II 



FLOWERS 



IN writing of flowers and botanical subjects, I am 

 doing it not as a botanist but as a student of the 

 phenomena of plant life and the subjects described 

 are a few of those I have seen and photographed. In- 

 tensive work on any subject tells its own story. 



Of the Flowers of Yosemite the Snow Plant bears 

 the same relationship to the people of the western 

 coast as the Night Blooming Cereus does to the peo- 

 ple of the Hawaiian Islands. A striking red spike, 

 barren of leaves, but having bracts that are fringed 

 with white and look as though they were frosted. 

 The bell-shaped flowers often have their openings 

 covered with the bracts till the pollen is ripe or the 

 stigma receptive. There is something lacking in 

 either its method of pollenization, or the insect 

 especially adapted to act as its agent in that neces- 

 sary duty, as its seeds seldom germinate. No defi- 

 nitely conclusive research work has been done on 

 the snow plant, so we cannot say just why it is be- 

 coming more rare. It is a saprophyte and not a para- 

 site as was at first believed, getting its substance from 

 decaying vegetable matter. Appearing in the early 



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