28 THE PLANT WOULD 



A FEBRUARY OUTING IN CALIFORNIA. 

 By Stewaut H. Buenham. 



MANY Saturdays came and went, and still the dreary rain contin- 

 ued. At last tlie long looked-for bright morning came, and with 

 many thoughts of obtaining the much coveted Garrya in flower, 

 my friend and I left the campus of Stanford University early on the 

 morning of February 9, 1895. We crossed the wheat fields and struck 

 the Page Mill Boad, which for a few miles winds in and out around the 

 bases of the green foot-hills. Sometimes the ascent was gradual ; again 

 we were obliged to climb a steep hill, for our faces were turned toward 

 the mountains, Black Mountain in particular. 



Along Madeira Creek in the valley, Salix lasiolepis was in full 

 bloom. 3Ieadia Hendersoiii, the shooting-star, Cardamine Californica 

 and Sanicula Menziesii were blossoming along the roadside, mostly in 

 the shade of shrubs. The genus Rihes was well represented. R. siib- 

 vestitum is a thorny shrub with rather inconspicuous flowers. The her- 

 ald of the awakening mnter flora is R. glutinosum. I have seen it 

 beginning to flower on Thanksgiving day, immediatelj^ after the first 

 little showers. To-day we found its glory on the wane, as the beauti- 

 ful pink and rose-colored petals had been falling for some time ; still, 

 most of the tall shrubs retained enough beauty to perceptibly enliven 

 the landscape. R. malvacenm grows with glutinosum here, and is very 

 much like it in many ways, but has thicker leaves, which are tomentose 

 beneath. 



Lathyrus Bolanderi climbs over the bushes by the aid of its ten- 

 drils ; such a bower is a congenial home for the delicate maiden-hair 

 fern, Adiantma Gapillus- Veneris. GastiUeja foUolosa is a shrubby Painted 

 Cup having scarlet or yellow flowers, but it is not so abundant as its 

 near relative, Pedicidaris densiflora. The latter has pinnatifid leaves 

 similar to those of our common eastern lousewort, but the flower-spike 

 is far showier, being bright scarlet. This herb occurs everywhere on 

 the mountains and in the chaparral, and in flower is so conspicuous 

 that it can be seen for a great distance. 



A few months pre\dous I had seen the clustered bushes of Garrya 

 elliptica along the road, part way up the mountain. As I neared the 

 spot I hastened my steps, and at last succeeded in ol)taining all that 

 my heart could desire. The flowers are inconspicuous, but ihej are in 

 graceful axillarj^ aments, solitary or in threes, and dioecious. The 

 leaves are opposite, coriaceous, entire and tomentose beneath. For- 

 merly this low, branching shrub was classed as one of the Cornaceae, 

 with which it has little in common, but it is now placed in the small 

 family Garryaceae. 



