Part 42

Leptosyne maritima, Gray. Composite Family.

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

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

FALSE LUPINE.

Thermopsis Californica, Wats. Pea Family.

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

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

TIDY-TIPS. YELLOW DAISY.

Layia platyglossa, Gray. Composite Family.

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

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

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

GOLDEN BUTTERFLY-TULIP.

Calochortus clavatus, Wats. Lily Family.

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

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

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

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

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Malacothrix Californica, DC. Composite Family.

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

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

BUTTER-AND-EGGS.

Orthocarpus erianthus, Benth. Figwort Family.

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

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

BRASS BUTTONS.

Cotula coronopifolia, L. Composite Family.