Part 15

Under the common designation of "tarweed," plants belonging to two different genera--_Madia_ and _Hemizonia_--and comprising thirty or forty species, may be found. They are mostly annuals or biennials, with viscid, heavily scented foliage, which make themselves conspicuous in late summer and through the autumn. The _Hemizonias_ are distinctively Californian; while the _Madias_ we have in common with Chile. Their viscid exudation is particularly ruinous to wool and clothing, but alcohol is a solvent for it, and will generally remove it.

We wonder how these plants, which flourish in our driest seasons, can extract so much moisture from the parched earth, and of what practical use this resinous secretion can be in their economy. Though some of them are described as having a disagreeable odor, many of them have a very pleasant balsamic fragrance, which gives our summer and autumn atmosphere a peculiar character of its own. Whole fields and hillsides are tinged with their warm olive foliage, or are yellow with their golden flowers, which appear like a fall revival of the buttercups. The flowers open mostly at night or in early morning, closing in bright sunshine.

_Hemizonia luzulaefolia_ is a common species, whose flowers are redolent of the odor of myrrh.

CALIFORNIAN GOLDENROD.

_Solidago Californica_, Nutt. Composite Family.

_Stem._--Rather stout; low or tall. _Leaves._--Oblong, or the upper oblong-lanceolate, and the lower obovate. _Flowers._--In a dense, pyramidal panicle, four to twelve inches long, with mostly erect racemose branches. _Heads._--Three or four lines long; yellow. _Rays._--Small; seven to twelve; about as many as the disk-flowers. _Hab._--Throughout California, to Nevada and Mexico.

Our State is not so rich in goldenrods as New England, yet we have several rather pretty species. _Solidago Californica_ is found upon dry hills, and blooms from July to October. It is said to thrive well under cultivation.

It differs from the "Western goldenrod" in having its flowers in a pyramidal cluster.

MOTH-MULLEIN.

_Verbascum Blattaria_, L. Figwort Family.

_Stem._--Tall and slender. _Leaves._--Alternate; oblong; crenate-toothed; nearly smooth; the upper ovate, acute, clasping. _Flowers._--Yellow or white; purple-tinged; an inch or so across; in a terminal raceme; the pedicels much exceeding the calyx-lobes. _Calyx._--Five-parted. _Corolla._--Wheel-shaped, with five rounded, somewhat unequal lobes. _Stamens._--Five. Filaments violet-bearded. Anthers confluently one-celled. Pollen orange-colored, copious. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style slender. _Hab._--The Upper Sacramento Valley, etc.; naturalized from Europe.

The mulleins are natives of Europe, which have found their way across the water to us. Two or three species are now common in some localities. The moth-mullein is so called because its blossoms have the appearance of a number of delicate moths resting upon the stem. This is a tall, green plant.

Another species--_V. Thapsus_, L.--is also quite common. In the Sacramento Valley its tall, woolly tapers may be seen leaning in every direction, giving the fields a disorderly appearance. This plant abounds throughout Europe and Asia, and was well known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who made lampwicks of its dried leaves and utilized its stalks, dipped in tallow, for funeral torches. In medieval Europe it was called "hag-taper," because it was employed by witches in their incantations. In Europe at the present time it is known as the "American velvet-plant," because of a mistaken idea that it is a native of this country.

WESTERN GOLDENROD.

_Solidago occidentalis_, Nutt. Composite Family.

Smooth throughout. _Stems._--Paniculately branched; two to six feet high. _Leaves._--Linear; entire; obscurely three-nerved; two to four inches long; one to three lines wide. _Flower-heads._--In numerous small, flat clusters, terminating the slender branchlets; three lines long; yellow. _Rays._--Sixteen to twenty not surpassing the eight to fourteen disk-flowers. _Involucre._--Of imbricated scales; the outer successively shorter. _Hab._--Near the Coast, from Southern California to British America.

The Western goldenrod, with its slender, willowy stems and small flower-clusters, may be found in wet places in late summer and early autumn. Its blossoms are acacia-scented.

CREOSOTE-BUSH. GOBERNADORA. HIDEONDO.

_Larrea Mexicana_, Moricand. Creosote-Bush Family.

Ill-smelling, resinous shrubs, four to ten feet high; diffusely branched. _Leaves._--Opposite; with two unequal leaflets. _Leaflets._--Three to six lines long; pointed; sessile. _Flowers._--Solitary; yellow. _Sepals._--Five; silky; deciduous. _Petals._--Five; three or four lines long. _Stamens._--Ten; on a small ten-lobed disk. Filaments winged below. _Ovary._--Five-celled; Style slender. _Hab._--Inland deserts of the southern part of the State.

