traver] the columbine ■ 139 



Seemly flowers with filaments therein 

 And pearling tubes with nectar in 

 Leaflets modelled tenderly 

 Rainbow hues 

 Winds and dews 

 And the spring's transparency 

 All in sweetest unity. 

 * * * 



Ah. the wonder that has run 



That some sweet alchemy has won — 



Kissed together stone and sun ! 



O Columbine, 

 The world is thine! 



January Wild Flowers 



The California spring is far in advance of oiirs as the following 

 note written in the middle of January by Miss Alice Eastwood, 

 Botanist, of the California Academy of Sciences attests: "I was 

 up to my place (on Mt. Tamalpais) yesterday and found a blue 

 Iris in bloom, a wild one that hugs the ground and keeps its seed 

 pod below the surface of the ground; it is called Iris macrosiphon, 

 for the entire stem is the calyx tube. There were also in blossom 

 Zygadenus pediciilaris and a pretty Umbellifera called "belaea.'' 

 The Manzanitas and Ceanothus are in bloom higher up, and have 

 been in bloom for weeks. 



I keep up an exhibition of the native and exotic flowers in bloom 

 in the vestibule of the Academy of Sciences building (in Golden 

 Gate Park). I have a stand with three shelves, each one smaller 

 than the one below. I put a label on each kind of flower containing 

 its scientific and its common name and the name of the country 

 where it is native. Some day, I hope to have in one place in the 

 park a representative collection of the plants in the park, arranged 

 according to the system of claosification and all labelled correctly. 

 The park is so large that to find all the kinds of plants would be a 

 task of years. There is probably no place in California where so 

 many different species are to be found as in Golden Gate Park." 



