FAWN-LILY. DOG'S-TOOTH VIOLET. CHAMISE-LILY.

COMMON MONKEY-FLOWER—Mimulus luteus.

From several inches to a foot or two high.Leaves.—Three or four inches long; denticulate; the upper mostly rounded at base.Petals.—Yellow; four to seven lines long; with usually a brown spot at the base.Stigma.—Large and spherical.Capsule.—Four to nine lines long; a line or so wide; attenuate upward; contorted. (SeeŒnothera.)Hab.—Ventura to San Diego.

This is a very common species of evening primrose in thesouth, and may be found blooming until June. It is very variable in its manner of growth. In moist, shaded localities it becomes an erect plant a foot or two high; while upon open, exposed plains it is often only two or three inches high, but seems almost to emulate the "sunshine" in its attempt to gild the plain with its bright blossoms. It frequently grows in gravelly washes. Its flowers have a peculiarly clean, brilliant, alert look, and may usually be known by the brown spot at the base of the petals. The specific name is in reference to its twice-twisted capsule.

The "beach primrose,"Œ. cheiranthifolia, var. suffruticosa, Wats., often grows in great beds upon the dry sands of the seashore, from Monterey to San Diego. Its decumbent stems are thickly clothed with small, ovate, stemless leaves, and its silvery foliage makes a beautiful setting for its large golden flowers.

Corm.—Usually elongated.Leaves.—Oblong; six to ten inches long; dark green, usually mottled in mahogany and dark brown.Scape.—One- to many-flowered.Perianth.—Broadly funnel-form, with six deciduous segments; at length revolute to the stem.Segments.—Straw-color, with orange base, with often a transverse, brownish band across the base; broadly lanceolate; eighteen lines or so long.Stamens.—Six. Filaments filiform. Anthers basifixed.Ovary.—Three-celled. Style slender. Stigma three-lobed.Hab.—The interior of the Coast Ranges, from Sonoma County to the Willamette Valley.

FAWN-LILY—Erythronium giganteum.

The dog's-tooth violets expand into larger, finer creations upon our shores than were ever dreamed of elsewhere. Theyseem to imbibe new vigor in the sweet life-giving air of our Coast Range forests. In Southern Oregon, they reach their maximum development, manifesting themselves in numerous beautiful species. With us the common title becomes still more inappropriate than for the Atlantic species—for nothing could be farther from a violet than these large pale flowers, which in reality look far more like lilies. Indeed, in Mendocino County they are commonly known as "chamise-lilies." Another name is "Adam and Eve," bestowed because the plant often bears a large and a small flower at the same time.

Personally, I am inclined to favor Mr. Burroughs' suggestion of "fawn-lily." It is both appropriate and pretty. The two erect leaves are like the ears of a fawn; their beautiful mottling is not without a hint of the fawn's spots; and the blossom is lily-like. The plant is shy, too, keeping to the seclusion of our deep cañons. In such situations we may find them in groups of a few, or occasionally in beds of hundreds. No more delightful surprise could be imagined than to come suddenly upon such a garden far from the habitations of man. The pale flowers, with orange centers, when fully open, roll their petals back to the stem, like those of the leopard-lily; but in cloudy weather they often maintain a campanulate outline. Plants have frequently been seen with from eight to sixteen flowers upon a stem, the flowers three or four inches across!

These are great favorites in gardens, and in cultivation are known asE. grandiflorum. We have several species ofErythronium, all of them beautiful.

Glutinous shrubs two to six feet high.Leaves.—Narrowly oblong to linear; one to four inches long; with margins at length rolled backward.Flowers.—Corn-color to red; eighteen lines to three inches long.Calyx.—Irregularly five-toothed.Corolla.—Funnel-form; five-lobed; the lobes gnawed.Stigma.—White. (SeeMimulus.)Hab.—San Francisco to San Diego, and southward.

STICKY MONKEY-FLOWER—Mimulus glutinosus.

During a walk upon the hills, at almost any time of year, we may find the corn-colored blossoms of the sticky monkey-flower,but they are most abundant in spring and summer. When in full flower the small bushes are very ornamental, as they are a perfect mass of bloom. They are said to be especially handsome as greenhouse plants.

The flowers vary through a wide range of color, from almost white to a rich scarlet, but the commoner hue is the corn-color. The scarlet-flowered form, found at San Diego, constitutes thevar. puniceus, Gray. Another form, with red-brown to salmon-colored flowers on very short pedicels, is thevar. linearis, Gray. The very long-flowered form is thevar. brachypus, Gray. The sensitive lips of the stigma close upon being touched or after receiving pollen.

