Part 20

Mr. Macoun gives a most interesting account in "Garden and Forest" of the preparation of kamáss among the Indians, which is a very important and elaborate performance. He says, in substance: For some days beforehand the squaws were busily engaged in carrying into camp branches of alder and maple, bundles of skunk-cabbage (_Lysichiton_), and a quantity of a black, hairlike lichen, which grows in profusion upon the western larch. A hole ten feet square and two feet deep was then dug, and a large fire was made in this, in which they heated a great many small boulders to the glowing point. They then piled maple and alder boughs over these to the depth of a foot or more, tramped them down, and laid over them the leaves of the skunk-cabbage. Thin sheets of tamarack bark were spread over the steaming green mass, and upon these were placed the bulbs in large baskets. The black lichen was laid over the uncovered bark, and the remaining bulbs were spread on this. The whole was then covered with boughs and leaves as before, and sand was sprinkled on to the depth of four or five inches, and on the top of the whole a larger fire than before was built. The sun was just setting when this was lighted, and it burned all night. The oven was left for a day to cool. When opened, the bulbs in the baskets were dissolved to a flour, from which bread could be made; while those on the lichen had become amalgamated with it, forming a substance resembling plug-tobacco, which could be broken up and kept sweet a long time.

When boiled in water, the bulbs yield a very good molasses, much prized by the Indians, and used by them upon important festival occasions.

There is a white-flowered form of this same species, whose bulb is said to be poisonous.

INNOCENCE. COLLINSIA.

_Collinsia bicolor_, Benth. Figwort Family.

_Stems._--A foot or so high. _Leaves._--The lower oblong; the upper ovate-lanceolate. _Calyx._--Unequally five-cleft. _Corolla._--Nine lines long. Upper lip lilac or white; lower of three lobes; the middle folded into a keeled sac containing the stamens and style; the two lateral rose-purple. _Stamens._--Four; in two pairs on the corolla. Upper filaments bearded. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style filiform. _Hab._--Throughout Western California.

Where spreading trees cast a dense shade and the moisture still lingers, companies of lovely _Collinsias_ stand amid the fresh green grasses, their delicate, many-storied blossoms swaying upon the idle breezes. In the north these are in the rear guard of spring flowers, and make their appearance just before the _Godetias_ bid farewell to spring; but in the south they come earlier. They vary much in color, from the typical rose-purple and white or lilac to all white.

We have a number of species; but _C. bicolor_ is the most showy and widespread.

BLACK SAGE. BALL-SAGE.

_Audibertia stachyoides_, Benth. Mint Family.

Shrubby; three to eight feet high; with herbaceous flowering branches. _Leaves._--Opposite; oblong-lanceolate; tapering into a petiole; crenate. _Flowers._--In interrupted spikes, having from three to nine dense, rather remote, headlike, bracteate whorls. _Calyx._--Bilabiate; each lip with two or three awned teeth. _Corolla._--Lavender; six lines long; bilabiate. Upper lip erect; emarginate; lower deflexed; three-lobed. _Stamens._--Two sterile; two perfect on jointed filaments. _Ovary._--Of four seedlike nutlets. Style slender. Stigma two-cleft. _Hab._--From San Francisco Bay to San Diego.

We have but two or three true sages, or _Salvias_, in California; but the plants of the closely allied genus _Audibertia_ are with perfect propriety called sages, as they manifest all the characteristics of that genus, differing only in the structure of the stamens. There are a number of species of _Audibertia_, all of them important honey-plants. They are particularly abundant in the south, where they form a characteristic feature in the landscape, often covering whole hill-slopes.

_A. stachyoides_ frequently forms dense thickets over vast reaches of mountain-side, and when in full bloom is very noticeable. Its specific name is a happy one, denoting its resemblance to the _Stachys_, or hedge-nettle. But its pointed leaves, shrubby habit, and rank odor, together with its more numerous flower-whorls, proclaim its separate identity.

_A. nivea_, Benth., found from Santa Barbara to San Diego, has larger spikes of rich, warm lilac flowers. Nothing could be more charming than the soft lavender billows of it undulating over slope after slope of wild mountain-side.

BLUE GILIA.

_Cilia Chamissonis_, Greene. Phlox or Polemonium Family.