The most plentiful shrub growing in our southern desert regions is the creosote-bush, so called because its sticky leaves burn with a black smoke and a rank odor, between creosote and carbolic acid.

These shrubs often cover vast tracts of arid soil, and in places are the only growth to be seen. The evergreen foliage is of a warm olive tone, and is borne at the ends of many slender, grayish branches. The small, stemless, opposite leaves, each divided almost to its base into two leaflets, spread butterfly-like upon the slender branchlets. The leaf-nodes are swollen into small, warty prominences, which are especially resinous.

In many localities, especially in Arizona, the branches of this shrub are thickly incrusted with a certain gummy substance, which careful examination has proved to be almost identical with the East Indian shellac of commerce. This is caused by an insect of the genus _Coccus_, who stings the young twigs, at the same time laying its eggs in them, causing them to exude the gum. Could this gum be collected in sufficient quantities, it would doubtless prove a valuable article of commerce, probably not inferior to the East Indian lac. Dr. Edwd. Palmer writes that it is extensively used by our Indians as a cement with which to fasten their flint arrowheads to the shafts, to mend broken pottery, and to make water-tight their baskets, woven of grass and roots. The plant yields a greenish-yellow dye, with which they paint their persons and color their fabrics; but garments so dyed are said to emit a disagreeable odor always upon being heated.

A lotion made by steeping the branches in water is said to be an excellent remedy for sores; while the leaves dried and reduced to powder are effectively used for the same purpose. Some of our pharmacists say that the plant is a valuable remedy for rheumatism.

By the Spanish-Californians this shrub is known as "gobernadora" and "hideondo"; and by the American settlers of the desert it is known by several uncomplimentary names, among them the meaningless one of "greasewood."

It blossoms in early summer.

III. PINK

[_Pink or occasionally or partially pink flowers not described in the Pink Section._

_Described in the White Section_:--

ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM--Yarrow. CALOCHORTUS VENUSTUS--Mariposa Tulip. CHIMAPHILA MENZIESII--Prince's Pine. CONVOLVULUS LUTEOLUS--Wild Morning-glory. GAULTHERIA SHALLON--Salal. LATHYRUS TORREYI. LATHYRUS VESTITUS--Common Wild Pea. LAYIA GLANDULOSUM--White Daisy. LILIUM RUBESCENS--Ruby Lily. MALACOTHRIX SAXATILIS. MESEMBRYANTHEMUM CRYSTALLINUM--Ice-Plant. OENOTHERA CALIFORNICA--White Evening Primrose. ORTHOCARPUS VERSICOLOR--White Owl's Clover. PYROLA APHYLLA. RHODODENDRON OCCIDENTALE--Californian Azalea. RUBUS SPECTABILIS--Salmon-Berry. SPIRAEA BETULIFOLIA--Pink Spiraea. SPIRAEA DOUGLASII--Californian Hardhack. SPRAGUEA UMBELLATA--Pussy's-Paws.

_Described in the Yellow Section_:--

HOSACKIA GRACILIS.

_Described in the Blue and Purple Section_:--

CALOCHORTUS SPLENDENS--Mariposa Tulip. CALOCHORTUS UNIFLORUS. TRILLIUM SESSILE--Californian Trillium.

_Described in the Red Section_:--

GILIA AGGREGATA--Scarlet Gilia.

_Described in the Miscellaneous Section_:--

CYPRIPEDIUM CALIFORNICUM--Californian Lady's Slipper. GOMPHOCARPUS TOMENTOSUS--Hornless Woolly Milkweed. RUMEX HYMENOSEPALUS--Wild Pie-Plant; Canaigre.]

RED-STEMMED FILAREE. ALFILERILLA. CLOCKS. PIN-CLOVER.

_Erodium cicutarium_, L'Her. Geranium Family.

_Leaves._--Chiefly radical in a depressed rosette; six to ten inches long; dissected into narrow toothed lobes. Stem-leaves smaller. _Flowers._--Pink; four to eight in an umbel; parts in fives. _Petals._--Four lines long. _Stamens._--Five perfect, with flattened filaments; five reduced to mere scales. _Carpels_ and styles one or two inches long; separating upward from a central axis into twisted, bearded tails. _Hab._--Throughout the State.

