Field Book of Western Wild Flowers
by Margaret Armstrong · English · Gutenberg #47971 · 754,391 chars · public domain (US)
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Field Book of Western Wild Flowers
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: Field Book of Western Wild Flowers
Author: Margaret Armstrong
J. J. Thornber
Release date: January 14, 2015 [eBook #47971]
Most recently updated: October 24, 2024
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/47971
Credits: Produced by Greg Bergquist, Wayne Hammond and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIELD BOOK OF WESTERN WILD FLOWERS ***
[Transcriber's note:
Italicized text delimited by underscores (_).
Bold text delimited by equal signs (=).]
[Illustration: Orange Mariposa Tulip--Calochortus Kennedyi.]
FIELD BOOK OF
WESTERN
WILD FLOWERS
BY MARGARET ARMSTRONG
IN COLLABORATION WITH
J. J. THORNBER, A.M.
PROFESSOR OF BOTANY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF
ARIZONA, AND BOTANIST OF THE ARIZONA
AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT
STATION AT TUCSON
[Illustration]
WITH FIVE HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS IN BLACK
AND WHITE, AND FORTY-EIGHT PLATES IN COLOR
DRAWN FROM NATURE BY THE AUTHOR
[Illustration]
C. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
The Knickerbocker Press
NEW YORK AND LONDON
1915
COPYRIGHT, 1915
BY
MARGARET ARMSTRONG
The Knickerbocker Press, New York
PREFACE.
In this little book a very large number of the commoner wild flowers
growing in the United States, west of the Rocky Mountains, are pictured
and described. It is the first attempt to supply a popular field book
for the whole West. The field is vast, including within its limits all
sorts of climate and soil, producing thousands of flowers, infinite in
variety and wonderful in beauty, their environment often as different
as that of Heine's _Pine and Palm_. In such strange homes as the Grand
Canyon and the Petrified Forest of Arizona, or the deserts of Utah
and southern California, we find the oddest desert plants, forced to
curious expedients in order to sustain life amidst almost perpetual
heat and drought, but often displaying blossoms of such brilliance
and delicacy that they might well be envied by their more fortunate
sisters, flourishing beside shady waterfalls, in a "happy valley"
like Yosemite, or a splendid mountain garden, such as spreads in
many-colored parterres of bloom around the feet of Mt. Rainier. On the
wind-swept plains hundreds of flowers are to be found; many kinds of
hardy plants brighten the salty margins of the sea cliffs, or bloom
at the edge of the snow on rocky mountain peaks, while quantities of
humble, everyday flowers border our country roadsides or tint the hills
and meadows with lavish color.
The field included the States of Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho,
Nevada, Utah, and Arizona and to designate this whole field the term
West is used in this book. The term Northwest designates Washington,
Oregon, northern Idaho, and northern California, and the term Southwest
covers southern California and Arizona. The flowers found only in
the Rocky Mountains are not included, and it may be noted here that
exceedingly few of the western flowers cross the Rockies and are found
in the East.
This is the only fully illustrated book of western flowers, except Miss
Parsons's charming book, which is for California only. The drawings
have all been made from life. Allowance must be made for differences in
appearance, owing to locality, and the text should be consulted for the
size, as, on so small a page, some of the plants must be drawn smaller
than others.
Almost all technical botanical terms have been translated into ordinary
English, as this book is intended primarily for the general public,
but as a large number of the plants given have never before been
illustrated, or even described, except in somewhat inaccessible or
technical publications, it is hoped that the scientist also may find
the contents both interesting and useful.
The nomenclature used, with few exceptions, is that of the American
Code. Where these names differ greatly from those in common usage the
latter are given as synonyms in brackets, making the book more useful
to all readers. The botanical names are marked with an accent. Two
accents are used, the grave (`) to indicate the long English sound of
the vowel, such as the "i" in "violet," and the acute (´) to show the
short sound, such as the "i" in "lily."
Professor J. J. Thornber, of the University of Arizona, is responsible
for the botanical accuracy of the text and his knowledge and patient
skill have made the book possible.
Thanks are due for most valuable assistance in the determination
of a very large number of specimens to Miss Alice Eastwood, of the
California Academy of Sciences. Also to Dr. W. L. Jepson of the
University of California; Professor A. O. Garrett, of Salt Lake City;
Professor A. R. Sweetser, of the University of Oregon; Mr. S. B.
Parish, of San Bernardino, Cal.; Mrs. Henshaw, of Vancouver, B. C.;
Dr. A. Davidson, of Los Angeles; and Mr. Marcus E. Jones, of Salt Lake
City. Also for advice and assistance to Dr. N. L. Britton, and Dr. H.
M. Richards of New York; to Dr. Livingston Farrand, of Colorado; Mr.
C. R. Orcutt, of San Diego; Mr. Carl Purdy, of Ukiah, Cal.; Professor
Flett, of Mt. Rainier National Park; Miss Winona Bailey, of Seattle;
Professor J. H. Paul, of Salt Lake City; and many other kind friends.
The arrangement is that originated by Mr. Schuyler Mathews, in his
_Field Book of American Wild Flowers_, which has been found very
popular in the East, but, in this book, most of the genera, as well as
the species, have been very briefly described.
MARGARET ARMSTRONG.
NEW YORK,
_January 1, 1915_.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
PREFACE iii
LIST OF COLORED PLATES xi
TECHNICAL TERMS xiii
KEY TO FAMILIES xv
FAMILIES:
Water-plantain (_Alismaceae_) 2
Lily (_Liliaceae_) 4
Iris (_Iridaceae_) 66
Orchid (_Orchidaceae_) 72
Lizard-tail (_Saururaceae_) 80
Sandalwood (_Santalaceae_) 82
Birthwort (_Aristolochiaceae_) 84
Buckwheat (_Polygonaceae_) 86
Pigweed (_Chenopodiaceae_) 96
Four-o'clock (_Nyctaginaceae_) 100
Carpet-weed (_Aizoaceae_) 108
Pink (_Caryophyllaceae_) 112
Purslane (_Portulacaceae_) 120
Buttercup (_Ranunculaceae_) 126
Barberry (_Berberidaceae_) 152
Water Lily (_Nymphaeaceae_) 156
Strawberry Shrub (_Calycanthaceae_) 158
Poppy (_Papaveraceae_) 160
Bleeding Heart (_Fumariaceae_) 168
Mustard (_Cruciferae_) 174
Caper (_Capparidaceae_) 186
Orpine (_Crassulaceae_) 192
Saxifrage (_Saxifragaceae_) 196
Hydrangea (_Hydrangeaceae_) 206
Gooseberry (_Grossulariaceae_) 210
Apple (_Pomaceae_) 214
Plum (_Drupaceae_) 216
Rose (_Rosaceae_) 218
Pea (_Fabaceae_) 242
Senna (_Cassiaceae_) 264
Mimosa (_Mimosaceae_) 266
Krameria (_Krameriaceae_) 268
Caltrop (_Zygophyllaceae_) 268
Flax (_Linaceae_) 270
Wood-sorrel (_Oxalidaceae_) 272
Geranium (_Geraniaceae_) 274
Milkwort (_Polygalaceae_) 278
Meadow Foam (_Limnanthaceae_) 278
Buckeye (_Hippocastanaceae_) 280
Buckthorn (_Rhamnaceae_) 282
Mallow (_Malvaceae_) 284
St. John's-wort (_Hypericaceae_) 292
Fouquiera (_Fouquieriaceae_) 294
Violet (_Violaceae_) 296
Loasa (_Loasaceae_) 300
Rock-rose (_Cistaceae_) 304
Cactus (_Cactaceae_) 304
Evening Primrose (_Onagraceae_) 312
Parsley (_Umbelliferae_) 332
Dogwood (_Cornaceae_) 338
Heath (_Ericaceae_) 340
Wintergreen (_Pyrolaceae_) 354
Indian Pipe (_Monotropaceae_) 356
Primrose (_Primulaceae_) 362
Olive (_Oleaceae_) 366
Gentian (_Gentianaceae_) 368
Milkweed (_Asclepiadaceae_) 374
Dogbane (_Apocynaceae_) 378
Buck-bean (_Menyanthaceae_) 380
Morning-glory (_Convolvulaceae_) 380
Phlox (_Polemoniaceae_) 384
Waterleaf (_Hydrophyllaceae_) 402
Borage (_Boraginaceae_) 422
Verbena (_Verbenaceae_) 434
Mint (_Labiatae_) 434
Potato (_Solanaceae_) 458
Figwort (_Scrophulariaceae_) 466
Broom-rape (_Orobanchaceae_) 504
Madder (_Rubiaceae_) 506
Valerian (_Valerianaceae_) 508
Honeysuckle (_Caprifoliaceae_) 512
Gourd (_Cucurbitaceae_) 518
Bellflower (_Campanulaceae_) 520
Sunflower (_Compositae_) 522
Chicory (_Chicoriaceae_) 570
INDEX 581
COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS.
FACING PAGE
ORANGE MARIPOSA TULIP _Frontispiece_
WILD ONION 14
COVENA 16
INDIAN HYACINTH 24
DOGTOOTH VIOLET 28
BRONZE BELLS 38
BUTTERFLY TULIP 62
BUTTER BALLS 92
SAND-VERBENA 104
INDIAN PINK 116
FOOTHILLS LARKSPUR 128
LILAC CLEMATIS 150
CALIFORNIA POPPY 164
BUSH POPPY 166
WESTERN WALLFLOWER 176
CLIFF ROSE 226
BI-COLORED LUPINE 252
WILD SWEET PEA 254
PRIDE OF CALIFORNIA 256
HEDYSARUM PABULARE 260
DESERT SENNA 266
SPOTTED MALLOW 288
SALMON GLOBE MALLOW 290
HEDGEHOG CACTUS 306
OPUNTIA BASILARIS 308
PINCUSHION CACTUS 310
WHITE EVENING PRIMROSE 326
WESTERN AZALEA 342
SNOW-PLANT 358
SMALL SHOOTING STAR 366
CANCHALAGUA 370
SCARLET GILIA 392
LARGE PRICKLY GILIA 398
MOUNTAIN PHACELIA 404
PHACELIA GRANDIFLORA 408
BABY BLUE-EYES 412
RAMONA INCANA 438
THISTLE SAGE 450
PAINT BRUSH 472
PENTSTEMON CYANANTHUS 480
PENTSTEMON PARRYI 482
BUSH MONKEY FLOWER 490
PINK MONKEY FLOWER 492
WILD VALERIAN 510
ARIZONA THISTLE 524
EASTER DAISY 530
XYLORRHIZA TORTIFOLIA 544
CUT-LEAVED BALSAM-ROOT 558
TECHNICAL TERMS.
=Corolla.= The flower-cup composed of one or more divisions called
petals.
=Petal.= One of the divisions of the corolla.
=Calyx.= A flower-envelope, usually green, formed of several
divisions called sepals, protecting the bud.
=Sepal.= One of the divisions of the calyx.
=Anther.= The pollen-bearing organ, usually yellow.
=Filament.= The stalk-like support of the anther.
=Stamen.= Anther and filament combined.
=Ovary.= The seed-bearing organ.
=Ovary inferior.= With the flower-parts growing from above the
ovary.
=Ovary superior.= With the flower-parts growing from below the
ovary.
=Placenta.= That particular portion of the ovary wall to which the
ovules are attached.
=Ovule.= The body in the ovary which becomes a seed.
=Style.= The stalk-like projection proceeding from the ovary and
terminated by the stigma.
=Stigma.= The generally sticky and sometimes branching termination
of the pistil through which pollination takes place.
=Pistil.= Ovary, style, and stigma combined.
=Regular Flower.= Generally symmetrical and uniform in the number
of its parts.
=Perfect Flower.= A flower complete in all the common parts.
=Staminate.= With stamens and without pistils.
=Pistillate.= With pistils and without stamens.
=Polygamous.= Pistillate, staminate, and perfect flowers, on the
same or on different plants.
=Claw.= The narrow or stalk-like base of some petals.
=Pedicel.= The stalk of a flower in a cluster.
=Raceme.= A flower-cluster in which the flowers are borne along
the flower-stalk on pedicels of nearly equal length.
=Spike.= A flower-cluster in which the flowers have no pedicels
and are arranged more or less closely along the flower-stalk.
=Bracts.= Small scalelike formations.
=Involucre.= A circle of bracts below a flower-cluster.
=Stipule.= Small often leaflike formations, confined to the base
of the leaf.
=Capsule.= A dry seed-vessel, composed of more than one part and
splitting open.
=Akene.= A small dry one-seeded fruit, not splitting open.
A KEY TO THE FAMILIES.
PAGE
=A. Parts of the flower nearly always in threes;
leaves almost always parallel-veined.=
a. Ovary superior.
b. Leaves often arrow-shaped; pistils many, in a head.
_Alismaceae_ 2
b. Leaves not arrow-shaped; pistil one. _Liliaceae_ 4
a. Ovary inferior
b. Flowers regular; stamens three. _Iridaceae_ 66
b. Flowers irregular; stamens one or two. _Orchidaceae_ 72
=A. Parts of the flower mostly in fours or fives;
leaves mostly netted-veined.=
=B. Corolla absent; calyx mostly present, sometimes
showy.=
a. Ovary superior.
b. Pistils several to many, distinct. _Ranunculaceae_ 126
b. Pistil one, one to several-celled.
c. Flowers in long spikes with a white involucre
at base. _Saururaceae_ 80
c. Flowers not in long spikes.
d. Stipules if present sheathing the stem;
sepals three to six. _Polygonaceae_ 86
d. Stipules absent; sepals mostly five.
_Chenopodiaceae_ 96
a. Ovary inferior or appearing so by the closely fitting
calyx.
b. Ovary six-celled; stamens six to twelve.
_Aristolochiaceae_ 84
b. Ovary one-celled; stamens three to five.
c. Leaves opposite; flowers often showy.
_Nyctaginaceae_ 100
c. Leaves alternate; flowers not showy.
_Santalaceae_ 82
=B. Both corolla and calyx present.=
=C. Corolla of separate petals.=
=D. Ovary superior.=
a. Stamens more than ten in number.
b. Pistils several to many, separate or
united below.
c. Pistils separate and distinct.
d. Pistils enclosed in a hollow receptacle.
e. Leaves opposite; petals numerous.
_Calycanthaceae_ 158
e. Leaves alternate; petals mostly
five. _Rosaceae_ 218
d. Pistils not enclosed in a receptacle.
e. Stamens attached to the
calyx. _Rosaceae_ 218
e. Stamens not attached to the
calyx. _Ranunculaceae_ 126
c. Pistils united below into a lobed or
beaked ovary.
d. Water plants with floating leaves.
_Nymphaceae_ 156
d. Terrestrial or land plants.
e. Pistils forming a ring; filaments
united. _Malvaceae_ 284
e. Pistils not forming a ring.
f. Pistils inserted on a convex
receptacle; stamens attached
to the calyx. _Rosaceae_ 218
f. Receptacle not convex; stamens
not attached to the
calyx. _Papaveraceae_ 160
b. Pistil one, the styles and stigmas often
several.
c. Ovary one-celled.
d. Style and stigma one.
e. Fruit a drupe (stone-fruit.)
_Drupaceae_ 216
e. Fruit an akene tipped with a
tail. _Rosaceae_ 218
d. Styles or stigmas more than one.
e. Sepals falling as the flowers
expand.
f. Sepals two or three; fruit
a capsule. _Papaveraceae_ 160
f. Sepals four or six; fruit a
berry. _Ranunculaceae_ 126
e. Sepals persistent; low shrubs.
_Cistaceae_ 304
c. Ovary more than one-celled.
d. Water plants with floating leaves.
_Nymphaceae_ 156
d. Plants not growing in water.
e. Leaves with smooth margins
and with transparent dots.
_Hypericaceae_ 292
e. Leaves neither smooth-edged,
nor with transparent dots.
_Malvaceae_ 284
a. Stamens ten or fewer in number.
b. Stamens of the same number as the
petals and opposite them.
c. Ovary more than one-celled; calyx
four- to five-cleft. _Rhamnaceae_ 282
c. Ovary one-celled.
d. Anthers opening by uplifted
valves. _Berberidaceae_ 152
d. Anthers opening by longitudinal
slits. _Portulacaceae_ 120
b. Stamens not of the same number as the
petals, or if of the same number, alternate
with them.
c. Ovaries two or more, separate or
partly united.
d. Stamens united with each other
and with the large thick stigma.
_Asclepiadaceae_ 374
d. Stamens free from each other
and from the pistils.
e. Stamens inserted on the
receptacle.
f. Leaves and stems fleshy.
_Crassulaceae_ 192
f. Leaves and stems not
noticeably fleshy.
g. Lobes of ovary two to
five, with a common
style.
h. Ovary two- to three-lobed.
_Limnanthaceae_ 278
h. Ovary five-lobed.
_Geraniaceae_ 274
g. Ovaries with separate
styles. _Ranunculaceae_ 126
e. Stamens inserted on the
calyx.
f. Stamens twice as many as
the pistils. _Crassulaceae_ 192
f. Stamens not twice as many
as the pistils.
g. Stipules present. _Rosaceae_ 218
g. Stipules absent.
_Saxifragaceae_ 196
c. Ovary one, the styles and stigmas
one to several.
d. Ovary with one cell and one
placenta.
e. Corolla forming standard,
wings and keel; filaments
mostly united. _Fabaceae_ 242
e. Corolla not of standard, wings
and keel; filaments mostly
not united.
f. Stamens ten or five; fruit
smooth, slender. _Cassiaceae_ 264
f. Stamens three or four;
fruit spiny, globose.
_Krameriaceae_ 268
d. Ovary with one or more cells
and styles, and two or more
placentae and stigmas.
e. Ovary one-celled.
f. Corolla irregular; petals
and sepals five. _Violaceae_ 296
f. Corolla regular or nearly so.
g. Ovules attached at the
center or bottom of the
ovary. _Caryophyllaceae_ 112
g. Ovules attached on two
placentae.
h. Stamens equal; pod
on a stalk.
_Capparidaceae_ 186
h. Stamens unequal;
pod without a stalk.
_Cruciferae_ 174
e. Ovary more than one-celled.
f. Ovary three-celled; trees
with palmate leaves.
_Hippocastanaceae_ 280
f. Ovary more than three-celled.
g. Cells of ovary as many
as the sepals.
h. Anthers opening by
terminal pores; dwarf
evergreen shrubby
plants. _Pyrolaceae_ 354
h. Anthers opening by
longitudinal slits.
i. Ovules and seeds
one or two in each
cell.
j. Herbs with lobed
or cut leaves.
_Geraniaceae_ 274
j. Evergreen
shrubs with varnished
leaves.
_Zygophyllaceae_ 268
i. Ovules and seeds
several in each cell;
leaflets three.
_Oxalidaceae_ 272
g. Cells of ovary twice as
many as the sepals.
_Linaceae_ 270
=D. Ovary inferior or more or less so.=
a. Stamens more than ten in number.
b. Plant spiny; leaves absent or soon
deciduous. _Cactaceae_ 304
b. Plant not spiny; leaves persisting for
the season.
c. Leaves three-sided, fleshy. _Aizoaceae_ 108
c. Leaves neither three-sided nor
fleshy.
d. Herbs; leaves rough-hairy.
_Loasaceae_ 300
d. Shrubs or trees.
e. Leaves opposite; stipules
none. _Hydrangeaceae_ 206
e. Leaves alternate; stipules present.
_Pomaceae_ 214
a. Stamens ten or fewer in number.
b. Ovules and seeds more than one in
each cell.
c. Ovary one-celled; fruit a berry.
_Grossulariaceae_ 210
c. Ovary with two or more cells.
d. Stamens four or eight.
e. Shrubs; filaments two-forked
at the apex. _Hydrangeaceae_ 206
e. Herbs; filaments not two-forked
at the apex. _Onagraceae_ 312
d. Stamens five or ten; styles two or
three. _Saxifragaceae_ 196
b. Ovules and seeds only one in each cell.
c. Stamens mostly ten; ovary partly
inferior. _Hydrangeaceae_ 206
c. Stamens less than ten; ovary wholly
inferior.
d. Stamens five; fruit dry.
_Umbelliferae_ 332
d. Stamens four; fruit fleshy.
_Cornaceae_ 338
=C. Corolla with petals more or less united.=
=E. Ovary superior.=
a. Stamens more than five in number.
b. Ovary one-celled.
c. Placenta one.
d. Corolla very irregular; stamens
not protruding from the corolla.
_Fabaceae_ 242
d. Corolla nearly regular; stamens
protruding. _Mimosaceae_ 266
c. Placentae two; corolla irregular.
_Fumariaceae_ 168
b. Ovary two to several-celled.
c. Ovary two-celled; corolla irregular.
_Polygalaceae_ 278
c. Ovary three or more-celled; corolla
regular or nearly so.
d. Stamens not attached to the
corolla.
e. Style one; leaves simple.
_Ericaceae_ 340
e. Styles more than one.
f. Styles three; erect spiny
shrub. _Fouquieriaceae_ 294
f. Styles five; low herbs.
_Oxalidaceae_ 272
d. Stamens attached to the corolla,
plants without green foliage.
_Monotropaceae_ 356
a. Stamens five or fewer in number.
b. Corolla regular.
c. Stamens free from the corolla.
