long; pale apple-green. _Calyx._--Usually five-parted.
_Corolla._--Bright pink, with yellow or white center; an inch
or so across. _Stamens._--Five; anthers spirally twisted after
shedding the pollen. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style slender.
Stigmas two. _Hab._--From Plumas County southward; more
abundant southward.
Just as our attention has been called afresh to the fields by the sudden
appearance of the "golden stars," or _Bloomeria_, in late spring, we find,
as we stoop to gather them, a charming pink flower nestling close to the
earth amid the grasses. Though low of stature, these firstlings of the
season atone for it by brilliancy of color, and their pink blossoms have a
peculiarly clean, fresh, wide-awake appearance, reminding one of a
rosy-faced country wench.
While enjoying their bright beauty, we do not for a moment suspect that we
are paying homage to the famous "canchalagua" of the Spanish-Californians.
No well-regulated household among these people is without bundles of these
herbs strung upon the rafters--for they are considered by them an
indispensable remedy for fevers; also, an excellent bitter tonic, and are
said to possess rare antiseptic properties.
[Illustration CANCHALAGUA--_Erythraea venusta_.]
FALSE MALLOW.
_Malvastrum Thurberi_, Gray. Mallow Family.
Shrubby at base; three to fifteen feet high; densely tomentose.
_Leaves._--An inch or two across; thick. _Flowers._--Clustered
in the axils of the leaves; or in an interrupted naked spike.
_Calyx._--Five-lobed; with one to three bractlets.
_Petals._--Five, about six lines long; rose-purple.
_Stamens._--United in a column. _Ovaries._--Numerous; united in
a ring. Styles united at base. Stigmas capitate. _Hab._--The
southern Coast Ranges and islands of the Coast.
Upon the mesas of the south we often see a shrubby member of the mallow
family, with long, wandlike branches ornamented with closely set, pink
flowers, of delicate texture and pleasant perfume. This is the false
mallow. It is a very handsome and noticeable shrub when in full bloom. The
anthers are golden brown, and the stigmas are spherical instead of
filiform. Upon the seashore it blooms much earlier than in the valleys
inland.
MESEMBRYANTHEMUM. FIG-MARIGOLD.
_Mesembryanthemum aequilaterale_, Haworth. Fig-marigold Family.
Succulent plants. _Stems._--Elongating; forming large mats.
_Leaves._--Opposite; sessile; fleshy; three-angled; two inches
or more long; oblong. _Flowers._--Terminal; solitary; fifteen
lines to two inches across; pink. _Calyx._--With top-shaped
tube and five-lobed border. _Petals._--Very numerous; linear.
_Stamens._--Innumerable. _Ovary._--Four- to twenty-celled.
Stigmas six to ten. _Hab._--The Coast, from Point Reyes
southward.
The fig-marigold is a very common plant upon our seashore. It seems to
flourish best toward the south, where it covers large tracts of sand with
its succulent foliage, making mats of pleasant verdure in otherwise sandy
wastes. Its stems often trail many yards down the cliffs, making beautiful
natural draperies, decked with myriads of the pink blossoms. Because it is
capable of withstanding the drouth in the most remarkable manner, it has
been planted to produce verdure where irrigation is impossible. The very
numerous slender petals give the flower the appearance at first sight of a
_Composita_. The fruit is pulpy and full of very small seeds, like the fig,
and has a suggestion of the flavor of the Isabella grape.
[Illustration FALSE MALLOW--_Malvastrum Thurberi_.]
Many species of _Mesembryanthemum_ are cultivated in our gardens, mostly as
border-plants. The genus is a large one, most of the species being native
of Southern Africa, and it is supposed that the three species now common
upon our Coast were introduced in the remote past without the agency of
man.
* * * * *
_Gilia androsacea_, Steud. Phlox or Polemonium Family.
_Stems._--Three to twelve inches high; erect; spreading.
_Leaves._--Opposite; sessile; palmately five- to seven-parted;
seemingly whorled. _Flowers._--In terminal clusters.
_Corolla._--Salver-shaped; rose-pink, lilac, or white, with a
yellow or dark throat; its tube filiform, about an inch long;
limb eight to ten lines across. Filaments and style slender;
exserted. (See _Gilia_.) _Hab._--Throughout the western part of
the State; into the Sierra foothills.
The delicate flowers of this little plant may be found nestling amid the
grasses of dry hill-slopes in late spring, often making charming bits of
color. It is usually rather a low plant, but in specially favorable
situations it rises to a foot in height. Its fragile flowers vary from pure
white to lilac and a lovely rose-pink, and look like small phloxes.