_Stems._--About a foot high. _Leaves._--Alternate; dissected into linear segments. _Flowers._--In capitate clusters an inch and a half across; deep blue. _Calyx._--Five-toothed. _Corolla._--Four lines long; with five obtuse lobes. _Stamens._--Exserted. Anthers nearly white. (See _Gilia_.) _Hab._--The Coast of Central California.

This pretty _Gilia_ is quite common about San Francisco in springtime, and often makes masses of bright deep blue over the fields.

_G. capitata_, Dougl., is a closely allied species, found in the Coast Ranges from Central California northward. This is in every way a more delicate plant. Its stems are taller and more slender; its flower-heads are less than an inch across, and composed of very small light-blue flowers, with feathery, exserted stamens.

_G. achilleaefolia_, Benth., is a beautiful form, closely related to both the above, but quite variable in habit. Its flowers are light lavender-blue, six lines or so long, and are borne in larger clusters, often two inches across, on long, naked peduncles. At a little distance these blossoms somewhat resemble the clusters of _Brodiaea capitata_.

CHIA. SAGE.

_Salvia Columbariae_, Benth. Mint Family.

_Stems._--Six inches to two feet high. _Leaves._--Wrinkly; one to several inches long. _Flowers._--Blue; in interrupted whorls. _Whorls._--Twelve to eighteen lines in diameter; subtended by numerous, ovate-acuminate bracts. _Calyx._--Bilabiate; upper lip arching, and tipped with two short bristles; lower, of two awn-like teeth. _Corolla._--Three or four lines long; bilabiate. Upper lip erect; notched or two-lobed. Lower deflexed; with three lobes, the central much larger. _Stamens._--Two. Filaments two; short; apparently forked--_i.e._ bearing on their summit a cross-bar having on one end a perfect anther-cell and on the other a dwarfed or rudimentary one. _Ovary._--Of four seedlike nutlets. Style slender. _Hab._--Throughout the State, specially southward.

This rough-leaved sage is quite common, especially southward, and grows upon dry hillsides or in sandy washes, where it blossoms in early spring. Its small bright-blue flowers are borne in an interrupted spike, consisting of from one to four button-like heads. Each of these heads has below it a number of leafy bracts, which are often of a bright wine-color, and form a rather striking combination with the blue flowers.

After the blossoms have passed away, the dried stems and heads remain standing all over the hills, shaking out the little gray seed in abundance. These seeds have been for centuries an article of economic importance to the aborigines and their descendants. Dr. Rothrock writes that among the Nahua races of ancient Mexico the plant was cultivated as regularly as corn, and was one of their most important cereals. Quantities of the seed have been found buried beneath groves which must be at least several hundred years old. It was in use among the Indians of California before the occupation of the country by the whites, being known among them as "chia."

Dr. Bard writes of these seeds: "They were roasted, ground, and used as food by being mixed with water. Thus prepared, it soon develops into a mucilaginous mass, larger than its original bulk. Its taste is somewhat like that of linseed meal. It is exceedingly nutritious, and was readily borne by the stomach when that organ refused to tolerate other aliment. An atole, or gruel, of this was one of the peace offerings to the first visiting sailors. One tablespoonful of these seeds was sufficient to sustain for twenty-four hours an Indian on a forced march. Chia was no less prized by the native Californian, and at this late date it frequently commands six or eight dollars a pound."

When added to water, the seeds make a cooling drink, which has the effect of assuaging burning thirst--a very valuable quality on the desert.

BLUE-AND-WHITE LUPINE.

_Lupinus bicolor_, Lindl. Pea Family.

_Stems._--Stoutish; six to ten inches high; silky. _Leaves._--Alternate; with small stipules. _Leaflets._--Five to seven; linear-spatulate; one inch long. _Flowers._--Four or five lines long; blue and white; the white changing to red-purple after fertilization. Upper calyx-lip bifid; lower twice as long; entire. _Keel._--Falcate; acute; ciliate toward the apex. _Pod._--Small; about five-seeded. (See _Lupinus_.) _Hab._--Western Central California.

In late spring the open fields about San Francisco take on a delicate, amethystine tinge, due to the blossoms of the blue-and-white lupine. After fertilization has taken place, the white in these blossoms turns to deep red, and this admixture gives the general lilac tone to the mass.

