SOME FANTASTIC FLOWERS 45 



texture of the green leaves at the base of the flower 

 stalk. "Grande/' every Californian knows, means 

 "large," so called because our native species is un- 

 usually handsome. 



The Hound's Tongue is one of the early bloom- 

 ers, either at the coast or in the mountains. Notice 

 the leaves when the plant is young. They are cov- 

 ered with the finest, softest of hairs, making a gar- 

 ment as warm as a human mother would use to 

 envelope her new baby. Aside from protection from 

 cold, perhaps Hound's Tongue had another reason 

 in producing this pubescence. Her first leaves are 

 pinkish and must look appetizing to herbivorous 

 animals seeking a springtime meal. If the leaves 

 were quite naked, they might be devoured whole. 

 The hairs make eating uncomfortable and the bitter 

 taste makes them unpalatable so they are left to 

 guard the flower stalk hidden in their midst. 



A little warm sunshine acts as magic on this stalk, 

 and it raises its flower head towards the sky as if to 

 absorb the Heaven's own hues. Its buds are colored 

 the softest pink of the early dawn, and its flowers 

 the intense azure of the mountain sky when ob- 

 served from the floor of a deep canyon. Her suc- 

 cess in dyeing her blossom should satisfy Hound's 

 Tongue; but, as a matter of fact, she learned centu- 

 ries ago that her revel in blue made her too incon- 

 spicuous under the immense cerulean arch. 



