130 AS CALIFORNIA FLOWERS GROW 



from England, where the peasants use a species for 

 plasters for bruises and sores; or the clematis. 



One often gets cut when leading the open life, but 

 there need be no fear of infection if Nature's effi- 

 cient antiseptic, Clema- 

 tis ligusticifolia, is at 

 hand. This plant has 

 evolved its leaf stems 

 into an admirable climb- 

 ing apparatus, by means 

 of which its blossoms 

 are flung out over bushes 

 and trees, sometimes up 

 to thirty feet. It needs 

 its flowers in full free 

 air, for it is like the 

 Garryi, with staminate 

 flowers on one plant and 

 pistillate on another. 

 Depending largely upon 

 the wind to carry its pollen, it does not pay overdue 

 attention to its floral envelope. It has no corolla at 

 all, but its sepals are petalloid, a rich cream color. 

 When the seeds are fertilized, each pistil develops 

 a long silky tail, which is really more conspicuous 

 than the blossom. These tails twist together, and 

 the soft balls sail off blithesomely to new homes. 

 The Spanish Californians valued this plant, call- 



CLEMATIS 