Stems.—Creeping.Leaves.—Round-cordate; six to eighteen lines broad; finely crenate; often rusty beneath; usually punctate with dark dots.Peduncles.—Slender.Flowers.—Small; light yellow without and within. (Flower structure as inV. pedunculata.)Hab.—Coast Ranges, from Monterey to British Columbia.

This modest little violet is found commonly in woods,—often in redwood forests,—where it carpets the ground with its shapely little round leaves.

Its specific name refers to its running habit.

Stems.—Six inches to twelve feet high.Lower leaves.—Lyrate; with large terminal lobes.Upper leaves.—Lobed or entire.Flowers.—Yellow.Sepals.—Four.Petals.—Four; three to four lines long.Stamens.—Six.Ovary.—Two-celled. Style long.Pod.—Six to nine lines long, with seeds in one row.Hab.—Common everywhere; introduced.

I can give no truer idea of the manner of growth of this common plant in California than by quoting Mrs. Jackson's charming description of it from "Ramona":—

"The wild mustard in Southern California is like that spoken of in the New Testament, in the branches of which thebirds of the air may rest. Coming up out of the earth, so slender a stem that dozens can find starting-point in an inch, it darts up a slender, straight shoot, five, ten, twenty feet, with hundreds of fine, feathery branches locking and interlocking with all the other hundreds around it, till it is an inextricable network, like lace. Then it bursts into yellow bloom, still finer, more feathery and lacelike. The stems are so infinitesimally small and of so dark a green, that at a short distance they do not show, and the cloud of blossoms seems floating in the air; at times it looks like a golden dust. With a clear, blue sky behind it, as it is often seen, it looks like a golden snowstorm."

The tall stems are favorite haunts of the red-wingedblackbird, who tilts about among them, showing his scarlet wings and occasionally plunging into the depths below, as though he found a spot there much to his mind.

A very superior oil is made from the seed of the mustard, which is one of the strongest antiseptics known. It is especially adapted to the needs of the druggist, because it does not become rancid. The flour of mustard is now much used by surgeons to render their hands aseptic. Tons of the seed are exported from California every year.

Fleshy plants, with tufted radical leaves.Leaves.—Narrowly lanceolate; the outer ones two to four inches long; acuminate.Scapes.—Fifteen inches high; their lower leaves lanceolate; becoming above broadly triangular-ovate, clasping, acute; bearing on their summit a branching flower-cluster.Calyx.—Five-parted.Corolla.—Cylindrical; of five almost distinct, oblong, acute petals, four to six lines long, reddish-yellow.Stamens.—Ten.Ovaries.—Five; distinct; one-celled.Hab.—Los Angeles to San Diego.

These plants, which are of frequent occurrence in the south, usually affect dry, sandy soils. The fleshy foliage is of a warm tone, owing to a suffusion of pink in the leaves. These have a loose, erect habit, and are not crowded in dense rosettes, as are those of some species, and they are so weak that they pullapart easily. The tall flowering stems have but few leaves, and are sometimes nearly naked.

In early summer these plants put forth a strong effort, quickly sending up several tall, vigorous flower-shoots, drawing upon the nourishment stored in the fleshy leaves, which then become limp and shriveled.

Growing upon the coast at San Diego is a very curious and interesting species—C. edulis, Brew. This has cylindrical leaves, about the size of a lead-pencil, which grow in tufts, often a foot or two across. Its flowers are greenish-yellow. It is commonly known as "finger-tips." Its young leaves are considered very palatable by the Indians, who use them as a salad.

(For flower structure, seeCotyledon lanceolata.)Hab.—Central California.

The word "cotyledon" signifies any cup-shaped hollow or cavity, and has been applied to the plants of this genus on account of the manner of growth of the leaves, which is usually in a hollow rosette. The fleshy leaves are often covered with a bloom or a floury powder. These plants are familiar to most of us, as some of the species are extensively cultivated in our gardens as border-plants. Owing to their habit of producing a circle of young plants around the parent, they are commonly called "hen-and-chickens." We have several native species, which are usually found upon warm, rocky hill-slopes, or upon rocks near the sea.

C. Californicumis a beautiful form, with pointed, ovate leaves, of a light glaucous green, often tinged with pink. Its flowers are yellow, and have their petals distinct almost to the base, and its carpels are distinct. We are told that the Indians make soothing poultices of these leaves.

HEN-AND-CHICKENS—Cotyledon Californicum.

