CALIFORNIA PLANTS IN THEIR HOMES 



to the ground; but beneath the soil the plant still lives, 

 although it takes a long summer nap. We shall watch the 

 waking of these plants when the rains come. 



Still other plants bravely go right on growing through 

 the long, dry summer. If they live along streams or in 

 shaded canons, they have not a hard task, for in such places 

 there is water beneath the surface of the soil that the fierce 

 sun cannot quite drink up. So when the rest of the country 

 seems brown and bare, we have along stream beds, lines of 

 willows and cotton woods, alders with their clean, straight 

 trunks, great branching sycamores, and perhaps smaller 

 plants with pretty flowers. In our canons and on steep, 

 shaded slopes we have a great many plants that grow and 

 flourish throughout the summer. The hardy nightshade 

 and the wild broom go 011 flowering as they do in the other 

 seasons, year after year. The poison oak is able to keep 

 its beautiful glossy leaves; the California holly blossoms and 

 gets ready to ripen its berries for Christmas; the clematis 

 carries its fluffy seeds high up where they can get a good 

 start in the world, and the grape vines spread out their 

 leaves to the light. 



But there are less sheltered hills and open fields and 

 waysides on which the sun beats all the long, cloudless 

 days; these places, too, have some plants that do not rest 

 during the summer and autumn. Collect all such plants 

 that you can find on a September or October day. Get the 

 roots when you can; at least dig for them until you know 

 something about their length. Now try to describe your 

 collection. It will not contain a single bright green plant. 

 The leaves are all dull green or grey; sometimes because 

 they have hard, thick skins, more often because they have 

 hairy coats. These coats are not fine, silky or velvety ones, 

 such as young leaves often wear in spring-time; they may 

 be fleecy, or they may feel like felt or flannel, or the hairs 

 may be very short, but they are rough and coarse; often, 



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