Pa 
188 Lavatera. _<s £2Z0Er 
show that it is more common than it now appears it would seem 
most proper to class it as an introduced species. There are some 
slight differences between our plant and Eastern ones, the panicle 
in ours being hardly exserted from the sheathing leaf, and the time 
of flowering much later, namely early in November, while accord- 
ing to the Manual it flowers at the East in August. The difference 
of climate, however, is quite sufficient to account for these varia- 
tions. 
Orchard grass, Dactylis glomerata, is found, although but rarely, 
as a roadside waif, although it is not a species which is cultivated 
here, and the present summer a few plants of Se/aria viridis were 
found by the highway near Rialto, San Bernardino county. Italso 
is as yet a mere waif, but from its well known character it is to be 
anticipated that it will soon establish itself among our naturalized 
plants. 
LAVATERA—IS IT AN INTRODUCED PLANT? 
BY T. S. BRANDEGEE. 
The notes on Lavatera in the June number of this journal, by 
bringing the plant to the notice of a wider circle than is usually 
reached by more technical publications, has thrown an unexpected 
light upon its origin. 
Miss Louise A. Littleton, of Glendale, Fresno County, writes: 
“TI was taught in a convent school, in my childhood, that Lavate- 
ra was an introduced plant, and the same statement was made to me 
later by a Franciscan friar at Santa Barbara. He said that the mis- 
sionaries were scattered over all the coast, and saw nothing to re- 
mind them of home, so they introduced a number of plants, one ot 
them being the luxuriant ‘ Malva rosa.’ The Franciscans were the 
Mission fathers of the early settlement of California, and though 
their places have been gradually filled by members of a different 
order, so that of their once numerous establishments only the single 
one at Santa Barbara now remains, that one which forms the link 
between the present and the past, is the storehouse of the early tradi- 
tions of the coast.’’ oe ; 
Mr. E. J. Molera kindly undertook,to make the necessary inqui- _ 
ries, being well qualified therefor, not only by his native language 
_ but by wide acquaintance among our Spanish-speaking population. 
