Part 44

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

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

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

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

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

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

CALIFORNIAN SLIPPERY-ELM.

Fremontia Californica, Torr. Hand-tree Family.

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

No more beautiful sight is often seen than a slope covered with the wild slippery-elm in blossom. The bushes are almost obscured from view by the masses of large golden flowers. This shrub takes on various forms; sometimes sending out in every direction long slender branches, which are solid wreaths of the magnificent blooms; and again assuming a more erect, treelike habit. It has been hailed with delight in the gardens of our Southern States, and heartily welcomed in France and England. Why do not we honor it with a place in our own gardens, instead of giving room to so many far less beautiful exotics?

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

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

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

DODDER. LOVE-VINE. GOLDEN-THREAD.

Cuscuta, Tourn. Morning-Glory Family.

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

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

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

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

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

LARGE YELLOW LUPINE.

Lupinus arboreus, Sims. Pea Family.

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

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

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

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

ST. JOHN'S-WORT.

Hypericum concinnum, Benth. St. John's-wort Family.