Part 18

_Primula suffrutescens_, Gray. Primrose Family.

_Leaves._--Wedge-shaped, an inch or so long; clustered at the ends of the branches. _Flower-stems._--Several inches high. Umbel several-flowered. _Calyx._--Five-cleft. _Corolla._--Salver-shaped; an inch or less across; deep rose-color, with a yellow eye. _Stamens._--High on the corolla-throat opposite its lobes. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style slender. _Hab._--The Sierras.

If one takes his alpenstock in hand and climbs to the snow line in late summer, he is apt to be rewarded by the charming flowers of the Sierra primrose. The little plants grow in the drip of the snow-banks, where the melting ice gradually liberates the tufts of evergreen leaves. The glowing flowers look as though they might have caught and held the last rosy reflection of the sunset upon the snow above them.

PRIDE OF THE MOUNTAINS.

_Pentstemon Menziesii, var. Newberryi_, Gray. Figwort Family.

_Stems._--Six inches to a foot high; woody at base. _Leaves._--Ovate, obovate, or oblong; an inch or less long; leathery. _Peduncles._--Usually one-flowered, forming a short, glandular-pubescent raceme. _Corolla._--Bright rose-pink; an inch long. _Anthers._--White-woolly; with divergent cells. (See _Pentstemon_.) _Hab._--The High Sierras of Central California.

This charming _Pentstemon_ is one of the most gracious flowers to be found in the Sierras in late summer. Upon banks overhanging the streams, or growing at great heights under the open sky, it makes many a rock-shelf gay with its brilliant pink blossoms.

We wonder how it can possibly subsist upon the hard, glittering granite; but there the mystery of its life continues from day to day, and there it cheerfully produces its masses of bright flowers, which gladden the weary climber to these snowy heights.

This species of _Pentstemon_ is well marked by its white-woolly anthers, which almost fill the throat. Northward it passes into the typical _P. Menziesii_, which has flowers from violet-blue to pink-purple.

LESSINGIA.

_Lessingia leptoclada_, Gray. Composite Family.

Finely white-woolly. _Stems._--From a few inches to two feet high, with numerous, almost filiform branchlets, bearing few or solitary heads of pink or white flowers. _Lower leaves._--Spatulate; sparingly toothed; withering early. _Upper leaves._--Lanceolate, or linear and entire; sessile; uppermost diminished into remote, subulate bracts. _Heads._--Five- to twenty-flowered. Of tubular disk-flowers only. Outer flowers much larger. _Involucre._--Silky hairy; broadly campanulate; with imbricated, appressed bracts. _Hab._--Widespread.

In late summer the pink _Lessingia_ is apparent along dry roadsides or embankments, where its blossoms make charming masses of soft color. It is quite abundant in the Yosemite, especially in the lower end of the valley.

_L. Germanorum_, Cham., found plentifully from San Diego to San Francisco, has yellow flowers.

ELEPHANTS' HEADS.

_Pedicularis Groenlandica_, Retz. Figwort Family.

_Stems._--Tall and slender; smooth. _Leaves._--Alternate; lanceolate in outline; pinnately parted into linear-lanceolate, serrate divisions; diminishing upward into the flower-bracts. _Flowers._--Pink; in a dense spike several inches long. _Calyx._--Five-toothed. _Corolla._--With short tube and bilabiate limb. Upper lip with a long beak, like an elephant's trunk; lower three-lobed, deflexed. _Stamens._--Four. Filaments and style filiform; sheathed in the beak. _Ovary._--Two-celled. _Hab._--The Sierras from King's River northward; and eastward to Hudson's Bay.

No more curious flower could be found than this little denizen of our alpine meadows. Its tall pink spikes attract one from a distance, and astonish one upon nearer acquaintance by the wonderful resemblance of their blossoms to many small elephants' heads. The forehead, the long ears hanging at the sides of the head, and the long, slender, curving trunk are all perfectly simulated.

These flowers have a pleasant perfume.

Another species--_P. attollens_, Gray--often found growing with the above, is similar to it in general structure, but its leaves are more dissected, its flower-spike is rather woolly, and its beak is only two or three lines long. These blossoms bear no resemblance to the elephant.

ALPINE WILLOW-HERB. ROCK-FRINGE.

_Epilobium obcordatum_, Gray. Evening-Primrose Family.

