Part 68

Stems.--About a foot high. Leaves.--Alternate; dissected into linear segments. Flowers.--In capitate clusters an inch and a half across; deep blue. Calyx.--Five-toothed. Corolla.--Four lines long; with five obtuse lobes. Stamens.--Exserted. Anthers nearly white. (See Gilia.) Hab.--The Coast of Central California.

This pretty Gilia is quite common about San Francisco in springtime, and often makes masses of bright deep blue over the fields.

G. capitata, Dougl., is a closely allied species, found in the Coast Ranges from Central California northward. This is in every way a more delicate plant. Its stems are taller and more slender; its flower-heads are less than an inch across, and composed of very small light-blue flowers, with feathery, exserted stamens.

G. achilleaefolia, Benth., is a beautiful form, closely related to both the above, but quite variable in habit. Its flowers are light lavender-blue, six lines or so long, and are borne in larger clusters, often two inches across, on long, naked peduncles. At a little distance these blossoms somewhat resemble the clusters of Brodiaea capitata.

CHIA. SAGE.

Salvia Columbariae, Benth. Mint Family.

Stems.--Six inches to two feet high. Leaves.--Wrinkly; one to several inches long. Flowers.--Blue; in interrupted whorls. Whorls.--Twelve to eighteen lines in diameter; subtended by numerous, ovate-acuminate bracts. Calyx.--Bilabiate; upper lip arching, and tipped with two short bristles; lower, of two awn-like teeth. Corolla.--Three or four lines long; bilabiate. Upper lip erect; notched or two-lobed. Lower deflexed; with three lobes, the central much larger. Stamens.--Two. Filaments two; short; apparently forked--i.e. bearing on their summit a cross-bar having on one end a perfect anther-cell and on the other a dwarfed or rudimentary one. Ovary.--Of four seedlike nutlets. Style slender. Hab.--Throughout the State, specially southward.

This rough-leaved sage is quite common, especially southward, and grows upon dry hillsides or in sandy washes, where it blossoms in early spring. Its small bright-blue flowers are borne in an interrupted spike, consisting of from one to four button-like heads. Each of these heads has below it a number of leafy bracts, which are often of a bright wine-color, and form a rather striking combination with the blue flowers.

After the blossoms have passed away, the dried stems and heads remain standing all over the hills, shaking out the little gray seed in abundance. These seeds have been for centuries an article of economic importance to the aborigines and their descendants. Dr. Rothrock writes that among the Nahua races of ancient Mexico the plant was cultivated as regularly as corn, and was one of their most important cereals. Quantities of the seed have been found buried beneath groves which must be at least several hundred years old. It was in use among the Indians of California before the occupation of the country by the whites, being known among them as "chia."

Dr. Bard writes of these seeds: "They were roasted, ground, and used as food by being mixed with water. Thus prepared, it soon develops into a mucilaginous mass, larger than its original bulk. Its taste is somewhat like that of linseed meal. It is exceedingly nutritious, and was readily borne by the stomach when that organ refused to tolerate other aliment. An atole, or gruel, of this was one of the peace offerings to the first visiting sailors. One tablespoonful of these seeds was sufficient to sustain for twenty-four hours an Indian on a forced march. Chia was no less prized by the native Californian, and at this late date it frequently commands six or eight dollars a pound."

When added to water, the seeds make a cooling drink, which has the effect of assuaging burning thirst--a very valuable quality on the desert.

BLUE-AND-WHITE LUPINE.

Lupinus bicolor, Lindl. Pea Family.

Stems.--Stoutish; six to ten inches high; silky. Leaves.--Alternate; with small stipules. Leaflets.--Five to seven; linear-spatulate; one inch long. Flowers.--Four or five lines long; blue and white; the white changing to red-purple after fertilization. Upper calyx-lip bifid; lower twice as long; entire. Keel.--Falcate; acute; ciliate toward the apex. Pod.--Small; about five-seeded. (See Lupinus.) Hab.--Western Central California.

In late spring the open fields about San Francisco take on a delicate, amethystine tinge, due to the blossoms of the blue-and-white lupine. After fertilization has taken place, the white in these blossoms turns to deep red, and this admixture gives the general lilac tone to the mass.

DOUGLAS IRIS.

Iris Douglasiana, Herb. Iris Family.

Rhizomes.--Stoutish; clumps not dense. Radical-leaves.--Strongly ribbed underneath; dark, shining green above; one to three feet long; three to eight lines broad; flexile; rosy pink at base. Stems.--Simple; two- or three-flowered. Flowers.--On pedicels six to eighteen lines long; deep reddish-purple, lilac, or cream. Perianth-tube.--Six to twelve lines long. Capsule.--Narrowly oblong; acutely triangular; twenty lines long. Seeds nearly globular. (Otherwise as I. macrosiphon.) Hab.--The Coast, from Santa Cruz to Marin County.

On account of the bright and varied hues of its flowers, the genus Iris was named for the rainbow-winged messenger of the gods. In France it is known as "fleur-de-lis," a name whose origin has caused endless discussion and has been accounted for in many ways. There are many species, all of them beautiful. Orris-root is the product of the lovely white Florentine Iris.

In California we have several comparatively well-known species, and a number of others which are without names as yet; but the Douglas Iris is probably our most beautiful. It thrives well upon open mesas or upon well-drained hill-slope in the shelter of the chaparral. But it is found at its best in the rich soil of moist woodlands, whose seclusion seems the most fitting abode for so aristocratic a flower. There, surrounded by the delicate greenery of fern-fronds and a hundred other tender, springing things, it seems to hold a sylvan court, receiving homage from all the other denizens of the wood. There is a certain marked and personal individuality about these flowers which makes encountering them seem like meeting certain distinguished personages.

ITHURIEL'S SPEAR. BLUE MILLA.

Brodiaea laxa, Wats. Lily Family.

Corm.--Small; fiber-coated. Leaves.--Usually two; radical; linear channeled. Scapes.--Six inches to two feet high. Umbels.--Of ten to thirty or more purple or violet, or even white, flowers. Pedicels.--One to three inches long. Perianth.--Twelve to twenty lines long. Stamens.--Six; in two rows; the upper opposite the inner lobes of the perianth. Ovary.--Three-celled; on a stalk six lines long. Hab.--From Kern County to Northern Oregon.

After the delicate Collinsias have stolen away, the beautiful flowers of Ithuriel's spear begin to claim our attention in open grassy spots on the borders of rich woodlands. The common name is a happy one; for there is something commanding about this tall blossom-crowned shaft. It will perhaps be remembered that the angel Ithuriel possessed a truth compelling spear. When Satan, disguised, went to the Garden of Eden to tempt Eve, Ithuriel and Zephon were sent to expel him.

... "him there they found, Squat like a toad, close at the ear of Eve, Assaying by his devilish art to reach The organs of her fancy, and with them forge Illusions as he list, phantasms, and dreams;

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Him thus intent Ithuriel with his spear Touched lightly; for no falsehood can endure Touch of celestial temper, but returns Of force to its own likeness: up he starts Discovered and surprised."

BEACH-ASTER.