_Ericaceae_ 340
c. Stamens attached to the corolla.
d. Pistil one.
e. Stamens of the same number
as the corolla lobes and opposite
them. _Primulaceae_ 362
e. Stamens alternate with the
corolla lobes or fewer.
f. Ovary one- or two-celled.
g. Styles two or occasionally
one.
h. Capsule usually
many-seeded; sepals
united.
_Hydrophyllaceae_ 402
h. Capsule few-seeded;
sepals separate.
_Convolvulaceae_ 380
g. Styles one or none.
h. leaves opposite.
i. Trees with pinnate
leaves. _Oleaceae_ 366
i. Herbs with simple
smooth-edged
leaves.
_Gentianaceae_ 368
h. Leaves alternate.
i. Ovary one-celled;
leaves with three
leaflets.
_Menyanthaceae_ 380
i. Ovary two-celled;
leaves various.
_Solanaceae_ 458
f. Ovary three- or four-celled.
g. Style one; ovary three-celled.
_Polemoniaceae_ 384
g. Styles two; ovary four-celled.
_Boraginaceae_ 422
d. Pistils two.
e. Stamens and stigmas united;
flowers with hood-like appendages.
_Asclepiadaceae_ 374
e. Stamens and stigmas not
united; flowers without
hood-like appendages.
_Apocynaceae_ 378
b. Corolla more or less irregular.
c. Fruit a many-seeded capsule.
d. Ovary two-celled. _Scrophulariaceae_ 466
d. Ovary one-celled; plants without
green foliage. _Orobanchaceae_ 504
c. Fruit of two or four seed-like nutlets.
d. Ovary four-lobed; plants mostly
aromatic. _Labiatae_ 434
d. Ovary not lobed; plants rarely
aromatic. _Verbenaceae_ 434
=E. Ovary inferior.=
a. Stamens eight or ten; evergreen shrubs.
_Ericaceae_ 340
a. Stamens five or fewer in number.
b. Plants tendril-bearing. _Cucurbitaceae_ 518
b. Plants not tendril-bearing.
c. Stamens free, not united.
d. Leaves alternate; stamens free
from the corolla. _Campanulaceae_ 520
d. Leaves opposite or whorled; stamens
inserted on the corolla.
e. Stamens one to three.
_Valerianaceae_ 508
e. Stamens four to five.
f. Leaves opposite, never in
whorls nor with stipules.
_Caprifoliaceae_ 512
f. Leaves opposite and with
stipules, or in whorls and
without stipules. _Rubiaceae_ 506
c. Stamens united by their anthers.
d. Corollas all strap-shaped and perfect;
juice milky. _Cichoriaceae_ 570
d. Marginal corollas strap-shaped,
never perfect; disk corollas perfect;
juice not milky. _Compositae_ 522
FIELD BOOK OF WESTERN WILD FLOWERS
[Illustration]
WATER-PLANTAIN FAMILY. _Alismaceae._
A rather small family, widely distributed, growing in fresh-water
swamps and streams. The leaves are all from the root, with long
sheathing leaf-stalks, and the flowers are regular and perfect, or with
only pistils or only stamens; the sepals three; the petals three; the
stamens six or more; the ovaries numerous, superior, developing into
dry, one-seeded nutlets.
There are a good many kinds of Sagittaria, with fibrous roots and milky
juice; the leaves are usually arrow-shaped; the lower flowers usually
pistillate and the upper ones usually staminate; the stamens are
numerous and the numerous ovaries are closely crowded and form roundish
heads. The name is from the Latin for "arrow," referring to the shape
of the leaves.
[Sidenote: =Arrowhead=
_Sagittària latifòlia_
=White
Summer
North America=]
An attractive and very decorative plant, with stout, smooth, hollow
flower-stems, from eight inches to four feet tall, with very handsome,
smooth, olive-green leaves and papery bracts. The flowers are about an
inch across, with delicately crumpled, white petals and yellow anthers,
forming a bright golden center, and the plants look very pretty
standing along the edges of ponds. The leaves are exceedingly variable
both in size and shape. This is found throughout North America. The
tubers are edible and hence the plant is often called Tule Potato, and
they are much eaten by the Chinese in California. The Indian name is
Wapato.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Arrowhead--Sagittaria latifolia.]
LILY FAMILY. _Liliaceae_.
A wonderfully beautiful family, large and widely distributed, mostly
perennial herbs, growing from bulbs or root-stocks, with perfect,
regular, symmetrical flowers and toothless leaves. The flower-cup
almost always has six divisions, the outer often called sepals and the
inner petals. The six stamens are opposite the divisions and sometimes
three of them are without anthers. The styles or stigmas are three and
the ovary is superior, developing into a three-celled capsule or berry,
containing few or many seeds.
There are several kinds of Anthericum, rather small, lily-like plants,
with grasslike leaves, springing from the base and surrounded by the
fibrous remnants of older leaves. The slender stems are leafless, or
have one, very small, dry leaf; the roots thick and fleshy-fibrous; the
flowers yellow, on pedicels jointed near the middle; the style long and
slender; the pod oblong, containing several flattened, angular seeds in
each cell. They are common in rocky soil, at altitudes of six thousand
to nine thousand feet, from western Texas to Arizona.
[Sidenote: =Amber Lily=
_Anthéricum Tórreyi_
=Yellow
Summer
Arizona=]
A beautiful little plant, with delicate flowers, unusual and pretty in
coloring. It grows from eight to fifteen inches tall and has a slender,
pale-green stem, springing from a clump of graceful, pale bluish-green,
grasslike leaves. The flowers are about three quarters of an inch long,
pale orange or corn-color, with a narrow stripe on each division; the
pistil green, with an orange stigma; the anthers yellow. The flowers
fade almost as soon as they bloom. This grows in open woods.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Amber Lily--Anthericum Torreyi.]
[Illustration]
There are several kinds of Zygadene, natives of North America and
Siberia. They mostly have coated bulbs, resembling onions, and white
or greenish flowers, in clusters, the leaves long, smooth, folded
lengthwise and springing mostly from the root. The flowers are perfect
or polygamous, the six divisions alike, with one or two, greenish,
glandular spots at the base of each; the styles three, distinct;
the fruit a three-lobed capsule, with several or many seeds in each
compartment. The name is from the Greek for "yoke" and "gland," because
some kinds have a couple of glands on each division of the flower.
[Sidenote: =Poison Sego=
_Zygadènus paniculàtus_
=Cream-white
Spring, summer
Utah, Nev., Idaho=]
A handsome, rather stout plant, about a foot tall, with bright
light-green, smooth, graceful leaves sheathing the stem, which has a
papery bract around its base. The flowers are in clusters varying in
shape, sometimes growing in a long, loose raceme and sometimes in a
closer, pointed cluster. The divisions of the rather small, cream-white
flowers have short claws, with a yellow gland and a stamen at the
base of each. The stamens are conspicuous, with swinging, yellow,
shield-shaped anthers, and are at first longer than the three styles,
which gradually lengthen and, together with the stamens, give a
delicate, feathery appearance to the whole flower cluster. This grows
on dry hillsides and in meadows. The bulb is very poisonous.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Poison Sego--Zygadenus paniculatus.]
[Sidenote: =Zygadene=
_Zygadènus élegans_
=White
Summer
U. S.=]
A handsome graceful plant, with one or more stiff stems, from six
inches to three feet tall, springing from a large clump of rather
stiff, bluish-green leaves, covered with a pale "bloom," and bearing
fine clusters of cream-white flowers, less than an inch across, their
divisions united below and adhering to the base of the ovary and each
with a sticky, bright-green, heart-shaped gland. This grows in moist
places in the mountains, across the continent.
[Sidenote: =Star Zygadene=
_Zygadènus Fremóntii_
=White
Spring, summer
California=]
Much like the last, but the foliage with less "bloom" and the flowers
handsomer and rather larger. Their divisions are free from the ovary,
only the inner divisions have claws, and the glands are greenish-yellow
and toothed. This grows among bushes, on hillsides and sea-cliffs along
the coast.
[Sidenote: =Death Camass=
_Zygadènus venenòsus_
=White
Spring
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]
Not nearly so handsome as the two last, but a pretty plant, from one to
two feet tall, with dull-green leaves, folded lengthwise, with rough
edges. The cream-colored flowers are less than half an inch across,
striped with green on the outside, their divisions free from the ovary
and all with claws, with roundish, greenish-yellow glands, not toothed,
and with long stamens. This grows in meadows and the bulb is very
poisonous except to hogs, so it is often called Hog's Potato.
There are several kinds of Veratrum, natives of the north temperate
zone; tall, perennial herbs, with thick, short, poisonous rootstocks;
stems tall and leafy, more or less hairy; leaves broad, plaited, with
conspicuous veins; flowers more or less downy, polygamous, whitish or
greenish, in a cluster, their six, separate divisions colored alike,
adhering to the base of the ovary, without glands, or nearly so, and
without claws; stamens opposite the divisions, with heart-shaped
anthers; styles three; capsule three-lobed, with several flat,
broadly-winged seeds in each compartment. Veratrum is the ancient name
for Hellebore.
[Illustration: Zygadene--Z. elegans.
Death Camass--Zygadenus venenosus.]
[Sidenote: =False Hellebore=
_Veràtrum Califórnicum_
=Greenish-white
Spring
West=]
The leaves of this plant are its conspicuous feature. A few near
the top are long and narrow, but most of them are boat-shaped, with
heavy ribs, and from six to twelve inches long. They are bright
yellowish-green and, although somewhat coarse, the general effect is
distinctly handsome, as we see masses of them growing luxuriantly in
rich, moist meadows and marshes in the mountains. When they first come
up in the spring, the shoots are packed into green rosettes, in which
the leaves are intricately folded, but they soon grow to a height of
three to six feet. The flowers are beautiful, in fine contrast to
the coarse foliage. They measure about half an inch across and are
cream-white, streaked with green, and form a fine cluster about a foot
long. The flowers are far prettier and the plants handsomer than their
eastern relations and they flourish at an altitude of six to nine
thousand feet. The plants are supposed to be poisonous to cattle, but
in a recent bulletin of the Agricultural Experiment Station of the
State of Washington, it is reported as being a popular food with horses
and sheep, particularly the latter, which eat it greedily and without
ill effects.
There are several kinds of Hastingsia, perennials, with bulbs or
rootstocks; the stamens on the base of the perianth, with swinging
anthers; the ovary with a very short stalk and short style.
[Sidenote: =Reed-lily=
_Hastíngsia álba (Schoenolirion)_
=White
Summer
Oreg., Cal., Nev.=]
An attractive marsh plant, with a smooth, stiff, bluish stem, over
three feet tall, springing from a cluster of long, narrow, sword-like
leaves. The slightly sweet-scented flowers are white, about half an
inch across, forming a long, graceful, fuzzy wand of bloom, which has a
pretty silvery effect and looks interesting at a distance, but is not
very striking close by, as the flowers are too colorless. The seeds are
black and shiny.
[Illustration: False Hellebore--Veratrum Californicum.
Reed Lily--Hastingsia alba.]
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: =Amole Soap Plant=
_Chlorógalum pomeridiànum_
=Silvery-white
Summer
California=]
There are several kinds of Chlorogalum. This odd plant springs from
a big bulb, which is covered with coarse brown fiber and often shows
above the ground. The leaves are sometimes over two feet long, with
rippled margins, look like very coarse grass, and usually spread out
flat on the ground. The plants are conspicuous and look interesting
and we wonder what sort of flower is to come from them. Then some day
in late summer we find that a rather ugly, branching stalk, four or
five feet tall, has shot up from the center of the tuft of leaves.
The branches are covered with bluish-green buds, and we watch with
interest for the bloom, but we may easily miss it, for the flowers
are very short-lived and come out only for a little while in the
afternoons. In the lowlands the flowers are rather scattered and
straggling, but in Yosemite they are lovely, close by. Each flower
is an inch or more across and looks like an airy little lily, with
six spreading divisions, white, delicately veined with dull-blue, and
they are clustered along the branches, towards the top of the stalk,
and bloom in successive bunches, beginning at the bottom. When they
commence to bloom, the tips of the petals remain caught together until
the last minute, when suddenly they let go and spring apart and all
at once the dull stalk, like Aaron's rod, is adorned with several
delicate clusters of feathery silver flowers. The thread-like style is
slightly three-cleft at the tip and the capsule has one or two blackish
seeds in each cell. The bulbs form a lather in water and are used as
a substitute for soap by the Indians and Spanish-Californians, and as
food by the Pomo Indians, who cook them in great pits in the ground.
_Pomeridianum_ means "in the afternoon."
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Soap Plant--Chlorogalum pomeridianum.]
Wild Onions are easily recognized by their characteristic taste and
odor. They mostly have coated bulbs; their leaves are long and narrow,
from the base; the flower-stalk bears a roundish, bracted cluster of
rather small, white, pink, or magenta flowers, on slender pedicels,
their six divisions nearly alike and each with a stamen attached to its
base. The bracts enclose the buds, before blooming, in a case and the
capsule contains six, black, wrinkled seeds. There are numerous kinds,
very widely distributed, not easily distinguished, some resembling
Brodiaea, but the latter never smell of onion. _Allium_ is the Latin
for "garlic."
[Sidenote: =Pink Wild Onion=
_Állium acuminàtum_
=Pink
Spring, summer
Northwest=]
From four to ten inches high, with a few leaves. Before blooming, the
flower cluster is enveloped in two papery bracts, forming a beautiful
pink and white, iridescent case, the shape of a turnip, at the tip of
the stalk. Later these bracts split apart and disclose a cluster of
pretty flowers, usually very deep pink in color, the divisions each
with a darker line on the outside, the anthers pale-yellow. This is
very gay and attractive, often growing in patches on dry hillsides and
fields. The flowers last a long time in water, gradually becoming paler
in color and papery in texture. The bulb is marked with veins.
[Sidenote: =Wild Onion=
_Állium biscéptrum_
=Pink, white
Spring
Utah, Nev., Cal.=]
Six to ten inches tall, with two slightly thickish leaves, and usually
two slender flower stalks, each bearing a graceful cluster of starry,
white, pink or pinkish-purple flowers, each petal delicately striped
with pinkish-brown, the anthers pink, the ovary green, with three,
tiny, double crests. These flowers are exceedingly delicate and pretty,
growing among rocks in shady canyons. The bulb is usually red-coated.
The flower cluster of _Allium serràtum_ is much more compact than the
last and the pink flowers change to deep purplish-pink as they fade,
making a pretty, round, papery head, about an inch and a half across.
Common on low hills in California.
[Illustration: Wild Onion--Allium acuminatum.]
[Illustration: Wild Onions.
Allium bisceptrum.
Allium serratum.]
There are many kinds of Brodiaea, among the prettiest western flowers.
They have a small, solid bulb, coated with brownish fibers. The stem
bears a bracted, roundish head of flowers at the top, the pedicels
varying in length. Their leaves, all from the root, are grasslike and
soon wither and the flowers dry up, become papery, and remain on the
stalk, sometimes keeping form and color for some time. The stamens
are in two sets and are attached to the flower-tube, their filaments
often winged. Sometimes three of the stamens are without anthers and
their filaments are broadened, so that they look like small petals
alternating with the ordinary stamens.
[Sidenote: =Grass Nuts.
Blue Dicks.
Covena.=
_Brodiaèa capitàta_
=Blue, violet
Spring
California=]
All through the spring these lovely flowers grow abundantly all over
the hills and fields of California. The slender stalks vary from a few
inches to two feet tall. The flowers are usually purplish-blue, but
vary from deep-violet to white and are rather translucent in texture.
They measure over half an inch across and grow in a cluster of seven or
eight flowers, with several membranous, purplish bracts at the base.
There are six anthers. The three inner stamens are winged and form a
crown in the throat of the flower-tube. These Brodiaeas last a long
time in water and are great favorites everywhere. The little bulbs are
edible and give the name of Grass Nuts. There are several other names,
such as Cluster Lily and Hog-onion. The name Wild Hyacinth is poor,
as it does not resemble a hyacinth in character. _B. capitàta var.
pauciflòra_ of Arizona is similar, except that the bracts are white.
Covena is the Arizona name.
[Sidenote: =Ookow=
_Brodiaèa congésta_
=Blue, violet
Spring, summer
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]
Much like the last, except that only three of the stamens have anthers
and the stem is sometimes as much as five feet tall. This grows on open
hills in the Coast Ranges.
[Illustration: Covena--Brodiaea capitata var. pauciflora.]
[Illustration: Ookow--Brodiaea congesta.]
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: =Harvest Brodiaea=
_Brodiaèa grandiflòra (Hookera coronaria)_
=Blue
Summer
Cal., Oreg., Wash.=]
In early June, at the time of the hay harvest, these handsome flowers,
which look like clusters of little blue lilies, begin to appear among
the dried grass of the hillsides and in open places in the woods. They
vary in height from a few inches to over a foot and the number of
flowers in a cluster also varies very much. Sometimes there are as many
as ten of the beautiful blossoms, an inch or more long, with pedicels
unequal in length and from one to four inches long, in a large cluster
at the top of the stalk, with several, whitish, papery bracts at the
base of the cluster. The color of the flowers is usually a deep bright
blue shading to violet and the six divisions grow paler toward the
base and have a brown stripe on the outside; the buds are greenish,
striped with brown. The stamens are translucent white, three ordinary
stamens, with long erect anthers, alternating with three without
anthers, the latter tongue-shaped and petal-like. The leaves, which are
thickish and about the same length as the stalk, have withered away
before the flowers bloom. This plant very much resembles Ithuriel's
Spear, _Triteleia laxa_, but three of the stamens are without anthers
and the ovary is not on a long stalk. It is the commonest kind around
San Francisco. B. _minor_ is much the same, but a smaller plant with
fewer and smaller flowers. The three outer divisions are narrow, with
pointed tips, and the inner blunt and broad, and the sterile stamens
are notched and longer than the fertile ones. This grows on dry hills
and plains in middle and southern California.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Brodiaea minor.
Harvest Brodiaea--B. grandiflora.]
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: =Twining Brodiaea=
_Brodiaèa volùbilis._ (_Stropholirion Californicum_)
=Pink
Summer
California=]
This is a strange, rather grotesque-looking plant, with its slightly
roughish, leafless, reddish stem contorted into curious curves,
occasionally quite short but usually enormously long, sometimes as
much as eight feet, and twining awkwardly in a snake-like way around
and over the bushes in its neighborhood. There are sometimes a few
long narrow leaves lying on the ground, but when the flower blooms
they usually seem to have withered away. The flower-cluster is quite
compact, sometimes six inches across, comprising from eighteen to
twenty flowers, with several, large, pink, papery bracts. The flowers
are rather pretty, dull pink outside but paler inside, the buds are
deeper and more purplish pink, both of dry papery texture. The flowers
are over half an inch across, their tubes and buds are six-angled, and
they have three stamens with anthers and wings, alternating with three,
notched, petal-like stamens, without anthers. In the spring the stem
grows rapidly for several weeks and then the flower cluster begins to
come out at the tip. If the stem is broken off the flower comes out
just the same and the stem keeps on growing, even if it is brought into
the house. These curious plants are found in the foothills of the Coast
Ranges and the Sierra Nevada Mountains and may be seen in open sunny
places along the stage route from Yosemite to Wawona. In the woods
near Wawona I saw it twining around a very tall white larkspur and
the combination was exceedingly pretty. The capsule is egg-shaped and
pointed, the seeds black and angled.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Twining Brodiaea--Brodiaea volubilis.]
[Illustration]
There are four kinds of Bloomeria, all Californian, resembling
Brodiaea, but the stamens unlike. They have a fibrous-coated, solid
bulb, long narrow leaves, and a bracted cluster of many flowers, at
the top of a tall flower-stalk. The flowers are yellow, with six,
nearly equal, spreading divisions, the six stamens on the base of the
divisions, with slender filaments, which with a microscope are seen to
have a short, two-toothed, hairy appendage at base. These are united
and form a little cup surrounding the base of the stamens. The style is
club-shaped, with a three-lobed stigma. The roundish capsule, beaked
with the style, contains several, angular, wrinkled seeds in each cell.
[Sidenote: =Golden Stars=
_Bloomèria aùrea_
=Yellow
Spring, summer
California=]
In late spring the meadows around Pasadena and other places in the
Coast Range are bright with pretty clusters of Golden Stars. The plant
is from six to eighteen inches tall, springing from a small bulb,
covered with brown fibers, with a long, narrow, grasslike leaf, and a
large flower-cluster, sometimes comprising as many as fifty blossoms,
at the top of the stalk. The flowers, about an inch across, with
pedicels from one and a half to two inches long, are orange-yellow,
the spreading divisions each striped with two dark lines, and the
anthers are bright green. This looks very much like Golden Brodiaea,
but the latter has no cup at the base of the stamens. It grows in the
southern part of California and is abundant wherever it is found. _B.
Clevelandi_ is much the same, but the flowers are striped with green
and the numerous buds are green, so that it is less golden and the
general effect is not so good. It has numerous narrow leaves.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Golden Stars--Bloomeria aurea.]
Triteleias resemble Brodiaeas, but they have six, swinging anthers and
the ovary has a stalk.
[Sidenote: =Indian Hyacinth=
_Triteleìa grandiflòra (Brodiaea Douglasii)_
=Blue
Spring, summer
Northwest and Utah=]
Though the general appearance of the plant is very different, the
individual flowers of this beautiful plant very much resemble the bells
of a Hyacinth, for they have the same waxy, semi-translucent texture.