* * * * *
_Mimulus Douglasii_, Gray. Figwort Family.
Flowering at half an inch high; later becoming a span high.
_Leaves._--Ovate or oblong; three- to five-nerved at base;
narrowed into a short petiole. _Flowers._--Rich maroon, with
deeper color in the throat and some yellow below.
_Calyx._--Five-toothed. _Corolla._--An inch to eighteen lines
long; with dilated throat. Lower lip much shorter than the
ample, erect, upper one; sometimes almost wanting. (See
_Mimulus_.) _Hab._--Throughout California.
This little _Mimulus_ is quite common upon gravelly or stony hills. Its
pert little maroon flowers, with their very long tubes and erect lobes, so
ridiculously out of proportion to the size of the tiny plant, give it the
look of some very important small personage.
[Illustration _Gilia Androsacea._]
BITTER-ROOT. SPAT'LUM. TOBACCO-ROOT.
_Lewisia rediviva_, Pursh. Purslane Family.
_Root._--Very thick. _Leaves._--Clustered; linear-oblong; one
or two inches long. _Scapes._--One-flowered; one or two inches
long; jointed in the middle, with a whorl of five to seven
scarious bracts at the joint. _Sepals._--Six to eight; six to
nine lines long; scarious-margined. _Petals._--Twelve to
fifteen; rose-color, sometimes white; oblong; eight to sixteen
lines long; rotately spreading in sunshine. _Stamens._--Forty
or more. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style three- to eight-parted
nearly to the base. _Hab._--The mountains of California,
northward and eastward.
Within our borders this little plant is not abundant, but must be sought
upon mountain heights. Formerly it was supposed not to occur south of Mt.
Diablo, but it has since been found in the mountains of the southern part
of the State and at intermediate points. It is very abundant in Montana,
where it has been adopted as the State flower.
The plants are very small, being but an inch or two high, but the flowers
are handsome and showy, and the delicate, rose-colored corollas, which are
often two inches across, are of an exquisite silken texture. The root is
remarkably large and thick for so small a plant, and it contains a
nutritious, farinaceous matter, much esteemed by the Indians for food.
Among them it is known as "spat'lum," and they gather large quantities of
it, which they store in bags for future use.
This was the "racine-amère," or "bitter-root," of the early French
settlers. It is also known as "tobacco-root," because when boiled it has a
tobacco-like odor.
The specific name, _rediviva_, was bestowed because of the wonderful
vitality of these plants. It is known upon good authority that specimens
which had been drying for two years in an herbarium continued to produce
leaves, and at last, when taken out and planted, went on growing and
blossomed!
This genus is an exception to the other members of the Purslane family, in
having more than two sepals.
SPINELESS TUNA.
_Opuntia basilaris, var. ramosa_, Parish. Cactus Family.
Low; spreading; branching freely above. _Joints._--Flat;
smooth; without large spines, but with close tufts of minute
bristles; obovate or fan-shaped; five to eight inches long;
nearly as wide at the top. _Flowers._--Large; brilliant
rose-magenta; two or three inches long. _Fruit._--Dry;
sub-globose. (Flower-structure as in _O. Engelmanni_.)
_Hab._--The southern deserts and San Bernardino Mountains.
In the arid regions of the southern interior, this _Opuntia_ is a very
common one, and its large, brilliant rose-magenta flowers attract the
attention wherever seen. They are very tempting blossoms, and it is hard to
resist them, even though we know the penalty will be the conversion of
thumbs and fingers into pin-cushions for innumerable, minute, tormenting
thorns.
SNOW-BERRY.
_Symphoricarpos racemosus_, Michx. Honeysuckle Family.
Shrubs two to four feet high. _Leaves._--Opposite;
short-petioled; cuneate to oblong; entire or lobed; nine to
eighteen lines long. _Flowers._--Small; mostly in terminal
clusters. _Calyx._--Adnate to the ovary; with five-toothed
border. _Corolla._--Campanulate; five-lobed; three lines long;
waxen; pinkish; very hairy within. _Stamens._--Five; on the
corolla. _Ovary._--Four-celled. _Berries._--Waxen-white; six
lines in diameter. _Hab._--Widely distributed.
In early winter the pure-white clusters of the snow-berry, on their almost
leafless stems, make flecks of light through the dun woods. At this season
of few woodland attractions, these berries, together with the trailing
sprays of the fragrant yerba buena and the long graceful leaves of the
iris, are about the only trophies to be obtained upon a walk. In early
spring, when their slender twigs first begin to leaf out, these little
shrubs are among the most delicate and airy of growing things, and make a
tender veil of green through the shadowy woodland. The blossoms, which
arrive rather late, are inconspicuous.
