Part 22

We have not as many species of _Aster_ as are found in the Eastern States, but we have some very beautiful ones. _A. Chamissonis_ is one of our commonest and most widespread species. Its blossoms begin to appear in late summer and linger along through the fall. Many species of _Erigeron_ (very closely allied to _Aster_) are called "asters" among us, and comprise some of our most charming flowers. These are found chiefly in the mountains, though _E. glaucus_ is found upon the sea-beach and ocean cliffs.

LAVENDER MOUNTAIN DAISY.

_Erigeron salsuginosus_, Gray. Composite Family.

_Stems._--A foot or two high. _Radical and lower leaves._--Spatulate to nearly obovate; tapering into a margined petiole. _Upper leaves._--Ovate-oblong to lanceolate; sessile. _Uppermost leaves._--Small and bract-like. _Flower-heads._--Solitary; large; of yellow disk-flowers and lavender rays. _Disk._--Over half an inch across. _Rays._--Fifty to seventy; six lines or more long; rather wide. _Bracts_ of the involucre numerous; loosely spreading. _Syn._--_Aster salsuginosus_, Richardson. _Hab._--Sierra meadows, at an altitude of from six to ten thousand feet.

Of all the beautiful flowers of the Sierras, not one lingers so fondly in the memory, after our return to the lowlands, as this exquisite lavender daisy. Late in the summer it stars the alpine meadows with its charming flowers, or stands in sociable companies on those natural velvet lawns of the mountains. It resembles the feathery, white mountain daisy, and grows in the same region; but its rays are wider and give the blossoms a somewhat more substantial look.

BLUE FORGET-ME-NOT. STICKSEED.

_Echinospermum floribundum_, Lehm. Borage Family.

_Stems._--Two feet or so high. _Leaves._--Oblong to linear-lanceolate; two to five inches long. _Flowers._--In numerous, slender-panicled racemes; on short, slender pedicels. Racemes often in pairs. _Calyx._--Five-parted; minute. _Corolla._--Sky-blue (rarely white); salver-form, with short tube and spreading, five-lobed border; two to five lines across, with conspicuous arching crests in the throat. _Stamens._--Five; included; on the corolla. _Ovary._--Of four nutlets; each having a deltoid, keeled disk and margined by long, flat prickles. _Hab._--From California to British Columbia and eastward.

The beautiful blossoms of the wild blue forget-me-not will be readily recognized by all lovers of flowers. They may be found in the Sierras in midsummer. The tall stems rise amid the lush grasses upon the sides of steep cañons, where the air is humid and vegetation is rank. The flowers are unfortunately followed by very troublesome burs, which are much dreaded by sheep-herders.

V. RED

[_Red or occasionally or partially red flowers not described in the Red Section._

_Described in the Yellow Section_:--

ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS--Pimpernel. MECONOPSIS HETEROPHYLLA--Wind-Poppy. MIMULUS GLUTINOSUS--Sticky Monkey-Flower. OPUNTIA ENGELMANNI--Prickly Pear.] COTYLEDON PULVERULENTA.

INDIAN WARRIOR.

_Pedicularis densiflora_, Benth. Figwort Family.

Root woody. _Stems._--Six to twenty inches high. _Leaves._--Alternate; oblong-lanceolate; pinnate; leaflets lobed and toothed; diminishing into the flower-bracts. _Calyx._--Campanulate; five-toothed. _Corolla._--Club-shaped, bent downward above the calyx and oblique to it; one inch long; the two upper lobes united and containing the stamens; the three lower mere teeth. _Stamens._--Four. Style filiform; exserted. _Ovary._--Two-celled. _Hab._--Throughout Western California.

These blossoms, which come early in the season, seem "warmed with the new wine of the year." They often stand in little companies in openings among the trees, and the rays of the afternoon sun slanting in upon them brighten and vivify them into a rich, warm claret-color. The leaves, finely dissected, like certain fern-fronds, are often of a bronze tone, which harmonizes finely with the flowers.

To the casual observer, this flower resembles the Indian paint-brush. In reality, it belongs to a closely allied genus. But in this blossom the bracts do not constitute the brilliant part of the inflorescence, and the calyx, instead of being the showy, sheathing envelop it is in the paint-brush, is quite small and inconspicuous.