Another species—C. pulverulenta, Benth. and Hook.,—found from Santa Barbara to San Diego, is a very beautifulplant. It bears its leaves in a symmetrical rosette, like a diminutive century-plant. These leaves are usually covered with a dense white bloom, and the outer ones are spatulate, abruptly pointed, and two to four inches broad at the tip, while the inner are pointed. The plants are sometimes a foot and a half across, and send up as many as eight of the leafy flowering stems, which look like many-storied, slender Chinese pagodas. The blossoms are pale-red.

Shrubby; evil-scented.Leaves.—Alternate; compound, with three leaflets.Flowers.—With their parts in fours.Petals.—Yellow; five to eight lines long.Stamens.—Eight; of equal length.Ovary.—One-celled. Style short.Pod.—Pendulous; inflated; pear-shaped; on a long stalk.Hab.—Santa Barbara to San Diego.

This low shrub is somewhat plentiful upon the mesas of the south. Its yellow flowers attract one to it, only to be repulsed by the dreadful odor of its foliage. It certainly ought to have some compensating utility for so repellent a characteristic. The ovary is so long-stalked, even in the flower, that it looks like an abnormal, inflated stigma.

This is the only species of the genus.

Stems.—Somewhat flexuous, with spreading branches; two inches to a foot or more high.Radical leaf.—Equaling or exceeding the stem; four to twelve lines broad.Sepals.—Greenish or yellow; eight to twelve lines long.Petals.—Yellow; strongly arched; glandular ciliate.Gland.—A deep pit, conspicuously prominent on the outside of the petals, covered within by appressed hairs. (SeeCalochortus.)Hab.—Coast Ranges, from Monterey to Mendocino County.

DIOGENES' LANTERN—Calochortus pulchellus.

We have no more charmingly graceful flower than the yellow globe-tulip. A single, long, grasslike leaf precedes the flexuous stem, with its quaintly arched and delicately fringed blossoms. There is a certain quizzical look about theseflowers—something akin to the inquiring look of Diogenes, as he thrust his lantern into all sorts of out-of-the-way places in broad daylight. The margins of the petals look as though they had been snipped into a very fine, delicate fringe, unlike the slender, tapering hairs ofC. alba.

The Indians are fond of the bulbs, which they eat with great relish, calling them "Bo."

Stems.—Prostrate; rubbery.Leaves.—Opposite; unequal; roundish; an inch or so across; petioled; leathery; gummy.Flowers.—Yellow; five or six lines long; in dense clusters, subtended by an involucre of five distinct bracts.Perianth.—Salver-shaped. Tube green; its base strongly angled or winged. Limb yellow; four or five-lobed.Stamens.—Mostly five, within the perianth.Ovary.—One-celled. Style filiform. Stigma club-shaped.Hab.—The seashore from Vancouver Island to Monterey.

The fragrant blossoms of the yellow sand-verbena may be found upon the beach at almost any time of year. The stout root, which often becomes several feet long, is sometimes eaten by the Indians.

Leaves.—Alternate; sometimes six inches long; two or three times divided into rather sparse, linear divisions; quite succulent.Flower-heads.—Solitary; on naked peduncles from six inches to two feet long; large; three or four inches across; yellow; of disk- and ray-flowers.Rays.—Narrowly oblong; ten-nerved; three-toothed.Involucre.—Double; the outer part of several loose, leafy scales; the inner of eight to twelve, erect, more chaffy ones.Hab.—The seashore of San Diego and the islands.

On the cliffs overlooking the sea, where its merry yellow faces can watch the white-crested breakers as they chase one another ashore in never-ending succession, and where the pelicans sail lazily over in lines, and gulls circle and scream, the sea-dahlia flaunts its large yellow flowers. They closely resemble the yellow single dahlias of our gardens; but the foliageis cut into long lobes, and has the appearance of a coarse, very open lace. The odor of the flowers is not especially agreeable, but the plant merits a place in the garden for its beauty.

YELLOW SAND-VERBENA—Abronia latifolia.

Stems.—Two feet tall.Leaves.—With leafy stipules an inch long.Leaflets.—Three; obovate to oblanceolate; an inch or two long; somewhat woolly.Flowers.—Yellow; in long-peduncled recemes.Calyx.—Deeply five-cleft; the two upper teeth often united.Corolla.—Papilionaceous; eight lines long.Stamens.—Ten; all distinct.Ovary.—One-celled.Pod.—Silky; six- to eight-seeded.Hab.—Marin County and southward.

The false lupine very closely resembles the true lupines, but may be distinguished from them by the stamens, which are all distinct, instead of being united into a sheath. Its silvery foliage and racemes of rather large canary-colored flowers are common upon open hill-slopes by April.