The bluish-green leaves, folded lengthwise and withering before the
flower, are sometimes a foot long and the flower-stalk often reaches a
height of two feet and bends beneath the weight of its lovely crown of
blossoms. The cluster has four papery bracts at the base and is from
three to four inches across, comprising about a dozen flowers, each
nearly an inch long. They are pale-violet, with a bright-blue mid-vein
on each division, the general effect being blue, with a white pistil
and six stamens in two rows, all with blue anthers and the outer ones
with broad, white filaments. It is wonderful to find these lovely and
exotic-looking flowers, delicately scented, gleaming in the shadow of
a dusky oak thicket or a deep canyon. They last a long time in water,
becoming papery as they wither.
[Sidenote: =White Brodiaea=
_Triteleìa hyacinthìna (Brodiaea lactea)_
=White
Spring
Cal., Oreg., Wash.=]
From one to two feet high, with very pretty flowers, about half an inch
long, delicately striped with green on the outside, with six equal
stamens, their filaments broad, triangular and slightly united at
base, with yellow or purple anthers, and a green pistil. The leaf is
grasslike, but thickish, and as long as the flower-stalk. These flowers
are quite common and last a long time in water.
[Sidenote: =Ithuriel's Spear=
_Triteleìa láxa (Brodiaea)_
=Blue, purple
Spring
Cal., Oreg.=]
Very much like Harvest Brodiaea but rather taller, with more flowers in
the cluster, and less waxy in texture, varying in color from blue to
violet and occasionally white. This is common on hillsides and in adobe
fields. The rather fanciful name was suggested by the spear carried by
Milton's angel Ithuriel.
[Illustration: Indian Hyacinth--Triteleia grandiflora.]
[Illustration: White Brodiaea--Triteleia hyacinthina.
Ithuriel's Spear--Triteleia laxa.]
There are one or two kinds of Brevoortia.
[Sidenote: =Fire-cracker Flower=
_Brevoòrtia Ida-Màia (Brodiaea coccinea)_
=Red and green
Spring
Cal., Oreg.=]
A handsome plant, most extraordinary both in form and color. The stem
is from one to three feet tall, with a few grasslike leaves, and bears
a large cluster of six to thirteen flowers, one or two inches long,
hanging on slender, reddish pedicels. They have bright-crimson tubes
and apple-green lobes, sometimes turned back, showing the tips of the
three pale-yellow anthers. There are also three stamens without anthers
and broadened so that they look like three white or yellowish petals.
The buds are also crimson, tipped with green, and the whole color
scheme is wonderfully brilliant and striking. This grows in mountain
canyons and on wooded hillsides, blooming in late spring.
* * * * *
There are several kinds of Muilla, much like Brodiaea and very much
like Allium, but with no onion taste or smell.
[Sidenote: =Muilla=
_Muílla marítima_
=White
Spring
Cal., Nev.=]
A slender little plant, sometimes rather pretty, from three to nine
inches tall, with sweet-scented flowers, about three-eighths of an inch
or less across, white or greenish, striped with green outside, with
six, bluish, swinging anthers. This grows in alkaline fields, on sea
cliffs and mesas.
* * * * *
There are a good many kinds of Erythronium, all but one from North
America, and, East and West, they are among our prettiest flowers. They
have deep, membranous-coated, solid bulbs; a pair of netted-veined,
unequal leaves, sometimes mottled with brown; flowers without bracts,
large, nodding and bell-shaped, with usually six divisions, all
colored alike, the tips turning back, each with a nectar-groove, and
each with two or four little scales at base, or only the three inner
divisions with scales; stamens on the receptacle, anthers not swinging;
style more or less three-lobed; capsule more or less oblong and
three-angled. The younger plants are often flowerless, with only one
broad leaf, with a long leaf-stalk. The name is from a Greek word
meaning "red," though these flowers are mostly yellow. The common name,
Dog-tooth Violet, is old, and suggested by the little, white, toothlike
offshoot often found on the bulb, but of course they are not in the
least like Violets. In California they are often called Chamise Lily,
and sometimes Adam and Eve, because the plant often bears a large and a
small flower at the same time. Mr. Burroughs would like to call it Fawn
Lily, on account of the mottled leaves of some kinds, which slightly
suggest the ears of a fawn. Adder's-tongue, probably suggested by the
long forked pistil, is also an old and usual name.
[Illustration: Muilla maritima.
Fire-cracker Flower--Brevoortia Ida-Maia.]
[Sidenote: =Avalanche Lily
Dog-tooth Violet=
_Erythrònium montànum_
=White
Summer
Northwest=]
An exquisite kind, peculiarly graceful in form, with from one to nine,
pure-white flowers, nearly three inches across, each petal prettily
ornamented at the base with some orange-colored markings, arranged in
a symmetrical scalloped pattern. The anthers are orange-yellow, the
pistil white, the buds are pinkish and the leaves are very bright green
and not mottled. This is very common around Mt. Rainier.
[Sidenote: =Glacier Lily
Dog-tooth Violet=
_Erythrònium parviflòrum_
=Yellow
Summer
Northwest=]
A lovely flower, much like _E. grandiflorum_, but the anthers are white
or pale yellow. Around Mt. Rainier these beautiful plants often grow in
large patches at the edge of the snow, alongside of the Avalanche Lily,
_E. montanum_, but the two kinds do not seem to mingle.
[Sidenote: =Easter Bells
Dog-tooth Violet=
_Erythrònium grandiflòrum_
=Yellow
Spring, summer
Northwest and Utah=]
One of the loveliest of a charming group, growing in rich northern
woods. The delicately-scented flowers, from one to six on a stalk, are
about two inches across, clear yellow shading to white at the base,
with purplish-red anthers, turning brown. A patch of these flowers
bordering the edge of a glacier, as if planted in a garden-bed,
is a sight never to be forgotten. Pushing their bright leaves right
through the snow they gayly swing their golden censers in the face
of winter and seem the very incarnation of spring. There are several
similar kinds. In the Utah canyons these flowers in early spring are a
wonderful sight, covering the wooded slopes with sheets of gold, and
they seem to me to be the largest and handsomest of their clan, growing
at an altitude of six thousand to eleven thousand five hundred feet,
and blooming from March to July according to height. Easter Bells is a
Utah name.
[Illustration: Dogtooth Viole--Erythronium grandiflorum.]
[Illustration: Avalanche Lily--Erythronium montanum.
Glacier Lily--E. parviflorum.]
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: =Desert Lily=
_Hesperocállis undulàta_
=White
Spring
Cal., Ariz.=]
This is the only one of its kind, a wonderfully beautiful desert
plant, much like an Easter Lily. The stout, pale, bluish stem, from
six inches to two feet tall, has a delicate "bloom" and springs from a
graceful cluster of narrow leaves, which are a foot and a half long,
spreading widely, but not lying quite flat on the ground. They are
pale bluish-green, with a narrow, crinkled, white border and folded
lengthwise. The buds are bluish and the lovely flowers are about three
inches long and pure-white, delicately striped with pale-green and
blue on the outside, with yellow anthers and a white stigma, and with
a papery bract at the base of each pedicel. The flowers are slightly
fragrant and become papery and curiously transparent as they wither.
In dry seasons these plants do not bloom at all, but the slightest
moisture will cause them to send up a stout stem and crown it with
exquisite blossoms, which look extraordinarily out of place on the
arid desert sand around Yuma and Ft. Mohave. The bulb is eaten by the
Indians.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Desert Lily--Hesperocallis undulata.]
[Illustration]
Lilies, the "lords of gardens," are perhaps the most beautiful
and popular flowers everywhere and there are some wonderful ones
in the West. They have tall, smooth, leafy stems, springing from
scaly bulbs; large showy flowers, solitary or in terminal clusters;
smooth, netted-veined leaves, often in whorls, and leaflike bracts.
The flower-cup is funnel-formed, or bell-shaped, and has six, equal,
spreading divisions, with a honey-bearing groove at the base of
each; the stamens, with long anthers, swinging from the tips of long
filaments; a long pistil, with a three-lobed stigma and the capsule
oblong, with two rows of flat seeds in each of its cells. There are no
true Lilies in Utah.
[Sidenote: =Small Tiger Lily=
_Lílium párvum_
=Orange-red
Summer
Cal., Oreg.=]
These tall plants carry a brilliant crown of small lilies, glowing like
jewels in the dark moist woods they love. The stem is from one and a
half to six feet high, covered with a slight down that rubs off, and
springs from a small bulb with short, thick scales. The long, pointed,
rich-green leaves are in whorls of five or six below, more scattered
towards the top of the stalk. The flowers are rather more than an inch
long, yellow at the base of the petals, shading through orange to
vermilion at the tips and dotted with crimson in the throat. Usually
there are six or seven in a cluster, but they have been found with many
more in favorable situations and single plants in Yosemite have been
seen with as many as thirty blossoms. The capsule is roundish and less
than an inch long. These little Lilies are among the most attractive of
their kind and grow somewhat freely in the high Sierras to an altitude
of seven thousand feet and as far north as Oregon.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Small Tiger Lily--Lilium parvum.]
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: =Washington Lily
Shasta Lily=
_Lílium Washingtoniànum_
=White
Summer
Cal., Oreg.=]
In the Sierras, at an altitude of from three to over seven thousand
feet, and as far north as the Columbia River, we may be fortunate
enough to find this glorious Lily, growing in the forest in moderate
shade and protected by the chaparral. It is not rare but nowhere
very abundant. I shall never forget finding a group of three or
four, growing near a huge fallen tree, in the woods at Wawona near
Yosemite, where it is very fine. Their raiment is even more "white
and glistering" than the cultivated Easter Lilies. The smooth, stout,
purplish stem is from two to five feet high, adorned all the way up
with successive whorls of handsome dark-green leaves, three or four
inches long, thin in texture, with rippling margins, and shining as
if they had been varnished. There are from two to twenty blossoms of
shining white, each one from three to four inches long and as much
across. The petals are cleft to the base, spreading wide apart when the
flower is fully open, sometimes finely dotted with purple, and becoming
purplish in fading. The anthers are yellow and the pistil green, and
the bulb is large, with thin scales. The scent is delicious, having a
whiff of spicy carnation added to the usual lily fragrance. This is
never found in the Coast Range and is the only pure white American
Lily. Shasta Lily is a variety with a small bulb. _L. Párryi_, the
Lemon Lily, of southern California and Arizona, is similar in the form
of its flowers, which are large and clear yellow, dotted lightly with
deeper yellow. It grows in shady, moist spots in cool canyons and is
very beautiful.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Washington Lily--Lilium Washingtonianum.]
[Sidenote: =Leopard Lily=
_Lílium pardalìnum_
=Orange
Summer
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]
A magnificent plant, from three to six feet tall, with bright-green
leaves, thin in texture, smooth but not shiny, and mostly in whorls.
The stem is crowned by a splendid cluster of flowers, usually about
half a dozen together, but sometimes as many as thirty on one stalk.
They measure three or four inches across and are pale-orange outside
and deep-orange inside, spotted with maroon, often blotched with
orange-yellow in the throat and tipped with scarlet. The anthers are
purplish, changing to reddish-brown, and the pistil is bright-green.
These plants often grow in large companies, in moist spots in the
mountains, and are unrivaled in decorative beauty and brilliancy of
coloring.
[Sidenote: =Tiger Lily=
_Lílium Columbiànum_
=Orange
Summer
Wash., Oreg.=]
A good deal like the last, but not so large. The petals are more turned
back and they are orange-color all over, dotted with dark-red, and the
anthers are pale orange-color, ripening to golden-brown. This is common
in the Hood River Valley.
[Sidenote: =Ruby Lily
Chaparral Lily=
_Lílium rubéscens_
=White, pink
Summer
Cal., Oreg.=]
A glorious plant, from two to five feet tall, with leaves mostly in
whorls, with rippled edges. The stem bears a magnificent cluster of
blossoms, most wonderful in coloring, for the buds and young flowers
are white, dotted with purple inside, with yellow anthers and a
pale-green pistil, but they gradually change to pink, and deepen to
ruby-purple as they fade, and the anthers and pistil also darken in
color. The effect of the whole cluster is therefore white at the top,
shading through pink to almost crimson below. The flowers are even more
deliciously fragrant than the Washington Lily, which they resemble,
except that they are not quite so large as the latter and stand more
erect and the petals are not so spreading. This usually grows among
chaparral in the Coast Ranges.
[Illustration: Tiger Lily--Lilium Columbianum.
Leopard Lily--Lilium pardalinum.]
There are many kinds of Fritillaria, natives of the north temperate
zone. In the East there are only cultivated ones, such as the familiar
Crown Imperial, but we have a number growing wild in the West. They
have bulbs with round, thick scales, developing into bulblets and
sometimes resembling grains of rice. The flowers are bell-shaped,
and nodding, with separate and nearly equal divisions, each with
a nectar-spot at its base. They resemble Lilies, but the style is
three-cleft, the honey-gland is a shallow pit and the flowers are
smaller. The capsule is roundish and six-angled, containing numerous
flat seeds. It is conspicuous and perhaps suggested the Latin name,
meaning "dice-box."
[Sidenote: =Bronze Bells
Brown Fritillary=
_Fritillària atropurpùrea_
=Brown
Spring, summer
West=]
This plant is beautiful and decorative, and yet there is something
weird about it. The flowers, an inch or more across, grow four or
five in a cluster, on a smooth stalk about a foot tall, the long,
narrow leaves scattered or in whorls. The bells, nodding on slender
flower-stalks, are very unusual in coloring. They are greenish-yellow,
streaked and spotted with maroon, and the long curling tips of the
three-pronged pistil project like the forked tongue of an adder, so
that somehow we feel that, in a previous existence, beautiful as it
is now, it may have been a toad or some reptile. When we found this
flower growing in the Grand Canyon, halfway down Bright Angel trail,
it seemed entirely suitable to the mysterious spirit of the place. The
general effect is bronze-color and the attractive name of Bronze Bells,
or Mission Bells, is very appropriate. It has a small bulb of numerous,
roundish scales. The pistils are often rudimentary.
[Sidenote: =Yellow Fritillary=
_Fritillària pùdica_
=Yellow
Spring
West, except Ariz.=]
A pretty little flower, a favorite with children, growing on grassy
plains, with a smooth stem about six inches tall, and smooth, somewhat
thickish, alternate or whorled leaves. The nodding flowers, about an
inch long, are usually single, but sometimes as many as six on a stalk,
various shades of yellow and orange, tinged with crimson and fading
to dull-red. The smooth bulb is pure white, and made up of a number
of rounded, thickish scales not resembling grains of rice, so the
name Rice Root is not appropriate and the local Utah names, Crocus,
Snowdrop, and Buttercup are absurd.
[Illustration: Bronze Bells--Fritillaria atropurpurea.]
[Illustration: Yellow Fritillary--Fritillaria pudica.]
There are several kinds of Yucca, natives of North and Central America;
large plants, with dagger-like leaves, usually with long, thread-like
fibers along the margins; flowers with bracts, nodding in a terminal
cluster, somewhat bell-shaped, with six, thickish, white divisions;
stamens short, with thickened filaments and small anthers; ovary with
three united stigmas; capsule containing many, flat, black seeds. The
flowers are pollinated by a little white moth, which lays its eggs in
the ovary, but previously gathers pollen from many flowers and pushes
it against the stigma after the eggs have been laid.
[Sidenote: =Our Lord's Candle
Spanish Bayonet=
_Yúcca Whípplei_
=White
Spring, summer
Cal., Ariz.=]
A noble plant, with no trunk, but sending up a magnificent shaft
of flowers, from five to fifteen feet tall, springing from a huge,
symmetrical bunch of dagger-like, bluish-green leaves. The cluster is
composed of hundreds of waxy, cream-colored blossoms, sometimes tinged
with purple, two inches across, crowded so closely together along the
upper part of the stalk that the effect is a great, solid mass of
bloom, three feet long. The white filaments are swollen, tipped with
pale-yellow anthers; the pistil cream-color, with green stigmas. The
large, white bracts are stiff and coarse, something like parchment,
folded back so that the pinkish stalk is ornamented with a series
of white triangles, symmetrically arranged. A hillside covered with
hundreds of these magnificent spires of bloom, towering above the
chaparral, is a wonderful sight. After they have blossomed, the tall,
white stalks remain standing for some time, so that the hills look as
if they had been planted with numbers of white wands.
The genus Cleistoyucca resembles Yucca, but the divisions of the flower
are very thick and there is no style.
[Sidenote: =Joshua Tree
Tree Yucca=
_Cleistoyúcca arboréscens (Yucca)_
=Greenish-white
Spring, summer
Cal., Ariz., Utah=]
A tree, grotesque and forbidding in aspect, but with a weird sort of
beauty, looming black against the pale desert landscape, with a great,
thick, rough trunk, fifteen to thirty feet high, and a few thick,
contorted branches, stretching out like a giant's arms and pointing
ominously across the sandy waste. The branches are thatched with
the shaggy husks of dead leaves and from their tips they thrust out
a great bunch of dagger-like leaves and a big, ponderous cluster of
pallid, greenish flowers or heavy, yellowish fruits. The coarse flowers
are about two inches across, with a clammy smell like toadstools, and
the bracts are dead white. This grows in the Mohave Desert and is at
its best around Hesperia, where one may see the most fantastic forest
that it is possible to imagine. Elsewhere it is smaller and more
like other Yuccas in shape. It was called Joshua Tree by the early
settlers, it is said because they fancied that its branches pointed
towards the Promised Land. The fruits are relished by the Indians, who
utilize the fibers from the leaves for weaving baskets, ropes, hats,
horse-blankets, etc., and make a pulp from the stems, used for soap.
[Illustration: Our Lord's Candle--Yucca Whipplei.
[very small part of cluster]]
[Illustration]
* * * * *
There are several kinds of Trillium, of North America and Asia; with
tuberous root-stocks; three, netted-veined leaves, in a whorl at the
top of the stem; a single flower with three, green sepals, three
petals, six, short stamens, and three styles; capsule berry-like and
reddish, containing many seeds. The Latin name means "triple."
[Sidenote: =Wake-robin
Birthroot=
_Tríllium ovàtum_
=White
Spring, summer
Northwest=]
A charming plant, about a foot tall, with a single beautiful blossom,
set off to perfection by its large, rich green leaves. The flower is
two or three inches across, with lovely white petals, which gradually
change to deep pink. It is a pleasure to find a company of these
attractive plants in the heart of the forest, where their pure blossoms
gleam in the cool shade along some mountain brook. They resemble the
eastern Large-flowered Trillium and grow in the Coast Ranges.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Wake-robin--Trillium ovatum.]
There are three kinds of Xerophyllum.
[Sidenote: =Squaw-grass
Bear Grass=
_Xerophýllum tènax_
=White
Summer
Northwest=]
This is a magnificent plant, from two to six feet high, with a very
stout, leafy stem, springing from a very large tuft of wiry, grass-like
leaves, which spread out gracefully like a fountain. They are from one
to two and a half feet long, dark-green on the upper side and pale-gray
on the under, with rough edges. The imposing flower cluster is borne
at the top of the stalk and is about a foot long, broad at the base
and tapering to a blunt point, and composed of hundreds of fragrant,
cream-white flowers, each about half an inch across, with slender,
white pedicels, and so closely crowded together that the effect is
very solid, yet made feathery by the long stamens. It is a fine sight
to come across a company of these noble plants in a mountain meadow,
rearing their great shafts of bloom far above their neighbors. They are
very handsome around Mt. Rainier. They are said to blossom only once in
five or seven years and then to die. The leaves are used by Indians in
making their finest baskets. Unfortunately the size of this book does
not admit of an illustration.
* * * * *
There are two kinds of Maianthemum, an eastern one and the following,
which also grows in Europe and Asia.
[Sidenote: =Wild Lily-of-the-valley=
_Maiánthemum bifòlium_
=White
Spring, summer
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]
This is a very attractive, woodland plant, from four to fourteen inches
tall, with handsome, glossy, rich green leaves, and a rather stout
stem, bearing a pretty cluster, two or three inches long, of many,
small, waxy-white flowers, with four divisions. They have four stamens,
with thread-like filaments and small, yellowish anthers, the stigma
has two lobes and the berry is red. This grows in rich soil in the
mountains and is much handsomer than its eastern relation and strongly
sweet-scented. The Latin name means "blooming in May."
[Illustration: Wild Lily-of-the-valley--Maianthemum bifolium.]
There are several kinds of Streptopus, much like Disporum, but the
pedicels of the flowers are twisted or bent.
[Sidenote: =White Twisted Stalk=
_Stréptopus amplexifòlius_
=Whitish
Spring, summer
U. S. except Southwest=]
This is a fine plant, two or three feet tall, with a smooth, branching,
bending stem and handsome leaves, thin in texture, with strongly
marked veins and pale with whitish "bloom" on the under side. The
greenish-white flowers are about half an inch long and hang on very
slender, crooked pedicels, from under the leaves, and the oval berries
are red and contain many seeds. This grows in moist soil, in cold
mountain woods, up to an altitude of ten thousand feet and across the
continent. The Greek name means "twisted stalk."
