Part 34

There are many kinds of Linanthus; low, slender annuals, with opposite, palmately-divided leaves and thus differing from Gilia, the divisions narrow or threadlike, looking almost like whorls in some kinds, or rarely toothless, occasionally some of the upper leaves alternate; the flowers scattered, or in terminal, roundish clusters; the calyx-tube thin and dry between the ribs or angles, the teeth equal; the corolla more or less wheel-shaped, funnel-form, or salver-form; the stamens equally inserted on the corolla; the seeds few or many, developing mucilage when moistened. The Greek name means "flax flower."

A queer little plant, only about two inches high, with almost no stem, very small, stiff leaves, and several large, pretty flowers, with cream-white corollas, about an inch across, with five crests in the throat, and the tube tinged with purple on the outside. They are exceedingly fragile and diaphanous in texture and form little white tufts, which look very odd and attractive, sprinkled over the sand in the Mohave Desert.

This has slender, purplish, rather hairy stems, from six to eight inches tall, stiff, dull green, hairy leaves, tipped with bristles, and flowers over half an inch across, with sticky, hairy calyxes. The slender corolla-tubes are half an inch long, with delicate rose-pink or violet petals, white anthers, and a whitish pistil. This looks very pretty growing on the bare sand of the Mohave Desert.

This is very pretty, with a stiff, slender, hairy, branching stem, from three inches to a foot tall, with stiffish, dull green leaves, apparently in whorls and cut into very narrow divisions, with bristles or hairs along the margins. The flowers are over half an inch across, with a long threadlike tube, and are usually bright lilac but sometimes pink or white, with a yellow, white, or almost black "eye," orange-colored anthers and a long, yellow pistil. The flower-cluster is mixed with many bracts and the stems often branch very symmetrically, with clusters at the tips. This is common on dry hillsides, growing in the grass, and often makes bright patches of color. There are several named varieties.

L. Parryae.

Linanthus breviculus.]

Exceedingly pretty flowers, with very slender, brown stems, often branching, from two to twelve inches tall, and a few, rather inconspicuous, dull green leaves. The flowers are an inch or more across, with a salver-form corolla, with a long slender tube, white and beautifully sheeny in texture, bordered with dull pink on the outside, showing where the petals overlapped in the bud; the stamens and pistil not showing in the throat. They have a strong and unpleasant odor, but the effect of the airy flowers is beautiful, especially in the desert, as they sway to and fro in the wind on their slender stalks. They open only in the evening, but stay open all night and keep on opening and closing for several days, getting larger as they grow older. This is common on open slopes and hills, but is variable and not easily distinguished from similar species.

A charming little desert plant, about three inches tall, with a very slender, usually smooth, widely branching stem and small, pale green leaves, apparently in whorls and cut into very narrow divisions, quite stiff and tipped with a bristle. The flowers are about half an inch across, bright yellow, with an orange-colored "eye" and tube, orange anthers and a yellow pistil, and they look exceedingly gay and pretty on the pale sand of the desert.

A very pretty little plant, slightly hairy, with a slender stem, from three to ten inches tall, and clusters of small, stiff, dark green leaves. The flowers are about three-quarters of an inch across, with long, threadlike, yellow tubes, sometimes an inch and a half long, and white, pink, or lilac petals, with an orange or white "eye" and often brownish on the outside, with yellow anthers and a conspicuously long, yellow pistil. This is common throughout California, growing in open ground on hills and sea-cliffs. L. parviflorus var. aciculàris is similar, but smaller. The flowers are similar, but often have so little white about them that they are yellow in general effect, and are sometimes specked with crimson at the base of the petals. They grow in sandy places in southern California.

Yellow Gilia--L. aureus.

Linanthus parviflorus.]

Charming little flowers, exceedingly delicate and gay. The stem is usually only a few inches tall, the leaves are very narrow, and the flowers are three-quarters of an inch across, with bright pink petals, prettily toothed at the tips, shading to white and yellow in the center and often with a purple ring in the throat. This is common in southern California and often grows in quantities, sprinkling the ground with its bright little flowers.

This is a few inches tall, with purplish stems, which are so very slender and wiry that they look hardly thicker than hairs and the flowers seem to be hovering in the air, giving an exceedingly pretty and delicate effect. The leaves are stiff and dark green and the flowers are half an inch or more across, with a yellowish tube and white petals, delicately veined with blue, with a pale yellow pistil and orange anthers. This grows on the dry tops of mesas, in southern California.

There are many kinds of Phlox, natives of North America and Asia, usually perennials, the leaves toothless, mostly opposite, at least the lower ones; the calyx five-ribbed; the corolla salver-form; the stamens inserted very unequally in the tube and not protruding; the seeds not mucilaginous. The salver-form corolla and the seeds not being mucilaginous distinguishes Phlox from Gilia. The name is from the Greek, meaning "flame."

A charming little plant, with woody stems a few inches tall and partly creeping along the ground, densely crowded with numerous needle-like leaves, forming dull green, cushion-like mats, sometimes over a foot across and suggesting some sort of prickly moss. These prickly cushions are sprinkled thickly all over with pretty lilac flowers and the effect is most attractive. The flowers vary in tint from white to pink and purple and are nearly three-quarters of an inch across and slightly sweet-scented. The tube is longer than the hairy calyx, and the petals fold back in fading. This grows on gravelly slopes and summits around Yosemite and in the Northwest, from the Rocky Mountains to Nebraska, and its patches of pale color are often conspicuous in dry rocky places, or in open forests, at an altitude of three to seven thousand feet.

