ROSE FAMILY 1 33 



long, several times pinnately dissected into minute crowded 

 lobes. Flowers white, y 2 in. across, pediceled in loose ter- 

 minal clusters. Petals 5, obovate. Stamens many. Pistil 1, 

 simple. 



Kit-kit-dizze, the Indian name of this charming, fern-like, 

 little plant has been adopted at the suggestion of Dr. C. Hart 

 Merriam. Although sometimes called "Bear Clover," bears 

 will have nothing to do with it, and "Mountain Misery," an- 

 other of its names, is wholly inappropriate. It is often known 

 as "Tarweed," but the true tarweeds are all Compositae. The 

 finely cut foliage forms fragrant carpets in open pine forests 

 of middle and lower altitudes. On warm days the odors dis- 

 tilled from the resinous leaves are very suggestive of healing 

 properties. The plant has been collected in large quantities 

 for medicinal purposes. 



13. CERCOCARPUS. Mountain Mahogany. 



1. C. parvifolius Nutt Mountain Mahogany. Hard Tack. 

 Stems woody, 6 to 12 ft. high, with a thin gray bark. Leaves 

 simple, obovate, coarsely toothed above the middle, veiny, 

 glabrous above, y 2 to 2y 2 in. long. Flowers in clusters of 2 

 or 3. Calyx with a slender stem-like tube and salverform 

 limb. Petals none. Stamens numerous. Pistil 1, becoming a 

 1-celled akene with a twisted feathery tail 2 in. long. 



The exceedingly hard and beautiful wood of this loosely 

 spreading shrub has given its common name. It grows in 

 Hetch Hetchy Valley and the lower foothills, where whole 

 slopes are sometimes made gray by its peculiar, feathery- 

 tailed seed-bodies. On the easterly slope of the Sierra 

 Nevada, as near Mono Pass, and in some parts of southern 

 California, it is replaced by a species with narrow, entire 

 leaves (C. ledifolius Nutt.). 



14. ROSA. Rose. 



1. R. californica C. & S. California Wild Rose. Stems 

 erect, 1 to 6 ft. high, with stout recurved prickles. Leaves 

 pinnate, hairy; leaflets 5 or 7, ovate to elliptic, sharply 

 toothed, ?4 to \y 2 in. long. Flowers pink, ^ to 1 in. across. 

 Petals 5 to 8, rounded. Stamens numerous. Ovaries many, 

 hard at maturity and enclosed in the globose fleshy calyx- 

 tube, which is called a "hip." 



This common rose grows around all the meadows of Yo- 

 semite, Hetch Hetchy, and other low valleys, but reaches 

 6000 ft. alt. in a dwarfed form. The flowers are both abun- 

 dant and fragrant. 