[Sidenote: =Pink Twisted Stalk=
_Stréptopus ròseus_
=Pink
Spring, summer
U. S. except Southwest=]
A smaller plant, from one to two and a half feet tall, with a slightly
hairy stem, ornamented with pretty leaves, green on both sides and
hairy along the edges, and hung with pretty, little, dull purplish-pink
flowers, more or less streaked with deeper color and less than half an
inch long. This grows in the same sort of places as the last and is
also found across the continent.
* * * * *
There are two kinds of Stenanthella; smooth herbs, with bulbs and small
nodding flowers, in bracted clusters, the divisions of the perianth
separate, without glands or distinct claws; the short stamens inserted
at the base of the divisions; the styles three; the capsule with three
beaks and containing oblong, winged seeds.
[Sidenote: =Stenanthella=
_Stenanthélla occidentàlis_
=Brownish
Spring, summer
Northwest=]
This is a graceful plant, from ten to twenty inches tall, with long,
rather narrow leaves and a slender stem, terminating in a long spray of
about ten, rather pretty, little brownish-green or purplish flowers,
each less than half an inch long. This grows in shady places.
[Illustration: White Twisted Stalk--Streptopus amplexifolius.
Pink Twisted Stalk--Streptopus roseus.
Stenanthella occidentalis.]
There are several kinds of Camassia, one eastern; herbs with onion-like
bulbs, long, narrow leaves and thin, dry bracts. The flowers are blue
of various shades, with six, separate, somewhat spreading divisions,
each with a stamen on its base, the anthers swinging, the style
threadlike, with a three-cleft tip; the capsule three-lobed, with
several seeds in each compartment. Varieties of Camassia have long been
cultivated in European gardens. The name is derived from Quamash, the
Indian name for these plants.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: =Camass, Quamash=
_Camássia quámash_
=Blue
Summer
Northwest and Utah=]
Looking across the vivid green of wet meadows and marshes, the deep
blue patches of this flower are often conspicuous and beautiful. They
grow from one to over two feet high, taller than the grasslike leaves,
forming a loose cluster, with papery bracts. The flowers are from an
inch and a half to over two inches across, the six divisions spreading
out into a star. The buds are tinged with turquoise-blue and striped
with purple, giving a fine iridescent effect, and the flowers, which
fade very quickly, are often exceedingly handsome, varying in color
from dark-blue to white, but usually deep, bright purplish-blue, with
a green ovary, a long purple style and yellow anthers, with purple
filaments. They are larger and handsomer in northern California than in
Yosemite. Grizzly bears are fond of the bulbs and the Indians of the
Northwest prized them as a delicacy, indeed the Nez Percé war in Idaho
was caused by encroachments on a territory where they were abundant.
They were cooked elaborately in pits, care being taken to avoid the
poisonous bulbs of the Death Camass, which resemble them. The Indians
also boil the bulbs in water and make good molasses from them, which
they use on festive occasions. This is sometimes called Wild Hyacinth,
but the name is poor, as it does not resemble a hyacinth in character.
[Illustration: Camass--Camassia quamash.]
There are six kinds of Clintonia, of North America and Asia; with
creeping rootstocks and a few, broad root-leaves; flowers without
bracts, their divisions separate, equal or nearly so, each with a
stamen at its base; style with two or three, inconspicuous lobes; fruit
a berry. These plants were named in honor of De Witt Clinton, Governor
of New York, a naturalist, interested in botany, so Thoreau need not
have been so annoyed at their having been given this name.
[Sidenote: =Red Clintonia=
_Clintònia Andrewsiàna_
=Red, pink
Spring, summer
Oreg., Cal.=]
A magnificent plant, one or two feet high, with five or six,
exceedingly handsome, glossy, rich green leaves, very conspicuous and
sometimes a foot long, and a tall, slightly downy flower-stalk, usually
with a few flowers scattered along it, and crowned with a large,
roundish cluster of beautiful flowers. They are about three-quarters of
an inch long, very rich in color, a deep shade of warm reddish-pink, or
crimson, not common in flowers. The form of the cluster varies a good
deal; sometimes the flowers are not mostly at the top, but clustered
quite thickly along all the upper part of the stalk. The large,
deep-blue berries are very handsome and, altogether, this is one of
our most conspicuous and attractive woodland plants, especially when
growing in the deep shade of redwood forests.
[Sidenote: =Queen-cup White Clintonia=
_Clintònia uniflòra_
=White
Spring
Northwest=]
In rich moist soil, in shady woods, we find this lovely flower,
with a white chalice and heart of pale gold, surrounded by two
or three, beautiful, large, glossy leaves, resembling those of
Lily-of-the-valley, and fairly carpeting the ground in favorable
situations. The slender flower-stalk is hairy, six to ten inches
tall, and usually bears a single flower, an inch or more across, with
pure-white petals that soon drop off. The fruit is a handsome blue
berry.
[Illustration: C. uniflora.
Red Clintonia--C. Andrewsiana.]
There are a good many kinds of Vagnera, natives of America and Asia,
with a single stem, scaly below and leafy above; the leaves alternate,
with short leaf-stalks or none; the flowers small, the divisions equal
and spreading, white or greenish, in a cluster; the berry round,
usually with one or two seeds.
[Sidenote: =False Solomon's Seal.
Wild Spikenard=
_Vágnera amplexicàulis (Smilacina)_
=White
Spring
West=]
It is a pity that all flowers cannot have really individual names.
"False" is especially unattractive and "Solomon's Seal" is confusing,
as the flowers are not alike, but this is the old name used all over
the world, so it will have to stand, though unworthy of this pleasing
plant. It is from one to three feet high, with large, light-green
leaves, usually slightly downy on the under side. The flower-cluster
is sweet-scented and composed of numerous, very small, cream-white
flowers, the conspicuous parts of which are the stamens, white and
larger than the petals, giving a feathery appearance to the whole
cluster. The fruit is a light-red berry, very finely sprinkled with
dark-red dots. This fine tall plant is very decorative and is common in
rich moist woods. The name was given in honor of Wagner.
[Sidenote: =Star-flowered Solomon's Seal=
_Vágnera sessilifòlia (Smilacina)_
=White
Spring
West=]
A gracefully bending plant, from one to two feet high, springing from a
slender root-stock. The bright light-green leaves, without leaf-stalks
and clasping at base, have a slight "bloom" like some lily leaves and
are handsome and conspicuous, but not at all coarse, and are usually
very smooth, but sometimes minutely downy. The small, delicate,
cream-white flowers, on a very slender, angled flower-stalk, grow in a
loose cluster and the berries are reddish-purple or nearly black. This
charming plant sometimes forms large patches in moist, rich soil in
shady places and its pretty foliage is often very noticeable beside the
railroad tracks in Utah.
[Illustration: Star-flowered Solomon's Seal--V. sessilifolia.
False Solomon's Seal--Vagnera amplexicaulis.]
[Illustration]
Fairy Bells are graceful plants, growing in rich, moist, mountain
woods, with smoothish, or slightly hairy, branching stems, leafy above
and with scaly bracts below, springing from slender root-stocks; leaves
netted-veined, alternate, without leaf-stalks, smooth and thin in
texture and often clasping the stem; rather small, bell-shaped flowers,
hanging from under the leaves, with six stamens and a slender style,
with one or three stigmas; the fruit a yellow or red berry. _Disporum_
is from the Greek meaning "double-seed," as in some kinds there are two
seeds in each cell of the ovary.
[Sidenote: =Fairy Bells
Drops of Gold=
_Dísporum trachycàrpum (Prosartes)_
=Yellowish-white
Spring, summer
West=]
A very attractive mountain plant, growing near streams. It is from
nine to twenty-four inches tall, with an angled stem, pale green above
and reddish below. The delicate flowers, about half an inch long,
with a three-lobed green stigma and yellow anthers, grow singly or in
clusters of two or three, nodding shyly under the pretty leaves, which
are dull above and very shiny on the under side, with oddly crumpled
edges and set obliquely on the stem. The berry when unripe is orange
color and suggested the name Drops of Gold, but becomes bright red
when it matures in June. _D. Hookeri_ is similar, but the style is not
three-lobed and the leaves are slightly rough to the touch and are not
so thin or crumpled. They spread out so flat that they make a green
roof over the flowers, completely screening them from the passer-by.
This grows in shady woods, but not near streams.
[Illustration: Fairy Bells--Disporum trachycarpum.
Drops of Gold--Disporum Hookeri.]
Perhaps the most characteristic western flowers are the members of
the genus Calochortus. They grow freely all through the West, as far
north as British America, and down into Mexico, but they never get
east of Nebraska, so these gay and graceful flowers may be considered
the peculiar property of the West. Calochortus means "beautiful grass"
and the leaves are usually grasslike, the stems slender and the
flowers bright in color, decorative and interesting in form. They have
three sepals, often greenish, and three large, colored petals, with
a honey-gland, usually covered with hairs, at the base of each. They
are allied to true Tulips, so the popular name is suitable, and they
fall into three groups: Globe Tulips, with nodding, globular flowers,
and nodding capsules; Star Tulips, with erect, star-like flowers and
nodding capsules; and Mariposa Tulips, with large, somewhat cup-shaped
flowers and erect capsules. Mariposa means "butterfly" in Spanish
and is appropriate, for the brilliant hairy spots on the petals are
wonderfully like the markings of a butterfly's wing and the airy
blossoms seem to have but just alighted on the tips of their slender
stalks. They usually grow on dry open hillsides and their leaves
have often withered away before the flowers bloom. The various forms
run into each other, so that it is impossible to determine all the
different species. They have solid bulbs, some of which are edible,
considered a delicacy by the Indians and called Noonas.
[Sidenote: =Golden Lily Bell
Yellow Globe Tulip=
_Calochórtus amàbilis_
=Yellow
Spring
California=]
A charming plant, with pale bluish-green foliage, with a beautiful
"bloom," which sets off the clear-yellow blossoms to perfection. There
are from two to twenty flowers on each stem and the petals are smooth,
except for a neat, stiff fringe of hairs along the margins and the
matted hairs on the glands, which are often reddish. These lovely
flowers, common in northern California, are peculiarly fresh in color
and when growing among the grass in the shade of oak trees they have
the springlike charm of Daffodils in English woods.
[Illustration: Yellow Globe Tulip--Calochortus amabilis.]
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: =Satin-bell.
White Globe Tulip=
_Calochórtus álbus_
=White
Spring
California=]
Beautiful and popular flowers, with a great deal of individuality and
quite Japanese in the decorative arrangement of the graceful stems and
glossy, rich green foliage. The narrow root-leaf is over a foot long
and spreads on the ground and other smaller leaves are disposed along
the bending stem, which is from one to two feet tall and hung with
pretty light-green buds and beautiful drooping blossoms, over an inch
long, pearly white, sometimes tinged with lilac, with a satiny sheen
and delicate yet crisp in texture. The papery sepals are greenish-white
and the petals are sometimes tinged with purple at the base and are
prettily fringed with hairs along the edges and often cross their tips
in a very engaging way. They are covered inside with long, silky, white
or yellow hairs and the glands are crescent-shaped, with close, short,
sticky, white or yellow hairs, and form pale-green humps on the outside
of the petals; the anthers are cream-color and the pistil whitish. The
capsule is one or two inches long, with a short beak and brown seeds.
These plants grow on shady banks in the Coast Ranges and have several
pretty common names, such as Lantern of the Fairies and Alabaster
Tulip, as well as the misleading name Hairbell, which causes this
flower to be confused with the Harebell or Campanula.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Satin Bell--Calochortus albus.]
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: =White Star Tulip=
_Calochórtus nùdus_
=White
Summer
California=]
This is a delicate and charming little flower, growing best in meadowy
places in the woods of the Sierra Nevada Mountains at moderate
altitudes, sometimes to a height of over seven thousand feet. The
single, ribbonlike leaf is much taller than the flower-stalk, which
is only a few inches high and bears several pretty flowers, measuring
over an inch across, with pale-green sepals and three pure-white
or pale-lilac, fan-shaped petals, with a little notch in the edge,
almost without hairs and marked with a lilac crescent at the base; the
honey-gland is divided crosswise by a toothed scale and the anthers are
light blue. The nodding capsule is pointed at both ends.
[Sidenote: =White Pussy's Ears=
_Calochórtus Maweànus_
=White, gray
Spring
Cal., Oreg.=]
A charming little plant, with lovely little flowers, about an inch
across, with white or pale-lilac sepals and white petals, hairy all
over inside, often lilac at the base, the crescent-shaped gland covered
with violet hairs and the anthers and pistil lilac. Usually the general
effect is of a most delicate shade of gray and the little blossoms do
not droop, but look straight up at one from among the grass. This is
common in northern California.
[Sidenote: =Yellow Pussy's Ears.
Yellow Star Tulip.=
_Calochórtus Bénthami_
=Yellow
Spring
California=]
Much like the last in character, from three to seven inches tall, with
bluish-green, stiffish leaves and a few quaintly pretty flowers. They
are about an inch across, clear light-yellow, with smooth sepals and
the petals thickly covered with yellow hairs and sometimes brown at the
base. This is common in the Sierra foothills.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Star Tulip--Calochortus nudus.
Pussy's Ears--C. Maweanus.]
[Sidenote: =Butterfly Tulip
Mariposa Tulip=
_Calochórtus lùteus var. oculàtus_
=Many colors
Spring, summer
California=]
The commonest kind in northern California, found in both the Sierra
Nevada and Coast Mountains, and one of the most beautiful of all the
Mariposas. The broad petals, each about an inch and a half long, are
usually white, lilac, or yellowish, with an "eye" like that on a
peacock's feather, giving the name _oculatus_. Occasionally they are
deep rose-color, as in the colored picture, though this is not typical,
and have a vivid blotch of shaded maroon and crimson and an orange spot
on each petal, with some maroon-colored hairs at the base. The sepals
are striped with pink and maroon and twist into spirals as they fade;
the pistil and the blunt anthers are mauve; the honey-gland narrowly
crescent-shaped; the leaves pale-green and the delicate stem over a
foot tall. This Mariposa is extremely variable and seems sometimes to
merge into _C. venústus_, a similar kind, and gorgeous varieties of
both may be seen along the Yosemite road on the down grade to Wawona.
There are many similar Mariposas, but the casual flower-lover who
finds any of these beautiful flowers will probably be satisfied to
know that they are Butterfly Tulips, without going into the technical
peculiarities which differentiate them.
[Sidenote: =Yellow Mariposa Tulip=
_Calochórtus lùteus var. citrìnus_
=Yellow
Spring
California=]
A fine robust plant, about a foot tall, with a stout stem, light,
bright green leaves, and exceedingly handsome flowers, over two inches
across. The sepals are yellowish, with a black spot and streaks of
brown, and the petals are deep lemon-yellow, each with a rich maroon
spot near the center and a hairy, brown, crescent-shaped gland below,
often flecked with maroon at the margins and base, with cream-colored
anthers and a yellowish pistil. This is very much like a Tulip in
character and looks very gay and cheerful growing in green fields. The
typical _C. luteus_ is similar, but smaller and duller in color.
[Illustration: Butterfly Tulip--Calochortus luteus. var. oculatu.]
[Illustration: Yellow Mariposa Tulip--Calochortus luteus var.
citrinus.]
[Sidenote: =Orange Mariposa Tulip=
_Calochórtus Kénnedyi_
=Orange-red
Spring
Cal., Ariz.=]
A wonderful flower, exceedingly brilliant and unusual in color, not
quite like anything else in nature. The stout, firm stem is from
two inches to over a foot tall and the leaves are dark-green, with
a delicate bluish "bloom." The flowers are about two inches across,
with pale-green sepals, bordered with pale-pink and orange inside,
and beautiful petals, thick in texture and easily bruised, delicate
peach-color outside and bright orange-vermilion within, each petal
ornamented with a purplish gland, covered with matted hairs and crossed
with a band of long vermilion hairs. When the stems are very short
the flaming flowers look like Crocuses, sprouting out of the barren
desert soil, but when they are tall they have the gorgeous effect of
Tulips. These plants grow in the Mohave Desert, but are rather rare in
California. They are very abundant in the foothills and on the mountain
slopes of Arizona, giving a beautiful orange-red color to the landscape
for miles in spring, there being literally thousands in a small area.
[Sidenote: =Sego Lily
Mariposa Tulip=
_Calochórtus Nuttállii_
=White, pale lilac
Early summer
Ariz., Cal., Utah=]
These pretty flowers are about two inches across, their white petals
tinged with yellowish-green or lilac, and often delicately fluted at
the edges, often with hairy spots inside the petals at their base,
the whole flower very variable in coloring. These Mariposas grow all
through the Southwest. In the Grand Canyon they begin to come out early
in May, among the dry grasses halfway down the Bright Angel trail,
and are a lovely shade of clear lilac. The slender stem, about a foot
tall, often bears a small bulb near the base. It is called Sego Lily
(pronounced Sègo) in Utah and is the "State flower." Its bulbs formed
a substantial part of the food of the early Mormon pioneers when they
crossed the desert and the flower is therefore held in great esteem in
Utah.
[Illustration: Sego Lily--Calochortus Nuttallii.]
IRIS FAMILY. _Iridaceae._
A large family, widely distributed and found throughout our continent.
Perennial herbs, with bracts; the leaves long, narrow, toothless, and
sheathing; the flowers showy, perfect and regular, twisted in the bud,
not falling off in withering, of three and six parts; the three stamens
on the base of the sepals, their anthers turning outward; the single
style with three branches; the ovary inferior, becoming a three-celled,
usually three-angled, many-seeded capsule. This family is noticeably
distinguished from the Lily family by the inferior ovary, and from the
Amaryllis family by the three stamens.
There are many kinds of Iris. To the casual observer the flowers appear
to have nine petals of different sizes, but in reality there are three
sepals, three petals, and three petal-like branches of the style. The
three outer divisions, or sepals, are large and spread or turn down;
the three inner divisions, or petals, are usually narrower and are
erect; the style branches arch over and under each is a stamen. The
sepals and petals have claws, which are united below and form a tube;
the capsule is large and contains many, flat, black seeds, in one or
two rows in each cell; the large rootstock is usually fleshy. Iris is
from the Greek for "rainbow," in allusion to the variegated tints, and
Flower-de-luce from the French "fleur-de-lis," or "lily-flower." Many
odd and beautiful kinds are cultivated from the Old World. Orris-root
is made from the roots of a Florentine species.
[Sidenote: =Western Blue Flag=
_Ìris Missouriénsis_
=Violet, blue
Spring, summer
West, except Wash, and Oreg.=]
A very handsome and decorative plant, growing in large clumps,
in damp situations, from stout, creeping rootstocks. The stiff,
sword-shaped leaves, mostly shorter than the stems, are smooth and
light bluish-green and the stout stems, from one to two feet high,
bear usually two, pale-violet flowers, about three inches long,
emerging from thin, papery bracts. The sepals are white, or pale blue,
delicately veined with violet, with a yellow-veined rib down the
middle, the petals are pale blue or pale violet, veined with purple,
and the buds are yellowish, veined with brown. This grows in profusion
in the Yosemite meadows, at the foot of El Capitan, and is delicately
beautiful, but would be more effective if the coloring were a little
stronger.
[Illustration: Western Blue Flag-Iris Missouriensis.]
[Sidenote: =Douglas Iris=
_Ìris Douglasiàna_
=Purple, lilac, cream
Spring, summer
Cal., Oreg.=]
A beautiful kind, very common in the Coast Ranges. It grows in
patches, or singly, and has rather dark green leaves, longer than the
flower-stalks, and lovely flowers, which vary exceedingly in color.
Near the coast they are usually bluish-purple, but in mountain woods
they run from violet and mauve to pink, yellow, and white. They are
often striped with white and yellow, delicately veined with purple,
and measure three or four inches across. In the redwood forests, in
northern California, they are peculiarly large and beautiful, their
delicate tints of cream and straw-color, tinged with mauve and marked
with reddish-purple, and wonderfully set off by their dark forest
background. This kind often blooms throughout the rainy season, but
chiefly in early spring.
[Sidenote: =Hartweg's Iris=
_Ìris Hartwégi_
=Yellow and violet
Summer
California=]
This odd and pretty little Iris grows in half-dry, open forests, in
the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The many flower-stems, from six to twelve
inches tall, are overtopped by some of the long, narrow leaves and the
flowers are from one and a half to two inches long, either yellow,
veined with violet, or pale-violet, veined with purple. The two color
forms often grow together and attract much attention from tourists.
They look very pretty, springing from a carpet of fallen pine-needles,
in the forests along the Wawona road near Yosemite.
[Sidenote: =Ground Iris=
_Ìris macrosìphon_
=Blue, purple
Spring, winter
California=]
A beautiful kind, forming low clumps of many, very narrow leaves, from
five to twenty inches long and much taller than the flower-stalks. The
handsome flowers are over three inches across, bright purplish-blue,
the sepals veined with darker color and marked with a white
stripe. This is common on grassy hills near the coast and farther
inland becomes taller and paler in color. The flowers are slightly
sweet-scented and begin to bloom in January. The Hupa Indians used the
leaves for making twine and rope for their nets and snares. There are
many other beautiful western Irises.
[Illustration: Iris Douglasiana.]