TREE-MALLOW.
_Lavatera assurgentiflora_, Kell. Mallow Family.
_Shrubs._--Six to fifteen feet high. _Leaves._--Three to nine
inches across. _Flowers._--Pink, veined with maroon.
_Calyx._--Five-cleft, with an involucel below, like a second
calyx. _Petals._--Twelve to eighteen lines long.
_Filaments._--Numerous; united in a column.
_Styles._--Numerous; filiform. _Carpels._--One-seeded, in a
ring around an axis; separating at maturity. _Hab._--The
islands off the Coast; cultivated on the mainland north to
Mendocino County.
The _Lavateras_ are Old-World plants, with the exception of a few species
which are natives of the islands of our southern coast. In the early days
the Padres planted the above species (_L. assurgentiflora_) plentifully
around the old Missions, and thence it has spread and become spontaneous in
many localities. It can be seen in San Francisco, planted as wind-break
hedges about the market-gardens, where it thrives luxuriantly as long as it
is protected from cattle.
The leaves and twigs abound in mucilage, and are very fattening and
nutritious food for sheep and cattle, who are very fond of it.
WILD HONEYSUCKLE.
_Lonicera hispidula_, Dougl. Honeysuckle Family.
Woody; climbing and twining. _Leaves._--Opposite;
short-petioled; oval; pale; one to three inches long; the upper
pairs uniting around the stem. _Flowers._--Pink; in spikes of
several whorls. _Calyx._--Minute; growing to the ovary; border
five-toothed. _Corolla._--Tubular; six lines to an inch long;
bilabiate; the lips strongly revolute; the upper four-lobed,
the lower entire. _Stamens._--Five; much exserted.
_Ovary._--Two- or three-celled. Style slender. Stigma capitate.
_Berries._--Scarlet; translucent. _Hab._--Throughout the State.
In early summer the climbing honeysuckle with its pale foliage flings its
long arms over neighboring trees and shrubs, showing glimpses here and
there of small pinkish flowers. But it is far more noticeable in the fall,
when its long pendulous branches are laden with the fine clusters of
translucent, orange-red berries. It is quite variable and has many forms,
which are all considered varieties of the one species.
[Illustration TREE-MALLOW--_Lavatera assurgentiflora_.]
PINK PAINT-BRUSH. ESCOBITA.
_Orthocarpus purpurascens_, Benth. Figwort Family.
_Stems._--Six to twelve inches high. _Leaves._--Variously
parted into filiform divisions. _Bracts._--About equaling the
flowers; tipped with crimson or pale pink. _Corolla._--About an
inch long; the lower lip only moderately inflated and
three-saccate; the upper long, hooked, bearded, crimson.
_Stigma._--Large. (See _Orthocarpus_.) _Hab._--Widely
distributed.
The bright-magenta tufts of the pink paint-brush are often so abundant that
they give the country a purplish hue for miles at a stretch. The
Spanish-Californians have a pretty name for these blossoms, calling them
"escobitas," meaning "little whisk-brooms."
_O. densiflorus_, Benth., is a very similar species; but its corolla has a
straight upper lip, without hairs.
CLARKIA.
_Clarkia elegans_, Dougl. Evening-Primrose Family.
_Stems._--One to six feet high; simple or branching.
_Leaves._--Alternate; broadly ovate to linear; dentate; an inch
or more long. _Petals._--About nine lines long; with long,
slender claws and rhomboidal blades; pink. _Stamens._--Eight;
all perfect. Filaments with a hairy scale at base.
_Stigma._--Four-lobed. _Capsule._--Six to nine lines long;
sessile. (Otherwise as _C. concinna_.) _Hab._--Widely
distributed.
This plant is a very common one along our dusty roadsides in early summer,
and it shows a facility in adapting itself to quite a range of climate and
condition. It grows from six inches to six feet high, is nearly smooth or
quite hairy, and has rather large flowers or quite small ones. Its scarlet
stamens, purple-pink petals, and often deeper purple sepals make an odd
combination of color. It often grows in showy masses, making patches of
glowing color under the shade of trees.
[Illustration PINK PAINT-BRUSH--_Orthocarpus purpurascens_.]
CHAPARRAL PEA.
_Pickeringia montana_, Nutt. Pea Family.
Evergreen, much branched, spiny shrubs, four to seven feet
high. _Leaves._--With from one to three leaflets.
_Leaflets._--Three to nine lines long.
_Flowers._--Magenta-colored; solitary; sessile; seven to nine
lines long; papilionaceous. _Stamens._--All ten distinct.