Mrs. Blochman has quaintly and aptly alluded to the corolla of this flower as a long and slender mitten, just fit for some high-born fairy's hand.

Among the children of our mountain districts this flower is known as "Indian warrior."

WILD GOOSEBERRY.

_Ribes Menziesii_, Pursh. Saxifrage Family.

Shrubs two to six feet high, with naked glandular-bristly or prickly branches and stout triple thorns under the fascicled leaves. _Peduncles._--With one or two drooping, Fuchsia-like flowers. _Calyx._--Half an inch long; garnet; the five oblong lobes somewhat longer than the tube, but hardly longer than the stamens, which surpass the five white petals with inrolled edges. Styles exserted. Anthers sagittate. _Berry._--Four to six lines in diameter; thickly covered with long prickles. (Otherwise as _Ribes glutinosum_.) _Hab._--From San Diego to Humboldt County; also in the Sierras.

The wild gooseberry, considered as a fruit, is very disappointing, as its large, prickly berries are composed mostly of skin and seeds. But as an ornamental shrub it is very pleasing. In February its long, thorny branches are densely clothed with small but rich green leaves, under which hang the perfect little miniature red and white Fuchsias.

A closely allied species--_R. subvestitum_, Hook. and Arn.,--has long exserted filaments and glandular-prickly berries.

FUCHSIA-FLOWERED GOOSEBERRY.

_Ribes speciosum_, Pursh. Saxifrage Family.

Shrubs six to ten feet high, with spreading branches, armed with large triple thorns. _Leaves._--Evergreen; three- to five-lobed; an inch or so long. _Flowers._--Bright cardinal; an inch long. _Calyx._--Petaloid; its tube adnate to the ovary; the limb is usually five-cleft (sometimes four). _Petals._--On the sinuses of the calyx. _Stamens._--As many as the petals; twice the length of the calyx. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style two-cleft. _Fruit._--A dry, densely glandular berry. _Hab._--From Monterey to San Diego.

One of the most charming shrubs to be found in the southern part of the State is the Fuchsia-flowered gooseberry. Early in the season the long sprays of its spreading branches are thickly hung with the beautiful drooping cardinal flowers, which gleam against the rich green of the glossy leaves. The stems often rival the flowers in brilliance of coloring, but they harbor a multitude of formidable thorns which serve to cool our impetuous desire to possess ourselves of the blossoms. Though far more brilliant than the flowers of _R. subvestitum_, these are not so truly counterparts in miniature of the garden Fuchsia as they.

WILD PEONY.

_Paeonia Brownii_, Dougl. Buttercup or Crowfoot Family.

Coarse, leathery herbs, with woody roots. _Stems._--Stout; branched; ten to eighteen inches high. _Leaves._--Alternate; once- or twice- ternately compound; the leaflets ternately lobed. _Flowers._--Solitary; _Sepals._--Green; often with leaflike appendages. _Petals._--Five to ten; dark red. _Stamens._--Numerous. _Pistils._--Two to five; becoming leathery follicles. _Hab._--Almost throughout California.

Our wild peony, which is the only species of North America, grows through a wide range of territory, from the hot plains of the south to the region of perpetual snow in the mountains of the north. As might be expected, it manifests considerable variation in form and character. Indeed, some authors have thought these variations sufficiently marked to warrant the division of the species into two.

After the first rains in the south, the plant pushes up its broad, scarlet-tipped leaves, and by January, or earlier, produces its flowers, which are deep red, shading almost into black, an inch or so across, and quite fragrant. These blossoms are at first erect; but as the seed-vessels mature, the stems begin to droop, till the fruit rests upon the ground.

The Spanish-Californians consider the thick root an excellent remedy for dyspepsia, when eaten raw; while the Indians of the south use it, powdered or made into a decoction, for colds, sore throat, etc. In the north its leaves are reputed to be poisonous to the touch.

In some localities it is known as "Christmas-rose," and in others the children call its dark, round flowers "nigger-heads." In the mountains it blossoms in June and July near snow-banks.

CALIFORNIAN FIGWORT. CALIFORNIAN BEE-PLANT.

_Scrophularia Californica_, Cham. Figwort Family.