There are numerous kinds of Sisyrinchium, attractive little plants,
all American, many from South America; with fibrous roots; grasslike
leaves; slender, flat stems, sometimes branching; papery and green
bracts and pretty flowers, that soon wither, on very slender pedicels,
the six spreading divisions all alike; the filaments of the stamens
united; the style branches slender, the capsule roundish, containing
round seeds.
[Sidenote: =Blue-Eyed Grass=
_Sisyrínchium béllum_
=Blue Summer
Cal., Oreg.=]
The deep blue stars of this pretty plant are a beautiful feature of the
fields near Santa Barbara, and in other parts of California, in summer;
in fact they are so plentiful in some places that they are a menace
to the farmers. They grow in clumps, about a foot tall, among the
grass. The stems are somewhat branching, the leaves are shorter than
the stem, and the bracts are about an inch long, green and sheathing.
There are about seven flowers on each stem, in a loose cluster, each
about an inch across and handsomer than their relations in the East.
They vary in tint from bright blue to purple, with a yellow "eye," and
their divisions are prettily notched at the tips, with a little prong.
The anthers are arrow-shaped, the style short, with three very small
stigmas, and the small, oddly-shaped, little capsule is dark-brown when
ripe, and perhaps suggested one of the common names, Nigger-babies. It
is called Azulea and Villela by Spanish-Californians.
[Sidenote: =Golden-Eyed Grass=
_Sisyrínchium Califórnicum_
=Yellow
Spring, summer
Cal., Oreg.=]
This is very much like Blue-eyed Grass, but the flowers are bright
yellow, the stems are about a foot tall, broadly winged and not
branching, and the leaves are somewhat broader. The pretty flowers are
nearly an inch across and there are from three to seven in a cluster.
The filaments are united at the base only, the style is cleft to
below the middle, and the small capsule is rather oblong. This grows
in swampy places near the ocean. _S. Arizònicum_ has yellow flowers
and branching stems and grows in Arizona. _S. Élmeri_ also has yellow
flowers, with purple lines, and is found in wet places in the Sierras.
When pressed and dried the yellow-flowered Sisyrinchiums stain the
paper reddish-purple.
[Illustration: Blue-eyed Grass--Sisyrinchium bellum.]
ORCHID FAMILY. _Orchidaceae._
A very large family, most abundant in the tropics; curious plants, with
oddly beautiful flowers. Perhaps because they are also rather rare they
seem to have a peculiar fascination for the public; in fact almost any
strangely-shaped flower is apt to be dubbed an orchid by the passer-by.
They are perennial herbs, with various kinds of roots, some of them
parasitic, usually with alternate, toothless leaves, the lower ones
sheathing the stem. In some kinds the leaves have dwindled to scales.
The flowers are perfect, irregular, with six divisions; the three
sepals are alike and colored like petals; two of the three petals are
alike, but the central one differs in size and shape and is called the
lip. This is conspicuously colored, often spurred, and contains nectar
for the attraction of "long-tongued" insects, on which these plants
depend mostly for cross-pollination. The mechanism for this purpose is
curious and interesting. The stigma is usually a broad sticky surface
and its style is united with the filaments and forms, in front of the
lip, a column which is usually capped by a single two-celled anther,
containing two clusters of pollen, one in each cell. Each cluster
consists of a few waxy grains, held together by cobweb-like threads,
which run together and terminate in a sticky disk. These disks adhere
to the insects, which push in to get the nectar, and are transported to
the gummy stigma of another flower. The inferior ovary develops into a
three-valved capsule, containing numerous minute seeds. Orchis is the
ancient Greek name.
There is only one kind of Cephalanthera in North America; with creeping
rootstocks; flowers in terminal spikes, with bracts; sepals and petals
nearly equal; petals somewhat united and hooded; lip more or less
pouched.
[Sidenote: =Phantom Orchis=
_Cephalanthèra Austínae_
=White
Summer
Northwest=]
In dense mountain forests these strange plants shimmer like pallid
ghosts among the dark trees. They are pure translucent white
throughout, stem and all, and the leaves have shrunk to white sheaths,
an inch or two long. The stems are one to two feet tall and bear spikes
of numerous flowers, each over half an inch long, with the lip shorter
than the sepals and petals, which are alike. They are beautiful
and yet not quite pleasing, for we feel instinctively that there is
something unnatural about them and, indeed, the strange absence of
any green coloring matter in their make-up indicates that they are
incapable of making their own food from the elements and draw their
nourishment from decaying vegetation, or are parasitic on other plants.
They range northward from Yosemite but are nowhere very abundant. I
found several growing near the trail from Little Yosemite Valley to
Cloud's Rest and a good many in the woods near the foot of Mt. Shasta,
where they seem to be quite common.
[Illustration: Phantom Orchis--Cephalanthera Austinae.]
There are several kinds of Serapias, widely distributed; tall, stout
herbs, with creeping rootstocks and leafy stems; the leaves plaited
lengthwise and clasping at base; the flowers with leafy bracts, in
terminal racemes. The flowers have no spur; the sepals and petals
are separate and nearly equal; the lip broad, free, concave below,
constricted near the middle.
[Sidenote: =Stream Orchis Chatter-box=
_Seràpias gigantèa (Epipactis)_
=Reddish and greenish-yellow
Summer
West, etc.=]
A handsome plant, decorative and curious in form and unusual in
coloring. It is from one to four feet tall, with a stout, leafy stem
bearing three to ten flowers and smoothish leaves, with prominent
veins. The sepals are reddish or greenish-yellow and the petals
pinkish, veined with maroon. The lip is pouched at the base, with
a winged margin and a pendulous tip, which swings freely as if on
a hinge, so that it quivers when the plant is shaken. Although the
flowers are very handsome this curious tremulous motion, which makes
them seem almost alive, gives them a quaint likeness to an old woman in
a sunbonnet, with a hooked nose and chattering jaw. They have a slight
scent and the plant is quite common along streams and in wet places,
in the West and in Colorado and Texas. Some botanists think it is
identical with a variety which grows in the Himalaya Mountains. It was
named for the Egyptian deity, Serapis.
[Illustration: Stream Orchis--Serapias gigantea.]
There are several kinds of Corallorrhiza, widely distributed in
the north temperate zone and growing in dense woods; pinkish or
straw-colored plants, more or less parasitic, with large roots
resembling branches of coral; the leaves all reduced to sheathing,
papery scales; the flowers in terminal racemes, without bracts, on
short pedicels, which turn down in fruit, mostly with a short spur, the
sepals and petals about equal, the upper ones curving in.
[Sidenote: =Coral-root=
_Corallorrhìza multiflòra_
=Reddish-yellow
Summer
Wash., Oreg., Cal., Utah=]
The curious knobby rootstock, shaped like a bit of coral, gives the
name to this strange and rather unwholesome looking plant. From living
on decayed vegetation it has lost its green leaves, and has only a
few papery sheaths in their place, and the thick, translucent stem is
pale and smooth, from one to two feet tall, pink at the base, shading
to golden-brown towards the top. The flowers, less than half an inch
across, are usually yellow, with reddish-brown tips, and the white,
three-lobed lip is spotted with purple. The buds are yellow and brown
and the whole color effect is very pretty, as if the plant were trying
to match the russet tints of the floor of the forest. The flowers vary
from several to many and grow in a long cluster, hanging down when
their seeds begin to ripen. This is widely distributed, growing also in
the East, but nowhere common.
[Sidenote: =Coral-root=
_Corallorrhìza Bigelòwii_
=Reddish-yellow
Summer
Wash., Oreg., Cal., Utah=]
This is a similar plant, but handsomer, with much larger flowers,
duller in coloring and striped not spotted. Instead of a spur the base
of the sepals is swollen over the ovary, which develops gradually into
an oblong fruit to which the flower still clings, so that the older
flowers, on the lower part of the stalk, give an odd effect of having
long, swollen necks. The seeds are small and numerous. There are other
kinds, similar in general effect.
[Illustration: Flowers of C. Bigelowii.
Coral-root--Corallorrhiza multiflora.]
There are numerous kinds of Limnorchis; the lower leaves clasping or
sheathing the stem; the flowers mostly in spikes or racemes; sepals
nearly equal, petals mostly smaller than the sepals; lip spreading
or drooping, not toothed or lobed, with a spur. The Latin name means
"marsh-dweller."
[Sidenote: =Sierra Rein Orchis=
_Limnórchis leucostàchys_ (_Habenaria_)
=White
Summer
Cal., Oreg., Wash.=]
Often in some favorable corner of a marsh, near the woods, we may see
a dozen of these lovely plants, their robust leafy stalks sometimes as
much as four feet tall, rearing their delicate spires of bloom above
the lush grass. The long narrow leaves are bright-green and smooth
and the numerous, small, delicate blossoms, sprinkled thickly along
the stem, are pure white, each with a very long spur like a little
tail, each with a green bract at the base of its little pedicel, and
deliciously fragrant. There are several similar kinds, mostly with
green flowers; this is the handsomest and least rare.
There are many kinds of Cypripedium, with large, broad leaves and one
or several, large, drooping flowers, with two fertile anthers, with
short filaments, one on each side of the column below the stigma, and a
conspicuous, petal-like, sterile anther, arching over the stigma. They
are easily known by the curious lip, which is a large inflated sac,
suggesting both the common names, Lady's Slipper and Indian Moccasin,
and the Greek, meaning "foot of Venus."
[Sidenote: =Mountain Lady's Slipper=
_Cypripèdium montànum_
=Brown and white
Summer
Northwest=]
Beautiful and decorative, with a stout, hairy stem, one to two feet
tall and a few handsome flowers, rich and harmonious though not
brilliant in coloring, with a lip about an inch long, dull-white,
veined with purple, and brownish or purplish sepals and petals, very
long, narrow, and twisted. This grows in mountain woods and is found
around Yosemite. There is a picture in Miss Parsons's _Wild Flowers of
California_. _C. Califórnicum_ is similar, but with more flowers, the
sepals and petals greenish-yellow, the lip pinkish. _C. parviflòrum_
has a yellow lip and purplish sepals and grows in northern woods,
across the continent. None of these plants is common.
[Illustration: Sierra Rein Orchis--Limnorchis leucostachys.]
[Illustration]
LIZARD-TAIL. _Saururaceae._
A small family; ours are perennial astringent herbs, with alternate,
toothless leaves, with leaf-stalks; flowers perfect, with bracts, in
a dense, terminal spike, without calyx or corolla; stamens generally
three or six; ovary with one to five stigmas; fruit a capsule or berry.
There are two kinds of Anemopsis.
[Sidenote: =Yerba Mansa=
_Anemópsis Califórnica_
=White
Spring
Cal., Ariz.=]
This plant bears several, large, cream-white flowers, which at the
first glance appear to have from five to eight petals and a long,
projecting knob in the center, but what appears to be a corolla is in
reality an involucre, about an inch and a half across, and surrounding
the base of a long, conical spike of numerous, small, greenish flowers.
These are half-sunk in the fleshy substance of the spike and have
no sepals or petals, but each has a small, white bract at its base,
so that the spike appears to be covered with scales symmetrically
arranged. The flower has from six to eight stamens on the base of
the ovary and from three to four stigmas. The ovaries, which are
superior, form small pods, opening at the top when ripe, so that in
the end the spike is neatly pitted with holes. The rather thick,
hollow, reddish stems are from six inches to two feet tall, covered
with hair, and the smooth, light-green leaves, from two to ten inches
long, are mostly from the root, with leaf-stalks which broaden at the
base and partly sheathe the stem. The creeping rootstocks are peppery
and acrid, used medicinally, and considered exceedingly valuable by
Spanish-Californians. These pretty, odd-looking plants grow in alkaline
or salty swamps in the south. The name is from the Greek meaning
"anemone" and "appearance," but the flowers do not look very much like
Anemones.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Yerba mansa--Anemopsis Californica.]
[Illustration]
SANDALWOOD FAMILY. _Santalaceae._
This is a very small family in this country, for they prefer the
tropics, and in those regions some are trees. Ours are usually
parasitic on the roots of their neighbors. They have toothless,
mostly alternate leaves, mostly without leaf-stalks or stipules, and
small flowers, with a four- or five-lobed calyx and no corolla. The
four or five stamens are opposite the calyx lobes, at the edge of a
fleshy disk, and the ovary is one-celled and inferior, with one style,
developing into a one-seeded fruit.
There are four kinds of Comandra, one of them European; smooth,
perennial herbs, with alternate leaves, and flowers in clusters,
without bracts. The calyx is more or less bell-shaped, usually with
five lobes, its tube lined with a disk, the stamens inserted at base of
the lobes and the anthers attached to the lobes by tufts of hairs.
[Sidenote: =Pale Comandra=
_Comándra pállida_
=Flesh-color, greenish, purplish
Spring, summer
Northwest, Nev., Utah, Ariz.=]
This is a rather pretty plant, growing from a few inches to about a
foot tall, branching and rather woody below, with pale-green, smooth,
slightly thickish, rather stiff leaves, which are reduced to pinkish
scales on the lower stem. The flowers are small, usually flesh-color,
thickish in texture, with slender pedicels, and form terminal, rather
flat-topped clusters. The fruit, which is about the size of a small
pea, is crowned by the remains of the calyx, like a rose-hip. This is
common on dry plains and hillsides and is noticeable because of its
pale and somewhat peculiar coloring.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Pale Comandra--C. pallida.]
[Illustration]
BIRTHWORT FAMILY. _Aristolochiaceae_
A rather small family, chiefly of warm countries, but widely
distributed; herbs or shrubs; the leaves alternate or from the root,
with leaf-stalks, more or less heart-shaped, without stipules; the
flowers perfect, mostly large, symmetrical or irregular in form, with
or without a corolla; the calyx with three or six lobes, or irregular;
the stamens six to many, inserted on the pistil; the ovary wholly or
partly inferior; the fruit a mostly six-celled capsule, containing many
seeds.
There are several kinds of Asarum.
[Sidenote: =Wild Ginger=
_Ásarum Hartwégi_
=Brown
Spring
Cal., Oreg.=]
The handsome leaves of this perennial are its conspicuous feature.
They have long, hairy leaf-stalks and are heart-shaped and toothless,
from three to five inches broad, dark rich green, prettily veined and
often also beautifully mottled with white, smooth on the upper surface
and hairy on the under. We notice them immediately in the damp, dark
woods they live in, but unless we look carefully we miss the single,
large, strange, purplish-brown flower, the color of dead leaves, which
nestles close to the ground as if trying to hide itself. This has
twelve stamens, with stout filaments, and six styles, united at the
base. There are no petals, but the hairy calyx has three lobes, which
are sometimes an inch and a half long, and have long points like tails.
The seed-vessel is roundish, crowned by the withered calyx and stamens.
The rootstock cannot be used as a substitute for ginger, but smells and
tastes very aromatic and pungent. This resembles the Wild Ginger of the
East, but is handsomer.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Wild Ginger--Asarum Hartwegi.]
BUCKWHEAT FAMILY. _Polygonaceae._
A large family, widely distributed, mostly herbs or low shrubs, with
toothless leaves, often with stipules sheathing the swollen joints of
the stem. The small flowers have no petals, the calyx usually resembles
a corolla and has from three to six divisions. There are from four to
nine stamens and a superior, mostly triangular, ovary, with two or
three styles or stigmas, becoming a dry, one-seeded fruit, generally
brown or black. The kind from which flour is made is cultivated
from northern Asia, and the name Buckwheat, from the German, means
"beech-wheat," because the grain resembles minute beech-nuts. There are
several common "weeds" belonging to this family, such as Dock, Sorrel,
and Smartweed.
Chorizanthes are low herbs, with branching stems, without stipules, the
leaves forming a rosette at the base and withering early. The small
flowers have six sepals and are clustered in small heads, usually one
flower in each papery involucre, which has from two to six teeth,
with bristles at the tips; stamens usually nine, on the base of the
perianth; styles three, with round-top stigmas.
[Sidenote: =Turkish Rugging=
_Chorizánthe fimbriàta_
=Pink
Spring
California=]
An odd, dry-looking plant, making pretty patches of purplish color on
dry mesas. The stiff, roughish, purplish stem is a few inches tall,
springing from a few dull-green or reddish root-leaves, branching
abruptly and widely towards the top and bearing many small flowers. The
involucres are deep-red or purple, with very prickly teeth, the sepals
bright-pink, prettily fringed with white and striped with deeper color,
and the filaments are long and threadlike, with purple anthers. The
flowers are exceedingly pretty when closely examined, though too small
to be very effective, but the plant as a whole is conspicuous both in
color and form. _C. staticoìdes_ is similar, but the sepals are not
fringed.
[Illustration: Turkish Rugging--Chorizanthe fimbriata.]
[Illustration]
There are many kinds of Rumex, or Dock, coarse herbs, with leafy,
branching, grooved stems, sheathed with conspicuous, papery stipules,
strong tap-roots and acid or bitter juice. The large leaves are
alternate, with smooth or wavy edges; the flowers small, greenish or
reddish, on jointed pedicels, in branching clusters; the stamens six;
the styles three, the stigmas shield-shaped, with a tuft of hairs at
the tip. The six divisions of the flower are in two sets, the three
outer small and green, the inner ones larger, colored and becoming
veiny and larger in fruit, forming valves or wings, (often with a grain
on the back of one or all of them,) which closely cover the three-sided
fruit. These wings make the fruits of Docks more conspicuous than the
flower. The Latin name comes from a word meaning "to suck," because the
Romans sucked the leaves to allay thirst.
[Sidenote: =Sand Dock=
_Rùmex venòsus_
=Greenish
Spring, summer
West=]
In favorable situations this is a very handsome member of a rather
plain genus, about a foot tall, with a smooth, stout reddish stem and
smooth, pale, blue-green leaves, that feel like thin rubber, with a
prominent mid-vein front and back. The small inconspicuous flowers
develop into clusters of showy valves or wings, wonderfully odd and
beautiful in coloring, resembling Begonia flowers. At first these wings
are pale green, but they gradually brighten until they are all shades
of salmon, rose-color, and red, fading to brown, and forming lovely
combinations of vivid color, particularly against the arid background
of the sand hills they frequent, and they last a long time in water and
are exceedingly decorative. If these wings, which are nearly an inch
across, are pulled apart, a three-sided akene, like a little nut, will
be found inside them.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Sand Dock--Rumex venosus.]
[Illustration]
There are many kinds of Eriogonum, herbs or shrubs, natives of America,
mostly western, growing in dry places, very numerous and difficult to
distinguish. The leaves, without sheaths or stipules, are often covered
with white down and usually grow in a spreading cluster at the base of
the stem. The numerous small flowers, on very slender little pedicels,
have six sepals, thin in texture and usually colored, and form clusters
of various shapes, which emerge from more or less bell-shaped or
top-shaped involucres, with six teeth. There are nine stamens, with
threadlike filaments, often hairy, and a three-parted style with
round-top stigmas. The name is from the Greek meaning "wooly knees," in
allusion to the wooly joints of the stem.
[Sidenote: =Bottle-plant=
_Eriógonum inflàtum_
=Yellow
Spring
Southwest=]
This is a most extraordinary looking plant, with queer inflated,
hollow stalks, about two feet high, swelling larger towards the top,
and the branches, which are also swollen, sticking out awkwardly in
all directions and bearing a few minute, yellow flowers. The stalks,
which are pale bluish-green, suggest some strange sort of reed, but the
dark-green leaves, growing in a rosette at the base, are something like
the leaves of cultivated violets and seem entirely out of keeping with
the rest of the plant. This grows on the plateau in the Grand Canyon
and in similar places.
[Sidenote: =Swollen-stalk=
_Eriógonum elàtum_
=White, pink
Summer
Northwest=]
This is about a foot and a half tall and the stem is swollen, but not
so much so as the last, and the flowers are more conspicuous, forming
rather flat-topped clusters, about three-quarters of an inch across.
The tiny flowers are cream-white or pinkish, the buds are deep-pink,
and the stamens are long, with tiny, pinkish anthers. The leaves are
dull-green on the upper side and pale with close down on the under and
grow in a cluster at the base.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Swollen-stalk--E. elatum.
Bottle-plant--Eriogonum inflatum.]
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: =Butter Balls, Snow Balls=
_Eriógonum orthocàulon_
=Yellow, white
Spring, summer
Northwest=]
These are attractive plants, with pretty odd little balls of flowers,
and are very conspicuous on dry, rocky mesas. They have a number of
slender, pale, downy stems, about ten inches tall, springing from a
close clump of small, dull-green leaves, pale with down on both sides
and the smaller ones almost white, and bearing at the tip a dense
flower-cluster, about an inch and a half across, which is very fuzzy
and pretty. The little flowers have cream-color, downy involucres, the
outer sepals are broader than the inner, and the pedicels, stamens,
and pistil are all the same color as the sepals, either very bright
sulphur-yellow or cream-white, but not mixed on the same plant, and
sometimes tinged with red. These flowers are very popular with children
in Idaho and they make necklaces of the fuzzy balls, something like
"daisy chains."
[Sidenote: _Eriógonum compósitum_
=White, yellow
Summer
Northwest=]
This is a big handsome plant, with a thick, smooth stem, one or two
feet tall and woody at base, and with thickish leaves, slightly downy,
dark green in color on the upper side and white with close down on
the under. The flowers form feathery, cream-white or yellow clusters,
often more than six inches across, with red buds, and are beautiful and
conspicuous on bare mountainsides, smelling of honey.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Butter Balls--Eriogonum orthocaulon.]