Alpine Phlox--Phlox Douglasii.

Ground Pink--Linanthus dianthiflorus.]

Very attractive common flowers, with many stems, three to eight inches high, from a woody base. The leaves are smooth or somewhat downy, stiffish, pale gray-green and rather harsh, and the flowers are over three-quarters of an inch across, clear pink, of various shades from deep-pink to white, with an angled calyx. Only two yellow stamens show in the throat and the style is long and slender. This grows on hills and in valleys, as far east as Colorado, and its pretty flowers are very gay and charming, particularly when growing in large clumps in fields or beside the road. P. Stánsburyi, common on the plateau in the Grand Canyon, blooming in May, is similar, but has sticky hairs on the calyx.

There are many kinds of Gilia, variable and not easily distinguished; the leaves nearly always alternate and thus differing from Linanthus; the corolla funnel-form, tubular, or bell-shaped, but, unlike Phlox, rarely salver-form and the seeds are usually mucilaginous when wet. These plants were named for Gil, a Spanish botanist.

A brilliant biennial or perennial plant, varying in general form and color. In Utah it is somewhat coarse and usually has a single, leafy, roughish, rather sticky stem, from one to two feet tall, purplish towards the top, and thickish, somewhat sticky leaves, deeply lobed and cut, in a cluster at the root and alternate along the stem, dull bluish-green in color, smooth on the under side, with more or less sparse woolly down on the upper side, as if partially rubbed off. The flowers have no pedicels, or very short ones, and form small clusters in the angles of the leaves along the upper part of the stem, but are mainly at the top, in a large, handsome, somewhat flat-topped, loose cluster. They are each more than half an inch across, with a corolla of clear scarlet, the lobes shading at base to white, finely streaked with crimson and prettily fringed at the tips. The stamens are equally or unequally inserted in the corolla throat, the buds are prettily twisted and fringed at the tips and usually have a dark purplish calyx. Sometimes the flowers are all scattered along the stalk, making a wand of bloom. This grows on mountain sides and sometimes has a very disagreeable smell, hence the local name of Polecat Plant. In Yosemite it is much more delicate in character, with several, smooth or downy, reddish, leafy stems, from one to four feet high, from a branched base, bearing very graceful clusters of flowers, the petals of various shades of scarlet, pink, and crimson, often streaked with white, or yellowish dotted with red, their long points curled back. Often the buds are scarlet and the flowers pink, giving a very vivid effect. The protruding stamens are inserted in the notches between the lobes of the corolla, with red or pink filaments and yellow or purple anthers. This has the look of a hothouse flower and is very beautiful and striking when growing in masses in high mountain woods. This has several common names which are very misleading, such as Wild Cypress and Wild Honeysuckle. There are several named varieties. It grows in the Southwest and also from British Columbia to New Mexico.

Wild Sweet William--Phlox Stansburyi.]

A beautiful kind, with rather hairy, branching stems, from six inches to over a foot tall, and dull green, rather hairy leaves, prettily cut into long narrow lobes. The flowers are in clusters, sweet-scented and beautifully marked, with corollas a half-inch or more in length, open funnel-shaped, with a yellow tube marked by a white border, and two dark purple spots in the throat below each of the blue or whitish corolla-lobes, forming an "eye." The calyx lobes often have purple margins, the anthers are bright blue, with lilac filaments, and the pistil is lilac. This is common on low hills in western California.

A strange little desert plant, stunted-looking but with brilliant flowers, forming low, prickly clumps of stiff, dry, dull green, needle-like foliage, suggesting cushions of harsh moss, with numerous woody stems, two or three inches high, and numbers of pretty flowers, half an inch across, deep bright blue, with a little yellow in the center; the stamens, with bright yellow anthers, projecting from the throat. This bravely opens its bright blue eyes in the desert wastes of the Petrified Forest.

Bird's Eye--Gilia tricolor.]

A little desert plant, about three inches tall, more or less downy all over, the upper leaves and buds covered with soft white down and the lower leaves dark green and stiff, tipped with a bristle. The tiny flowers have a blue corolla, varying from sky-blue to almost white, with a yellow throat and white stamens, and although they are too small to be conspicuous, the effect of the bits of blue on the desert sand is exceedingly pretty.

This resembles Alpine Phlox in general effect, but the corolla is funnel-form instead of salver-form, for the lobes do not spread so abruptly. The many stems are woody below, a few inches high, and crowded with leaves, which are dull green, stiff, and cut into needle-like divisions, which look like single leaves, about half an inch long. The flowers are pretty and fragrant, half an inch across, white or pale pink, often with purplish streaks on the outside, with rounded lobes, the edge of each overlapping the next, and yellow anthers, not projecting from the throat of the corolla. This forms loose mats on rocky ledges, at high altitudes.

A rather pretty little plant, about eight inches tall, with several slender, slightly hairy stems and leaves cut into very narrow divisions. The little flowers are pale lilac, quite delicate and pretty, though not conspicuous, and form clusters at the tips of the branches. This sometimes grows in quantities in the hills of southern California and is variable.

G. multicaulis.