148 FAMILIAR FLOWERS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 



sclioltz ; it possesses the most brilliant and perfect yel- 

 low and orange in existence. No flower can equal it in 

 color, and the artist's paint box contains no pigment 

 which can approach it within " hailing distance." It 

 has a range of bright hues 

 from pure yellow to deep 

 orange, and a cream-yellow 

 white which is exceedingly 

 soft and beautiful. The pe- 

 culiar little pointed calyx 

 rests extinguisher-like on the 

 flaming yellow petals, and is 

 forced off whole as the flow- 

 er expands. Although the 

 flower is common in Califor- 

 nia and grows there in great 

 abundance as a wild flower 

 without value, it is prized 

 very highly in the East as a 

 garden annual. 



The tree poppy {Dendro- 

 mecon rigidum) of California is six or eight feet 

 high and bears brilliant yellow flowers, not unlike 

 Eschscholtzia, nearly three inches broad. This is re- 

 markable as a shrubby plant belonging to an almost 

 wholly herbaceous family, the Papaveracece. 



The poppy is extensively employed in the conven- 



Eschscholtzia. 



