A rather large family, mostly of the Mediterranean region; herbs or
low shrubs; flowers regular, perfect, all the parts borne on the
receptacle; sepals five, the two outer ones smaller and bract-like,
or lacking; petals three to five; stamens many; ovary superior,
one-celled, with a single style, or none; fruit a capsule, with several
or many seeds.
There are many kinds of Helianthemum, widely distributed, perennials;
leaves alternate, undivided, toothless; flowers yellow and, in most
North American species, of two sorts; the earlier ones with large,
yellow petals, very numerous stamens and a many-seeded pod; the later
ones, small, clustered, with small petals or none, three to ten
stamens, and small, few-seeded pods.
[Sidenote: =Rock-rose=
_Heliánthemum scopàrium_
=Yellow
Spring
California=]
A pretty plant, with many, slender stems and narrow, yellowish-green
leaves, forming clumps from one to two feet high. The flowers are half
an inch to three-quarters of an inch across, the buds and calyxes
reddish and the petals clear yellow, the pistil greenish, with a
three-lobed stigma. In favorable situations, such as Point Loma, this
makes attractive little bushes, neat yet feathery, suggesting large
clumps of grass, sprinkled thickly with flowers.