IN CALIFORNIA 259 



the East, or at least cultivated only in conserva- 

 tories. Besides the yuccas and acacias, bamboos, 

 palms and agaves, which are easily recognized by 

 every one, there are in every community where the 

 sentiment for flowers runs strong, scores of strik- 

 ingly beautiful shrubs, vines and herbs that are ab- 

 solutely novel to the tourist. It is a humiliating 

 fact, though, that too few of the owners of these 

 exotic plants can tell you their names. They have 

 generally been had from nurserymen in response to 

 orders for "pretty flowers and shrubs with beauti- 

 ful foliage that will be drought resistant and not 

 mind some frost." They have come to hand duly 

 labeled; but the name being in Latin, always unin- 

 telligible and often unpronounceable, has not inter- 

 ested the purchaser, who has soon forgotten it, and 

 Time's effacing fingers have not been slow to take 

 care of the label. By and by such plants, which are 

 gradually becoming established factors in Cali- 

 fornia gardens, will doubtless acquire folk names, 

 even if the botanic appellations are not popularized. 

 A case in point is the beautiful Mexican bush 

 with three-fingered leaves, Choisya ternata, which is 

 now sometimes known as Mexican orange-flower, the 

 white, fragrant blossoms somewhat resembling 

 those of the orange to which it is in fact related. 

 Another is the curious Australian shrub, Calliste- 