_Stems._--Two to five feet high; angled. _Leaves._--Oblong-ovate or oblong-triangular; two or more inches long. _Flowers._--Small; dull red; three to five lines long; in loose terminal panicles. _Calyx._--Five-lobed. _Corolla._--Bilabiate; upper lip four-lobed; lower of one lobe. _Stamens._--Four perfect; in pairs; and a fifth scalelike, rudimentary one. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style exserted. _Hab._--Almost throughout the State.

The tall stems of the Californian figwort are common along roadsides, and become especially rank and luxuriant where the soil has been freshly stirred. The plants are so plentiful and so plebeian in appearance, that we are apt to class them in the category of weeds; but the fact that their little corollas are almost always stored abundantly with honey for the bees, saves them from this reproachful title.

They are cultivated by the keepers of bees. The odd, little dull-red or greenish flowers have a knowing look, which is enhanced by two of the stamens, which project just over the lower rim of the corolla, like the front teeth of some tiny rodent.

FALSE ALUM-ROOT.

_Tellima grandiflora_, R. Br. Saxifrage Family.

_Radical-leaves._--Long-petioled. _Stem-leaves._--With shorter petioles, round-cordate; variously lobed and toothed; very hairy, with coarse, bristle-like hairs; two to four inches across. _Stems._--One to three feet high. _Flowers._--In long racemes; on short pedicels; green or rose-color. _Calyx._--Campanulate; five-toothed; ribbed; three to six lines long; adnate to the ovary below. _Petals._--Five; short-clawed; slashed above; two or three lines long; on the calyx. _Stamens._--Ten; very short. _Ovary._--One-celled; with a disklike summit, tapering into two stout styles with large capitate stigmas. _Hab._--From Santa Cruz to Alaska.

This robust plant bears no resemblance to its delicate relative, _T. affinis_. It is far more like the alum-root in habit and appearance, and its leaves are prettily blotched in the same manner. It grows along rich banks by shaded roads, and blooms from early spring onward. Its tall racemes of either rose-colored or greenish, obscure flowers look rather like the promise of something to come than a present fulfillment. The petals are small and inconspicuous at a distance; but when closely examined, reveal a delicacy and beauty of form entirely unsuspected.

INDIAN PAINT-BRUSH. SCARLET PAINT-BRUSH.

_Castilleia parviflora_, Bong. Figwort Family.

Hairy, at least above; six inches to two feet high. _Leaves._--Laciniate-cleft or incised; sometimes entire; two inches or so long; mostly alternate. _Flowers._--With conspicuous colored bracts. _Calyx._--Tubular; about equally cleft before and behind; tinged with scarlet or yellow. _Corolla._--Tubular; six lines to over an inch long; the upper lip equaling the tube; the lower very short; three-toothed; the whole tinged with red or yellow. _Stamens._--Four; inclosed in the upper lip. _Ovary._--Two-celled. Style long; exserted. _Hab._--Throughout California.

Scarlet flowers are so rare, and nature is so chary of that beautiful hue, that these blossoms are especially welcome. Their dense tufts make brilliant dashes of color, which are very noticeable amid the vivid greens of springtime. Strange to say, most of their brilliancy is due not to the corollas, but to the large petal-like bracts under the flowers and to the calyxes. In the vicinity of the seashore these blossoms may be found at almost any time of the year, while inland they have their season of bloom in the spring, resting for the most part during the summer.

They are known in some localities as "Indian plume." The specific name is a very misleading one--for these flowers, far from being small, are in reality comparatively large and fine. The species was probably first named from poor or depauperate specimens. It is in every way a larger, more showy flower than the closely allied species--_C. coccinea_, Spreng.--of the East, commonly known as the "painted cup."

We have a number of species closely resembling one another. _C. foliolosa_, Hook. and Arn., may be easily recognized by its white-woolly stems and foliage.

NORTHERN SCARLET LARKSPUR. CHRISTMAS-HORNS.

_Delphinium nudicaule_, Torr. and Gray. Buttercup or Crowfoot Family.