_Stems._--Decumbent; three to five inches long. _Leaves._--Opposite; ovate; sessile; four to ten lines long. _Flowers._--One to five; bright rose-pink; over an inch across. _Calyx._--With linear tube and four-cleft limb. _Petals._--Four; erect and spreading; obcordate. _Stamens._--Eight; four shorter. Filaments slender; exserted. _Ovary._--Linear, four-celled. Style filiform; much exserted. Stigma four-lobed. Seeds silky-tufted. _Hab._--The Sierras from Tulare County northward.

Though low of stature, this little willow-herb is a charming plant, with large rosy flowers. At an elevation of eight thousand feet or more in the mountains, it nestles amid the rocks, fringing their crevices with a profusion of brilliant bloom. Though it often costs a hard climb up rocky crags to secure it, we feel well repaid by its bright beauty.

* * * * *

_Hosackia Purshiana_, Benth. Pea Family.

Soft-woolly throughout. _Stems._--Erect or loosely spreading over the ground. _Leaves._--Sessile. _Leaflets._--One to three; ovate to lanceolate; three to nine lines long. _Flowers._--Yellowish-pink; solitary; two or three lines long. Peduncles usually exceeding the leaves; with a single leaflet below the flower. _Calyx-teeth._--Linear; much exceeding the tube, about equaling the corolla. _Pod._--Narrow; twelve to eighteen lines long; five- to seven-seeded. (See _Hosackia_.) _Hab._--Throughout the State.

This little plant is very abundant and widespread. It makes its appearance after the drouth sets in, and often spreads over the ground in considerable patches. Its woolly or silky foliage has a pale cast, and its small, solitary, pinkish flowers, which are quite numerous, are not unattractive.

IV. BLUE AND PURPLE

[_Blue or purple or occasionally or partially blue or purple flowers not described in the Blue and Purple Section._

_Described in the White Section_:--

ANTIRRHINUM COULTERIANUM--Coulter's Snapdragon. AUDIBERTIA POLYSTACHYA--White Sage. CALOCHORTUS LUTEUS OCULATUS--Butterfly Tulip. CALOCHORTUS VENUSTUS--Mariposa Tulip. CEANOTHUS INTEGERRIMUS--Mountain Birch; Tea-Tree; Soap-Bush. ERIODICTYON GLUTINOSUM--Yerba Santa. ERIODICTYON TOMENTOSUM--Yerba Santa. LATHYRUS VESTITUS--Common Wild Pea. MALACOTHRIX SAXATILIS. MICROMERIA DOUGLASII--Yerba Buena. SOLANUM DOUGLASII--Nightshade. SPHACELE CALYCINA--Pitcher-Sage. VIOLA BECKWITHII--Mountain Heart's-ease.

_Described in the Yellow Section_:--

ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS--Pimpernel. CALOCHORTUS WEEDII--Mariposa Lily, or Tulip. HOSACKIA CRASSIFOLIA.

_Described in the Pink Section_:--

CONVOLVULUS SOLDANELLA--Beach Morning-glory. DODECATHEON MEADIA--Shooting-Stars. ERIGERON PHILADELPHICUS--Common Fleabane. GILIA ANDROSACEA. GILIA CALIFORNICA--Prickly Phlox. GILIA DIANTHOIDES--Ground Pink. PENTSTEMON MENZIESII--Pride of the Mountains. PHLOX DOUGLASII--Alpine Phlox.

_Described in the Red Section_:--

AQUILEGIA COERULEA.

_Described in the Miscellaneous Section_:--

DARLINGTONIA CALIFORNICA--Californian Pitcher-Plant. DIPSACUS FULLONUM--Teasel.]

FETID ADDER'S-TONGUE.

_Scoliopus Bigelovii_, Torr. Lily Family.

_Leaves._--Two; oval-elliptical to narrowly oblanceolate; four to fifteen inches long; blotched with brown. _Flowers._--Three to twelve; on lax pedicels three to nine inches long. _Sepals._--Whitish, veined with purple; spreading. _Petals._--Erect; narrowly linear; wine-color without. _Stamens._--Three. _Ovary._--One-celled; three-angled. Stigma three-lobed. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges from Marin to Humboldt County.

When the first white blossoms of the toothwort are making their appearance in moist woodlands, we may be sure that the fetid adder's-tongue is already pushing its shining green leaves aboveground away up in the cold cañons of north hill-slopes; and unless we hasten, we shall be too late to see its curious flowers. I have often arrived only in time to find its fruit, which resembles a beechnut in shape. When the flowers first open they stand erect, held in the shining chalice formed by the two sheathing green leaves. Later the leaves open out, showing their beautiful blotched surfaces, and the three-angled flower-stems become limp and twisted. The petals stand erect, and are so slender as to resemble three linear stigmas. The little oval anthers are green before opening, but soon become golden with the discharging pollen.