Stems.—A foot or so high; loosely branching.Leaves.—Alternate; sessile; the lower linear and pinnatifid, the upper entire.Flower-heads.—Solitary; terminal; of disk- and ray-flowers.Disk-flowers.—Yellow, with black stamens.Rays.—Bright yellow, tipped with white; six lines long; four lines wide; three-lobed.Hab.—Throughout Western California; in low ground.

Among the most charming of our flowers are the beautiful tidy-tips. In midspring, countless millions of them lift themselves above the sheets of goldenBæriaon our flower-tapestried plains. The fresh winds come sweetly laden with their delicate fragrance. Were they not scattered everywhere in such lavish profusion, we would doubtless cherish them in our gardens.

FALSE TIDY-TIPS—Leptosyne Douglasii.TIDY-TIPS—Layia Platyglossa.

FALSE TIDY-TIPS—Leptosyne Douglasii.

TIDY-TIPS—Layia Platyglossa.

Growing among these blossoms is often found another flower, somewhat similar to them. This isLeptosyne Douglasii, DC., the false tidy-tip. It has not the clean, natty appearance ofLayia platyglossa; for the gradual blending ofthe light tips into the darker yellow below gives it an indefinite, unattractive look. There is a difference in the involucre, which has two series of bracts, and there are no touches of black among the disk-flowers.

Hab.—Los Angeles County to San Luis Obispo and El Dorado County.

Of all our Mariposa tulips, this is the largest-flowered and stoutest-stemmed, and once seen is not readily forgotten. Its magnificent flowers are sometimes six inches across, though not usually so large, and have the form of a broad-based cup. The sturdy, zigzagging stems and glaucous leaves and bracts, combined with the large rich, canary-colored or golden flowers, make a striking plant. The first glance within the cup shows the ring of club-shaped hairs, characteristic of this species, and the anthers radiating starlike in the center; and as the latter are often a dark, rich prune-purple, the effect can readily be imagined.

I saw this charming Mariposa blooming in abundance in May near Newhall, where its golden cups were conspicuously beautiful against the soft browns of the drying fields and hill-slopes. It is usually found growing upon lava soil.

C. Weedii, Wood., found from San Diego to San Luis Obispo, is a charming species, somewhat similar to the above. Its flowers are yellow, purple, or pure white, and it may be known by several characteristics. Its bulb is heavily coated with coarse fibers; it has a single, long radical leaf, likeC. albus, but unusual among the Mariposas; and its cups are covered all over within with silky hairs.

Leaves.—All radical; pinnately parted into very narrow linear divisions.Scape.—Six inches to a foot high; bearing a solitary, large, light-yellow head.Flower-head.—Composed of strap-shaped ray-flowers only; five-toothed at the apex.Involucres.—Of narrow acute scales in two or three series.Receptacle.—Nearly naked.Hab.—San Francisco to San Diego, and eastward.

These beautifulCompositæare conspicuous upon our open plains in late spring, and are among the handsomest plants of the family. The fine flowers seem to be sown like disks of light over the flower-carpet of the plain.

Slender, with many erect branches; stems and bracts usually dark-reddish; soft pubescent.Corolla.—Deep sulphur-yellow; the slender falcate upper lip dark purple; the tube very slender, but the sacs of the lower lip large and deep, their folds hairy within. (SeeOrthocarpus.)Hab.—Monterey County and northward; very common.

There are many species ofOrthocarpus, and they are more numerous in Middle and Northern California and in the Sierras, few of them reaching the south. They are very difficult of determination, and are not well understood by botanists yet. A common name for the plants of this genus is "owl's clover."

Stems.—Six inches to a foot long.Leaves.—Alternate; lanceolate or oblong-linear; pinnatifid or entire.Flower-heads.—Solitary; yellow; three to six lines across; without rays.Involucre.—Of two ranks of nearly equal, scarious-margined scales.Hab.—Common everywhere.

These little weeds are natives of the Southern Hemisphere, but are now common everywhere. They affect wet places, and their little flowers, like brass buttons, are very familiar objects along our roadsides. The foliage when crushed gives out a curious odor, between lemon-verbena and camphor.

Woody at base; two to eight feet high; erect or decumbent.Stems.—Many; slender; branching; reed-like.Leaves.—Sparse; short-petioled; mostly trifoliolate. Leaflets three to six lines long; oblong to linear-oblong; nearly glabrous.Flowers.—In numerous small axillary umbels; yellow; four lines long.Calyx.—Less than three lines long; five-toothed.Corolla.—Papilionaceous.Stamens.—Nine united and one free.Pod.—Elongated; exserted. Seeds two. (SeeLeguminosæ.)Hab.—Common throughout the State.

