CALIFORNIA PLANTS IN THEIR HOMES 



as these are very troublesome, greedy neighbors in orchards, 

 and they grow so deep in the soil that it is not easy to get 

 rid of them. The roots protect themselves against animals 

 by being very bitter. The foliage is bitter, too, but cows 

 will eat it; perhaps you know how it makes the milk taste. 

 The vines climb up into the light by tendrils that grasp 

 everything within their reach, and the flowers burst out be- 

 fore the leaves are fully grown. There are two kinds of 

 flowers; see if you can find them. The flower that will 

 become a big, spiny, green bur, grows by itself close to 

 the stem; you will find the little bur below the white cor- 

 olla; above it is a big sticky knob called the stigma. The 

 flowers that grow in clusters have, in the center, organs 

 that produce yellow dust called pollen. The pollen must 

 reach the stigma in order to make the bur and its seeds 

 grow. As these flowers do not make honey to induce in- 

 sects to visit them and to carry pollen to the stigmas of 

 other flowers, the pollen is probably carried mainly by the 

 wind. You must watch the burs after they are grown, to 

 see how the seeds get out. During the summer the softer 

 part of the bur decays and leaves a pretty lace-like skeleton. 



Look now for the plants you studied in the fall. Many 

 of them are taking their winter rest, but the hoarhound, 

 everlasting plant, and sage brush have fine new shoots in 

 fleecy, white dress. Some shrubby lupines are even more 

 beautifully dressed, in shimmering silky coats. The poison 

 oak has already its new leaves, and see how they spread 

 out to the sun! When the poison oak is climbing against 

 a bank or tree trunk, the leaves fit so closely together with- 

 out overlapping that they form what are called leaf-mosaics. 

 How does the poison oak climb? Does the chilicothe 

 climb in the same way ? What cultivated plant does ? 



Many other shrubs that lost their leaves in summer or 

 autumn, have their new leaves well grown, and some are 

 in flower, the wild currants and gooseberries, for instance. 



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