FLOWERS 47 



petals twisting into a hard knot, and pass on to a 

 seemingly reluctant death, far more dramatic to wit- 

 ness than their birth. It is almost as though they 

 were suffering. The pollen of the Iris is rather hard 

 to germinate artificially. A small percentage of the 

 grains start in water with 45% of sugar, but most of 

 the grains explode in the process. The pistil develops 

 into a large seed pod held vertically all winter; al- 

 though the pod may split open, the seeds are still 

 held in it until the spring rains rot the plant stalk 

 and it falls over, allowing the seeds to run out into 

 the damp soil. This Iris grows well scattered over the 

 Pacific Coast States and I have seen great quantities 

 of it in Nevada. 



The Blazing Star, Mentzelia, grows in rocky river 

 washes rather an uninteresting, sticky, unfriendly 

 sort of plant, two or more feet high, with gray-green 

 leaves. The blossoms make up for the lack of beauty 

 in the plant. They open into a lemon-yellow cluster 

 of wonderful stamens that are all folded inside the 

 petals and straighten out into a wide topped tassel. 

 As the yellow petals open the orange colored and 

 queerly shaped anthers wave back and forth, produc- 

 ing a wonderful effect. These blossoms are often six 

 inches in diameter, attracting attention wherever 

 growing. A first cousin grows well up on the moun- 

 tain sides, too, often in great masses, but the bios- 



