FLOWERS OF HIGH ALTITUDES 89 



September, she has to see that her seeds are well 

 protected from an early cold snap. When fertiliza- 

 tion is completed, she does not cast aside the corolla, 

 but wraps it around the seed-case. She changes her 

 blue to a purple, and then to an ashy hue, to warn 

 insects that they are no longer welcome. The calyx, 

 too, stays on, so as to give extra warmth. The 

 species shown here is called calycosa, because of the 

 leaf-like bracts around the bottom of the flower. 



The Gentian is esteemed a great treasure by flower 

 lovers. Its blue is quite unlike that of any blossom 

 we have at the Coast. When you stumble unexpect- 

 edly upon a Gentian bed, the impression is of a bit 

 of sky fallen to earth. Do you think that blue makes 

 a deeper appeal to the human mind and heart than 

 do other colors? What tint are the flowers we re- 

 gard with most tenderness? What of blue in our 

 paintings of religious subjects? Is Judas ever de- 

 picted wearing the color of the Heavens? 



The Gentian was named for King Gentius of 

 Illyria, that eastern borderland of the Adriatic 

 whose history spells romance right down to this 

 hour. Gentius was something of a practicing physi- 

 cian, and he made known the curative qualities of 

 the root of the plant. Even today the essence of the 

 Gentian is used in medicine. 



Another Sierran plant that seems to be in the 

 era of changing its parts is the Pentstemon. Any 



