inches long. _Hab._--Southern California, Los Angeles, San Diego, etc.

The genus _Opuntia_ is divided into two sections, consisting respectively of flat-stemmed and cylindrical-stemmed plants, the former commonly known as "prickly-pear," or "tuna," the latter as _Cholla cactus_.

Of the former, _O. Engelmanni_ is our commonest wild species. It is the one seen from the car-windows growing in great patches upon the Mojave Desert, and it is abundant upon dry hills all through the south. There are two varieties of it--_var. occidentalis_, Engelm., the form prevalent in the interior, and _var. littoralis_, Engelm., found upon the sea-coast from Santa Barbara to San Diego.