[Illustration: Eriogonum compositum.]
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: =Buckwheat Bush, Flat-top=
_Eriógonum fasciculàtum_
=White
Spring, summer
Southwest=]
In favorable situations this is an attractive shrub, from two to four
feet high, with shreddy, reddish bark and long, straight branches,
standing stiffly up and crowded with small, thickish, stiffish
leaves, dark olive-green on the upper side and pale with down on the
under, with rolled-back margins. The flowers are about three-eighths
of an inch across, dull-white or pinkish, with pink buds, forming
large, feathery, flat-topped clusters, on long, stiff, bare, reddish
flower-stalks, standing up stiffly all over the bush. This is a very
valuable bee-plant and grows on mesas and mountain slopes.
[Sidenote: =Sulphur Flower=
_Eriógonum Bàkeri_
=Yellow,
Summer
Ariz., Utah, New Mex., Col., Wyo.=]
This plant is quite pretty and conspicuous, as the flowers are bright
in color and a peculiar shade of sulphur yellow. The stem is downy and
often reddish, about a foot tall, with two or three branches at the
top, each bearing a cluster of numerous small sweet-scented flowers
with pretty stamens. The gray-green leaves grow mostly in a rosette on
the ground and are covered with close white down on the under side.
Their soft tints tone in well with the bright color of the flowers and
the pale sandy soil in which they grow. _E. flàvum_ is similar and
widely distributed. _E. incànum_ is the same color but much smaller,
often tinged with red, the gray leaves forming a dense velvety mat,
and it grows at high altitudes, in sandy spots on rocks, and is found
around the Yosemite Valley. The alpine form is very small. There are
several other kinds of Sulphur Flower.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Sulphur Flower--E. Bakeri.
Buckwheat Bush--Eriogonum fasciculatum.]
[Sidenote: =Wild Buckwheat=
_Eriógonum racemòsum_
=Pink, white
Summer
Ariz., Utah=]
A pretty desert variety of Wild Buckwheat. The pale downy stem is from
one to two feet tall, rather stout, with two or three erect branches
at the top, and the leaves are all from the base, gray-green in color
and covered with close white down on the under side. The small white
and pink flowers are clustered along the branches in small heads, with
reddish involucres, forming a spike about three inches long. The whole
effect of the plant is curiously pale, but quite pretty. It grows
plentifully on the rim of the Grand Canyon.
There are many kinds of Polygonum, East and West, many of them
insignificant, some aquatic, some woody at base, with alternate leaves,
and sheathing stipules; the sepals four or five; the stamens five to
nine; the style with two or three branches and round-top stigmas.
The name is from the Greek, meaning "many knees," in allusion to the
swollen joints of some kinds.
[Sidenote: =Knot-weed
Alpine Smartweed=
_Polýgonum bistortoìdes_
=White
Summer
West=]
This is about two feet tall, very pretty and rather conspicuous, and
the general effect of the smooth stem and sheathing, green leaves is
somewhat grasslike. The flowers, which are small and cream-white, with
pretty stamens and pinkish bracts, grow in close, roundish, pointed
heads, an inch or two long, at the tips of the stalks. The buds are
pink and the heads in which the flowers have not yet come out look as
if they were made of pink beads. This is an attractive plant, growing
among the tall grasses in mountain meadows, and smells deliciously of
honey.
PIGWEED FAMILY. _Chenopodiaceae._
A large family, widely distributed, growing usually in salty or
alkaline soil; herbs or shrubs, generally succulent and salty or
bitter, often covered with white scurf or meal, without stipules;
leaves thick, usually alternate, sometimes none; flowers perfect or
imperfect, small, greenish, without petals; calyx with two to five
sepals, rarely with only one, pistillate flowers sometimes with no
calyx; stamens as many as the sepals, or fewer, and opposite them;
ovary mostly superior with one to three styles or stigmas; fruit small,
dry, with one seed, sometimes with a bladder-like covering. Spinach
and Beets belong to this family; many are "weeds," such as Lamb's
Quarters.
[Illustration: Wild Buckwheat--Eriogonum racemosum.
Alpine Smartweed--Polygonum bistortoides.]
There are two kinds of Grayia, named after Asa Gray; low shrubs; the
stamens and pistils in separate flowers, on the same or on different
plants.
[Sidenote: =Hop Sage=
_Gràyia spinòsa_ (_G. polygaloides_)
=Greenish, with red bracts
Spring
Calif., Nev., Utah, Ariz.=]
An odd and beautiful desert shrub, about three feet high, very dense
in form, with interlacing, angular, gray branches, spiny and crowded
with small, alternate, toothless leaves, pale-green and thickish, but
not stiff. The flowers are small and inconspicuous, but the pistillate
ones are enveloped in conspicuous bracts, which enlarge and become
papery in fruit, something like those of Docks, and often change from
yellowish-green to all sorts of beautiful, bright, warm tints of pink,
or to magenta, and the branches become loaded with beautifully shaded
bunches of these curious seed-vessels, giving a strange, crowded look
to the shrub, which in favorable situations, such as the Mohave Desert,
makes splendid masses of color, especially when contrasted with the
pale gray of Sage-brush.
There is only one kind of Cycloloma; leaves alternate, smooth or downy,
irregularly toothed; flowers perfect or pistillate, with five sepals,
five stamens, and two or three styles; fruit winged horizontally.
[Sidenote: =Tumbleweed=
_Cyclolòma atriplicifòlium_
=Purple or green
Summer
West of Mississippi River=]
Very curious round plants, six to twenty inches high, usually purple
all over, sometimes green and rarely white, giving a brilliant effect
in the fall to the sandy wastes they inhabit. They are a mass of
interlacing branches, with hardly any leaves, except at the base, and
very small flowers. When their seeds are ripe, and they are dry and
brittle, the wind easily uproots them and starts them careening across
the plain, their seeds flying out by the way. They turn over and over
and leap along, as if they were alive, bringing up at last against
a wire fence, or some such obstacle, where perhaps a traveler sees
them from the train and wonders at the extraordinary-looking, dry,
round bunches. There are other Tumble-weeds, such as Tumbling Mustard,
_Sisymbrium allissimum_, and _Amaránthus álbus_, not of this family.
[Illustration: Hop Sage--Grayia polygaloides.]
FOUR-O'CLOCK FAMILY. _Nyctaginaceae._
A rather large family, widely distributed, most abundant in America.
Ours are herbs, often succulent, with no stipules; stems often
fragile, swollen at the joints; leaves opposite, usually toothless,
often unequal; flowers perfect, with no petals, but the calyx colored
like a corolla, with four or five lobes or teeth, and more or less
funnel-shaped; one or several flowers in a cluster with an involucre;
stamens three to five, with slender filaments; style one, with a
round-top stigma; the green base of the calyx drawn down around the
ovary, making it appear inferior, and hardening into a nutlike fruit;
seeds sometimes winged.
Quamoclidions have the odd habit of opening in the afternoon, hence
the common name, Four-o'clock. The flowers usually have five stamens,
and are grouped several together in a cluster, which emerges from an
involucre so much resembling a calyx that it is often mistaken for one.
The effect is of the flowers having clubbed together and made one calyx
do for the lot. The fruit is hard, smooth, and roundish.
[Sidenote: =Four-o'clock=
_Quamoclídion multiflòrum._ (_Mirabilis_)
=Pink, purple
Spring
Southwest and Col.=]
The leaves of this low, stout, and spreading perennial are an inch or
two long, light bluish-green, somewhat heart-shaped, rather rough and
coarse, and the stems are often hairy and sticky. The foliage contrasts
strikingly in color with the gaudy pink or magenta flowers, an inch
across and slightly sweet-scented, the shape of Morning-glories and
resembling them, as they have the same stripes of deeper color. The
long stamens droop to one side, the pistil is long and purple and the
bell-shaped involucre contains about six flowers. These plants are
conspicuous and quite handsome. They grow on the plateau in the Grand
Canyon.
There are several kinds of Hesperonia, much like Quamoclidion, but
the bell-shaped involucre contains only one flower, which is also
bell-shaped, usually with five separate stamens. The fruit is roundish,
not angled or ribbed, usually smooth.
[Illustration: Four o'clock--Quamoclidion multiflorum.]
[Sidenote: =California Four-o'clock=
_Hesperònia Califórnica_ (_Mirabilis_)
=Magenta, pink
Spring, summer
California=]
This is very common in southern California and forms quite large, low
clumps of rather yellowish green, sticky and hairy foliage, sprinkled
with numbers of bright little flowers, opening in the afternoon. The
base is woody and the weak, hairy stems are supported on bushes, as if
climbing over them. The leaves are rather thick, about an inch long,
and the flowers are open bell-shaped, about three-quarters of an inch
across, usually magenta, but often pink of various shades, sometimes
quite pale in tint with long stamens drooping to one side, and the
involucre is often purplish and very hairy and sticky. The effect at a
distance is gay and attractive, though the plant is not quite so pretty
close by.
[Sidenote: _Hesperònia glutinòsa var. grácilis_
=White, pinkish
Spring
Arizona=]
This has a straggling, hairy, sticky stem, over a foot long, and
thickish, dull-green leaves, hairy and sticky. The flowers are about
half an inch long, white or tinged with pink, and are rather delicate
and pretty, though the plant is not especially attractive. It blooms at
night, the flowers gradually closing with the morning sun. This variety
is common in the southern part of the state, in mountain canyons, and
_Hesperonia glutinosa_ is common in the north.
There are several kinds of Abronia, all American, with branching,
usually sticky-hairy stems, thick, toothless leaves, with leaf-stalks,
in pairs and one of each pair somewhat larger than the other. The
flowers are more or less salver-form, with five lobes, a threadlike
style, and from three to five, unequal stamens, on the tube of the
perianth and not protruding from it. They are numerous and in clusters,
with involucres, on long flower-stalks, from the angles of the leaves.
The fruit is winged. The name is from the Greek meaning graceful, but
most of these plants are rather awkward in their manner of growth.
[Illustration: Hesperonia glutinosa var. gracilis.
California Four o'clock--H. Californica.]
[Sidenote: =Sand Puffs=
_Abrònia sálsa_
=White
Spring, summer, Autumn
Utah=]
This plant is, as a whole, so delicately tinted and so decorative in
form, that it is most attractive, particularly against the sandy soil
where it grows, deserving the Greek name more than some of its slightly
awkward sisters. It is about fourteen inches tall, with a stoutish,
rather straggling, prostrate stem, which is pale, pinkish, sticky and
fuzzy. The leaves have long leaf-stalks and are pale bluish-green,
leathery and smooth, but fuzzy on the mid-vein of the under side, and
the flowers are numerous, rather small, in handsome roundish clusters,
which are about two inches across, with a papery, pinkish or yellowish
involucre, of about five, separate, rounded bracts. The calyx is
corolla-like and salver-form, with a long, yellowish or greenish tube
and five lobes, prettily crinkled at the edges. The seed-vessel is very
curious, resembling a round, yellowish sponge, with hooks sticking out
of it, and the flowers are deliciously sweet-scented. This is sometimes
called Snowball.
[Sidenote: =Pink Sand-Verbena=
_Abrònia villòsa_
=Pinkish-lilac
Summer
Ariz., Cal., Utah=]
The coloring of this plant, one of the prettiest of its kind, is
striking and unusual, and makes it very conspicuous, growing in the
sand near the sea or in the desert. The thickish leaves are light
bluish-green and the thick stem, which straggles rather awkwardly
over the ground, is a peculiar shade of pink and sticky and hairy,
as are also the involucres. The small delicate flowers are an odd
tint of pinkish-lilac, light but vivid, in striking contrast to the
coloring of stems and foliage, and form very pretty clusters, with an
involucre of five to fifteen papery bracts. They are very fragrant
and look much like garden Verbenas, so the name is not so unhappy
as some. _A. umbellàta_ has slender stems and almost smooth leaves,
sometimes with wavy margins, about an inch long, narrowed at base to a
slender leaf-stalk, and deep-pink flowers. It is common all along the
California coast and blooms in the summer and autumn. _A. marítima_
is found from Santa Barbara to San Diego and is a very stout, coarse,
sticky plant, with small, deep-magenta flowers.
[Illustration: Sand Verbena--Abronia villosa.]
[Illustration: Sand Puffs--Abronia salsa.]
[Sidenote: =Yellow Sand-Verbena=
_Abrònia latifòlia_
=Yellow
Spring, summer, autumn
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]
Pretty at a distance, but rather coarse close by, a straggling plant,
with long, thick, rubbery stems, lying on the ground, thickish leaves,
and small yellow flowers, slightly fragrant and forming pretty clusters
about an inch and a half across, with five bracts. This is common along
the seashore, blooming more or less all through the year. It has a
long, thick root, which is eaten by the Indians.
There are a good many kinds of Allionia, one Asiatic, the rest
American. The bell-shaped flowers have unequal stamens, usually three,
on the receptacle. The peculiar, five-lobed involucre, which becomes
large and papery after flowering, contains from three to five flowers.
The fruit is ribbed and often hairy. The shape of the involucre
probably suggested the common name Umbrella-wort.
[Sidenote: =Narrow-leaved Umbrella-wort=
_Alliònia lineàris_
=Purple, pink, white
Summer
Utah, Ariz., etc.=]
A pretty plant, one to four feet tall, with a slender stem and long,
narrow, bluish-green leaves, with somewhat wavy margins, and almost
no leaf-stalks. The flowers are fragile and pretty, of various shades
of pink, the shape of small Morning-glories, half an inch across,
the stamens and style protruding. There are from three to five in a
cluster, in a purple and green involucre. This involucre is curious,
for before the flowers come out it is closed around a bunch of buds,
looking as if it were itself a pretty five-angled bud, and one would
not suspect that there were other little buds inside it. When the
flowers bloom and drop, which they do very soon, this involucre unfolds
and expands until it becomes an exceedingly thin, papery, five-lobed
disk, three-quarters of an inch across, veined with purple, very pretty
and delicate, looking like an odd little flower without a heart. The
smooth stem forks towards the top and the branches, which are slightly
hairy, bear numerous clusters of involucres with flowers inside them.
This grows in dry soil, is widely distributed and found as far east as
Illinois.
[Illustration: Involucre of Allionia linearis.
Yellow Sand Verbena--Abronia latifolia.]
[Illustration]
CARPET-WEED FAMILY. _Aizoaceae._
Not a very large family, mostly natives of warm regions. Ours are
branching herbs, lying mostly on the ground; leaves mostly opposite or
in whorls; flowers perfect; sepals four or five; petals numerous, small
or none; stamens few or many, usually on the calyx; ovary sometimes
superior; fruit a capsule. In this country most of this family are dull
little plants, with inconspicuous flowers.
There are many kinds of Mesembryanthemum, mostly African; ours are
smooth, very succulent perennials; without stipules; leaves opposite;
calyx-lobes unequal and leaf-like; petals long, narrow and very
numerous, inserted with the innumerable stamens on the calyx-tube;
ovary with ten or twelve styles, becoming a sort of berry, containing
many minute seeds, and opening at the top in rainy weather. The
terribly long name is from the Greek, meaning "noonday flower."
[Sidenote: =Ice-plant=
_Mesembryánthemum crystállinum_
=White, pinkish
Spring
California=]
One of the queerest looking plants that it is possible to imagine,
the stout stems and large flat leaves thickly encrusted with millions
of small translucent beads, resembling glass or ice and giving a
glistening effect to the whole plant. They cluster especially thickly
along the wavy margins and under sides of the leaves, and on the
calyxes, and feel quite hard to the touch, but when they are crushed
underfoot they exude a watery juice, which is said to be alkaline and
injurious to shoe-leather. The stems and leaves are light bright-green,
the tips and margins tinged with bright pinkish-red, especially on dry
mesas, where this plant sometimes covers the ground for long distances
with flat rosettes, forming a thick, red carpet, beautiful in color.
In shadier, damper places, such as the crevices in the sea-cliffs at
La Jolla, it becomes quite a large, tall plant, scarcely tinged with
red and very glistening. The flowers are about an inch across, with
a greenish center, surrounded by numerous, small, yellowish anthers
and a single row of many, white or flesh-colored petals, suggesting
the tentacles of a sea-anemone. In fact the whole plant is curiously
suggestive of some low form of animal life. It is very troublesome to
farmers in the south near the sea, and also flourishes in the Mohave
Desert, in France and the Canary Islands.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Ice-plant--Mesembryanthemum crystallinum.]
[Sidenote: =Sea Fig, Fig-marigold=
_Mesembryánthemum aequilateràle_
=Pink
Spring
California=]
A very strange and conspicuous plant, often clothing sandy slopes
with a curious mantel of trailing, fleshy stems and foliage thickly
sprinkled with thousands of gaudy flowers. The stems are stout and
flattish, several feet long; the leaves three-sided, with flat faces,
tipped with a small reddish point; the calyx-lobes three-sided like
the leaves. The stems, leaves, and the calyx-lobes are all pale
bluish-green with a "bloom" and exceedingly succulent, the watery
juice running out in large drops when the plant is broken. The twigs
seem to be fitted into a sort of socket, from which they come out very
easily, so that the plant comes apart almost at a touch. The fragrant
flowers are two or three inches across, bright but crude in color, the
numerous, purplish-pink petals resembling the rays of a composite and
encircling a fuzzy ring of innumerable stamens, with white, threadlike
filaments and small, straw-colored anthers, around a dark-green
center, composed of the top of the calyx and the six to ten styles
of the ovary. This accommodating plant is very useful and ornamental
in hot, sandy places, where not much else will grow, and may be seen
hanging its long stems over the sea-cliffs all along the coast, from
Patagonia to Marin County in California. It also grows in Africa and is
extensively cultivated. The fruit is edible, with pulp and tiny seeds
something like a fig.
[Illustration: Sea Fig--Mesembryanthemum aequilaterale.]
PINK FAMILY. _Caryophyllaceae._
A large family, widely distributed, most abundant in the northern
hemisphere, including both the handsome Pinks and the insignificant
Chickweeds. They are herbs, with regular, mostly perfect flowers, with
four or five sepals; usually with four or five petals, sometimes with
none; stamens as many, or twice as many, as the petals; ovary superior,
one-celled; styles two to five in number; fruit a capsule, containing
several or many, kidney-shaped seeds, opening by valves, or by teeth,
at the top; leaves opposite, toothless; stems usually swollen at the
joints. The name Pink comes from the petals of some kinds being cut
into points, or "pinked."
There are numerous kinds of Arenaria, widely distributed, difficult to
distinguish, with small, white flowers with five petals, usually not
notched, ten stamens and usually three styles; leaves usually long and
narrow, often stiff and growing in tufts; capsule roundish, splitting
into usually three valves, each with two parts. These plants often grow
in dry, sandy places, some at very high altitudes, some by the sea,
hence the Latin name meaning "sandy," and the common one, Sandwort.
[Sidenote: =Fendler's Sandwort=
_Arenària Féndleri_
=White
Summer
Utah, Ariz., etc.=]
This has pretty little white flowers, about half an inch across, and
is variable. Sometimes the stem is roughish, only three or four inches
tall, springing from a tuft of small leaves, stiff and almost prickly.
Sometimes the stem is smooth, six or eight inches tall, and the
leaves resemble rather fine, stiff grass. This grows on dry hills and
mountains, up to thirteen thousand feet, from Nebraska and Wyoming to
Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.
There are many kinds of Silene, widely distributed, more or less sticky
plants, hence the common name, Catchfly; flowers mostly rather large;
calyx inflated or tubular, with five teeth; petals five, with long
claws, which often have scales at the top, forming a "crown"; stamens
ten; styles usually three; capsule opening by three or six teeth at the
tip; seeds numerous.
[Illustration: Sandwort--Arenaria Fendleri.]
[Sidenote: =Moss Campion.
Cushion Pink=
_Silène acàulis_
=Purple
Summer
Alpine regions=]
An attractive little dwarf, living only in the high mountains. It has
a long tap-root and many spreading stems, crowded with tiny, stiff,
pointed, dark-green leaves, forming close tufts, from six to twenty
inches across, resembling cushions of harsh moss and spangled all over
with pretty little flowers. They are less than half an inch across with
a bell-shaped calyx and five bright pinkish-purple petals, occasionally
white, with a "crown" of small scales. We find this brave little plant
crouching on bleak mountain tops, blossoming gayly at the edge of the
snows that never melt, in arctic alpine regions across the world, up to
a height of thirteen thousand feet. It is variable. There is a picture
in Mrs. Henshaw's _Mountain Wild Flowers of Canada_.
[Sidenote: =Windmill Pink=
_Silène Ánglica_ (_S. Gallica_)
=White
Spring
Northwest, etc.=]
A rather inconspicuous "weed" from Europe, common in fields and along
roadsides, with a slender, hairy stem, about a foot tall, and hairy
leaves. The small flowers grow in a one-sided cluster and have a
purplish calyx, sticky and hairy, and white or pinkish petals, with
a small "crown," each petal twisted to one side like the sails of a
windmill. This is widely distributed in nearly all warm temperate
regions.