This graceful, willowy plant, whose slender branches are closely set with small golden-yellow flowers, in which there is often a hint of red, is as ornamental as any of the small-flowered foreignGenestas, or brooms, we grow in our gardens; but because it is so very abundant throughout our borders, we have become blind to its merits. It is especially beautiful and symmetrical in the south, where the low, bushy plants often spread over several feet of ground; and on the mesas of Coronado, the plants growing not far removed from one another, lend to the natural scene the aspect of a garden. There it is in full flower in April; but in the north the blossoms are usually later in arriving, and it is often June before they show themselves; then making whole hill-slopes dull-yellow among the chaparral.

It is a great favorite with the bees, and for them holds untold treasure in honey-making sweets. Among the mountaineers it is known as "deer-weed" and "buck-brush," as both deer and stock are said to feed upon it and flourish, when pasturage is scarce, though they rarely touch it when other food is plenty.

DEER-WEED.—Hosackia glabra.

Shrubs two to five feet high; spreading.Leaves.—Three-foliolate.Leaflets.—Sessile; wedge-shaped; six lines to an inch long; pubescent, becoming smooth.Flowers.—Yellowish; minute; borne in short, scaly-bracted spikes preceding the leaves.Fruit.—Viscid; reddish; two or three lines in diameter; pleasantly acid.Syn.—R. aromatica, var. trilobata, Gray.Hab.—Dakota to Texas, and west to California and Oregon.

The dense foliage of these little bushes has a strong odor, which is not altogether agreeable, while their small fruit has a pleasant acid taste, and is much relished by the Indians.

Dr. Edward Palmer writes that this shrub furnishes the Indians of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Southern California with one of the most valuable of basket materials. The young twigs, which are much tougher than those of the willow, are soaked, scraped, and split. The baskets are then built up of a succession of small rolls of grass, over which the split twigs are closely and firmly bound. The baskets thus made are very durable, will hold water, and are often used to cook in, by dropping hot stones into them till the food is done. The wood exhales a peculiar odor, which is always recognizable about the camps of these Indians, and never leaves articles made from it.

This is grown in England as an ornamental shrub.

Bulb.—Six lines in diameter.Leaf.—Solitary; about equaling the scape; three to six lines broad.Scape.—Six to eighteen inches high.Flowers.—Yellow; fifteen to sixty in an umbel.Perianth.—About an inch across.Stamens.—Six; with cup-shaped appendages.Ovary.—Three-celled. Style club-shaped. Stigma three-lobed.Hab.—The Coast Ranges, from Monterey to San Diego.

Just as the floral procession begins to slacken a little before the oncoming of summer, the fields suddenly blossom out anew and twinkle with millions of the golden stars of theBloomeria. These plants are closely allied to theBrodiæas, and by some authorities are classed as such. They are especially characterized by the structure of the stamens, which rise out of a tiny cup. Under a glass this cup is seen to be granular, somewhat flattened, and furnished with two cusps, or points. The anthers are a very pretty Nile or peacock green.

GOLDEN STARS—Bloomeria aurea.

Another species—B. Clevelandi, Wats.—is easily distinguishedfrom the above by its numerous narrow leaves and its green-nerved perianth. This is found at San Diego, upon the mesas in midspring, growing abundantly in spots which, earlier in the season, have been mud-holes. Its open flowers are so outnumbered by the numerous undeveloped green buds, that, even though it grows in masses, it is not very showy, but makes the ground a dull yellow. But its flower-clusters are feathery and delicate.

There is another plant which closely resembles theBloomerias. This is the "golden Brodiæa"—Brodiæa ixioides, Wats. But the filaments, instead of having a cuplike appendage, are winged, with the little anthers swinging prettily upon their summits. This is found in the Coast Ranges, from Santa Barbara northward, also in the Sierras. It is a beautiful flower; especially when seen starring the velvet alpine meadows in August.

Another plant—Brodiæa lactea, Wats.—the "white Brodiæa" has flowers similar to the above, but pure white (sometimes lilac), with a green mid-vein. This is common in late spring from Monterey to British Columbia.

Hab.—Widely naturalized from Europe.

In early summer the breezes come laden with fragrance from the sweet clover. This is easily recognized by its tall stems, its fragrant leaves, with three small, toothed leaflets, and its small crowded racemes of minute yellow flowers a line long.

A white form—Melilotus alba, Lam.—is found in the north. Its flowers are vanilla-scented.

This plant is a highly valued remedy in the pharmacopœia for various ailments, and its sweet-scented flowers have been used for flavoring many products, such as Gruyère cheese,snuff, and tobacco. In Europe the blossoms are packed among furs to give them a pleasant odor and keep away moths.

