148 ERYTHEA. 



being guarded for some time by dehiscing anthers, later by 

 matured stigmas, and the long tubular calyx excluding many 

 guests. Like S. laciniata this species could be cross-pollin_ 

 ated by humming-birds, but its flowers are inconspicuous 

 by daylight and I have seen the birds visit other flowers in 

 their vicinity and quite miss these. The pale yellow color 

 and marked odor of the flowers suggest night pollination. 

 I found the honey very abundant in the afternoon, but had 

 no opportunity to observe them at night. 



Sidalcea malvceflora, Gray, and Sidalcea pedata, Gray. S. 

 malvceflora is rather common in the cienegas, but the scat- 

 tered plants are inconspicuous, the perfect flowers being from 

 8 to 10 lines in diameter. S. pedata is less common but 

 grows much larger, often four feet high, with its perfect 

 flowers 1^ to 1^ inches in diameter. Many plants of both 

 species have only pistillate flowers, the stamineal column 

 bearing anthers with empty cells or no anthers at all. These 

 pistillate flowers are usually a little more than half the size 

 of the perfect flowers of the same species. In a very wet 

 meadow, along a little stream, I found a dozen plants of S 

 pedata with pistillate flowers, while a parallel line of plants 

 a few yards away had all perfect flowers. In the perfect 

 flowers of both species the stigmas mature later than the 

 anthers and stand, when they unfold, about two lines above 

 the anthers, so that self-pollination seems impossible. I 

 have never seen honey abundant except once in flowers kept 

 in a vasculum over night. In S. pedata the honey is some- 

 what protected by hairs on the claws of the petals. I have 

 seen S. malvcBflora occasionally visited by hive bees, Antho- 

 phoras, and Bombus Californicus, but have seen only Bombus 

 Californicus on the pistillate flowers of the other species. 

 But one usually finds pollen grains on the stigmas of all the 

 flowers and they fruit abundantly. 



Hypericum Scouleri, Coulter, is common in moist places 

 and grows in very showy masses. The three stigmas are 

 held rigidly above the many anthers. The flowers have no 

 honey, but are much frequented by bees and other insects 



