Part 39

WIND-POPPY. BLOOD-DROP. FLAMING POPPY.

Meconopsis heterophylla, Benth. Poppy Family.

Smooth herbs. Stems.--Slender; a foot or two high. Leaves.--Mostly petioled; pinnately divided into variously toothed, oval to linear segments. Flowers.--Solitary; on long peduncles; orange-vermilion to scarlet. Sepals.--Two; falling early. Petals.--Four; two to twelve lines long. Stamens.--Numerous. Filaments filiform; purple. Anthers yellow. Ovary.--Top-shaped; ribbed; one-celled. Style short. Stigma large; capitate; four- to eight-lobed. Hab.--Throughout Western California.

The wind-poppy is an exceedingly variable flower. In the central part of the State it is large and showy, its beautiful flame-colored blossoms being two inches across; while in the south it is usually very small, making tiny flecks of red in the grass, for which reason it is there called "blood-drop." It is an exquisite thing. Its petals have the delicate satin texture of the poppy; and their showy orange or scarlet blends suddenly at the center into a deep maroon. The bright-green, top-shaped ovary stands up in the midst of the slender stamens, whose yellow anthers show brilliantly against the dark maroon of the petals.

It blossoms in spring upon open hillsides, seeming to prefer those which are shaded for at least part of the day. It is very fragile, and falls to pieces at a touch, which makes it an unsatisfactory flower to gather.

WHISPERING BELLS.

Emmenanthe penduliflora, Benth. Baby-eyes or Waterleaf Family.

Six inches to a foot high; branched above; hairy; somewhat viscid. Leaves.--An inch or more long; pinnatifid. Flowers.--Straw-colored; at length pendulous. Corolla.--Campanulate; about six lines long. (Flower structure as in Phacelia.) Hab.--Lake County to San Diego.

In midspring, when passing among the plants upon our dry, open hillsides, our attention is often attracted by a certain delicate, rustling sound, which we find emanates from the little papery bells of the dried blossoms of the Emmenanthe, which retain the semblance of their first freshness for many weeks.

Though not at first apparent, a little examination will reveal the fact that these plants are very closely related to the Phacelias, the chief difference being in the yellow corollas.

YELLOW STAR TULIP.

Calochortus Benthami, Baker. Lily Family.

Leaves.--Much elongated; two to five lines broad. Stems.--Slender; three to six inches high. Buds.--Nodding. Flowers.--Erect; yellow. Petals.--Six or seven lines long; spreading; mostly obtuse; rather densely covered with yellow hairs. Gland.--Shallow; lunate. Capsule.--Nodding; six to nine lines long. Hab.--Sierra Nevada foothills, throughout their length.

This is a very pretty little star tulip, with graceful, flexuous stems and erect flowers, whose spreading petals are covered with hairs. Sometimes there is a dark-brown, almost black, spot upon the petals, and when such is the case the plant is called C. Benthami, var. Wallacei.

CREAM-COLORED WALL-FLOWER.

Erysimum grandiflorum, Nutt. Mustard Family.

Stems.--Six to eighteen inches high. Leaves.--Spatulate or oblanceolate; entire, toothed or lobed; lower long-petioled. Sepals.--Four; one pair strongly gibbous at base. Petals.--An inch long; long-clawed; cream-color or yellowish. Stamens.--Six; two shorter. Ovary.--One-celled; linear. Style stout; short. Stigma capitate. Pod.--Nearly flat; thirty lines or less long. Syn.--Cheiranthus asper, Cham. and Schlecht. Hab.--The seaboard from Los Angeles to Oregon.

Growing along sandy stretches, or upon open mesas by the seashore, we may find the showy blossoms of the cream-colored wall-flower from February to May. These flowers are less stocky and much more delicate than the garden species; and when seen numerously dotting a field carpeted with other flowers, they stand out conspicuously, claiming the attention peculiarly to themselves. They have not the delicious fragrance of the Western wall-flower. At first yellowish, they become pale cream-color after fertilization has taken place.

E. asperum, DC., the Western wall-flower, is widely distributed, and may be known from the above by its four-sided pods, and by its flowers, which are usually orange-color--though they occasionally vary to yellow or purple. These blossoms are especially abundant in the mountains and valleys of the south, where their brilliant orange is conspicuous amid the lush greens of springtime. They are very fragrant, and are favorites among our wild flowers.

BUR-CLOVER.

Medicago denticulata, Willd. Pea Family.

Stems.--Prostrate or ascending. Leaves.--Trifoliolate. Leaflets.--Cuneate-obovate or obcordate; toothed above. Flowers.--Papilionaceous; small; yellow; two or three in a cluster. Stamens.--Nine united, one free. Pods.--Coiled into two circles; armed with hooked prickles. Hab.--Common everywhere; introduced.

The bur-clover is a little European weed which has become very widespread and very much at home among us. It is an excellent forage-plant, and in late summer, when our cattle have eaten everything else, they feed upon the little burs, which are very nutritious in themselves. But these same little coiled burs, with their numerous firm hooks, work great damage to wool, imbedding themselves in it so firmly as to make it very difficult to remove them without seriously injuring its quality. These plants invade our lawns, where they become very troublesome.

COMMON MONKEY-FLOWER.

Mimulus luteus, L. Figwort Family.

Varying greatly in size. Stems.--One to four feet high. Leaves.--Mostly smooth; ovate-oval or cordate; coarsely notched. Flowers.--Yellow. Calyx.--Sharply five-angled; unevenly five-lobed. Corolla.--One or two inches long; lower lip usually spotted with brown purple. Stamens.--Four; in pairs. Anthers with two divergent cells. Ovary.--Two-celled. Style long and slender. Stigma with two rounded lips. Hab.--Common throughout California.

The bright canary-colored blossoms of the common monkey-flower are a familiar sight upon almost every stream-bank. The plant varies greatly in size, according to the locality of its growth. I once saw it flourishing in the rich soil of a lake-shore, where its hollow stems were as large as an ordinary cane, and its blossoms grotesquely large.

M. moschatus, Dougl., the common musk-plant of cultivation, is usually found along mountain-streams. It may be known by its clammy, musk-scented, light-green herbage. Its flowers are larger than in cultivation.