DOUGLAS IRIS.

_Iris Douglasiana_, Herb. Iris Family.

_Rhizomes._--Stoutish; clumps not dense. _Radical-leaves._--Strongly ribbed underneath; dark, shining green above; one to three feet long; three to eight lines broad; flexile; rosy pink at base. _Stems._--Simple; two- or three-flowered. Flowers.--On pedicels six to eighteen lines long; deep reddish-purple, lilac, or cream. _Perianth-tube._--Six to twelve lines long. _Capsule._--Narrowly oblong; acutely triangular; twenty lines long. Seeds nearly globular. (Otherwise as _I. macrosiphon_.) _Hab._--The Coast, from Santa Cruz to Marin County.

On account of the bright and varied hues of its flowers, the genus _Iris_ was named for the rainbow-winged messenger of the gods. In France it is known as "fleur-de-lis," a name whose origin has caused endless discussion and has been accounted for in many ways. There are many species, all of them beautiful. Orris-root is the product of the lovely white Florentine _Iris_.

In California we have several comparatively well-known species, and a number of others which are without names as yet; but the Douglas _Iris_ is probably our most beautiful. It thrives well upon open mesas or upon well-drained hill-slope in the shelter of the chaparral. But it is found at its best in the rich soil of moist woodlands, whose seclusion seems the most fitting abode for so aristocratic a flower. There, surrounded by the delicate greenery of fern-fronds and a hundred other tender, springing things, it seems to hold a sylvan court, receiving homage from all the other denizens of the wood. There is a certain marked and personal individuality about these flowers which makes encountering them seem like meeting certain distinguished personages.

ITHURIEL'S SPEAR. BLUE MILLA.

_Brodiaea laxa_, Wats. Lily Family.

_Corm._--Small; fiber-coated. _Leaves._--Usually two; radical; linear channeled. _Scapes._--Six inches to two feet high. _Umbels._--Of ten to thirty or more purple or violet, or even white, flowers. _Pedicels._--One to three inches long. _Perianth._--Twelve to twenty lines long. _Stamens._--Six; in two rows; the upper opposite the inner lobes of the perianth. _Ovary._--Three-celled; on a stalk six lines long. _Hab._--From Kern County to Northern Oregon.

After the delicate _Collinsias_ have stolen away, the beautiful flowers of Ithuriel's spear begin to claim our attention in open grassy spots on the borders of rich woodlands. The common name is a happy one; for there is something commanding about this tall blossom-crowned shaft. It will perhaps be remembered that the angel Ithuriel possessed a truth compelling spear. When Satan, disguised, went to the Garden of Eden to tempt Eve, Ithuriel and Zephon were sent to expel him.

... "him there they found, Squat like a toad, close at the ear of Eve, Assaying by his devilish art to reach The organs of her fancy, and with them forge Illusions as he list, phantasms, and dreams;

* * * * *

Him thus intent Ithuriel with his spear Touched lightly; for no falsehood can endure Touch of celestial temper, but returns Of force to its own likeness: up he starts Discovered and surprised."

BEACH-ASTER.

_Erigeron glaucus_, Ker. Composite Family.

Six to twelve inches high, having a tuft of radical leaves and some ascending stems. _Leaves._--Obovate or spatulate-oblong; one to four inches long; pale; somewhat succulent; slightly viscid. _Flower-heads._--Composed of dull-yellow disk-flowers and bright-violet ray-flowers. _Disk._--Eight lines or so across. _Rays._--Six or eight lines long; narrow; numerous; in several rows. _Hab._--The Coast, from Oregon to Southern California.

Almost anywhere upon our Coast, "within the roar of a surf-tormented shore," we can find the beautiful blossoms of the beach-aster. We may know them by their resemblance to the China asters of our gardens, though they are not so large. They present a most delightful combination of color in their old-gold centers, violet rays, and rather pale foliage.

TOAD-FLAX.

_Linaria Canadensis_, Dumont. Figwort Family.

_Stems._--Slender; six inches to two feet high. _Leaves._--Mostly alternate on the flowering stems, but smaller and broader ones often opposite or whorled on the procumbent shoots; linear; smooth. _Flowers._--Blue; in terminal racemes; like those of _Antirrhinum_, but the tube furnished with a long, downward-pointing spur at base. _Hab._--Throughout California.

