Part 77

The spines are quite variable in length, the longest being sometimes an inch and a half. Each one is covered by a papery sheath, which slips off easily.

Upon the ground about these shrubs may usually be found the skeletons of old branches. These are hollow cylinders of woody basket-work, which are quite symmetrical and pretty.

O. serpentina, Engelm., found at San Diego, and often growing with the above, resembles it somewhat, but may be known by its much longer spines, which are from three to nine inches long, and by its greenish-yellow flowers. The plants are usually found near the seashore and scattered--i.e. never forming thickets.

Upon the sea-coast at San Diego is found another plant similar to the above--Cereus Emoryi, Engelm.--the "velvet cactus." Instead of being covered with tubercles, these plants have from sixteen to twenty vertical ribs, upon which are borne the bunches of slender spines. These spines are from a quarter of an inch to one and three quarters inches long, and without barbs. The flowers are greenish-yellow, and not particularly pretty or attractive.

SCARLET BUGLER.

Pentstemon centranthifolius, Benth. Figwort Family.

Very glaucous and smooth. Stem.--One to three feet high. Leaves.--Ovate-lanceolate; mostly sessile; the upper cordate-clasping; thick. Panicles.--Narrow; a foot or two long. Corolla.--Bright scarlet; an inch or more long; hardly bilabiate. (See Pentstemon.) Hab.--From Monterey to Los Angeles.

The tall spires of the scarlet bugler are such familiar sights along southern roadsides and sandy washes that people almost forget the enthusiastic admiration their bright beauty first elicited. It is said that acres of mountain lands are sometimes a solid mass of vermilion during the blooming season of this lovely plant.

The panicle is often two feet long, with its string of scarlet horns. The individual flowers bear quite a likeness to those of the honeysuckle, common in Eastern gardens, and by those who encounter the plant for the first time, it is usually spoken of as "honeysuckle." The blossoms are sometimes yellow near San Bernardino.

P. Bridgesii, Gray, met more frequently in the Yosemite than elsewhere, though it occurs in the Sierras from the Yosemite southward, is a very similar plant to the above. But it differs in having its corolla quite distinctly bilabiate, though of the same general tubular, funnel-form shape.

LARGE VETCH.

Vicia gigantea, Hook. Pea Family.

Climbing. Stems.--Five to fifteen feet long. Leaves.--Alternate; pinnate; terminated by a tendril. Leaflets.--Ten to thirteen pairs; linear-oblong; obtuse; mucronulate; one or two inches long. Stipules.--An inch long; semi-sagittate. Racemes.--Dense; one-sided; five to eighteen-flowered. Flowers.--Dull red. Corolla.--Papilionaceous. Petals not spreading. Stamens.--Nine united; one free. Style.--Hairy all around under the stigma. Pod.--An inch or so long. (See Leguminosae.) Hab.--From San Francisco Bay northward to Sitka.

This vine is usually found in moist places. Its blossoms are never attractive for they have a faded, worn-out look, even when they are fresh. The pods are black when ripe, and the seeds are said to be edible.

SCARLET GILIA.

Gilia aggregata, Spreng. Phlox or Polemonium Family.

Stems.--One to three feet high. Leaves.--Pinnately parted into seven to thirteen linear, pointed divisions. Upper leaves more simple. Flowers.--In a loose panicle. Calyx.--Deeply five-cleft; glandular. Corolla.--Scarlet, pink, or rarely even white; with funnel-form tube, one inch long; and rotately spreading five-lobed border. Lobes three to six lines long. (See Gilia.) Hab.--Throughout the Sierras.

The scarlet Gilia is a familiar flower in the Sierras in late summer, growing everywhere in dry places. It may be easily recognized by its rich, glossy, flat, green leaves, pinnately divided into linear divisions, its tall, loosely branching habit, and its bright, delicate scarlet flowers, standing out horizontally from the stem. The corolla-lobes are often flesh-pink or yellowish within, splashed or streaked with scarlet. The whole plant is quite viscid.

SCARLET MONKEY-FLOWER.

Mimulus cardinalis, Dougl. Figwort Family.

Stout; viscid; hairy. Stems.--One to five feet high. Leaves.--Sessile; ovate to ovate-lanceolate; ragged-margined; several-nerved; two or three inches long. Peduncles.--Three inches long. Corolla.--Scarlet; two inches or more long. Upper lip erect; its two lobes turned back. Lower lip three-lobed; reflexed. Stamens.--Exserted. (See Mimulus.) Hab.--Throughout Oregon and California along watercourses.

One day in June, when riding upon the shores of Bolinas Bay, I came upon a spot where a cañon stream flowed out upon a little flat at tide-level, making a small fresh-water marsh, in which mint, bulrushes, and scarlet Mimulus were striving for the mastery. But the Mimulus was the most wonderful I ever saw. It stood four or five feet high--a patch of it--strong and vigorous, and covered with its handsome, large scarlet flowers, a sight to be remembered. This species is often cultivated in gardens.

SNOW-PLANT.

Sarcodes sanguinea, Torr. Heath Family.

Fleshy, glandular-pubescent plants; six inches to over a foot high; bright red; without green foliage; having, in place of leaves, fleshy scales, with glandular-ciliate margins. Flowers.--Short-pediceled. Sepals.--Five. Corolla.--Six lines long; campanulate; with five-lobed limb. Stamens.--Ten. Anthers two-celled; opening terminally. Ovary.--Five-celled; globose. Style stout. Stigma capitate. Hab.--Throughout the Sierras, from four to nine thousand feet elevation.

I shall never forget finding my first snow-plant. It was upon a perfect August day in the Sierras. Following the course of a little rill which wound among mosses and ferns through the open forest where noble fir shafts rose on every hand, I came unexpectedly upon this scarlet miracle, standing in the rich, black mold in a sheltered nook in the wood. A single ray of strong sunlight shone upon it, leaving the wood around it dark, so that it stood out like a single figure in a tableau vivant. There was something so personal, so glowing, and so lifelike about it, that I almost fancied I could see the warm life-blood pulsing and quivering through it. I knelt to examine it. In lieu of leaves, the plant was supplied with many overlapping scalelike bracts of a flesh-tint. These were quite rigid below and closely appressed to the stem, but above they became looser and curled gracefully about among the vivid red bells.

I had heard that the plant was a root parasite; so it was with much interest and great care I dug about it with my trowel. But I failed to find its root connected with any other. I have since learned that it is now considered one of those plants akin to the fungi, which in some mysterious way draw their nourishment from decaying or decomposing matter.

I carried my prize home, where it retained its beauty for a number of days. I afterward found many of them. They gradually follow the receding snows up the heights; so that late in the season one must climb for them.