three feet high; six- to fifteen-flowered. _Perianth._--An inch
or two long; rich crimson; the limb of six green or yellowish
oblong lobes. _Stamens._--Three; on the perianth. Filaments
adnate to its tube. Anther tips exserted. _Staminodia._--Three;
broad; short; white; on the throat of the perianth, alternating
with the stamens. _Ovary._--Three-celled. Style exserted.
Stigma three-lobed. _Syn._--_Brevoortia coccinea_, Wats.
_Hab._--The mountains from Mendocino County to Shasta County.
[Illustration FIRECRACKER FLOWER--_Brodiaea coccinea_.]
When our northern valleys have become parched by the first heat of
summer, many beautiful flowers are still to be found in deep cañon
retreats, where the streams, overarched by great shadowing oaks, gush
downward through leafy copses of hazelwood and thimble-berry by beds of
moss and fern. Upon the walls of such charming gorges the firecracker
flower rears its slender stem and shakes out its bunch of brilliant
crimson blossoms. These are a prophetic symbol of our national holiday
rather than an aid to its celebration--for they have often passed away
before the Fourth of July.
GODETIA. FAREWELL TO SPRING.
_Godetia viminea_, Spach. Evening-Primrose Family.
_Stems._--One to three feet high; sometimes stout.
_Leaves._--Linear to linear-lanceolate; entire; an inch or two
long; distant. _Flowers._--Nodding in the bud.
_Calyx-tube._--Two to four lines long. _Petals._--Deep
rose-color, sometimes yellowish at base with a dark spot; nine
to fifteen lines long. _Capsules._--Smoothish; eight to
eighteen lines long; its sides two-ribbed; sessile or
short-pediceled. (See _Godetia_.) _Hab._--From the Columbia
River southward to Ventura.
In early summer the rosy flowers of this _Godetia_ make bright masses of
color along dry banks and hill-slopes. Its blossoms are very variable as to
marking. Sometimes the petals have a bright crimson blotch at the base and
sometimes they are without it, both forms often occurring upon the same
plant. In some seasons all the flowers are without the blotch.
_G. grandiflora_, Lindl., found in Humboldt and Mendocino Counties, is
probably the most showy species we have. The plants are a foot or two high
and covered all over with the wonderful flowers, which are often four
inches across. These are delicate pink, blotched with rich crimson.
_G. Bottae_, Spach., is an exquisite species found in the Coast Ranges,
from Monterey to San Diego. Its very slender stems lift the fragile,
satiny cups above the dried grasses in charming companies. These blossoms
also vary much. Among the prettiest forms is one which is pale rose or
lilac, blending to white at the center, delicately striate with
purple-dotted lines, and having a rich purple spot in the center. This
often grows with the lilac butterfly-tulip, _Calochortus splendens_, and
at a little distance is so similar, it is difficult to distinguish it from
the lily. But the lily rarely or never grows in throngs. The capsules of
this species have pedicels from three to nine lines long.
[Illustration FAREWELL TO SPRING--_Godetia viminea_.]
BLEEDING-HEART.
_Dicentra formosa_, DC. Bleeding-heart Family.
_Leaves._--Ternately dissected, with toothed leaflets.
_Scapes._--Six inches to two feet high.
_Flowers._--Rose-colored to pale pink, sometimes almost white
or yellowish; nodding. (Floral structure as in _D.
chrysantha_.) _Hab._--The Coast Ranges and Sierras, from Middle
California to British Columbia.
The bleeding-heart is a rather shy flower, and never makes itself common
enough to dull our enthusiasm for it. It fully merits its specific name,
for it is a plant of elegant form throughout, from its shapely divided
leaves to its graceful clusters of pendent hearts. It is found in the woods
of our Coast Ranges, but may be seen to best advantage when nestling amid
the lush grasses of Sierra meadows.
INDIAN RHUBARB. UMBRELLA-PLANT.
_Saxifraga peltata_, Torr. Saxifrage Family.
