CHAPTER X. 



PLANTS WITH HECHANICAL GENIUS. 



The many mechanical devices of the flowers, fruits and leaves of 

 these two families, Leguminosse and Geraniaceae, seem to me to justify 

 the title in the Reader. There are so many species of lupines that 

 their identification is difficult. They are usually grouped into 

 perennials and annuals. The most common perennial in the vicinity 

 of Los Angeles, is Lupimis albifrons, Benth., an almost shrubby plant 

 with silken leaves. It blooms the year round, but more profusely in 

 spring time. The flowers of the long raceme are usually pale blue, 

 but in the San Fernando valley I have seen them pink ; their fra- 

 grance renders the species unmistakable. L. Chamissonis, Bsch., is 

 the common shrubby lupine of the beaches. The long roots of these 

 and of kindred species make them valuable in confining sand dunes. 

 A notable instance of this was the transformation of once shifting sand 

 hills into the beautiful Golden Gate Park of San Francisco. By sowing, 

 first barley, which grows very rapidly, then the lupines, the soil was 

 prepared for shrubs and trees and other vegetation. Another peren- 

 nial lupine common in the foothills of Southern California, is L.for- 

 mosus, var. Bridgesii, Greene ; it resembles L. albifrons, but is not 

 so shrubby. The perennial that grows so luxuriantly along streams is 

 L. cytisoides, Agardh. I have seen this lupine grow in thickets, the 

 leaves tropical in size, and the long clusters of rose-colored, fragrant 

 flowers above one's head. The flowers of this species belong to the 

 larger bees ; hive bees are not heavy enough to pump out the pollen, 

 but they sometimes cling to the keel and wings, and scratch out the 

 pollen. The annual lupine of the illustration is L. sparsiflorus, 

 Benth.; other common annuals are L. affinis, Agardh., an early succu- 

 lent plant ; L. truncatus, Nutt., with slender, truncated leaflets; L. 

 hirsutissimus, Benth., the very rough lupine of dry habitats ; and L. 

 micranthus, Dougl., with very tiny flowers. L. densiflorus, Benth., 

 is common in many parts of the state ; it has succulent foliage, hand- 

 some white, pale yellow or pinkish flowers, and pods with but two 

 seeds. 



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