_Stems._--A foot or two high; naked or very few-leaved. _Leaves._--One to three inches in diameter; deeply three- to five-cleft, or barely parted into obovate or cuneate divisions. _Flowers._--Scarlet; in loose, open racemes; on pedicels two to four inches long. _Sepals._--Five; petaloid; the upper prolonged upward into a spur containing the smaller spurs of the two upper petals. Spur six to nine lines long. _Petals._--Usually four; the two lateral small, not spurred. _Stamens._--Many. _Pistils._--Mostly three; becoming divergent follicles. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges from San Luis Obispo to Oregon.

Though not so intensely brilliant and striking as the southern scarlet larkspur, this is a delightful flower, the sight of which gracing some rocky cañon-wall or making flecks of flame amid the grass, gives us a thrill of pleasure. It would require no great stretch of the imagination to fancy these blossoms a company of pert little red-coated elves clambering over the loose, slender stems. In our childhood we used to hear them called "Christmas-horns."

SCARLET FRITILLARY.

_Fritillaria recurva_, Benth. Lily Family.

Bulb as in _F. lanceolata_. _Stems._--Eight to eighteen inches high; one- to nine-flowered. _Flowers._--Scarlet outside; yellow, spotted with scarlet, within. _Perianth._--Campanulate; urn-shaped. _Segments._--Twelve to eighteen lines long; with recurved tips. _Stamens_ and style not quite equaling the segments. _Capsule._--Rather obtusely angled. (Otherwise as _F. lanceolata_.) _Hab._--The Sierras, from Placer County northward into Oregon.

The scarlet fritillary is without doubt the most beautiful of all our species. It is a wonderful blossom, which seems as much of a marvel to us every time we behold it as it did at first. Usually there are from one to nine of the brilliant bells; but the effect can be imagined when as many as thirty-five have been seen upon a single stem!

_F. coccinea_, Greene, is another beautiful scarlet-and-yellow species, found in the mountains of Sonoma and Napa Counties. This has from one to four flowers, which are an inch long, with simple campanulate outline, without recurving tips.

COLUMBINE.

_Aquilegia truncata_, Fisch. and Mey. Buttercup or Crowfoot Family.

_Stems._--One to three feet high; very slender. _Leaves._--Mostly radical; divided into thin, distant leaflets. _Flowers._--Scarlet; tinged with yellow; eighteen to twenty-four lines across. Parts in fives. _Sepals._--Petaloid; rotately spreading. _Petals._--Tubular; produced into long spurs or horns. _Stamens._--Numerous on the receptacle; much exserted. _Pistils._--Five; simple. _Hab._--Throughout California.

Sprung in a cleft of the wayside steep, And saucily nodding, flushing deep, With her airy tropic bells aglow,-- Bold and careless, yet wondrous light, And swung into poise on the stony height, Like a challenge flung to the world below! Skirting the rocks at the forest edge With a running flame from ledge to ledge, Or swaying deeper in shadowy glooms, A smoldering fire in her dusky blooms; Bronzed and molded by wind and sun, Maddening, gladdening every one With a gypsy beauty full and fine,-- A health to the crimson columbine!

--ELAINE GOODALE

To enjoy the exquisite airy beauty of this lovely flower, we must seek it in its own haunts--for there is a touch of wildness in its nature that will not be subdued; nor will it submit to being handled or ruthlessly transported from its own sylvan retreat.

Fringing the stream, peering over the bank, as if to see its own loveliness reflected there, or hiding in the greenest recesses of the woodland, it is always a welcome blossom, and the eye brightens and the pulse quickens upon beholding it.

This species is at home throughout our borders; but there is another form which is said to be found occasionally in our very high mountains--_A. coerulea_, James. This is plentiful in the Rocky Mountains, and is the State flower of Colorado. Its blossoms, which are blue or white, are large and magnificent, with slender spurs an inch and a half or two inches long.

CLIMBING PENTSTEMON. SCARLET HONEYSUCKLE.

_Pentstemon cordifolius_, Benth. Figwort Family.

Woody at base, with long, slender branches, which climb over other shrubs. _Leaves._--Cordate or ovate; an inch or less long. _Calyx._--Campanulate; five-parted. _Corolla._--Bright scarlet; eighteen lines long. Sterile stamen bearded down one side. (See _Pentstemon_.) _Hab._--From Santa Barbara to San Diego.