The name "alfilerilla" is Spanish, coming from _alfiler_, a needle, and refers to the long, slender beak of the carpels. By corruption it has become "filaree."

This plant is found in abundance everywhere, and is one of our most valuable forage-plants. It varies greatly in size, and becomes very rank in growth where the soil is rich. Ordinarily, it makes its appearance soon after the beginning of the rainy season, as a rosette of leaves lying upon the ground, and later it sends up its reddish stems. Its seed-vessels look like a group of fantastic, long-billed storks, and the long beaks of the carpels, as they separate from the central axis, begin to curl about any convenient object. They are thus widely disseminated in the hair of animals and the clothing of people. Children call them "clocks," and love to stand the seed up in their clothing and watch the beaks wind slowly about, like the hands of a timepiece.

We have several other species of _Erodium_. _E. moschatum_, L' Her., is a coarser plant whose foliage has a musky fragrance, especially when wilted. It is also a valuable forage-plant and is commonly known as "musky filaree" or "green-stemmed filaree."

_E. Botrys_, Bertoloni, is a very abundant plant. Its flowers are larger, six lines across, and are pink, strongly veined with wine-color. The beaks of its carpels are sometimes four inches long.

REDWOOD-SORREL.

_Oxalis Oregana_, Nutt. Geranium Family.

Herbs with sour juice. _Leaves._--With three leaflets; petioles two to even twelve inches long. Leaflets one or two inches broad; usually light-blotched. _Scapes._--One to six inches long; one-flowered. _Sepals._--Five. _Petals._--Five; nine to twelve lines long; white or rose-colored, often veined with darker color; usually having an orange spot at base. _Stamens._--Ten. _Ovary._--Five-celled. Styles five. _Hab._--Coast woods, from Santa Cruz to Washington.

In deep woods, "where no stir nor call the sacred hush profanes," the beautiful leaves and delicate flowers of the redwood-sorrel cover the ground with an exquisite tapestry, which catches the shimmer of the sunlight as it sifts down through the tall trees. If the goddess Nanna in passing left the print of her pretty fingers upon the clover, perhaps some wood-nymph may have touched the leaves of this charming plant. Each day as twilight deepens, the leaflets fold gently together and prepare to sleep.

The small yellow oxalis--_O. corniculata_, L.--becomes a troublesome weed in our lawns.

ROCK-CRESS.

_Arabis blepharophylla_, Hook. and Arn. Mustard Family.

_Stems._--Four to twelve inches high. _Radical-leaves._--Broadly spatulate; one or two inches long. _Cauline-leaves._--Oblong; sessile. _All._--Ciliate. _Flowers._--Purplish-pink. _Sepals._--Four; generally colored. _Petals._--Four; six to nine lines long; clawed. _Stamens._--Six; two shorter. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Stigma button-shaped. _Pod._--Linear; an inch or more long; flattened. _Hab._--The Coast, from San Francisco to Monterey.

The bright magenta-colored blossoms of the rock-cress may be looked for in early spring along the hills of the Coast Ranges. This plant is said to be very beautiful in cultivation. The generic name was bestowed because many of the well-known species are natives of Arabia, while the formidable specific name means "eyelash-leaved," referring to the ciliate leaves.

WILD HOLLYHOCK.

_Sidalcea malvaeflora_, Gray. Mallow Family.

_Stems._--Several; eight inches to two feet long. _Leaves._--Round in outline; variously lobed and cut. _Flowers._--Pink; in terminal racemes. _Calyx._--Five-cleft; without bractlets. _Petals._--Five; united at base; one inch long. _Stamens._--United in a column; in two series. Anthers one-celled. _Ovaries._--Three to ten in a ring; separating at maturity. Styles as many; filiform. _Hab._--The Coast from San Diego to Mendocino County.

In early spring the graceful sprays of the _Sidalcea_ bend over our meadows everywhere, making them bright with their pink blossoms, which the children call "wild hollyhocks." The stamens of these flowers are especially pretty and interesting if examined with a glass. By a careful dissection, the stamen-column is found to be double, its outer part bearing five bunches of stamens. The anthers are one-celled and of a beautiful rose-pink. They may be seen best by pulling apart one of the unopened buds.

There are two kinds of these plants, one having large pale-pink flowers, which are perfect; the other bearing smaller deep rose-pink blossoms, in which the anthers are only rudimentary.