[Sidenote: =Indian Pink=
_Silène Califórnica_
=Red
Summer
Northwest=]
From six inches to over a foot tall, with a thick, perennial tap-root,
one to two feet long, and branching, half-erect stems, both leaves
and stems covered with fine down, the dull-green foliage contrasting
well in color with the vivid vermilion of the gorgeous flowers. They
are more than an inch across, the petals usually slashed into two
broad lobes, flanked by two narrower, shorter points at the sides, the
"crown" conspicuous. The flowers are even more brilliant in color than
_S. laciniata_ and are startlingly beautiful, glowing like coals of
fire on the brown forest floor, in the open mountain woods they usually
frequent. It is widely distributed in the Coast Ranges and Sierra
Nevada Mountains, but nowhere very common. _S. Hookeri_ has beautiful
large pink flowers, often more than two inches across, sometimes white,
and grows on shady hillsides in the Northwest, except in Idaho.
[Illustration: Windmill Pink--Silene Anglica.
Indian Pink--Silene Californica.]
[Sidenote: =Indian Pink=
_Silène laciniàta_
=Red
Summer
California=]
This has handsome conspicuous flowers, clear vermilion or
pinkish-scarlet in color, about an inch and a half across, with the
five petals prettily slashed at the ends into four long divisions. Each
petal has two little crests, which form a pretty "crown" in the throat
of the corolla. The roughish, slender stems, from one to over two feet
high, have several branches, the flowers growing two or three at the
ends. The leaves are long, narrow, and rather rough and the whole plant
is hairy and sticky. This is common around Pasadena and other places in
southern California and is beautiful on Point Loma, where the brilliant
flowers gleam among the underbrush like bits of flame. _S. laciniàta
var. Gréggii_ is common in Arizona and New Mexico.
[Sidenote: _Silène Lyalli_
=White
Summer
Northwest=]
Rather pretty, with a slender stem about a foot tall, smooth,
bluish-green leaves, and flowers about three-quarters of an inch
across; the calyx much inflated, yellowish-white and papery, with
brownish veins, and the petals cream-color, with two lobes and a
"crown."
There are a few kinds of Vaccaria, of Europe and Asia, smooth annuals,
with clasping leaves and red or pink flowers in terminal clusters;
calyx five-angled and inflated in fruit, five-toothed, without bracts;
petals longer than the calyx, without appendages; stamens ten; styles
two. Both the Latin and common names allude to the value of some kinds
for fodder.
[Sidenote: =Cow-herb=
_Vaccària vaccària_ (_Saponaria_)
=Pink
Summer
Across the continent=]
Quite pretty, with a leafy, branching stem, from one to three feet
tall, bluish-green leaves, and flowers less than an inch long, with a
ribbed, yellowish-green calyx, with reddish teeth, and the petals a
very pretty and unusual shade of deep, warm reddish-pink, veined with
deeper color. This is a European "weed," common in waste places and
cultivated fields.
[Illustration: Indian Pink--Silene laciniata.]
[Illustration: Cow-herb--Vaccaria vaccaria.
Silene Lyalli.]
There are many kinds of Alsine, widely distributed, low herbs, liking
moist ground and shady places, with small, starry white flowers; with
four or five sepals; four or five petals, deeply two-lobed or none;
three to ten stamens and three to five styles; capsule roundish or
oblong, rather shorter than that of Cerastium, splitting to below the
middle, with twice as many valves as there are styles and many seeds.
Many of these plants are weeds. They are often called Stitchwort. The
Greek name means "grove," the home of some kinds.
[Sidenote: =Tall Chickweed=
_Alsìne lóngipes._ (_Stellaria_)
=White
Summer
Northwest, Nev., Utah, etc.=]
An attractive little plant, with smooth stems, from six to fifteen
inches tall, and pretty little flowers, less than half an inch across,
growing singly, or in loose clusters, with white petals which are
deeply two-lobed, so that they appear to be ten. The capsule is almost
black when ripe. This is common in moist and grassy places in Yosemite
and when growing in the shade is taller and more slender than in the
open. It reaches an altitude of ten thousand feet and is found in the
East and in Asia.
There are many kinds of Cerastium, abundant in the temperate zone,
resembling Alsine, but usually downy and therefore called Mouse-ear
Chickweeds. The flowers are white, usually with five sepals, five
petals notched at the tips or with two lobes, ten or five stamens and
five stigmas. The cylindrical capsule, often curved, splits at the top
into ten teeth.
[Sidenote: =Field Chickweed=
_Cerástium arvénse_
=White
Spring, summer
U. S.=]
On the ledges moistened by the mist and spray that blow from the
Yosemite waterfalls, among the glistening, wet grasses, these pretty
little white flowers are quite conspicuous. They smell pleasantly of
honey, measure about half an inch across, and have more or less downy
stems, from five to ten inches tall. This is the prettiest Cerastium,
though not so "mousy" as some, and grows in dry as well as moist
situations.
[Illustration: Field Chickweed--Cerastium arvense.
Tall Chickweed--Alsine longipes.]
[Illustration]
PURSLANE FAMILY. _Portulacaceae._
A rather small family, mostly American; herbs, usually with thick,
succulent leaves and stems, with flowers opening only in sunlight. They
usually have only two sepals, but the petals number from two to five
or more; the stamens are sometimes numerous, but when they are of the
same number as the petals they are opposite them; the one-celled ovary
is superior, becoming a many-seeded capsule. Pusley, or Purslane, is
one of the commonest garden weeds; everybody knows how difficult it
is to keep the spreading rosettes out of gravel walks, and we are all
familiar with the gaudy, ephemeral flowers of the cultivated Portulaca.
The Purslane-tree, or Spek-boom, of South Africa is often the principal
food of elephants and its foliage gives the characteristic coloring to
the landscape.
There are several kinds of Montia, closely related to Claytonia,
mostly natives of North America, rather succulent plants, very smooth
and often with a "bloom." The flowers are white or pinkish, with two
sepals; the five petals, equal or somewhat unequal, separate or more
or less united at base; the stamens five or three; the style branches
three; the capsule with three valves and one to three, shiny, black
seeds, which when ripe are shot out of the capsule by the elastic
closing of the valves.
[Sidenote: =Miner's Lettuce=
_Móntia parviflòra_
=White
Spring, summer
West, except Ariz.=]
The Indians gather these pretty succulent little plants for salad and
indeed the tender, bright-green leaves look as if they would taste very
nice. They grow in a loose bunch, with several stems, a few inches to a
foot high. The root-leaves have long leaf-stalks and vary very much in
size and shape, the earliest being long and narrow, like little green
tongues, but the later ones oval, round and kidney-shaped, and they
vary also in tint, in dry places being sometimes a dull yellowish-pink.
The stem-leaves are quite odd, for a single pair have united around
the stem and become a circular or somewhat two-lobed disk, one or two
inches broad, the stalk piercing right through its center. This leaf
forms a pretty, shallow saucer, with a small, loose cluster of tiny
flowers, on slender flower-stalks, springing from the middle. This is
common everywhere in orchards or vineyards, and in shady places in
the foothills and canyons, and has long been cultivated in England
for salad. It is also called Indian Lettuce and Squaw Cabbage. _M.
perfoliàta_ is similar.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Miner's Lettuce--Montia parviflora.]
[Sidenote: =Spring Beauty=
_Móntia parvifòlia_
=White and pink
Spring
Northwest=]
This charming little flower resembles the Spring Beauty of the East,
_Claytonia Virginica_, and blooms in late spring, among the ferns and
wet grasses near the Yosemite waterfalls and in similar places. The
white flowers, about three-quarters of an inch across, are often tinged
with pink and the five stamens are violet. The tender stems, about
eight inches tall, are weak and almost trailing and the pale-green
leaves are smooth, the lower ones slightly thick and succulent, with
little bulblets in the axils, which drop off in drying; the capsule
mostly has only one seed.
There are several kinds of Claytonia, resembling Montia.
[Sidenote: =Spring Beauty=
_Claytònia lanceolàta_
=Pink and white
Spring
Northwest, Cal., Nev., and Utah=]
A pretty little plant, three or four inches high, with a juicy, reddish
stem and thickish, bluish-green, juicy leaves, the root-leaf narrow,
the two stem-leaves broader. The flowers, over half an inch across, are
white, tinged and delicately veined with pink, with a little yellow at
the base of the petals; the pistil and stamens pink; the two sepals
yellowish-green. This grows on moist mountain slopes, up to an altitude
of nine thousand feet, sometimes at the edge of the snow, is pretty and
delicate and also resembles the eastern Spring Beauty.
[Illustration: Spring Beauties
Claytonia lanceolata.
Montia parvifolia.]
[Illustration]
There are only one or two kinds of Spraguea, natives of North America;
low herbs, not very succulent, with fleshy roots; the leaves alternate,
or from the root; the small flowers in coiled clusters; the two sepals
and the four petals all papery; the stamens one, two, or three in
number; the style long, with two stigmas; the capsule roundish, with
two valves, containing few or many, shining, black seeds.
[Sidenote: =Pussy-paws=
_Spràguea umbellàta_ (_Calyptridium_)
=Pink
Summer, autumn
Northwest=]
Sandy spots in the mountains are often brightened by lovely patches of
the soft pink blooms of this attractive and odd-looking little plant.
Near Wawona, on the Glacier Point trail, I saw at least half an acre
of sand carpeted with beautiful rose-color. In moderate altitudes the
plants are about ten inches tall, but they get dwarfish as they climb
and on the mountain-tops they are only an inch or so high, with close
mats of small leaves. They have strong tap-roots and the leaves are
dull gray-green, rather thick and stiff but hardly succulent, and grow
mostly in rosettes at the base, those on the stem having shrunk to mere
bracts, with several, smooth, reddish stalks springing from among them.
Each stem bears a close, roundish head, two or three inches across,
consisting of many tightly-coiled tufts of shaded pink, each composed
of innumerable, small, pink flowers, the papery, pink and white sepals
and bracts being the most conspicuous part. They overlap each other and
have daintily ruffled edges. The three stamens are long and protruding
and the style long and threadlike. The flower-clusters are like soft
pink cushions, so the pretty little name of Pussy-paws is appropriate,
both to form and coloring. Chipmunks are very fond of the small, black
seeds.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Pussy-paws--Spraguea umbellata.]
BUTTERCUP FAMILY. _Ranunculaceae._
The members of this large and handsome family vary so much in
appearance that it is difficult for the amateur to realize that
they are nearly related. In fact they have no very distinctive
characteristics. They are all herbs, except Clematis, which is shrubby,
and all have bitter juice, which is never milky or colored, numerous
stamens and usually several pistils, which are superior and one-celled,
bearing a single style, and all the parts of the flower are separate
from each other and inserted on the receptacle. The flowers are often
of eccentric forms, with spurs or hoods; sometimes they dispense with
petals altogether and instead have colored sepals which resemble
petals. The leaves are of all sorts and shapes, usually more or less
lobed and cut, but have no stipules and often their bases clasp the
stem. The fruit is an akene, pod, or berry. Many of our most beautiful
and popular garden flowers are included in this family, which is large
and distributed throughout the world, but not abundant in the tropics.
There are numerous kinds of Ranunculus, mostly perennials, with fibrous
roots, growing in temperate and cold regions. Ours have yellow or white
flowers, with three to five sepals and from three to fifteen petals,
each of the petals with a nectar-gland at its base; the numerous
pistils developing into a roundish or oblong head of akenes. The leaves
are variously cut and lobed, the stem leaves alternate. Some sorts grow
in the water and some have creeping stems. Some kinds of Ranunculus are
liable to be confused with some sorts of Cinquefoils, but the calyx of
a Buttercup has no bractlets, as has that of a Cinquefoil. The Latin
name means "little frog," as these plants like marshes.
[Sidenote: =Common Western Buttercup=
_Ranúnculus Califórnicus_
=Yellow
Winter, spring
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]
The commonest kind are attractive, often coloring the fields for miles
with bright gold, but the flowers are not so pretty as some common
eastern kinds. The stems are branching and more or less hairy, nine
inches to a foot and a half tall, with dark-green leaves, smooth, hairy
or velvety, and velvety, hairy buds. The flowers are about an inch
across, with from nine to sixteen, bright-yellow, shiny petals and
pale-green sepals, turned closely back. The akenes have hooked beaks.
This runs into many scarcely distinguishable varieties.
[Illustration: Common Western Buttercup--Ranunculus Californicus.]
Few flowers are more beautiful and interesting in color and
construction than Larkspurs. We are all familiar with their tall spires
of oddly-shaped blossoms, growing in gardens, and we find them even
more charming in their natural surroundings, glowing like sapphires on
desert sands, or adorning mountain woods with patches of vivid color.
There are many kinds; ours are perennials, with palmately-divided
leaves and usually blue or white flowers, very irregular in form, with
five sepals, resembling petals, the upper one prolonged into a spur at
the back, and usually four petals, two of which are small and inside
the calyx-spur, the larger two partly covering the pistils and the
numerous stamens. The pistils, from one to five, become many-seeded
pods. Some Larkspurs are poisonous to cattle. The Latin name is from
a fancied resemblance of the flower to the dolphin of decorative art.
Spanish Californians call it Espuela del caballero, Cavalier's spur.
[Sidenote: =Blue Larkspur=
_Delphínium scapòsum_
=Blue
Summer
Ariz., New Mex.=]
Though sometimes rather small, this is extremely pretty. In the Grand
Canyon, on the plateau, it is about a foot tall, with rather leathery,
brownish-green leaves, mostly from the root, and from five to twelve
flowers in a cluster. They measure nearly an inch across and are
brilliant and iridescent in coloring, as except for two small whitish
petals, they are the deepest, brightest blue, exquisitely tinted with
violet, with brown anthers. At Tucson, among the rocks above the Desert
Laboratory, it grows to over a foot in height, with a cluster over six
inches long and light dull-green leaves, slightly stiff and thick, with
long leaf-stalks, the lobes tipped with a bristle, forming a handsome
clump. This grows on dry plains and rocky hillsides, up to seven
thousand feet. The picture is from a Grand Canyon plant.
[Sidenote: =Larkspur=
_Delphínium Hánseni_
=White, pinkish
Summer
California=]
If the flowers were a little less pale in color this would be a
gorgeous plant, for it sometimes grows nearly four feet high. The
branching stem springs from a cluster of thick, tapering roots, each
branch terminating in a long, crowded cluster of twenty or thirty
flowers, opalescent in tint, either white, with a bluish or
greenish spot on the tip of each sepal, or very pale pink, with a
purplish or bluish spot. The dull, yellowish-green leaves are rather
thickish and downy, the pods erect. This grows in dryish places, at
moderate altitudes, and freely around Yosemite.
[Illustration: Foothills Larkspur--Delphinium scaposum.]
[Illustration: Larkspur--Delphinium Hanseni.]
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: =Blue Larkspur=
_Delphínium bícolor_
=Blue
Spring, summer
Northwest and Utah=]
A splendid flower when at its best, from six inches to a foot and a
half tall, with a smooth stem, reddish below, and smooth, bright-green
leaves, pale on the under side, round in general outline, the lower
ones with long, reddish leaf-stalks sheathing the stem, the roots thick
but not tuberous. The beautiful flowers are sometimes an inch and a
half across, on long, rather spreading pedicels, few or many, in a
long loose cluster, the buds slightly downy. The general effect of the
flowers is deep bright-blue, but when we examine them more closely we
find that the slightly woolly spurs are purplish, the blue sepals have
on the back protuberances, which are pinkish on the front and greenish
on the back, the two, small, upper petals are white, delicately striped
with purple, and the lower ones, which are fuzzy with tufts of white
down and two-cleft, are deep pinkish-purple; sometimes the whole flower
is much paler in color. The anthers are large and green at first,
becoming small and yellow, their threadlike filaments curling. This
grows on dry hills. _D. Párryi_, of California, is about two feet tall,
similar in coloring, but even handsomer, with a cluster nearly a foot
long, closely crowded with beautiful flowers, each an inch and a half
across. The lower leaves are slashed nearly to the center, into seven
divisions, each with three, long, narrow lobes.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Blue Larkspur--Delphinium bicolor.]
[Sidenote: =Sacramento Larkspur=
_Delphínium variegàtum_
=Purple
Spring, summer
California=]
Very handsome, over a foot tall, the upper stem downy, the lower more
or less hairy and the leaves more or less velvety. The flowers are an
inch or more long and rather few, with long pedicels, forming a loose
cluster. They are downy on the outside, all bright-purple, except the
two upper petals, which are white tipped with purple, the lower petals
edged and tipped with hairs, the spur stoutish and wrinkled. These
flowers, though described as blue, seem to me to have more true purple
than most Larkspurs. They probably vary a good deal in color. This
grows in the Coast Ranges and the Sacramento Valley. There are many
similar blue Larkspurs.
[Sidenote: =Scarlet Larkspur, Christmas-horns=
_Delphínium nudicaùle_
=Red
Spring
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]
Scarlet seems an odd color for a Larkspur, but there are two red ones
in the West. This is an exceedingly airy, graceful plant and suggests
a Columbine more than a Larkspur. The stem is slender and branching,
from one to over two feet tall, with a "bloom"; the leaves thickish,
smooth, dark rich green on the upper side and pale on the under. The
flowers are far apart, from two to twelve, on long pedicels, forming a
very loose, open cluster. Each flower is about an inch long; the sepals
scarlet shading to yellow, the spur tipped with deeper red, the petals
yellow tipped with crimson, not woolly, the two upper notched and much
larger than the two lower ones, which are small and slashed into two
points, the edges of both sepals and petals more or less hairy; the
buds pale yellowish-green, tinged with pink and red. These charming
flowers have an elfin look all their own, as they swing their little
pointed red caps in the light shade of cool canyons along the mountain
streams they love. In southern California we find _D. cardinàle_, a
handsomer plant, sometimes six feet tall, its flowers larger and deeper
red and forming a larger, closer cluster.
[Illustration: Scarlet Larkspur--Delphinium nudicaule.]
The picturesque Columbine gets its melodious name from the Latin for
"dove," because the spurs suggest a circle of pretty little pigeons,
and this common name is less far-fetched than the Latin one, Aquilegia,
which comes from a fancied resemblance of the spurs to an eagle's
claws. These plants are well known and easily recognized by the
peculiar shape of the flowers. Everything about them is decorative
and beautiful, the foliage is pretty and the flowers large, brightly
colored, and conspicuous. They are all perennials, with branching stems
and compound leaves; the flowers usually nodding, with five sepals all
alike and resembling petals, and five petals, also all alike, with
conspicuous, hollow spurs. The stamens, the inner ones without anthers,
are numerous and the five pistils develop into a head of five, erect,
many-seeded pods. There is honey in the spurs, which can be reached
only by "long-tongued" insects or humming birds, which thus assist in
cross-pollination, and bees obviate the difficulty of having short
tongues by ingeniously cutting holes in the spurs. There are a good
many beautiful kinds, both East and West.
[Sidenote: =Scarlet Columbine=
_Aquilègia truncàta_
=Red and yellow
Spring
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]
This charming plant grows from one to over three feet high, is
branching and smooth, and has pretty light-green leaves and nodding
flowers, which are over an inch and a half across. The outside of the
corolla is pale-scarlet, veined and tipped with yellow, the inside is
yellow and the spurs are erect and three quarters of an inch long.
The flower resembles the Scarlet Columbine of the East, but the plant
is taller, with fewer flowers. It is common in moist, rich woods in
Yosemite and the Coast Ranges, from the foothills well up to the alpine
zone.
[Sidenote: =White Columbine=
_Aquilègia leptocèra_
=White
Summer
Northwest and Utah=]
An exceedingly beautiful flower, a white sister of the large Blue
Columbine, which is the "State flower" of Colorado, and sometimes
sufficiently tinged with blue to show the relationship. It is a rather
slender plant, usually with several stems, from one to two feet
tall, the foliage rather bluish-green, the flowers large and usually
pure-white, and is found in the mountains.
[Illustration: Scarlet Columbine--Aquilegia truncata.]
[Illustration]
Monkshoods have almost as much charm as their cousins Columbine and
Larkspur, with a quaintness and individuality all their own. There
are a good many kinds; mountain plants, growing in temperate regions,
with rather weak stems and leaves much like those of Larkspur. The
blue and white blossoms have a "hood," which gives these plants their
very appropriate name. This is formed by the upper and larger one
of the five, petal-like sepals arching over and forming a hood, or
helmet, under which the two small petals, with spurs and claws, are
hidden; sometimes there are three or more petals below, which are
minute and resemble stamens. The real stamens are numerous and ripen
before the pistils, thus ensuring cross-pollination, and the fruit
consists of a head, of from three to five, many-seeded pods. The thick
or turnip-shaped root is used medicinally and is virulently poisonous,
so these plants are sometimes called Wolfsbane. Aconite is the ancient
Greek name and other common names are Blue-weed and Friar's-cap.
[Sidenote: =Monkshood=
_Aconìtum Columbiànum_
=Blue and white
Summer
West=]
This handsome perennial, from two to six feet tall, grows near streams,
in mountain meadows or open woods. The flowers measure from half
an inch to over an inch long and are mostly bright-blue and white,
tinged with violet, but shade from almost white to deep-blue, veined
with purple. They are paler inside and grow on slender pedicels, in
a long loose cluster, on a somewhat bending stem. The two, small,
hammer-shaped petals are nearly concealed under the hood. The leaves
are alternate, the lower ones with long leaf-stalks, and deeply cleft
into three or five, toothed or lobed, divisions. This reaches an
altitude of twelve thousand feet.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Monkshood--Aconitum Columbianum.]