In spring we notice in the borders of southern woodlands and along the roadsides certain long, wandlike branches with beautiful heart-shaped leaves, which are suggestive of those of the garden Fuchsia. Our curiosity is naturally aroused and we wonder what blossom is destined to grace this elegant foliage. Early summer solves the mystery by hanging the tips of these wands with brilliant scarlet blossoms, in every way satisfying the earlier promise.

These flowers often look down at us in a sort of mocking, Mephistophelian manner, as they hang amid the rich greens of other shrubs and trees. Seen with a glass, they are quite glandular. The fifth stamen looks like a very cunning little golden hearth-brush.

HUMMING-BIRD'S SAGE.

_Audibertia grandiflora_, Benth. Mint Family.

Coarse plants, with woolly stems; one to three feet high. _Leaves._--Opposite; wrinkly; white-woolly beneath; crenate; the lower three to eight inches long; hastate-lanceolate; on margined petioles; upper sessile; pointed. _Inflorescence._--Over a foot long, with many large, widely separated whorls of crimson flowers. _Corollas._--Eighteen lines long. Stamens and style much exserted. _Flower-bracts._--Ovate; sharp-pointed; often crimson-tinged. (Otherwise as _A. stachyoides._) _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from San Mateo southward.

This, the largest-flowered of all our _Audibertias_, becomes especially conspicuous by April and May in southern woodlands, where its large, dark flower-clusters may be seen in little companies amid the shadows. The leaves and bracts are quite viscid, and have a rather rank, unpleasant odor; but the flowers are not without a certain comeliness. The long, crimson trumpets are arranged in whorls about the stems, projecting from many densely crowded bracts. Tier after tier of these interrupted whorls, sometimes as many as nine, mount the stems. The bracts and stems are usually of a rich bronze, which harmonizes finely with the color of the flowers. The joint in the filament is quite conspicuous in this species.

"Humming-birds that dart in the sun like green and golden arrows"

seem to be the sole beneficiaries of the abundant nectar in these deep tubes.

CALIFORNIAN SWEET-SCENTED SHRUB.

WESTERN SPICE-BUSH.

_Calycanthus occidentalis_, Hook. and Arn. Sweet Shrub Family.

_Shrubs._--Six to twelve feet high. _Leaves._--Ovate to oblong-lanceolate; three to six inches long; dark green; roughish. _Flowers._--Wine-colored (sometimes white); solitary; two inches or so across. _Sepals_, petals, and stamens indefinite, passing into each other; all coalescent below into the cuplike calyx-tube, on whose inner surface are borne the numerous carpels. _Petals._--Linear-spatulate, usually tawny-tipped. Carpels becoming akenes. _Hab._--From the lower Sacramento River northward.

This is one of our most beautiful shrubs. Upon the banks of streams, or often upon a shaded hillside where some little rill trickles out from a hidden source, it spreads its branches and lifts its canopy of ample leaves. There is a pleasant fragrance about the whole shrub, and the leaves, when crushed, are agreeably bitter. From April to November the charming flowers, like small wine-colored chrysanthemums, are produced; and these are followed by the prettily veined, urn-shaped seed-vessels, which remain upon the bushes until after the next season's flowers appear, by which time they are almost black. It is from these cuplike seed-vessels that the genus takes its name, which is derived from two Greek words, meaning _flower_ and _cup._

INDIAN PINK.

_Silene Californica_, Durand. Pink Family.

_Root._--Deep. _Stems._--Several; procumbent or sub-erect; leafy. _Leaves._--Ovate-elliptic or lanceolate; eighteen lines to four inches long. _Flowers._--Brilliant scarlet; over an inch across. _Calyx._--Five-toothed. _Petals._--Five; long-clawed; the blades variously cleft, and with two erect toothlike appendages at the throat. _Stamens._--Ten; exserted with the three filiform styles. _Ovary._--One-celled. _Hab._--Widely distributed.

The Indian pink is one of the most beautiful of our flowers, and it appeals to the aesthetic sense in a way few flowers do. Its brilliant scarlet blossoms brighten the soft browns of our roadsides in early summer, and gleam amid the green of thickets like bits of fire. Its corolla is elegantly slashed, and it is altogether a much finer flower than the southern form, _S. laciniata_. Its rather broad leaves are often quite viscid to the touch, in which respect it shares in the character from which the genus was named in allusion to Silenus, the companion of Bacchus, who is described as covered with foam.