There are quite a number of species of _Sidalcea_ in California, but they are very difficult of determination for the non-botanist.

REDBUD. JUDAS-TREE.

_Cercis occidentalis_, Torr. Pea Family.

Small trees or shrubs. _Leaves._--Alternate; slender-petioled; round-cordate; palmately veined; smooth; about two inches in diameter. _Flowers._--Rose-color; papilionaceous; clustered in the axils. _Petals._--Four lines long; the standard smaller and inclosed by the wings. _Stamens._--Ten; all distinct. _Ovary._--One-celled. _Pods._--Two or three inches long; thin. _Hab._--Mt. Shasta to San Diego.

By April, or earlier, our interior hills and valleys begin to show the rosy blossoms of the Judas-tree. The leafless branches are wreathed with the abundant flowers, which gives the shrub the appearance of a garden fruit-tree. When seen later, in its full summer foliage, it is almost equally attractive. Its shapely leaves are then diversified by the clusters of long purple pods, which hang gracefully among them.

The Indians find the slender twigs of this shrub very useful in their basket-making. By means of the thumb-nail or flints, they split them into threads, which they use as woof.

A closely allied species of _Cercis_, growing in Palestine, had, according to tradition, white flowers, until the arch-traitor Judas hanged himself from its limbs, when it blushed pink for very shame.

In medieval Europe the Judas-tree was believed to be a favorite rendezvous for witches, and it was considered dangerous to approach one at nightfall.

HUCKLEBERRY.

_Vaccinium ovatum_, Pursh. Heath Family.

Evergreen shrubs, three to eight feet high. _Leaves._--Ovate to oblong-lanceolate; leathery; smooth and shining. _Flowers._--In axillary clusters: small; pinkish. _Calyx._--Minutely fine-toothed. _Corolla._--Campanulate; two or three lines long. _Stamens._--Ten; anthers opening terminally. _Ovary._--Globose; five-celled. Style filiform. _Berries._--Small; reddish, turning black. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges from Monterey to Vancouver Island.

When in bloom our Californian huckleberry is a delightful shrub. Its leaves, which are of a particularly rich, shining green, are set at a characteristic angle to the red stems, contrasting finely with their warm tones; and the effect is heightened by the clusters of small pink and white waxen bells scattered here and there amid the foliage.

The huckleberry is at its best upon the high ridges of the Coast Ranges, where it becomes especially luxuriant in the fog-nurtured region of the northern portion of the redwood belt. There its abundant berries become juicy and delicious, and are much sought for preserving and pie-making. Its branches, when cut, keep admirably in water and are favorite greens for household decoration.

STAR-FLOWER. CHICKWEED-WINTERGREEN.

_Trientalis Europaea, var. latifolia_, Torr. Primrose Family.

_Root._--Tuberous. _Stem._--Four to eight inches high; with a whorl of oval-pointed leaves one to four inches long. _Flowers._--White or pink; eight lines across. _Calyx_ and rotate corolla seven-parted, sometimes six- to nine-parted; divisions pointed. _Stamens._--As many as the corolla-lobes, and opposite them. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style filiform. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from Monterey northward.

In April and May, as we walk through shaded woods, we begin to notice a trim little plant three or four inches high, with very slender stem, bearing at its summit a number of pretty leaves of varying size. A little later, we find among them one or two delicate pink, starry flowers on very slender, threadlike stems.

The generic name is from the Latin _triens_, and is in allusion to the height of the plant, which is the third part of a foot.

CLINTONIA.

_Clintonia Andrewsiana_, Torr. Lily Family.

_Leaves._--Radical; oblong; six inches to one foot long; two to four wide. _Flower-stem._--One or two feet high; with one leafy bract. _Flowers._--Pink; many; in a terminal compound cluster on pedicels an inch or less long. _Perianth._--Campanulate; four to seven lines long. _Segments._--Six; gibbous at the base. _Stamens._--Six. _Ovary._--Two- or three-celled. _Fruit._--Beautiful, large, dark-blue berries. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from Santa Cruz to Humboldt County.

This is one of the most distinguished-looking plants of our deep coast woods. Its large leaves, of a rich polished green, arrange themselves symmetrically around the short stem, seeming to come from the ground--and so fine are they, that if no blossom appeared, we should feel the plant had fulfilled its mission of beauty. But in April a blossom-stalk shoots up from their midst, bearing upon its summit a cluster of deep rose-colored, nodding bells. These are succeeded later by a bunch of superb dark-blue berries, which might be made of lapis lazuli or the rarest old delft china. I remember a beautiful spot upon the Lagunitas Creek, where the stream, flowing over a brown, pebbly bottom, passes among the redwoods where their tall shafts make dim cathedral aisles,--

... "forest-corridors that lie In a mysterious world unpeopled yet."

