FLOWERS OF HIGH ALTITUDES 105 



son William, after the father, but we do not label 

 the helpless infant "false," because of the relation- 

 ship. Now, it is we humans who bestow the name 

 on the plant, and why should we, even if we recog- 

 nize a resemblance, give the same title with this 

 ignominious epithet prefixed? California has quite 

 a number of plants so ticketed False Alum-Root, 

 False Indigo, False Lupine, False Lady's Slipper, 

 False Mallow, False Pimpernel, False Solomon's 

 Seal. Any one of these could much better wear an 

 individual title. "False Hellebore" is especially 

 absurd. In ancient times, a genus of the Buttercup 

 Family was named "Hellebore," and it has borne 

 that name down through the centuries, and is still 

 thriving under it. A familiar example of it is the 

 Christmas Rose. Some time in the past, people 

 began calling Veratrum, which is a true lily, with 

 no resemblance to the Buttercup Family, "False 

 Hellebore." There is no reason given for this title, 

 but I suspect it is because of the medicinal uses of 

 the two roots. The Veratrum is not now used as 

 commonly as it was, but veratria is still extracted 

 from it and used as an external application in obsti- 

 nate cases of rheumatism and neuralgia. Veratrum 

 refers to the roots, "truly black'' and calif ornicum 

 shows that it is a native of our State. 