These flowers are elegant in appearance, and suggestive of orchids; but unfortunately they have a very offensive odor, like that of the star-fishes found upon our beaches, which makes us quite content to leave them ungathered. But the large yellow slug has no such aversion to them, and we have often seen him banqueting upon them. Indeed, he is so fond of them that the flowers are often entirely gone from the stems.

HOUND'S-TONGUE.

_Cynoglossum grande_, Dougl. Borage Family.

_Stem._--Two feet or so high. _Leaves._--Alternate; long-petioled; ovate-oblong; pointed; usually rounded at base; often a foot long. _Flowers._--Bright blue; in a terminal panicle. _Calyx._--Deeply five-cleft. _Corolla._--Rotate; with short tube and five-lobed border; having five beadlike crests in the throat. _Stamens._--Five; on the corolla, alternate with its lobes. _Ovary._--Four-lobed. Style undivided. _Fruit._--Four prickly nutlets. _Hab._--From Marin County to Washington.

Among the first plants to respond to the quickening influence of the early winter rains, is the hound's-tongue, whose large, pointed leaves begin to push their way aboveground usually in January. At first these are often quite velvety beneath and of a pinkish hue, and hold hidden within their midst the well-formed buds which a few warm, sunny days will call forth. The flowers, at first pink, become bright blue after fertilization has taken place.

The favorite haunts of this welcome blossom are half-shaded woods, where it rears its tall stalk in almost sole possession at this early season.

The common name is a translation of the generic name, which is derived from two Greek words, signifying _dog_ and _tongue_, bestowed because of the shape of the leaves. In the olden times a superstition was rife that if a person laid the hound's-tongue beneath his feet it would prevent dogs from barking at him.

The distribution of the seed is most cunningly provided for, as the upper surfaces of the nutlets are covered with tiny barbs, which a magnifying-glass reveals to be quite perfect little anchors, admirably adapted for catching in the hair of animals.

CALIFORNIA LILAC. SOAP-BUSH.

_Ceanothus divaricatus_, Nutt. Buckthorn Family.

Tall, almost arborescent shrubs; with very divergent and rigid branches. Twigs cylindrical; smooth; mostly very pale. _Leaves._--Alternate; short-petioled; ovate; four to ten lines long; three-nerved; somewhat leathery. _Flowers._--In a narrowly oblong, dense cluster two or three inches long; pale blue to white. _Capsule._--Two or three lines in diameter; not lobed; scarcely crested. (See _Ceanothus_.) _Hab._--Chiefly the southern Coast Range.

This species of California lilac is very abundant in the south, and is specially characterized by its widely branching habit and its round, pale-green twigs. The flowers are usually light blue; but in some localities they are pure white. Near Santa Barbara, in January, the mountain-slopes are often snowy with them.

Dr. Gregg, of San Diego, while hunting one day in Lower California, just over the border, had his attention called to the wild lilac by his old Mexican guide, who assured him that the blossoms in themselves were excellent soap. Taking a handful of them down to the stream, he rubbed them vigorously between his wet hands, and found to his astonishment that they made an excellent lather, with a pleasant fragrance of wintergreen. I have since proved the fact for myself. A more delightful way of performing one's ablutions can hardly be imagined than at the brookside with so charming a soap. It is very cleansing and leaves the skin pleasantly soft.

It was probably the blossoms of _C. integerrimus_ he used, as that shrub is called "soap-bush" in that region; but I have since tried the experiment upon _C. divaricatus_ and some other species with perfect success, from which I suspect this may be a generic characteristic.

CALIFORNIAN TRILLIUM.

_Trillium sessile, var. Californicum_, Wats. Lily Family.

_Rootstock._--Like a small turnip. _Stems._--Usually several from the same root; a foot or so high. _Leaves._--Three at the top of the stem; three to eight inches long. _Flowers._--White to deep wine-color. _Petals._--One to four inches long. (Otherwise as _T. ovatum_.) _Hab._--From San Luis Obispo to Oregon.