_Rootstock._--Thick; creeping. _Leaves._--Radical;
long-petioled; a foot or more across when mature; nine- to
fourteen-lobed; centrally depressed. _Scapes._--One to three
feet high. _Calyx._--Five-lobed. _Petals._--Five; roundish;
three lines or more long; purplish-pink. _Stamens._--Ten.
_Ovaries._--Two; distinct. Stigmas capitate or reniform.
_Hab._--The Sierras, from Mariposa County to Mt. Shasta; also
Mendocino County.
Upon the borders of our swift-flowing mountain streams, where the
water-ouzel flies up and down all day, sometimes filling the air with
melody as he passes, may be seen the large lotus-like leaves of this great
Saxifrage. They stand with their dark, warm stems in the water; or, poising
upon the brink, they lean gracefully over it, making myriad reflections in
the brown depths below, while every passing breeze awakens a quick response
among them.
Early in the season, before the coming of the leaves, these plants send up
tall stems with dense, branching clusters of handsome purplish-pink
flowers. The leaves, small at first, continue to grow until late summer,
when they have reached their perfection; after which they begin to deepen
into the richest of autumn hues.
[Illustration BLEEDING-HEART--_Dicentra formosa_.]
This plant is commonly called "Indian rhubarb," because the Indians are
extravagantly fond of the stalks of the leaves and flowers. It is now
cultivated in Eastern gardens.
GREAT WILLOW-HERB. FIREWEED.
_Epilobium spicatum_, Lam. Evening-Primrose Family.
_Stems._--Often four to seven feet high. _Leaves._--Scattered;
willow-like. _Flowers._--Purplish-pink; an inch or more across.
_Calyx-tube._--Linear; limb four-parted; often colored.
_Stamens._--Eight. Anthers purplish. _Ovary._--Four-celled.
Seeds silky-tufted. _Syn._--_E. angustifolium_, L. _Hab._--The
Sierras; eastward to the Atlantic; also in the North Coast
mountains. Found also in Europe and Asia.
This plant has received one of its English names, because its leaves are
like those of the willow and its seeds are furnished with silken down, like
the fluff on the willow.
It is our finest and most showy species of _Epilobium_, and is also found
in the Eastern States, where it is still known by a former name--_E.
angustifolium_, L. Owing to the fact that it grows with special luxuriance
in spots which have been recently burned over, it is commonly known as
"fireweed." It may be found in perfection in the Sierras in August, where
its great spikes of large pink flowers make showy masses of color along the
streams and through the meadows, commanding our warmest admiration.
In the fall the tall, pliant, widely branching stems of the "autumn
willow-herb"--_E. paniculatum_, Nutt.--stand everywhere by the roadside.
The small pink flowers, half an inch across, terminate the almost leafless
stems, and later are replaced by the dry, curled remains of the opened
capsules and the feathery down of the escaping seeds.
[Illustration GREAT WILLOW-HERB--_Epilobium spicatum_.]
ALPINE HEATHER.
_Bryanthus Breweri_, Gray. Heath Family.
Dwarf evergreens; six inches to a foot high; woody.
_Leaves._--Alternate; linear; three to seven lines long.
_Flowers._--Purplish-rose; on glandular pedicels.
_Calyx._--Five-toothed; small. _Corolla._--Saucer-shaped; six
lines or so across. _Stamens._--Seven to ten. Anthers
two-celled; opening terminally. _Ovary._--Five-celled. Style
slender. Stigma capitate. _Hab._--The High Sierras.
This little plant, to which Mr. Muir fondly alludes in his charming book,
"The Mountains of California," may be found blooming in July and August in
the Sierras. Sometimes it nestles in rocky crevices in the cool drip of the
snow-banks, and again it ventures boldly out into the openings, where it
spreads its rich carpet, covered with a wealth of rosy bloom. From the
abundance of this little heathling about its shores, one of our mountain
lakes has received the name of "Heather Lake."
* * * * *
_Silene Gallica_, L. Pink Family.
Hairy. _Stems._--Generally several. _Leaves._--Spatulate; six to eighteen
lines long. _Flowers._--In terminal, one-sided racemes; four or five lines
long; short-pediceled. _Petals._--Pale rose-color or almost white; barely
exceeding the calyx. (Flower-structure as in _S. Californica_.)