The delicate blue flowers of the toad-flax are not uncommon in spring, and the plants are usually found in sandy soil. The little blossoms are very ethereal and have a sweet perfume. I once saw a deep blue band upon a mesa near San Diego, which vied in richness with the ultramarine of the sea just beyond. It stretched for some distance, and at last curved around and crossed the road over which I was passing, when it proved to be made up of millions of these delicate flowers. The color effect seemed cumulative, for the mass was so much richer and deeper than the individual flowers.

CATALINA MARIPOSA TULIP.

_Calochortus Catalinae_, Wats. Lily Family.

_Stems._--Two feet high; loosely branching; bulbiferous. Leaves and bracts linear-lanceolate. _Flowers._--Erect; eighteen lines or so long. _Sepals._--Green without; scarious-margined; whitish within; with purple spot at base; one inch long; acute. _Petals._--White; with garnet base; bearing a round gland covered with hairs. Filaments garnet. _Capsule._--Narrowly oblong; three-sided; obtuse; an inch or two long. Seeds flat; horizontal. (See _Calochortus_.) _Hab._--From San Luis Obispo County to San Bernardino; and the islands off the Coast.

This is one of the earliest _Mariposas_ to bloom in the south. Its beautiful, stately white cups have a garnet base within, and this, with its oblong, obtuse capsule and horizontal seeds, clearly identifies it. These blossoms are favorite resting-places for the bees, who are often beguiled in them from their labors and lulled to a gentle slumber. We have frequently startled the little truants from these siestas, and with amusement watched them struggling for a moment before regaining consciousness and whizzing away once more upon their round of duties.

This may be designated our maritime _Calochortus_, as it is found mostly near the Coast or upon its islands.

_C. splendens_, Dougl., found in the Coast Ranges from Lake County to San Diego, is sometimes confused with the above. It is a beautiful flower, whose petals are a clear rose-lilac without spots or marks, with long, whitish, cobwebby hairs on their middle third. Its anthers are purple or lilac, three to six lines long.

DOG-VIOLET.

_Viola canina, var. adunca_, Gray. Violet Family.

_Stems._--Leafy; several from the rootstocks. _Leaves._--Ovate; often somewhat cordate at base; acute or obtuse; six to eighteen lines long; obscurely crenate. Stipules foliaceous; narrowly lanceolate; lacerately toothed. _Flowers._--Violet or purple; rather large. Lateral petals bearded. Spur as long as the sepals; rather slender; obtuse; hooked or curved. (Otherwise as _V. pedunculata_.) _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from San Francisco to Washington.

... "violets Which yet join not scent to hue Crown the pale year weak and new."

Nestling amid the grasses on many a moist mesa by the sea, the modest flowers of the dog-violet may be found at almost any time of year. They vary greatly in the length of their stems, according to the season and the locality of growth.

THISTLE-SAGE.

_Salvia carduacea_, Benth. Mint Family.

_Leaves._--All radical; thistle-like; with cobwebby wool. _Stems._--Stout; a foot or two high. _Flower-whorls._--An inch or two through. _Calyx._--Bilabiate; with five spiny teeth. _Corolla._--Lavender; an inch long. Upper lip erect; two-cleft. Lower fan-shaped; white-fringed. _Stamens._--On the lower lip. Proper filaments very short, with one short and one long fork, each bearing an anther-cell. (Otherwise like _S. Columbariae_.) _Hab._--Western and Southern California.

Upon the dry, open plains of the south, the charming flowers of the thistle-sage make their appearance by May. Upon the train we pass myriads of them standing along the embankments, and seeming to beckon mockingly at us, well knowing the train almost never stops where we can get them.

These plants present the most remarkable blending of the rigid, uncompromising, touch-me-not aspect and the ethereal and fragile. In each of the several stories of the flower-cluster there are usually a number of the exquisitely delicate flowers in bloom at once, standing above the hemisphere of densely crowded, spiny calyx-tips. Nothing more airy or fantastic could well be imagined than these diaphanous blossoms. The upper lip of the corolla stands erect, its two lobes side by side, or crossed like two delicate little hands. The lower lip has two small and inconspicuous lateral lobes and one large central one, which is like the ruff of a fantail pigeon and daintily fringed with white. The color combination in these blossoms is charming. To the sage green of the foliage and the lilac of the blossoms is added the dash of orange in the anthers that puts the finishing touch. The whole plant has a heavy, dull odor of sage.