Stems.—Six inches to two feet high.Leaves.—Long-lanceolate; pointed at both ends; the radical and lower ones six to twelve inches long; the upper sessile, shorter, and often broader.Flower-heads.—Yellow; composed of ray- and disk-flowers. Plume-like styles of the latter conspicuous.Ray flowers.—Numerous; one inch long; six lines wide; early deciduous.Involucre.—Broadly campanulate, of numerous erect, loose, foliaceous, ciliate scales, in several rows.Hab.—Monterey, east to the Sierra foothills and north to Oregon.

In late spring our open plains and hillsides are often plentifully sown with the large golden flowers of these Californian compass-plants, called "sunflowers" by many people. There is a belief prevalent that their erect leaves always stand with their edges pointing north and south, whence the common name. This trait is said to be true of all the species.

W. helenioides, Nutt., has large, broad leaves, which are white-woolly when young. Its flower-heads are often four inches or more across.

This plant is used as a common domestic remedy for coughs and colds by Californian housewives, and goes under the unmerited name of "poison-weed." It has also been adopted among physicians as an officinal drug. The root, which is slightly bitter and aromatic, is made into a tincture and administered for asthma, throat disorders, and epidemic influenza, with excellent results. It blooms in early spring, and is common upon hillsides.

Another species, very similar to the above, isW. glabra, Gray. This may be known by its smooth green leaves, which are often very viscid. It is found from Marin County southward, in the Coast Ranges, and probably northward.

W. mollis, Gray, or "Indian wheat," is very abundant in the Sierras, growing all through the open woods, and covering great tracts of dry gravelly soil. Its large, coarse, somewhatwoolly radical leaves stand erect and clustered, usually having a flower-stalk or two in their midst, bearing some smaller leaves, and several yellow flower-heads, which resemble small sunflowers with yellow centers. It has a strong odor, and gives a characteristic smell to the region where it grows. The common name, "Indian wheat," has been bestowed upon it not because it in the least resembles wheat, but because the Indians gather the seed in great quantities and grind it into a flour.

Shrubs or trees from two to twenty feet high.Leaves.—Alternate; petioled; round-cordate to round-ovate; moderately three- to five-lobed or cleft; woolly or whitish beneath; the larger two inches wide.Flowers.—Short-peduncled on very short lateral branches; numerous; one to three inches across; having three to five small bractlets.Calyx.—Corolla-like; brilliant gold, five-cleft nearly to the base; the lobes having a rounded, hairy pit at base.Corolla.—Wanting.Filaments.—United to their middle; each bearing a linear, adnate, curved, two-celled anther.Ovary.—Five-celled. Style filiform.Hab.—Dry Sierra foothills, from Lake County southward.

No more beautiful sight is often seen than a slope covered with the wild slippery-elm in blossom. The bushes are almost obscured from view by the masses of large golden flowers. This shrub takes on various forms; sometimes sending out in every direction long slender branches, which are solid wreaths of the magnificent blooms; and again assuming a more erect, treelike habit. It has been hailed with delight in the gardens of our Southern States, and heartily welcomed in France and England. Why do notwehonor it with a place in our own gardens, instead of giving room to so many far less beautiful exotics?

It flowers in early summer, and its season of bloom is said to last only about two weeks, but the brilliant hibiscus-like blossoms, drying upon their stems, maintain for a long time a semblance of their first beauty. The branches are tough and flexible, and are often cut for whips by teamsters. Among themountaineers it is generally known as "leatherwood." But this name properly belongs to another entirely different plant,Dirca palustris.

CALIFORNIAN SLIPPERY-ELM—Fremontia Californica.

The bark of theFremontiaso closely resembles that of the slippery-elm in taste and other qualities, that it is difficult to distinguish between them; and it is used in the same manner for making poultices.

We are told that this shrub thrives best upon a disintegrated granite soil, and reaches its finest development upon the arid slopes bordering such rainless regions as the Mojave Desert. It was first discovered by General Fremont when crossing the Sierras, about half a century ago, and was named in his honor. It is closely related to the mallows.

Leafless plants with filiform, yellow or orange-colored stems; germinating in the soil; soon breaking off and becoming parasitic upon other plants.Flowers.—Small; white; densely clustered.Calyx.—Usually five-cleft or parted.Corolla.—Tubular or campanulate; four- or five-toothed or lobed.Stamens.—On the corolla, alternate with its lobes. Filaments with fringed scales below.Ovary.—Globose; two-celled. Styles two.

. . . "while everywhereThe love-vine spreads a silken snare,The tangles of her yellow hair."