This little weed has come to us from Europe, and it is now so widely
distributed, both near the sea and inland, that it is hard to believe it is
not native. The slender racemes are from two to four inches long, and the
little flowers vary from white to pale pink. They can boast none of the
showy beauty of their relatives, the Indian pink and the Yerba del Indio.
[Illustration ALPINE HEATHER--_Bryanthus Breweri_.]
ALPINE PHLOX.
_Phlox Douglasii_, Hook. Phlox or Polemonium Family.
Plants forming cushion-like tufts; three or four inches high.
_Leaves._--Needle-like; six lines or less long; with shorter
ones crowded in the axils. _Flowers._--Pink, lilac, or white;
sessile; terminating the branchlets. _Calyx._--Five-cleft.
_Corolla._--Salver-form; with five-lobed border.
_Stamens._--Five; on the tube of the corolla.
_Ovary._--Three-celled. Style three-lobed. _Hab._--The Sierras,
from Mariposa County northward and eastward.
This delightful little flower may be found in the Sierras at an altitude of
from five to ten thousand feet. It loves the open sunshine of the cool
mountain heights, and with its cushiony tufts clothes many a bit of granite
soil with beauty. It seems undaunted by its stern surroundings, and lifts
its innocent eyes confidingly to the skies which bend gently over it--those
skies
"So fathomless and pure, as if
All loveliest azure things have gone
To heaven that way--the flowers, the sea,--
And left their color there alone."
PINK MONKEY-FLOWER.
_Mimulus Lewisii_, Pursh. Figwort Family.
_Stems._--Slender; eighteen inches or so high.
_Leaves._--Sessile; oblong-ovate to lanceolate; denticulate;
somewhat viscid. _Peduncles._--Elongated. _Corolla._--Eighteen
lines to two inches long; with tube exceeding the calyx and
five ample spreading ciliate lobes; rose-color or paler, with
usually a darker stripe down the center of each lobe. Ridges of
lower lobe yellow and spotted; bearded. _Stamens._--Included.
(See _Mimulus_.) _Hab._--The Sierras, from Central California
northward and eastward to Montana.
One of the most beautiful of all our monkey-flowers is this charming
species, which is found along the cold streams of the Sierras. Its large
flowers have a fragile, delicate look, and the light stems and leaves are
of an exquisite green.
I remember coming upon a delightful company of these blossoms, in a little
emerald meadow upon the margin of one of those alpine lakelets which nestle
among the granite crags. They seemed the most fitting flowers for just such
a high, pure atmosphere.
[Illustration ALPINE PHLOX--_Phlox Douglasii_.]
SIERRA PRIMROSE.
_Primula suffrutescens_, Gray. Primrose Family.
_Leaves._--Wedge-shaped, an inch or so long; clustered at the
ends of the branches. _Flower-stems._--Several inches high.
Umbel several-flowered. _Calyx._--Five-cleft.
_Corolla._--Salver-shaped; an inch or less across; deep
rose-color, with a yellow eye. _Stamens._--High on the
corolla-throat opposite its lobes. _Ovary._--One-celled. Style
slender. _Hab._--The Sierras.
If one takes his alpenstock in hand and climbs to the snow line in late
summer, he is apt to be rewarded by the charming flowers of the Sierra
primrose. The little plants grow in the drip of the snow-banks, where the
melting ice gradually liberates the tufts of evergreen leaves. The glowing
flowers look as though they might have caught and held the last rosy
reflection of the sunset upon the snow above them.
PRIDE OF THE MOUNTAINS.
_Pentstemon Menziesii, var. Newberryi_, Gray. Figwort Family.
_Stems._--Six inches to a foot high; woody at base.
_Leaves._--Ovate, obovate, or oblong; an inch or less long;
leathery. _Peduncles._--Usually one-flowered, forming a short,
glandular-pubescent raceme. _Corolla._--Bright rose-pink; an
inch long. _Anthers._--White-woolly; with divergent cells. (See
_Pentstemon_.) _Hab._--The High Sierras of Central California.