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: =Wild Peony=
_Paeònia Bròwnii_
=Dark-red
Winter, spring
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]
There are two kinds of Peony. This is a robust and very decorative
perennial, rich and unusual in coloring, the fine foliage setting off
the dark flowers to perfection. The roots are woody, the stems smooth,
from eight inches to a foot and a half tall, and the leaves are smooth,
rich green, but not shiny. The nodding flowers are an inch and a half
across, with five or six greenish-purple sepals, five or six petals,
rich deep-red, tinged and streaked with yellow and maroon; dull-yellow
stamens and green pistils. The whole flower is quite thick and leathery
in texture and rather coarse, sometimes so dark that it is almost
black. The flowers are often fragrant, but the plant has a disagreeable
smell, something like Skunk-cabbage, when crushed. The large seed-pods,
usually five, are thick, leathery and smooth, with several seeds and
are a very conspicuous feature, the stems drooping as they ripen and
the pods resting on the ground in big bunches. The whole plant is
rather succulent and the foliage and stems are more or less tinged with
red and have a "bloom," especially on the sepals. This grows in all
sorts of places, in the hot plains of the south and at the edge of the
snow, in northern, mountain canyons. In the south it blooms in January
and is sometimes called Christmas-rose. The root is used medicinally by
the Spanish-Californians and by the Indians, "to give their horses long
wind." These plants were named in honor of Paion, the physician of the
gods.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Wild Peony--Paeonia Brownii.]
[Illustration]
There are only a few kinds of Actaea, tall perennials, with large,
alternate, thrice-compound leaves and small, white flowers, in short,
terminal clusters. The sepals number about four and resemble petals;
the petals are from four to ten, or sometimes none, with claws; the
stamens are numerous, with conspicuous white filaments; the one pistil
has a broad, somewhat two-lobed, stigma, and the fruit is a large,
showy, red or white, somewhat poisonous berry, containing many, smooth,
flat seeds.
[Sidenote: =Baneberry=
_Actaèa argùta_
=White
Spring, summer
West, except Ariz.=]
This is a fine plant, from one to two feet tall, with a stoutish,
smooth, branching stem and handsome leaves, prettily cut, with pointed
teeth, thin and soft in texture, with conspicuous veins. The sepals and
petals of the small cream-white flowers are less conspicuous than the
numerous white stamens, which give a very feathery appearance to the
flower-cluster, which is one or two inches long and speckled with the
dark tips of the pistils. The sepals and petals drop off early and the
stamens lengthen, so that the cluster becomes very airy and delicate.
The general effect of the plant, which grows near shady mountain
streams, is striking and graceful. It grows also in the East and is
sometimes slightly sweet-scented, but often has an unpleasant smell.
The handsome, poisonous berries are oval or round, red or white, with a
polished surface, and contain many seeds. This reaches an altitude of
ten thousand feet. A very similar kind, _A. viridiflòra_, grows in the
mountains of Arizona.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Baneberry--Actaea arguta.]
[Sidenote: =Globe-flower=
_Tróllius láxus_
=White
Spring
U. S.=]
This is our only kind of Trollius. It is an exceedingly beautiful
flower, particularly when found growing in the snow, or near the edge
of a field of melting ice, in high mountains and along the margins of
glaciers. The handsome, toothed leaves are palmately-lobed or divided,
the lower ones with long leaf-stalks, rich green and glossy and setting
off the flowers, which grow singly at the tips of smooth, rather
weak stems, from one to two feet tall, and measure about an inch and
a half across. The sepals, from five to seven in number, are large,
cream-white, slightly greenish outside, and are the conspicuous part
of the flower, for the petals are very small and yellow, so that they
resemble stamens. From fifteen to twenty-five of these little petals,
in a row, surround the numerous, real stamens and form a beautiful
golden center. The fruit is a head, measuring an inch across, composed
of eight to fifteen small pods, with beaks, containing many, smooth,
oblong seeds. This plant looks very much like an Anemone but it has
these small yellow petals and Anemones have none, and the center is
larger and brighter yellow and the foliage coarser.
There are three kinds of Trautvetteria, two American and one Asiatic.
[Sidenote: =False Bugbane=
_Trautvettèria grándis_
=White
Summer
West=]
A handsome plant, with a smooth, pale-green stem, from two to three
feet tall, and fine large leaves, prettily cut, smooth and rather
bright green, the lower ones sometimes eight inches across. The white
flower clusters are large, very pretty, airy and feathery, consisting
of numerous small flowers, with small petal-like sepals, usually four,
and no petals, the numerous stamens, with white filaments, being the
conspicuous part and forming a little pompon. The akenes are numerous,
inflated and four-angled, and form a head. It is a pity that this
attractive plant has such a horrid name. It grows in moist woods at Mt.
Rainier and in similar places.
[Illustration: False Bugbane--Trautvetteria grandis.]
Anemones grow in temperate and cold regions everywhere. They have no
petals, but their sepals, numbering from four to twenty, resemble
petals. The stem-leaves are in whorls, forming a kind of involucre
below the flower. There are many kinds; some have nearly smooth,
pointed akenes, some densely woolly ones, and in some the akenes have
feathery tails. The name, pronounced anemòne in Latin and in English
anémone, is appropriate to the fragile kinds, such as the eastern Wood
Anemone, for it means "flower shaken by the wind."
[Sidenote: =Canyon Anemone=
_Anemòne sphenophýlla_
=White
Spring
Arizona=]
An attractive plant, eight inches to a foot tall, with pretty flowers
and foliage. The flowers are white, tinged with pink, less than an inch
across, often downy outside, and the head of fruit is oblong, sleek,
and silky downy. This grows on dry, rocky slopes in the Grand Canyon,
above the plateau. Around Tucson the flowers are less pretty, but the
foliage handsomer.
[Sidenote: =Three-leaved Anemone=
_Anemòne deltoìdea_
=White
Summer
Wash., Oreg., Col.=]
Delicate, pale flowers, conspicuous in dark mountain woods, with
slightly downy, purplish stems, from eight to ten inches tall,
and pretty leaves, thin in texture, the involucre-leaves without
leaf-stalks, rather light-green, dull on the upper side, paler and
shiny on the under. The pretty flowers are an inch and a half to over
two inches across, with five, pure-white sepals, usually two of them
larger and longer than the others, and a light bright-yellow center.
This is abundant at Mt. Rainier. _A. quinquefòlia var. Gràyi_, of
the Coast Ranges, is similar, the flower often tinged with blue, the
involucre-leaves with leaf-stalks.
[Sidenote: =Northern Anemone=
_Anemòne parviflòra_
=White
Summer
Northwest=]
A pretty little plant, with a rather hairy, reddish stem, from four
to twelve inches tall, glossy, dark-green leaves, paler and downy on
the under side, and flowers about half an inch across, cream-white,
tinged with purple or blue on the outside; the akenes very woolly. This
reaches an altitude of ten thousand five hundred feet, growing in the
East and in Asia and is the smallest of the mountain Anemones.
[Illustration: Northern Anemone--A. parviflora.
Three-leaved Anemone--A. deltoidea.
Canyon Anemone--A. sphenophylla.]
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: =Western Anemone=
_Anemòne occidentàlis_
=White
Spring
Northwest=]
These beautiful mountain flowers bloom in early spring, sometimes
poking their pretty faces right through a hole melted in a snow-bank,
and the brave little things are quite thickly covered with silky wool
all over, as if to keep themselves warm. The flowers, which often bloom
before the leaves expand, are about two inches across, with five to
eight, cream-white sepals, tinged with blue and hairy on the outside,
and are much less delicate looking than most Anemones. The stout stems
are very woolly, from six to eighteen inches tall, and the leaves are
beautiful, cut into numerous, very fine divisions, exceedingly feathery
and pretty. The akenes have long, feathery tails and form very large,
silky, fluffy heads, which are very handsome and conspicuous.
There are a good many kinds of Caltha, succulent marsh plants, of
temperate and arctic regions; the leaves undivided, mostly from the
base and more or less heart-shaped; the flowers with large, petal-like
sepals and no petals. This is the Latin name of the Marigold.
[Sidenote: =White Marsh Marigold=
_Cáltha leptosépala_
=White
Summer
Northwest=]
A pretty little mountain, marsh plant with a smooth, stout, purplish
stem from four to eight inches tall, and smooth, light-green leaves,
often veined with purple on the under side. The flowers are an inch and
a quarter across, with eight or ten, cream-white sepals, tinged with
blue on the outside, and pretty golden centers of numerous stamens.
This blooms at the edge of the retreating snow and reaches an altitude
of twelve thousand feet. _C. palústris_, the Yellow Marsh Marigold,
found in the Northwest and common in the East, has beautiful yellow
flowers, resembling large Buttercups.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Western Anemone--Anemone occidentalis.
White Marsh Marigold--Caltha leptosepala.]
[Illustration]
There are many varieties of Clematis, or Virgin's Bower, familiar to
us all, both East and West, and general favorites, widely distributed
and flourishing in temperate regions; perennials, woody below, which
is unusual in this family. Usually they are beautiful trailing vines,
which climb over bushes and rocks, holding on by their twisting,
curling leaf-stalks. The flowers have no petals, or only very small
ones, but their sepals, usually four, resemble petals; the stamens are
numerous. The numerous pistils form a round bunch of akenes, their
styles developing into long feathery tails, and these gray, plumy heads
are very conspicuous and ornamental, when the flowers are gone. The
leaves are opposite, which is unusual in this family, with slender
leaf-stalks, and are usually compound. Some plants have only staminate
flowers and some only pistillate ones, and the appearance is quite
different, the flowers with stamens being handsomer.
[Sidenote: =Virgin's Bower, Pipe-stem=
_Clématis lasiántha_
=White, pale-yellow
Spring
California=]
Near the summit of Mt. Lowe, and in similar places, we find this
beautiful vine clambering over the rocks. The flowers measure an inch
and a quarter to over two inches across and they vary in tint from
almost pure white to a lovely soft shade of pale-yellow, the handsome
clusters forming a beautiful contrast to the dark-green foliage. The
stamens and pistils are on different plants. The flowers, leaves, and
stems are all more or less velvety and the akenes have tails an inch
long, forming a head, about two inches across. The flowers are often so
numerous as to make conspicuous masses of pale color on canyon sides,
in the Coast Range and Sierra Nevada Mountains.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Virgin's Bower--Clematis lasiantha.]
There are a few kinds of Atragene, resembling Clematis.
[Sidenote: =Purple Clematis=
_Atrágene occidentàlis (Clematis)_
=Violet, blue
Summer
West=]
This is peculiarly attractive, as the flowers are large and beautiful
and the foliage very pretty. The leaves are divided into three, pointed
leaflets, which are thin in texture, light bright-green and prettily
cut or lobed, and the trailing or climbing stems are almost smooth,
slender and purplish above and woody below. The flowers, which are
not in clusters, measure from two to three inches across, with four,
sometimes five, violet or blue sepals, spreading widely as the flower
grows older, and the outer stamens are broad and resemble small petals.
The flowers are followed by handsome feathery heads, which are large
and silky. This pretty vine is found in the Grand Canyon, not far below
the Rim, and in many mountain places. The foliage varies somewhat in
different climates.
There are many kinds of Thalictrum, not easily distinguished, widely
distributed, a few in the Andes, India, and Africa; perennials, with
tall stems, from a short rootstock, and handsome, compound leaves; the
flowers perfect or imperfect, many, small, in clusters, with four to
seven sepals and no petals; the akenes tipped with the long styles and
forming a head. Some of these plants have a disagreeable smell. They
grow in moist places, both East and West.
[Sidenote: =Meadow Rue=
_Thalíctrum Féndleri_
=Greenish-white
Summer
West=]
Though its flowers are small and colorless, this plant is conspicuous
for delicacy and grace. The leaves of tender green suggest the fronds
of Maidenhair Fern and are almost as beautiful, while the flowers
are odd and pretty. A shower of numerous, pale-yellow stamens, with
purplish, threadlike filaments, falls from the center of four,
greenish-white sepals and forms a charming little tassel. These tassels
hang on the ends of very slender pedicels, in loose clusters. The
smooth stems are from one to three feet tall and the smooth leaves are
thin in texture, thrice-compound, with many, rounded leaflets, the
lower leaves with long leaf-stalks. This Meadow Rue has its pistils and
stamens on different plants, the flowers with tassels of stamens being
prettier and more conspicuous than the small, green, pistillate ones.
The variety _Wrìghtii_ is common in Arizona.
[Illustration: Lilac Clematis--Atragene occidentalis.]
[Illustration: Meadow Rue--Thalictrum Fendleri.]
BARBERRY FAMILY. _Berberidaceae._
Not a large family, widely distributed; shrubs or herbs; leaves
alternate or from the root; flowers perfect; sepals and petals few,
many, or none, generally in several overlapping rows; stamens on the
receptacle, usually as many as the petals and opposite them; pistil
one, with a short style, or none; fruit a berry or capsule.
There are several kinds of Vancouveria, perennial herbs with slender,
creeping rootstocks; named after Vancouver the explorer.
[Sidenote: =Inside-out Flower, Barrenwort=
_Vancouvèria parviflòra_
=White, lilac
Spring
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]
A charming woodland plant, its airy flower cluster, which has much the
effect of an Alum-root, in beautiful contrast to the crisp, evergreen
foliage. The large leaves are all from the root, with wiry, purplish
leaf-stalks and beautifully-shaped leaflets, each an inch or more
broad, pale on the under side, the older leaves dark, rich green,
leathery and very glossy and the younger ones bright apple-green and
thinner in texture. They form a handsome cluster, varying a good deal
in size, and the general effect suggests some very crisp and sturdy
sort of Maidenhair Fern. The stem is from one to two feet tall, wiry,
purplish, and hairy, and bears a very loose cluster of tiny, drooping,
white or lilac-tinged flowers. The six, white sepals resemble petals;
the six, white petals are smaller than the sepals, lined with yellow,
and there are six to nine bracts, resembling sepals, and six stamens.
The minute buds are purplish and the little flowers are exceedingly
pretty and odd, when we examine them closely, for the sepals turn back
so abruptly from the tiny petals, and from the projecting cluster of
stamens, that the name Inside-out Flower is appropriate. The fruit is a
kind of capsule with many seeds. This grows in shady woods, especially
among redwoods, up to seven thousand feet. _V. hexándra_ has thinner
leaflets, not evergreen, and the leaflets of _V. chrysántha_ have white
margins.
[Illustration: Inside-out Flower--Vancouveria parviflora.]
[Illustration]
There are many kinds of Barberry, widely distributed; shrubs, with
yellow wood; the leaves often spiny and the flowers yellow; the sepals
six to nine, with bracts and resembling petals; the petals six, in
two overlapping rows, each with two glands at the base; the stamens
six, with anthers that open by little valves like trap-doors, hinged
at the top, sensitive and, when they are touched, closing around the
shield-shaped stigma; the fruit a berry, with one or few seeds.
[Sidenote: =Oregon Grape, Trailing Barberry=
_Bérberis rèpens_
=Yellow
Spring
Cal., Ariz., Utah, Nev.=]
This does not look much like the common cultivated kinds of Barberry,
for it grows close to the ground in a straggling bunch. In favorable
situations it is a handsome and conspicuous plant. The leaves, with
from three to seven leaflets, are stiff, prickly, and evergreen like
Holly, and the yellow flowers are in clusters at the ends of the stems,
with opposite bracts. The six sepals, petals, and stamens are all
opposite, that is, with a petal in front of each sepal and a stamen in
front of each petal. In Arizona the flowers are rather small and the
clusters short, but in Utah they are far handsomer, rich golden-yellow
and sweet-scented, forming clusters two inches long. The fruit is
a handsome blue berry with a "bloom," the color of wild grapes,
contrasting well with the foliage when it turns red in the autumn,
and delicious jelly is made from them. _B. aquifòlium_, of Oregon and
Washington, is similar, with much more beautiful, very shining leaves.
_B. Féndleri_, of the Southwest, is from three to six feet high, the
branches smooth and shiny as if varnished, the leaves with smooth edges
or spiny teeth, and the flowers in numerous drooping clusters. The
calyx has conspicuous, red bracts and the berry is red.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Oregon Grape--Berberis repens.]
[Sidenote: =Sweet-after-Death=
_Áchlys triphýlla_
=White
Summer
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]
The only kind, an attractive perennial, popular on account of its
sweet-smelling foliage, which, however, is not fragrant until the
leaves are dried. It has a very slender rootstock and only one large
leaf, with a very long, slender leaf-stalk and three, oddly-shaped
leaflets, from two to six inches across, bright-green, smooth and thin
in texture, but not glossy. The single, very slender flower-stalk, from
one to two feet tall, bears a crowded spike of many, tiny, scentless,
white flowers, without either calyx or corolla, but consisting of a
cluster of stamens, with long, threadlike filaments, the outer ones
broader, and a pistil with a broad stigma and no style. The effect
of the cluster is feathery and pretty and the broad leaf is very
conspicuous, on account of its size and shape. The crescent-shaped
fruit contains one seed, is at first fleshy, but becomes dry and
leathery. This grows in the woods in the Coast Ranges, from near
sea-level up to seven thousand feet. It is also called Vanilla Leaf and
Deer-foot.
WATER LILY FAMILY. _Nymphaeaceae_.
A small family, widely distributed in fresh-water lakes and streams;
aquatic, perennial herbs, with thick, horizontal rootstocks, or with
tubers, large, floating, or erect leaves, and large, solitary flowers,
with long flower-stalks; sepals three to twelve; petals three to many;
stamens six to numerous; ovary superior, stigmas distinct or united
into a disk. We have no white Water Lilies in the West.
[Sidenote: =Indian Pond Lily, Spatter-dock=
_Nymphaèa polysépala (Nuphar)_
=Yellow
Summer
Cal., Oreg., Wash., Col., Wyo.=]
Like the eastern Spatter-dock, this is a coarse, but rather handsome
and decorative plant. The leathery leaves are shaped like a rounded
heart and sometimes a foot long. The cup-shaped calyx, two to four
inches across, is the conspicuous part of the flower, consisting of
seven to twelve, thickish sepals, yellow and petal-like, the outer
greenish. There are twelve to eighteen petals, half an inch long,
resembling stamens. The real stamens have dark-red anthers, but yellow
pollen, and both petals and stamens are densely crowded around the
ovary. The round fruit has a narrow neck, concave top, and many seeds.
In quiet mountain ponds we find these yellow flowers, on stout stems
standing up out of the water, the lily-pads floating idly on its
surface. Indians grind the seeds into meal for porridge, or else roast
them and eat them like popcorn.
[Illustration: Sweet-after-Death--Achlys triphylla.]
STRAWBERRY SHRUB FAMILY. _Calycanthaceae_.
A very small family, of only two genera, one North American, one
Japanese; aromatic shrubs, with opposite, toothless leaves, with short
leaf-stalks, without stipules; flowers large, solitary, at the ends
of leafy branches; sepals, petals, and stamens, indefinite in number,
in many, overlapping series, passing one into the other, so that one
cannot tell which is which, and all borne on the receptacle, which is
hollow, resembling a rose-hip, almost enclosing the numerous pistils;
stamens short, the inner ones without anthers; receptacle becoming a
large, leathery, oblong or pear-shaped fruit, containing few or many,
smooth, shining akenes.
There are three kinds of Calycanthus in this country, two of them
eastern; flowers purple or red, stamens inserted in several rows.
[Sidenote: =Strawberry Shrub=
_Calycánthus occidentàlis_
=Red
Summer
California=]
This resembles the familiar shrub of old-fashioned gardens and the
flowers have the same pleasant and elusive aroma, something like
strawberries, much more spicy when crushed. The shrub is four to ten
feet high, with rather coarse, harsh foliage and large, handsome
flowers, two or three inches across, warm maroon in color, shading
to brown and purple, with yellow stamens. This is handsome and
conspicuous, because of the uncommon and rich coloring of its flowers,
and grows along watercourses in the canyons of the foothills and is
most common in northern California. It has many other names, such as
Sweet Shrub, Carolina Allspice, Wineflowers, etc.
[Illustration: Strawberry Shrub--Calycanthus occidentalis.]
POPPY FAMILY. _Papaveraceae_.
A rather large family, widely distributed, most abundant in the north
temperate zone; herbs, rarely shrubs, with milky, mostly yellow juice
and narcotic or acrid properties; the leaves mostly alternate, without
stipules; the parts of the flower usually all separate and distinct,
borne on a top-shaped receptacle. There are usually two sepals, which
fall off when the blossom opens, and usually four petals, overlapping
and crumpled in the bud; the stamens are usually numerous and
conspicuous, with thread-like filaments; the superior ovary becomes a
many-seeded capsule.
There are only two kinds of Romneya, much alike, smooth, stout,
perennial herbs, several feet high, with colorless sap, the leaves
alternate and more or less divided; three sepals, each with a broad
wing on the back; six, large, white petals; many stamens; the ovary
covered with bristles. These plants are nowhere common, but are found
from Santa Barbara south, and in lower California sometimes grow in
great profusion. They are extensively cultivated and much admired
abroad.
[Sidenote: =Matilija Poppy, Giant Poppy=
_Romnèya trichocàlyx_
=White
Summer
California=]
This is often considered the handsomest flower in the West and it
woul
Showing first 200,000 characters. Full text: gutenberg.org/ebooks/47971