THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 27 



usual yellow ones. Another species in all the dealers' cata- 

 logues is H. inaxiiniliani. It is a fine late species well worth 

 planting. The Western sunflower {H. occidentale) whose 

 medium sized flowers have a tinge of orange in them is the 

 least leafy of our native sunflowers. In sterile soils the leaves 

 are practically all at the base, and the slender stems, often 

 five feet high bear several flower-heads on stalks so fine that 

 the flowers seem floating in air. The name of showy sun- 

 flower is given to H. laetiflorus and it is well deserved. In 

 this group of showy species the descriptive term could only 

 be applied to something out of the ordinary. Its sole imper- 

 fection is that its flowers are comparatively few in number. 

 Heliaiifhiis gigaiifciis, as its name indicates is a gigantic spe- 

 cies as to stature, with flowers not much inferior to those 

 of H. laetiflorus. It is often confused with several species 

 that at first glance seem identical with it. One of these, how- 

 ever, H. grosse-serrafiis need never be mistaken, for taking 

 all things into consideration it is our handsomest native spe- 

 cies. The stem is smooth and glaucous, branching profusely 

 and covered in September with a multitude of large bright 

 yellow flower-heads. The leaf is peculiarly serrated and 

 the plant may be identified when not in flower by this single 

 characteristic. The accompanying illustration, much reduced, 

 was made from a small lateral branch springing from the 

 axil of one of the stem leaves. The plant grows to a height 

 of eight feet or more and when in full bloom is exceeded in 

 beauty by few plants, wild or cultivated. 



FLOWERS OF A DRY LAND. 



BY CHARLES FRANCIS SAUNDERS. 



TO the Eastern herborizer, used to a country where the ab- 

 sence of rain for three weeks is akin to a calamity, the 

 Southern California landscape in September before any winter 

 rains have fallen and after four or five months of drought, is 