This charming _Pentstemon_ is one of the most gracious flowers to be found
in the Sierras in late summer. Upon banks overhanging the streams, or
growing at great heights under the open sky, it makes many a rock-shelf gay
with its brilliant pink blossoms.
We wonder how it can possibly subsist upon the hard, glittering granite;
but there the mystery of its life continues from day to day, and there it
cheerfully produces its masses of bright flowers, which gladden the weary
climber to these snowy heights.
This species of _Pentstemon_ is well marked by its white-woolly anthers,
which almost fill the throat. Northward it passes into the typical _P.
Menziesii_, which has flowers from violet-blue to pink-purple.
[Illustration SIERRA PRIMROSE--_Primula suffrutescens_.]
LESSINGIA.
_Lessingia leptoclada_, Gray. Composite Family.
Finely white-woolly. _Stems._--From a few inches to two feet
high, with numerous, almost filiform branchlets, bearing few or
solitary heads of pink or white flowers. _Lower
leaves._--Spatulate; sparingly toothed; withering early. _Upper
leaves._--Lanceolate, or linear and entire; sessile; uppermost
diminished into remote, subulate bracts. _Heads._--Five- to
twenty-flowered. Of tubular disk-flowers only. Outer flowers
much larger. _Involucre._--Silky hairy; broadly campanulate;
with imbricated, appressed bracts. _Hab._--Widespread.
In late summer the pink _Lessingia_ is apparent along dry roadsides or
embankments, where its blossoms make charming masses of soft color. It is
quite abundant in the Yosemite, especially in the lower end of the valley.
_L. Germanorum_, Cham., found plentifully from San Diego to San Francisco,
has yellow flowers.
ELEPHANTS' HEADS.
_Pedicularis Groenlandica_, Retz. Figwort Family.
_Stems._--Tall and slender; smooth. _Leaves._--Alternate;
lanceolate in outline; pinnately parted into linear-lanceolate,
serrate divisions; diminishing upward into the flower-bracts.
_Flowers._--Pink; in a dense spike several inches long.
_Calyx._--Five-toothed. _Corolla._--With short tube and
bilabiate limb. Upper lip with a long beak, like an elephant's
trunk; lower three-lobed, deflexed. _Stamens._--Four. Filaments
and style filiform; sheathed in the beak. _Ovary._--Two-celled.
_Hab._--The Sierras from King's River northward; and eastward
to Hudson's Bay.
No more curious flower could be found than this little denizen of our
alpine meadows. Its tall pink spikes attract one from a distance, and
astonish one upon nearer acquaintance by the wonderful resemblance of their
blossoms to many small elephants' heads. The forehead, the long ears
hanging at the sides of the head, and the long, slender, curving trunk are
all perfectly simulated.
These flowers have a pleasant perfume.
Another species--_P. attollens_, Gray--often found growing with the above,
is similar to it in general structure, but its leaves are more dissected,
its flower-spike is rather woolly, and its beak is only two or three lines
long. These blossoms bear no resemblance to the elephant.
[Illustration LESSINGIA--_Lessingia leptoclada_.]
ALPINE WILLOW-HERB. ROCK-FRINGE.
_Epilobium obcordatum_, Gray. Evening-Primrose Family.
_Stems._--Decumbent; three to five inches long.
_Leaves._--Opposite; ovate; sessile; four to ten lines long.
_Flowers._--One to five; bright rose-pink; over an inch across.
_Calyx._--With linear tube and four-cleft limb.
_Petals._--Four; erect and spreading; obcordate.
_Stamens._--Eight; four shorter. Filaments slender; exserted.
_Ovary._--Linear, four-celled. Style filiform; much exserted.
Stigma four-lobed. Seeds silky-tufted. _Hab._--The Sierras from
Tulare County northward.
Though low of stature, this little willow-herb is a charming plant, with
large rosy flowers. At an elevation of eight thousand feet or more in the
mountains, it nestles amid the rocks, fringing their crevices with a
profusion of brilliant bloom. Though it often costs a hard climb up rocky
crags to secure it, we feel well repaid by its bright beauty.
