CALIFORNIA PLANTS IN THEIR 



. 71, you have learned some interesting things about 

 plants that climb by weaving, as it is called. The flowers, 

 like so many other summer flowers in California, are bright 

 red. Review the story of the pollination of the Pentste- 

 mons in Chapter XI, and find out if this Pentstemon has a 

 similar story. Do you think bees can get its honey? 



The scarlet wild fuchsia, Fig. 15, Chapter III, is one 

 of the most beautiful of Western wild flowers. From 

 Northern to Southern California, and from the coast to the 

 high mountains, it lavishes its beauty and brightness. In 

 the southern valleys, its leaves are small and gray, and can 



Fig. 71. CLIMBING 



Pentstemon cordifolius. 



resist the drought; in the north and in the mountains, they 

 are green and more luxuriant; in both cases the foliage is a 

 fitting background for the brilliant flowers. In the Eastern 

 States, this fuchsia is cultivated in gardens, and is called 

 the humming bird's trumpet. You can see for yourselves 

 that it is a humming bird's flower. 



Thus far, we have been considering summer flowers, 

 not summer plants, for these plants have been active 

 throughout the rainy season. But California has a goodly 

 number of really summer plants, plants that do not begin 

 their growth from seed or underground stem, till after the 

 rainy season ; and so it happens that they have at their disposal 



196 



