36 Muhleubergia, Volume 3 
of these flowers is rather peculiar. The-common-flower stalk is 
slender and thread-like, bearing at short intervals inverted cup- 
like bracts, from each of which hangs the cluster of from one to 
three small flowers. The shrub is found here and there among 
the brushwood on our hills, especially on northerly slopes. It 
occurs along the road leading to the summit of the ridge above 
our own place west of the town. Its range is northward from 
Monterey to Oregon, in the coast region. ‘The original, col- 
lected by Douglas, no doubt at Monterey, is the type of the 
genus, and of the family Garryaceae. 
/ SOLANUM UMBELLIFERUM Esch. Mighishade. 
- This is found in damp soil, usually in ravines or on the 
edges of thickets in fields among the hills, less rarely in thick 
woods, as it seems to prefer the sunshine. The stems are almost 
woody below, but entirely herbaceous and often weak above, 
leaning upon other plants for support. It is three to five feet 
high, sometimes quite thick and bushy, with numerous branches. 
The leaves are dark green, an inch or two long, about three- 
quarters of an inch wide, blunt and rounded. ‘The flowers grow 
in clusters of a half dozen or more, each on a slender stalk about 
an inch in length. The flower itself is saucer-shaped, about an 
inch in diameter, pale violet-purple. The large yellow stamens 
are closely pressed together at the middle of the flower, and add 
to its attractiveness. It is found only in the outer Coast Range 
from perhaps Santa Cruz northward into Sonoma county. It is 
a member of the Solanaceae or nightshade family. 