* * * * *
_Hosackia Purshiana_, Benth. Pea Family.
Soft-woolly throughout. _Stems._--Erect or loosely spreading
over the ground. _Leaves._--Sessile. _Leaflets._--One to three;
ovate to lanceolate; three to nine lines long.
_Flowers._--Yellowish-pink; solitary; two or three lines long.
Peduncles usually exceeding the leaves; with a single leaflet
below the flower. _Calyx-teeth._--Linear; much exceeding the
tube, about equaling the corolla. _Pod._--Narrow; twelve to
eighteen lines long; five- to seven-seeded. (See _Hosackia_.)
_Hab._--Throughout the State.
This little plant is very abundant and widespread. It makes its appearance
after the drouth sets in, and often spreads over the ground in considerable
patches. Its woolly or silky foliage has a pale cast, and its small,
solitary, pinkish flowers, which are quite numerous, are not unattractive.
IV. BLUE AND PURPLE
[_Blue or purple or occasionally or partially blue or purple flowers not
described in the Blue and Purple Section._
_Described in the White Section_:--
ANTIRRHINUM COULTERIANUM--Coulter's Snapdragon.
AUDIBERTIA POLYSTACHYA--White Sage.
CALOCHORTUS LUTEUS OCULATUS--Butterfly Tulip.
CALOCHORTUS VENUSTUS--Mariposa Tulip.
CEANOTHUS INTEGERRIMUS--Mountain Birch; Tea-Tree; Soap-Bush.
ERIODICTYON GLUTINOSUM--Yerba Santa.
ERIODICTYON TOMENTOSUM--Yerba Santa.
LATHYRUS VESTITUS--Common Wild Pea.
MALACOTHRIX SAXATILIS.
MICROMERIA DOUGLASII--Yerba Buena.
SOLANUM DOUGLASII--Nightshade.
SPHACELE CALYCINA--Pitcher-Sage.
VIOLA BECKWITHII--Mountain Heart's-ease.
_Described in the Yellow Section_:--
ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS--Pimpernel.
CALOCHORTUS WEEDII--Mariposa Lily, or Tulip.
HOSACKIA CRASSIFOLIA.
_Described in the Pink Section_:--
CONVOLVULUS SOLDANELLA--Beach Morning-glory.
DODECATHEON MEADIA--Shooting-Stars.
ERIGERON PHILADELPHICUS--Common Fleabane.
GILIA ANDROSACEA.
GILIA CALIFORNICA--Prickly Phlox.
GILIA DIANTHOIDES--Ground Pink.
PENTSTEMON MENZIESII--Pride of the Mountains.
PHLOX DOUGLASII--Alpine Phlox.
_Described in the Red Section_:--
AQUILEGIA COERULEA.
_Described in the Miscellaneous Section_:--
DARLINGTONIA CALIFORNICA--Californian Pitcher-Plant.
DIPSACUS FULLONUM--Teasel.]
FETID ADDER'S-TONGUE.
_Scoliopus Bigelovii_, Torr. Lily Family.
_Leaves._--Two; oval-elliptical to narrowly oblanceolate; four
to fifteen inches long; blotched with brown. _Flowers._--Three
to twelve; on lax pedicels three to nine inches long.
_Sepals._--Whitish, veined with purple; spreading.
_Petals._--Erect; narrowly linear; wine-color without.
_Stamens._--Three. _Ovary._--One-celled; three-angled. Stigma
three-lobed. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges from Marin to Humboldt
County.
When the first white blossoms of the toothwort are making their appearance
in moist woodlands, we may be sure that the fetid adder's-tongue is already
pushing its shining green leaves aboveground away up in the cold cañons of
north hill-slopes; and unless we hasten, we shall be too late to see its
curious flowers. I have often arrived only in time to find its fruit, which
resembles a beechnut in shape. When the flowers first open they stand
erect, held in the shining chalice formed by the two sheathing green
leaves. Later the leaves open out, showing their beautiful blotched
surfaces, and the three-angled flower-stems become limp and twisted. The
petals stand erect, and are so slender as to resemble three linear stigmas.