We begin to look for the Californian _Trillium_ early in the spring. Little companies of the plants may be seen upon low flats under the trees, where the soil is rich. The small, turnip-like tubers usually send up several stems, which lean gracefully away from one another. The large leaves are often like pieces of decorated china that have been several times through the kiln. They have various superimposed blotchings, the latest of which are dark, sharp, cuneiform characters, mysterious hieroglyphs of Nature, which might reveal wondrous secrets, could we but decipher them. The blossoms have a strong, heavy fragrance, and are exceedingly variable in color, ranging from pure white to lilac, deep wine, and even black-purple. These plants are much admired in the East and in Europe, where they are cultivated in the garden.

BRODIAEA. CLUSTER-LILY. WILD HYACINTH.

_Brodiaea capitata_, Benth. Lily Family.

_Corm._--Small; scaly-coated. _Leaves._--Linear; a foot or more long; passing away early. _Scapes._--Four inches to over two feet high. _Flowers._--Deep violet to white; six to ten lines long. _Bracts._--Sometimes deep, rich purple. _Perianth._--With oblong tube and campanulate, six-parted limb. _Stamens._--Six; on the corolla; the inner with an appendage on each side; the outer naked. _Ovary._--Three-celled. Style stout. Stigma three-lobed. _Hab_.--Throughout California.

This beautiful _Brodiaea_ grows all over the hills in early spring, and steals into cultivated fields, where it luxuriates in the freshly stirred soil and lifts its fine violet-colored clusters above the waving grain. It holds quite as warm a place in our affections as the more gorgeous poppy. These blossoms will keep a long time after being gathered, and are used every year in lavish profusion in the decorations of the flower carnivals.

The little bulbs, eaten raw, are quite palatable, and are eagerly sought by the children, who call them "grass-nuts." The early Spanish-Californians also appreciated them, and knew them as "saitas." They have a number of other common names, such as "Spanish-lily," "cluster-lily," "wild hyacinth," and "hog-onion"; but I must protest against the injustice of this latter, and beg all flower-lovers to discountenance it.

Closely resembling the above, is _B. multiflora_, Benth. It has, however, but three stamens, the other three being represented by staminodia, which are entire and of the same length as the stamens.

_B. congesta_, Smith, another similar species, is often four feet tall. It also has three stamens and three staminodia; but the latter are deeply cleft and exceed the anthers. This is called "ookow" by the Indians.

BROWN LILY. MISSION-BELLS. BRONZE-BELLS. RICE-ROOT.

_Fritillaria lanceolata_, Pursh. Lily Family.

_Stem._--A foot or two high. _Leaves._--In scattered whorls; lanceolate; two to five inches long. _Flowers._--One to several; open campanulate; greenish or black-purple; variously checkered or mottled. _Perianth-segments._--Strongly arched, with a large oblong nectary. _Stamens._--Six. _Ovary._--Three-celled. _Hab_.--The Coast Ranges, from British Columbia to Santa Cruz.

"'Neath cloistered boughs each floral bell that swingeth

* * * * *

Makes Sabbath in the fields, and ever ringeth A call to prayer."

One of the oddest and most beautiful flowers of our rich woodlands is the brown lily, or _Fritillaria_. It is unrivaled in elegance, for every line of its contour is a study in grace. Nor do its charms cease with stem and leaf and flower; for, hidden away in the rich leaf-mold, is one of its most beautiful features, its bulb. This is pure, shining white, conical in form, and surrounded by many tiny bulblets, like grains of rice, which crumble away from it at a touch. If you go into the woods in early spring, you will often see certain handsome, broad, shining, solitary leaves, close to the ground, and you will wonder what they are. Often near them there are many tiny leaves of the same sort pushing their way aboveground; and sometimes among them all there is a solitary strong scape, with unfolding leaves and a promise of flowers. This is a colony of the beautiful brown lilies. The tiny leaves are the product of the little rice-grains, and are probably now seeing the light for the first time. Between these and the large leaves the breadth of the hand, are many sizes, in all stages. The broad leaves may be from bulbs four or five years old, but they will send up no blossom-stalk this year; for there is rarely or never a radical-leaf and a blossom-stalk from the same bulb at once.

When the plant is about to flower, the bulb sends up a tall stalk, with here and there a whorl of shining leaves, hanging at the summit its string of pendent bronze-bells. These are mottled and checkered, and are of varying shades, from dull green to black-purple, and often have a beautiful bloom upon them. Their modest colors blend so nicely into the shadowy scene about, that it is difficult to see them unless the eye is somewhat practiced.