_Pod._--One-celled; two inches long. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges,
from Lake County to San Diego.
Upon wild mountain-slopes where are heard the fluting notes of a certain
shy bird that rarely comes near habitations, the chaparral pea often makes
dense, impenetrable thickets. It would be impossible to mistake it for any
other shrub, with its solitary magenta-colored pea-blossoms, which often
cover the bushes with a mass of color. Its green branchlets terminate in
long, rigid spines, which are often clothed with small leaves nearly to the
end.
Woe to him who tries to penetrate the chaparral when it is composed of this
formidable and uncompromising shrub! The result is quite likely to be a
humiliating progress upon hands and knees before he can extricate himself,
probably with torn garments and scratched visage.
HEDGE-NETTLE.
_Stachys bullata_, Benth. Mint Family.
Rough, pubescent herbs. _Stem._--Ten to eighteen inches high;
four-angled. _Leaves._--Opposite; ovate or ovate-oblong;
cordate; coarsely crenate; wrinkly veined; petioled; an inch or
two long. _Flowers._--Pinkish; in a narrow, interrupted spike.
_Calyx._--Five-cleft. _Corolla._--Eight lines long; bilabiate.
Upper lip erect; lower deflexed, of three unequal lobes,
spotted with purple. _Stamens._--Four. Filaments hairy. Anthers
divergently two-celled. _Ovary._--Of four seedlike nutlets.
Style filiform. Stigma two-cleft. _Hab._--Throughout the State.
The hedge-nettles are common weeds, of which we have several species. _S.
bullata_, so called on account of its leaves, which look as though
blistered, is the most widespread. It is quite variable in aspect, and we
are constantly meeting it in new guises and being deceived into believing
it something finer than it really is, through some subtle change in its
usually homely little pink flowers.
[Illustration CHAPARRAL PEA--_Pickeringia montana_.]
TWINING HYACINTH.
_Brodiaea volubilis_, Baker. Lily Family.
Coated corm about one inch in diameter. _Leaves._--All radical;
broadly linear; a foot or more long. _Scape._--Twining; two to
even twelve feet long; naked. _Umbel._--Many-flowered.
_Perianth._--Five to eight lines long; rose-color without,
whitish within. _Stamens._--Three; alternating with three
notched staminodia. Filaments winged; very short.
_Ovary._--Three-celled. Style short. Stigma capitate.
_Syn._--_Stropholirion Californicum_, Torr. _Hab._--Sierra
foothills, from Mariposa County northward.
In this plant we see the _Brodiaea_ disporting itself in a very odd manner,
having vinelike aspirations. It produces several long leaves, which lie
prostrate upon the ground, and then the stem puts in its appearance and
commences a wonderful series of evolutions not to be outdone by any
contortionist. It twists and clambers and climbs, reaching a height of five
or six feet, often having expended twice that amount of stem in its
convolutions.
During this remarkable process, which consumes from two to four weeks, the
terminal bud has remained dormant. But it now commences to grow, and in a
couple of weeks the flower-cluster is complete in all its beauty. It is
sometimes six inches across.
It often happens that before the flower has blossomed, the stem is broken
off at the ground. Strangely enough, this seems not to matter at all, for
it grows on and perfects its flowers just as though nothing had occurred.
People often bring the stem indoors and allow it to climb up over the
curtains, where they can watch the interesting process of its growth.
[Illustration TWINING HYACINTH--_Brodiaea volubilis_.]
CALIFORNIAN ROSE-BAY.
_Rhododendron Californicum_, Hook. Heath Family.
Evergreen shrubs three to fifteen feet high. _Leaves._--Four to
six inches long; leathery. _Flowers._--Rose-pink; in large
clusters. _Calyx._--Small; with rounded lobes.
_Corolla._--Broadly campanulate; two inches or so across;
slightly irregular; with wavy, margined lobes; the upper
spotted within. _Stamens._--About equaling the corolla. Style
crimson. Stigma funnel-form. (Otherwise as _R. occidentale_.)
_Hab._--From British Columbia to Marin County.
In our northern counties the rugged mountain-sides are often densely
covered with the lovely rose-bay, which in early summer presents an
appearance it would be impossible to rival. When the foliage, which is very
rich in both quality and hue, is thickly massed with the great glowing
flower-clusters, the sight is worth a pilgrimage to see. It is a shrub so
beautiful, we marvel it is not generally cultivated in gardens.
The bees are very fond of the blossoms, but popular tradition ascribes a
poisonous quality to the honey made from them.