Though popularly known as the love-vine, because of its clinging habit, it must be confessed that this pernicious plant in no respect merits the title. On the other hand, it might with propriety be called the octopus of the plant world. If you break a branch from a plant which has become its victim, you can see how it has twined itself about it, drawing its very life-blood from it at every turn, by means of ugly, wartlike suckers.

It is no wonder, however, that people are generally deceived as to the moral character of this plant—for it is indeed a beautiful sight, when it spreads its golden tangle over the chamisal,wild buckwheat, and other plants, often completely hiding them from view.

We have a number of species.C. salinaoften covers our salt marshes with brilliant patches of orange.

Shrubby; four to ten feet high.Flowers.—Large; in a loose, whorled raceme; sulphur-yellow; very fragrant.Leaflets.—Four to eleven; generally about nine; narrowly lanceolate; nine to twenty lines long.Pods.—Two to three inches long; ten- to twelve-seeded; silky pubescent. (SeeLupinus.)Hab.—Common from the Sacramento to San Diego.

The large yellow lupine is a common plant upon our wind-swept mesas, growing in sandy soil. Its shrubby form, somewhat silvery foliage, and large canary-colored, very fragrant flowers make it always a conspicuous and beautiful plant.

This species, together withL. albifrons, have been found most useful in anchoring the shifting sands of the dunes near San Francisco. It was accidentally discovered in a deep cutting that these lupines sent their roots down sometimes twenty feet, and the idea was conceived of making use of them in the above manner. Barley, which grows more rapidly than the lupine, was sown to protect the plants while very young. In a single year the lupines covered the sands with a dense growth, two or three feet high, sufficient to prevent them from shifting during the severest storms, and to allow of the subsequent planting of various pines, willows, and other trees. Thus the way was prepared for one of the most beautiful of pleasure-grounds—the Golden Gate Park of San Francisco which can hardly be rivaled anywhere for natural situation and diversity of scene.

One of our handsomest species isL. Stiveri, Kell., found in the Yosemite. Its blossoms have yellow standards and rose-colored wings.

Stems.—Three to eighteen inches high; branching from a woody base.Leaves.—Opposite; often in four ranks; linear to oblong; six lines to an inch or more long; usually folded; translucently dotted.Flowers.—Golden yellow; over an inch across.Sepals.—Five.Petals.—Five; margins black-dotted.Stamens.—Numerous; in three bunches.Ovary.—Usually three-celled. Styles three.Hab.—Central California.

Just as spring is merging into summer, we may look for the bright golden flowers of our common St. John's-wort. The numerous stamens give these blossoms a feathery appearance, and the leaves often group themselves characteristically in four ranks upon the stems.

All the plants of the genus are known as St. John's-wort, because certain of the species were supposed to flower upon the anniversary of this saint. Perhaps there are no other plants around which tradition has thrown such a glamour. Mr. Dyer says, in his interesting book, "The Folk-Lore of Plants," that the St. John's-wort was supposed to be an excellent amulet against lightning, and that it had the magic property of revealing the presence of witches; whence in Germany it was extensively worn on St. John's Eve, when the air was supposed to be peopled with witches and evil spirits, who wandered abroad upon no friendly errands. In Denmark it is resorted to by anxious lovers who wish to divine their future.

Stems.—Glaucous and smooth; two to five feet high.Leaves.—The larger ones a foot long or more; finely dissected into small linear lobes.Flowers.—Erect; yellow; six to nine lines long; in a loose terminal panicle a foot or two long.Sepals.—Two; small; caducous.Corolla.—Flattened and cordate; of two pairs of petals; the outer larger, saccate at base, and with spreading tips; the inner much narrower, spoon-shaped, their tips cohering and inclosing the anthers and stigma.Stamens.—Six.Ovary.—One-celled. Style slender. Stigma two-lobed.Hab.—Dry hills, Lake County to San Diego.

ST. JOHN'S-WORT—Hypericum concinnum.

The arrangement of the essential organs in the genusDicentrais very curious and interesting. The six stamens are bornein two companies of three each, which stand in front of the outer petals, and have their filaments more or less united at the base. The central stamen in each group has a two-celled anther, while its neighbor on either hand has but a one-celled anther. The stigma-lobes often bend downward prettily, like the flukes of a little anchor.

To this genus belongs the beautiful Oriental bleeding-heart of the garden; and we have two or three interesting native species.

D. chrysanthais usually a somewhat coarse plant, lacking the grace ofD. formosa, the Californian bleeding-heart. The pale leaves, which are minutely and delicately dissected, are suggestive of the fronds of certain Japanese ferns. But the flower-stalks are often stiff and sparsely flowered, and the blossoms, which are erect, not pendulous, have anoverpoweringnarcotic odor, much like that of the poppy. These plants may be found upon dry hillsides or in sandy washes in early summer, where the brilliant yellow blossoms are quite conspicuous. One view of these flowers is not unlike the conventionalized tulip.