Following the inflorescence comes a beautiful and unique seed-vessel, curiously winged and angled, and of a delicate, papery texture when mature. It contains the thin, flat seeds, neatly packed in six ranks.

The flowers are usually an inch long, though they are sometimes two inches long. A plant was once found three and a half feet high, with a chime of nineteen bells.

BLACK LILY. CHOCOLATE-LILY.

_Fritillaria biflora_, Lindl. Lily Family.

_Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from San Diego to Mendocino County.

We have a number of species of _Fritillaria_, most of them with beautiful flowers. They fall naturally into two groups, according to the character of the bulb; _F. lanceolata_ and _F. biflora_ being types of the two groups.

_F. biflora_, the black, or chocolate, lily, is the species common in the south, and blooms early. It closely resembles _F. lanceolata_, but can always be distinguished by its bulb, which is composed of several erect, short, easily separable scales. Its specific name is an unfortunate one; for, far from being confined to two flowers, it often has as many as ten.

_F. pluriflora_, Torr., found upon the upper Sacramento, has flowers of a uniform reddish-purple, without mottling or spots. It has a comparatively large bulb, an inch or so long, formed of separate scales.

_F. pudica_, Spreng., found on the eastern slopes of the Sierras, has solitary yellow flowers.

_F. liliacea_, Lindl., is our only white species. This is found upon the hills of San Francisco and in the Sacramento Valley. It has a whorl of leaves near the ground and two or three greenish-white, nodding flowers. It is exceedingly local.

LARGE-FLOWERED PHACELIA.

_Phacelia grandiflora_, Gray. Baby-eyes or Waterleaf Family.

Coarse, glandular-viscid plants; one to three feet high. _Leaves._--Round-ovate; irregularly toothed; sometimes three or four inches long. _Flowers._--Lavender to white; variously streaked and veined with purple. _Corolla._--Rotate; two inches across; without scalelike appendages in the throat. _Filaments._--Long; purple. Anthers large; versatile. Style two-cleft. (See _Phacelia_.) _Hab._--From Santa Barbara to San Diego.

This is the largest-flowered of all our _Phacelias_. Its tall stems are abundantly covered above with the fine-looking blossoms. These are very attractive to the uninitiated, who usually rushes forward in breathless haste to possess himself of these new-found treasures and is rarely satisfied with less than a large bunch of them. But woe lies in wait for him. The innumerable glands, covering the whole plant, readily yield up their viscid fluid, which in a few moments turns everything with which it comes in contact to a deep red-brown, like iron-rust. If he escape with ruined clothing, and hands the color of a red Indian, he will have come off well--for the plant poisons some people.

Another species--_P. viscida_, Torr.--found in about the same range as the above, resembles it closely. It is a foot or so high, branching from the base, and has blue flowers, with purple or white centers, and only half the size of the above.

VIOLET NIGHTSHADE.

_Solanum Xanti_, Gray. Nightshade Family.

Herbaceous nearly to the base; viscid-pubescent, with jointed hairs. _Stems._--Several feet high. _Leaves._--Two inches or less long; sometimes with lobes at the base; thin. _Flowers._--An inch or so across. _Calyx._--Five-parted. _Corolla._--Violet, with green spots ringed with white at the base. _Stamens._--Five. Filaments short. Anthers erect; opening terminally. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style filiform; exserted. _Berries._--Purple; six lines in diameter. _Hab._--Throughout California.

These plants are especially abundant in the south, where one encounters them upon every roadside. The clusters of violet flowers are very handsome, and often have the perfume of the wild rose.

Another species--_S. umbelliferum_, Esch.--is so nearly like the above as to be often confounded with it. But it has smaller, thicker leaves, the hairs are branched, and it is more woody below, with shorter flowering branches.

We once saw, in an ideal Japanese villa among the redwoods, a rustic arbor over which had been trained the rough, woody stems of one of these nightshades. The genius of these wise little people, who had adapted this pretty woodland climber to sylvan cultivation, seemed to us worthy of emulation.

GREEN-BANDED MARIPOSA. NOONA.

_Calochortus macrocarpus_, Dougl. Lily Family

Nature has sent this, one of the finest and most elegant of all our _Mariposas_, to beautify the arid sagebrush deserts of our northeastern boundary. In Europe it is admired beyond all our other species, and there is a great demand for the bulbs. Its large flowers are of a beautiful lilac, similar in tone to the Marie Louise violet, and each pointed petal has a green band running down its center.