The little oval anthers are green before opening, but soon become golden
with the discharging pollen.
These flowers are elegant in appearance, and suggestive of orchids; but
unfortunately they have a very offensive odor, like that of the star-fishes
found upon our beaches, which makes us quite content to leave them
ungathered. But the large yellow slug has no such aversion to them, and we
have often seen him banqueting upon them. Indeed, he is so fond of them
that the flowers are often entirely gone from the stems.
[Illustration FETID ADDER'S-TONGUE--_Scoliopus Bigelovii_.]
HOUND'S-TONGUE.
_Cynoglossum grande_, Dougl. Borage Family.
_Stem._--Two feet or so high. _Leaves._--Alternate;
long-petioled; ovate-oblong; pointed; usually rounded at base;
often a foot long. _Flowers._--Bright blue; in a terminal
panicle. _Calyx._--Deeply five-cleft. _Corolla._--Rotate; with
short tube and five-lobed border; having five beadlike crests
in the throat. _Stamens._--Five; on the corolla, alternate with
its lobes. _Ovary._--Four-lobed. Style undivided.
_Fruit._--Four prickly nutlets. _Hab._--From Marin County to
Washington.
Among the first plants to respond to the quickening influence of the early
winter rains, is the hound's-tongue, whose large, pointed leaves begin to
push their way aboveground usually in January. At first these are often
quite velvety beneath and of a pinkish hue, and hold hidden within their
midst the well-formed buds which a few warm, sunny days will call forth.
The flowers, at first pink, become bright blue after fertilization has
taken place.
The favorite haunts of this welcome blossom are half-shaded woods, where it
rears its tall stalk in almost sole possession at this early season.
The common name is a translation of the generic name, which is derived from
two Greek words, signifying _dog_ and _tongue_, bestowed because of the
shape of the leaves. In the olden times a superstition was rife that if a
person laid the hound's-tongue beneath his feet it would prevent dogs from
barking at him.
The distribution of the seed is most cunningly provided for, as the upper
surfaces of the nutlets are covered with tiny barbs, which a
magnifying-glass reveals to be quite perfect little anchors, admirably
adapted for catching in the hair of animals.
CALIFORNIA LILAC. SOAP-BUSH.
_Ceanothus divaricatus_, Nutt. Buckthorn Family.
Tall, almost arborescent shrubs; with very divergent and rigid
branches. Twigs cylindrical; smooth; mostly very pale.
_Leaves._--Alternate; short-petioled; ovate; four to ten lines
long; three-nerved; somewhat leathery. _Flowers._--In a
narrowly oblong, dense cluster two or three inches long; pale
blue to white. _Capsule._--Two or three lines in diameter; not
lobed; scarcely crested. (See _Ceanothus_.)
_Hab._--Chiefly the southern Coast Range.
[Illustration HOUND'S-TONGUE--_Cynoglossum grande_.]
This species of California lilac is very abundant in the south, and is
specially characterized by its widely branching habit and its round,
pale-green twigs. The flowers are usually light blue; but in some
localities they are pure white. Near Santa Barbara, in January, the
mountain-slopes are often snowy with them.
Dr. Gregg, of San Diego, while hunting one day in Lower California, just
over the border, had his attention called to the wild lilac by his old
Mexican guide, who assured him that the blossoms in themselves were
excellent soap. Taking a handful of them down to the stream, he rubbed them
vigorously between his wet hands, and found to his astonishment that they
made an excellent lather, with a pleasant fragrance of wintergreen. I have
since proved the fact for myself. A more delightful way of performing one's
ablutions can hardly be imagined than at the brookside with so charming a
soap. It is very cleansing and leaves the skin pleasantly soft.
It was probably the blossoms of _C. integerrimus_ he used, as that shrub is
called "soap-bush" in that region; but I have since tried the experiment
upon _C. divaricatus_ and some other species with perfect success, from
which I suspect this may be a generic characteristic.
CALIFORNIAN TRILLIUM.
_Trillium sessile, var. Californicum_, Wats. Lily Family.