[Sidenote: =Yellow Pelican Flower=
_Orthocàrpus faucibarbàtus_
=Yellow, whitish
Spring
California=]
One of the handsomest of its kind, a fine thrifty plant, but not at
all coarse, and much prettier and more effective than the next. The
branching stem is about a foot tall, and the leaves are very light,
bright yellowish-green, and thin in texture. The flowers are about
an inch long, with very clear bright yellow "pouches" and greenish
"beaks" tipped with white. They have a curiously solid appearance,
as if carved out of yellow wax, and are very pleasing and fresh in
color, harmonizing well with the light green bracts, which give a very
feathery effect to the top of the cluster. Like most of its relations,
the flowers are more effective when we look down on them, growing among
the grass, than when they are picked and we see them in profile. The
corollas are sometimes pinkish-white. This is common in the valleys of
the Coast Ranges.
[Sidenote: =Johnny-tuck=
_Orthocàrpus eriánthus_
=Yellow
Spring
Cal., Oreg.=]
From five to ten inches tall, with a slender, downy, purplish stem,
often branching, dull green, downy leaves and purplish-tipped bracts.
The sulphur-yellow flowers are usually an inch long, with a magenta
"beak" and a very slender, white tube. They are pretty and very common
on plains.
[Sidenote: =Pink Johnny-tuck, Pink Popcorn Flower=
_Orthocàrpus eriánthus var. rosèus_
=Pink
Spring
California=]
A delicate little plant, from five to ten inches tall, with a slender,
downy, reddish stem, hairy, dull green leaves and bracts, and very
pretty little flowers, nearly an inch long; the corollas varying from
almost white to bright pink, but all the same shade on one plant, with
a little yellow at the center and a maroon-colored "beak." They are
deliciously sweet-scented, like violets, and grow in dry places. The
variety _versícolor_, Popcorn Beauty, has fragrant white flowers.
[Sidenote: =Yellow Owl's Clover=
_Orthocàrpus lùteus_
=Yellow
Summer
West, etc.=]
This often makes patches of bright color. It is from six to twelve
inches tall, with stiff, slender, hairy stems, hairy leaves, and
pretty bright yellow flowers, nearly half an inch long. This grows in
dry sunny places as far east as Colorado, reaching an altitude of ten
thousand feet.
[Illustration: Johnny-Tuck--Orthocarpus erianthus.