SANTA CATALINA ISLAND. 139 



ited with light snows. It is the blooming-time of Adenostoma 

 fasciculatum. 



Another striking plant is Eriophyllum Nevinii ; its foliage gleams 

 like frost-work on the cliff-sides and in June its gold flowers begin 

 to shine against the silver. Here, too, on the dry cliffs, glow the 

 autumnal-tinted flowers of Hosackia argophylla. This Hosackia is 

 here decidedly woody at base, though coming under an "herba- 

 ceous " section in the classification of the species in the Botany of 

 California. The stems are from four to six feet long; and even 

 when mature, it is still "silvery." Near by, the papery pods of 

 Astragalus leucopsis, also red and yellow tinted, rattle in the sea- 

 breeze, while above them all Audibertia polystachya raises its arms. 



Later, the gay Zauschneria Californica joins the assembly on the 

 cliffs, while on the tip-top ledges the pink Eriogonum giganteum 

 has its habitation. Mr. Lyons speaks of the "cream-colored 

 flowers" of E. giganteum, but I find them always pink on expand- 

 ing, though they usually fade to " cream " in a day. Eriogonum 

 nudum is also at hand, as well as Cotyledon csespitosa and, less 

 frequently, C. lanceolata. 



This^ being "a wet season," Crossosoraa Californica was in bloom 

 before Thanksgiving. In character, it differs from that given in 

 the Botany of California as follows: Young shoots glaucous; leaves, 

 oblong and obovate, retuse and often sessile; arboreus, twelve to 

 fifteen feet high. Mr. Brandegee ^ says he frequently found as many 

 as nine carpels; I have rarely found so many, three to seven being 

 the usual number. 



In four localities Antirrhinum speciosum has been collected. It 

 loves bold crags, where the flowers hang over the sea, like red 

 corals on green strings. At its best, it is about ten feet high. It is 

 continuously in flower. 



In March, Leptosyne gigantea blooms, usually on the broken 

 edges of sea-cliffs, but there is a valley a mile inland where it grows 

 on the summit of a little peak which rises abruptly from a small 

 valley. Here the Indians a long time ago carved their pots out of 

 the serpentine, for the marks of their implements are still fresh, and 

 you may walk through a vale of broken pots. 



1 1896-97. 



2ZoeI. 109 