We have noticed no perfume in these flowers, but the leaves are often quite
pleasantly fragrant.
COMMON WILD ROSE.
_Rosa Californica_, Cham. and Schlecht. Rose Family.
Erect shrubs three to eight feet high. Prickles few; stout;
recurved; mostly in pairs beneath the entire stipules.
_Leaves._--Alternate; pinnate; with five to seven leaflets.
_Leaflets._--Ovate or oblong; serrate. _Flowers._--Few to many
in clusters; pale-pink. _Calyx._--With urn-shaped tube and
five-cleft border, whose lobes are foliaceously tipped.
_Petals._--Five; six to nine lines long. _Stamens._--Very
numerous. _Ovaries._--Several; bony; in, but free from, the
calyx-tube. _Hips._--Many; four or five lines through.
_Hab._--From San Diego to Oregon.
The wild rose is one of the few flowers that blooms cheerfully through the
long summer days, lavishing its beautiful clusters of deliciously fragrant
flowers as freely along the dusty roadside as in the more secluded thicket.
In autumn it often seems inspired to a special luxuriance of blossoming,
and it lingers to greet the asters and mingle its pink flowers and
brilliant scarlet hips with their delicate lilacs.
[Illustration CALIFORNIAN ROSE-BAY--_Rhododendron Californicum_.]
_R. gymnocarpa_, Nutt., "the redwood-rose," is exquisitely dainty. This is
found in shady places under the trees. It blooms earlier than the common
species, and is neither so abundant nor so fragrant. Its flowers are barely
an inch across and of a bright pink. The prickles are straight, and the
calyx-lobes are without leafy tips, while the leaflets are small and
shapely.
BEAUTIFUL CLARKIA.
_Clarkia concinna_ (F. and M.), Greene. Evening-Primrose Family.
_Stems._--Several inches to two feet high. _Leaves._--One or
two inches long. _Flowers._--Axillary; sessile; parts in fours.
_Calyx._--Red-pink; tube an inch or more long.
_Petals._--Rose-pink; six lines to over an inch long.
_Ovary._--Four-celled. _Syn._--_Eucharidium concinnum_, Fisch.
and Mey. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges, from Santa Barbara to
Mendocino County.
In June these charming blossoms may be found in the company of the
maidenhair fern fringing the banks of shady roads, or standing in glowing
masses under the buckeye-trees. In them nature has ventured upon one of
those rather daring color combinations of which we would have hardly
dreamed, and the result is delightful. The petals are bright rose-pink,
while the sepals are of a red pink.
SPREADING DOGBANE.
_Apocynum androsaemifolium_, L. Dogbane Family.
Erect; one to three feet high; spreading. _Leaves._--Opposite;
short-petioled; ovate or roundish; an inch or two long.
_Flowers._--Clustered; pink. _Calyx._--Five-cleft.
_Corolla._--Campanulate; three or four lines long; with five
revolute lobes; having a small scale at base, opposite each
lobe. _Stamens._--Five; on the corolla. Filaments short.
Anthers erect around the stigma. Style none. _Ovaries._--Two;
becoming a pair of long pods. Seeds silky-tufted.
_Hab._--Widely distributed in the United States.
[Illustration BEAUTIFUL CLARKIA--_Clarkia concinna_.]
The small pink flowers of the spreading dogbane may be found all through
the summer, often upon our driest hillsides. The shapely little blossoms
are of a flesh-tint without, richly veined with deeper pink within, and
quite fragrant. The plants have a milky juice and a tough fiber in the
stem, similar to that in the American-Indian hemp. The plant was formerly
supposed to be poisonous to dogs, from which fact it received its generic
name, which translated gives the common English name, "dogbane." It is used
in medicine as a remedy for rheumatic gout. The very long pods seem
absurdly out of proportion to the small flowers.
_A. cannabinum_, L., the American-Indian hemp, is also found within our
borders, but it grows along stream-banks and in marshy places. It has
oblong, pointed leaves, and small greenish-white flowers, only two lines
long, whose close cylindrical corollas hardly surpass the calyx. The
yellowish-brown bark of this plant is very tough and fibrous, and at the
same time soft and silky. Our Indians have always found it of the utmost
value in the making of ropes, lariats, nets, mats, baskets, etc., and
before the coming of the white man they even made certain articles of
clothing of it. A tincture made from the root is a recognized drug in the
pharmacopoeia. Professor Thouin, of Paris, says that a permanent dye may be
obtained from a decoction of it, which is brown or black, according to the
mordant used.
FIRECRACKER FLOWER.
_Brodiaea coccinea_, Gray. Lily Family.