This species is said to thrive well in cultivation and make a very effective plant when grown in rich garden soil.

Herbs with woody tap-root and milky juice.Leaves.—All radical; lanceolate or oblanceolate; mostly laciniately pinnatifid.Scapes.—One to two and one half feet high.Heads.—Solitary; two inches or so across; of strap-shaped yellow rays only.Involucre.—Of several series of imbricated scales, the outer foliaceous and loose.Receptacle.—Mostly naked; pitted.Akenes.—Two lines long; tapering into a filiform beak six or eight lines long, surmounted by a tuft of silk.Hab.—Washington to Southern California near the Coast.

The common dandelion of the East has found its way into our lawns, but it never adapts itself as a wild plant to the vicissitudes of our dry summer climate. Nature has given us a dandelion of our own, of a different genus, which is quite asbeautiful, though its flowers are not so vivid a gold. They are larger than those of the Eastern plant, and are borne upon taller stems. In early summer the large, ethereal globes of the ripened seed are conspicuous objects, hovering over our straw-tinted fields.

Mr. Burroughs writes of the dandelion:—"After its first blooming, comes its second and finer and more spiritual inflorescence, when its stalk, dropping its more earthly and carnal flower, shoots upward and is presently crowned by a globe of the most delicate and aerial texture. It is like the poet's dream, which succeeds his rank and golden youth. This globe is a fleet of a hundred fairy balloons, each one of which bears a seed which it is destined to drop far from the parent source."

If gathered just before they open and allowed to expand in the house, these down-globes will remain perfect for a long time and make an exquisite adornment for some delicate vase.

We have several other species ofTroximon, but this is our finest.

Smooth throughout; erect; two feet high.Leaves.—With rather large, scarious, triangular stipules; pinnate.Leaflets.—Five to nine; obovate or oblong; six to twelve lines long.Peduncles.—Three- to seven-flowered; naked or with a small scarious, one- to three-leaved bract.Flowers.—Seven lines long.Calyx-teeth.—Triangular; half as long as the tube.Standard.—Yellow; wings and keel white.Stamens.—Nine united; one free.Pod.—Linear; nearly two inches long; acute.Hab.—Middle California to the State of Washington.

The yellow and white blossoms of this prettyHosackiaare quite showy, and are usually found upon low ground near the seaboard.

Another similar species, also having a yellow standard and white wings and keel, isH. Torreyi, Gray. This is more or less silky pubescent; its wings are not spreading, its leaflets are narrower, and the bract of the umbel is sessile. This is found along shaded stream-banks both in the higher Coast Ranges and in the Sierras, and blooms in summer.

H. gracilis, Benth., with the standard yellow and the widespreading wings and shorter keel of rose-color, occurs in moist meadows along the coast from Monterey to the Columbia. It blooms by the middle of April.

H. crassifolia, Benth., a very large species, two or three feet high, with greenish-yellow or purplish flowers, is abundant in the Yosemite Valley about the borders of meadows. It is also common in the foothill region.

Rootstock.—Thick; horizontal.Leaves.—All radical; oblong-lanceolate; acute; one to three feet or more long; three to ten inches broad; narrowed to a short petiole or sessile.Flowers.—Small, crowded on a spadix, at the summit of a stout peduncle becoming six to twelve inches long.Spadix.—With an erect, spoon-shaped spathe, one and one-half to two feet long; bright yellow.Perianth.—Four-lobed.Stamens.—Four. Filaments short, flat.Ovary.—Conical; two-celled. Stigma depressed.Fruit.—Fleshy, coalescent and sunk in the rachis.Hab.—Peat bogs; from Mendocino County northward to Alaska; also, perhaps, in the Rocky Mountains.

In our northwestern counties, before the frost is entirely out of the ground, the leaves of the skunk-cabbage may be seen pushing their way up through the standing water of marshy localities. They soon attain a great size, and resemble the leaves of the banana-tree. They are of a rich velvet-green, slightly mottled, and are said to rival some of the tropical productions of our greenhouses.

There seems to be a difference of opinion as to the disagreeableness of these leaves. I suspect the odor lies mostly in the slimy, soapy sap, and is not very noticeable if they are not bruised or cut.

When the plants are in bloom, in May and June, they are very handsome, the large spoon-shaped, golden spathes being conspicuous at some distance. As this spathe withers away, the flower-stalk continues to grow, and its little greenish-yellow blossoms become brown.

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