[Sidenote: =Whispering Bells=
_Emmenánthe penduliflòra_
=Yellowish
Spring, summer
Southwest=]
Pretty plants, from eight to fourteen inches tall, with branching,
hairy stems and light green, soft, downy leaves. The flowers are less
than half an inch long, with pale yellow corollas, and are at first
erect, but gradually droop until they hang gracefully on their very
slender pedicels. They become dry and papery as they wither, but keep
their form, and when the wind shakes their slender stems they respond
with a faint rustling sound. This grows in dry places and is common in
the South. In Arizona it grows only in protected canyons.
There are several kinds of Hydrophyllum, perennial or biennial herbs,
with fleshy running rootstocks and large, more or less divided leaves,
mostly alternate. The corolla is bell-shaped, with a honey-gland at
the base of each of the petals, which are rolled up in the bud. The
filaments are hairy, the style two-cleft above, both stamens and style
are generally long and protruding, and the ovary is one-celled and
hairy, containing from one to four seeds.
[Sidenote: =Cat's Breeches, Waterleaf=
_Hydrophýllum capitàtum_
=Lilac
Spring
Northwest, Utah=]
This is a pretty plant, from six to twelve inches high, with a rather
weak stem and conspicuous leaves, which are alternate, pale green,
soft and downy, or hairy, with five or seven divisions, prettily lobed
and cut, with rather prominent veins, and long, succulent, pinkish
leafstalks, sheathing the stem. The flowers are rather small, with
short pedicels, and a number are crowded together in roundish clusters,
about an inch across, with almost no flower-stalk. The calyx is covered
with white hairs, the corolla is lilac or white, somewhat hairy on the
outside, and the stamens and style are long and conspicuous, sticking
out like cats' whiskers and giving a pretty feathery appearance to the
whole cluster, which becomes in fruit a conspicuous, very fuzzy, round
head, covered with bristly white hairs, making the children's quaint
common name for this plant quite appropriate. It grows in rich soil,
in mountain woods, and is one of the earliest spring flowers. It is
sometimes called Bear's Cabbage, but this name is far fetched, both as
regards bears and cabbages!
[Illustration: Cat's Breeches--Hydrophyllum capitatum.