This species is also sometimes called "chia," and its seeds are used in the same manner as those of our other _Salvia_, but to no such extent.

VIOLET BEARD-TONGUE.

_Pentstemon heterophyllus_, Lindl. Figwort Family.

Woody at base; many-stemmed. _Stems._--Two to five feet tall. _Leaves._--Lanceolate or linear; or the lowest oblong-lanceolate; diminishing into narrow floral bracts. _Panicle._--Narrow. Pedicels one- to three-flowered; short and erect. _Corolla._--Rose-purple, or violet suffused with pink; an inch or more long; ventricose-funnel-form above the narrow, slender tube. (See _Pentstemon_.) _Hab._--Western California, specially southward.

The beautiful flowers of the violet beard-tongue are often seen among the soft browns of our dusty roadsides in early summer. They are truly charming flowers, and we marvel how any one can pass them by unnoticed. I have seen them especially showy in the southern part of the State, in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, where the plants often spread over two or three feet, sending up innumerable slender flower-covered wands. The undeveloped buds are of a characteristic greenish-yellow tone, making an unusual contrast to the expanded flowers and the rather pale foliage. The structure of the anthers is quite interesting, each cell consisting of a little bag with bristly margins, the two together being heart-shaped in outline.

_P. azureus_, Benth., or the "azure beard-tongue," is very similar to the above, growing from one to three feet high; but it is smooth and glaucous; its leaves are inclined to have a broader base, and its flowers are usually larger, azure blue, approaching violet, sometimes having a red-purple tube, while its border is often an inch across. This is found throughout the State, but is more common in the interior and in the Sierras. Its buds are not yellow.

WILD GINGER.

_Asarum caudatum_, Lindl. Birthwort Family.

_Rootstocks._--Creeping; aboveground. _Leaves._--Alternate; two to four inches long; heart-shaped; not mottled; shining green. _Flowers._--Raisin-colored. _Perianth._--With spherical tube and three long-pointed lobes, thirty lines long. _Stamens._--Twelve. Filaments more or less coherent in groups, adherent to the styles, and produced beaklike beyond the anthers. _Ovary._--Six-celled. Styles united; equaling the stamens. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges from Santa Cruz to British Columbia.

The beautiful long-stemmed leaves of the wild ginger stand upon the borders of many a shaded cañon stream, seeming to enjoy the gossiping of the brook as it gurgles by. The leaves and roots of these plants are aromatic, and the former when crushed emit a pleasant fragrance, similar to that of the camphor-laurel. The branching rootstocks, creeping along the surface of the ground, grow from their tips; which are swathed in the undeveloped silky leaves.

In the spring a warm hue comes among these closely-folded leaves, and presently a curious dull-colored bud begins to protrude its long tip from their midst. This bud looks as though some worm had eaten off its end; but we soon see that its blunt appearance is due to the fact that the long prongs of the sepals are neatly folded in upon themselves, like the jointed leg of an insect. It must require considerable force in the flower to unfurl them. When at length expanded, these blossoms have the look of some rapacious, hobgoblin spider, lurking for its prey.

Another species--_A. Hartwegi_, Wats.--the "Sierra wild ginger," is easily distinguished from the above by its white-mottled leaves, which grow in clusters, and by its smaller flowers. It blooms later than the other, its flowers lasting into July. These plants are closely related to the "Dutchman's pipe."

COMMON MILKWEED. SILKWEED.

_Asclepias Mexicana_, Cav. Milkweed Family.

_Stems._--Three to five feet high; slender. _Leaves._--Mostly whorled and fascicled; linear-lanceolate; short-petioled; two to six inches long. _Peduncles._--Erect; slender; often in whorls. _Flowers._--Very small and numerous; in umbels; white and lavender. _Corolla-lobes._--Two lines long. _Anthers._--Twice the filament column. _Horns._--Awl-shaped; arising from below the middle of the ovate hoods, and conspicuously curved over the stigma. _Pods._--Slender; spindle-shaped. (Structure otherwise as in _Gomphocarpus_.) _Hab._--Throughout the State, and beyond its borders.