Here little yellow violets and the charming wood-sorrel carpet the ground, the fetid adder's-tongue spreads its mottled leaves, while groups of the lovely _Clintonia_ put the finishing touches to an already beautiful scene.

LEMONADE-BERRY. MAHOGANY.

_Rhus integrifolia_, Benth. and Hook. Poison-oak or Cashew Family.

Evergreen shrubs two to six feet high, becoming small trees southward. _Leaves._--Alternate; short-petioled; one to three inches long; rigid; leathery. _Flowers._--Of two sexes, also some perfect; in short, dense terminal clusters one to three inches long; rose-colored or white. _Sepals_, petals, and stamens four to nine; usually five. _Petals._--Rounded; ciliate; one or two lines across. _Ovary._--One-celled. Stigmas three. _Fruit._--Flat; one-seeded; six lines across; red; viscid and acid. _Hab._--The Coast from Santa Barbara to San Diego.

Growing everywhere upon the southern coast in great abundance, this shrub forms low, dense, wind-shorn thickets. Farther inland it rises to a height of several feet, with tough, India-rubber-like branches, and in Lower California it becomes a small tree. In its better estate it is very ornamental, especially in spring, when sprinkled with its clusters of small pink flowers. The little drupes are covered with an acid, oily substance, and have long been used by the Indians and Mexicans in the preparation of a lemonade-like drink. These people are so fond of this fruit that they dry it for winter use, grinding and roasting it as we do coffee. The wood of these shrubs is of a dark-red color, which is responsible for the common name, "mahogany."

Another _Rhus_ very common in the valleys of Southern California is _R. laurina_, Nutt., usually called "sumach." It is an evergreen shrub, with smooth, lanceolate leaves, two or three inches long, exhaling a rather strong odor, considered by some like bitter almonds, and bearing dense clusters of small white flowers in midsummer. Its small drupes are only a line or two across. They are also coated with a waxen substance, and yield a pungent oil.

In the mountains from Santa Barbara to San Diego is found another species--_R. ovata_, Wats. This has large leathery, pointed leaves, and is known as "lemonade-and-sugar-tree," as the acid berries are coated with a sweet, waxen substance, which the Indians value as sugar. Its leaves resemble in form those of the lilacs of our gardens.

SHOOTING-STARS. WILD CYCLAMEN. MAD VIOLETS.

_Dodecatheon Meadia_, L. Primrose Family.

_Leaves._--All radical; tufted; from obovate to lanceolate. _Scape._--Three to fifteen inches high; umbel two- to twenty-flowered. _Calyx._--Deeply five-cleft, the divisions reflexed in flower, erect in fruit. _Corolla._--With extremely short tube, and an abruptly reflexed five-parted limb; white, rose-color, or purple. _Stamens._--Five; opposite the corolla-lobes. Filaments short; united. Anthers standing erect around the long style, forming a beak; violet. _Ovary._--One-celled. _Hab._--Throughout the continent; exceedingly variable.

The shooting-star is one of our prettiest spring flowers, which arrives a little before the baby-eyes and just as the brakes are unrolling their green crosiers. There is something particularly pleasing in these blossoms. It seems as though Nature had taxed her ingenuity to produce something original when she fashioned them. The name _Dodecatheon_, from the Greek, is entirely a fanciful one, and means "the twelve gods."

Formerly _D. Meadia_, L., was considered the only species, embracing many widely varying forms; but of late botanists have made several of the forms into separate species.

_D. Hendersoni_ (Gray), Ktz., is the species prevalent in our central and northern Coast Ranges. This has ovoid or obovoid, very obtuse, entire leaves, with broad petiole, equaling the blade, two inches long. Its flower-stem is from eight to twelve inches high, bearing a cluster of bright rose-purple flowers. The corolla has a short, dark-maroon tube, encircled by a band of yellow, sometimes merging into white. A variety of this with very slender stems and the flower parts in fours is common in the Bay region, and southward possibly to Santa Barbara. This is called _var. cruciata_. Its blossoms have a strong odor, suggestive of a tannery. In this species the capsule opens at the top, splitting into a number of little teeth, which soon turn downward.