Part 73

This genus was named for Gentius, an ancient king of Illyria, who is said to have discovered the medicinal virtues of these plants. The drug called "gentian," a bitter tonic, is made from the root of a German species--G. lutea--with yellow flowers.

All the Gentians are natives of the cooler portions of the world, inhabiting northern latitudes and mountain heights. We have several fine species, which are found in the Sierras and the northern Coast Ranges.

G. calycosa is a truly beautiful flower, rivaling the sky with its deep blue blossoms, which are to be found in the fall in many an alpine meadow, called by Mr. Muir "gentian-meadows."

TALL MOUNTAIN LARKSPUR.

Delphinium scopulorum, var. glaucum, Gray.

Buttercup or Crowfoot Family.

Mostly smooth; more or less glaucous. Stems.--Two to six feet high. Leaves.--Palmately five- to seven-parted; the divisions slashed into sharp-pointed lobes. Flowers.--Blue; in narrow, slender racemes; on rather short, slender pedicels. Sepals.--Rather narrow; six lines long or less; minutely tomentose. Spur crapy; rather slender. Ovaries.--Smooth. (Flower-structure as in D. nudicaule.) Syn.--D. scopulorum, Gray. Hab.--The Sierras, at about six thousand feet; from the San Bernardino Mountains to the Yukon River.

By July and August the slender spires of the tall mountain larkspur are conspicuous along the watercourses of the Sierras, where they are usually found in the company of their near relatives, the monk's-hoods and the gay scarlet columbines. A ramble down one of these mountain streams affords a succession of most delightful surprises. Willow copses, alternating with tangles of larkspur, great willow-herb, and monk's-hood, are followed by open, velvety meadows, starred by white and blue daisies, or diversified by the pure spikes of the milk-white rein-orchis, or the lovely blossoms of the pink mimulus; while further down, the stream perchance suddenly narrows and deepens, flowing by some jutting rock-wall, resplendent with crimson pentstemons or brilliant sulphur-flowers.

COMMON ASTER.

Aster Chamissonis, Gray. Composite Family.

Stems.--Two to five feet high; loosely branching. Leaves.--Alternate; sessile; lanceolate; three to six inches long; the upper becoming small or minute. Flower-heads.--Five or six lines long; composed of yellow disk-flowers and violet or purple rays. Rays.--Twenty to twenty-five; half an inch long. Involucre.--Campanulate; of many small imbricated scales. Hab.--Throughout California.

We have not as many species of Aster as are found in the Eastern States, but we have some very beautiful ones. A. Chamissonis is one of our commonest and most widespread species. Its blossoms begin to appear in late summer and linger along through the fall. Many species of Erigeron (very closely allied to Aster) are called "asters" among us, and comprise some of our most charming flowers. These are found chiefly in the mountains, though E. glaucus is found upon the sea-beach and ocean cliffs.

LAVENDER MOUNTAIN DAISY.

Erigeron salsuginosus, Gray. Composite Family.

Stems.--A foot or two high. Radical and lower leaves.--Spatulate to nearly obovate; tapering into a margined petiole. Upper leaves.--Ovate-oblong to lanceolate; sessile. Uppermost leaves.--Small and bract-like. Flower-heads.--Solitary; large; of yellow disk-flowers and lavender rays. Disk.--Over half an inch across. Rays.--Fifty to seventy; six lines or more long; rather wide. Bracts of the involucre numerous; loosely spreading. Syn.--Aster salsuginosus, Richardson. Hab.--Sierra meadows, at an altitude of from six to ten thousand feet.

Of all the beautiful flowers of the Sierras, not one lingers so fondly in the memory, after our return to the lowlands, as this exquisite lavender daisy. Late in the summer it stars the alpine meadows with its charming flowers, or stands in sociable companies on those natural velvet lawns of the mountains. It resembles the feathery, white mountain daisy, and grows in the same region; but its rays are wider and give the blossoms a somewhat more substantial look.

BLUE FORGET-ME-NOT. STICKSEED.

Echinospermum floribundum, Lehm. Borage Family.

Stems.--Two feet or so high. Leaves.--Oblong to linear-lanceolate; two to five inches long. Flowers.--In numerous, slender-panicled racemes; on short, slender pedicels. Racemes often in pairs. Calyx.--Five-parted; minute. Corolla.--Sky-blue (rarely white); salver-form, with short tube and spreading, five-lobed border; two to five lines across, with conspicuous arching crests in the throat. Stamens.--Five; included; on the corolla. Ovary.--Of four nutlets; each having a deltoid, keeled disk and margined by long, flat prickles. Hab.--From California to British Columbia and eastward.

The beautiful blossoms of the wild blue forget-me-not will be readily recognized by all lovers of flowers. They may be found in the Sierras in midsummer. The tall stems rise amid the lush grasses upon the sides of steep cañons, where the air is humid and vegetation is rank. The flowers are unfortunately followed by very troublesome burs, which are much dreaded by sheep-herders.

V. RED

Described in the Yellow Section:--

ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS--Pimpernel. MECONOPSIS HETEROPHYLLA--Wind-Poppy. MIMULUS GLUTINOSUS--Sticky Monkey-Flower. OPUNTIA ENGELMANNI--Prickly Pear.] COTYLEDON PULVERULENTA.

INDIAN WARRIOR.

Pedicularis densiflora, Benth. Figwort Family.

Root woody. Stems.--Six to twenty inches high. Leaves.--Alternate; oblong-lanceolate; pinnate; leaflets lobed and toothed; diminishing into the flower-bracts. Calyx.--Campanulate; five-toothed. Corolla.--Club-shaped, bent downward above the calyx and oblique to it; one inch long; the two upper lobes united and containing the stamens; the three lower mere teeth. Stamens.--Four. Style filiform; exserted. Ovary.--Two-celled. Hab.--Throughout Western California.

These blossoms, which come early in the season, seem "warmed with the new wine of the year." They often stand in little companies in openings among the trees, and the rays of the afternoon sun slanting in upon them brighten and vivify them into a rich, warm claret-color. The leaves, finely dissected, like certain fern-fronds, are often of a bronze tone, which harmonizes finely with the flowers.

To the casual observer, this flower resembles the Indian paint-brush. In reality, it belongs to a closely allied genus. But in this blossom the bracts do not constitute the brilliant part of the inflorescence, and the calyx, instead of being the showy, sheathing envelop it is in the paint-brush, is quite small and inconspicuous.