THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 27 



by species three to six feet high. So, too, penstemon, the 

 familiar beard-tongue of numerous species in the east and 

 middle west is sometimes a shrub in southern California — 

 notably a species with fat 3^ ello-.v blooms that adds beauty 

 to some of the desert regions. The California branch of 

 the waterleaf family, also, tends to shrubbiness, and in- 

 cludes one of the most famous of Pacific Coast medicinal 

 plants, the Verba Santa, or holy plant {Eriodyctyan glu- 

 tinosum). Its bitter, aromatic leaves are highly esteemed 

 in the domestic pharmacopceia as the basis of a home- 

 made cold cure. 



Pasadena, California. 



BOTANY FOR BEGINNERS— V. 



THE PETALS. 



The petals are really the wrappings of the essential or- 

 gans and when present are always found in a circle around 

 the stamens and pistils. From the fact that the blossoms 

 of many successful species are without petals, we know 

 that they are not necessar\^ to the plants' existence. They 

 are therefore of secondar}^ importance. They may serve 

 to protect the delicate essential organs from cold and w^et ; 

 they are helpful in obliging visiting insects to approach 

 these organs in a way that will most surely effect cross 

 pollination, while their bright colors are of service in at- 

 tracting insects to the flowers in the first place. 



Not only do the petals protect the essential organs in 

 the bud, but even after the flower has expanded it is not 

 uncommon for them to close again upon the approach of 

 cold or threatening weather as does the adder's-tongue 

 {Erythroniuw Americanum) the purslane and the scarlet 

 pinpernel {Anagallis arvensis). A great number like the 

 popp3^ dandelion, bloodroot and hepatica close at night, 

 while others close for a certain time in each twenty -four 

 hours, though not always in the evening. Of these the 

 morning-glory, four-o'clock, evening primrose, goat's- 

 beard {Tragopogon) and catch-fly (Silene) are examples. 



The petals are usually the most noticable parts of the 



