SUPPLEMENT 



almost invariably resume their secure position in the keel after a 

 visit ; that is, each flower may repeatedly receive foreign pollen on its 

 stigma, and, in return, furnish its guests with fresh supplies. Much of 

 this remarkable process can be seen by imitating the pressure of the 

 bees on the flower. The climbing habits of these plants are similar 

 to those of our cultivated sweet peas, to which they are nearly related. 



The "rattle weed" genus, Astragalus, is a very large one, and about 

 one hundred and fifty of the five or six hundred species, are natives of 

 Western America. In our fertile valleys there are several species, 

 the most common being A. leucopsis, Gray; but the numerous desert 

 and mountain species, with their various adaptations to hard condi- 

 tions, are the most interesting. The inflation of the pods aids in seed 

 distribution. Doubtless some species are poisonous to sheep and 

 cattle, but it is very doubtful whether the so-called "locoing" ob- 

 served in this section, is due to anything else than the presence of 

 bezoars in the stomachs of the animals. 



The genus Lotus the Hosackia of the older floras is particularly 

 well represented in California. The species L. glaber, Fig. n, is 

 widely distributed. In the mountains it is called deer weed, because 

 the deer feed on it. In dry regions I have seen it with the leaves 

 reduced almost to the vanishing point, and generally, because of its 

 numerous green stems which act as foliage, it deserves its name, 

 California broom. It is one of the most attractive chapparal plants, 

 blooming to some extent the year round, and very profusely in spring 

 and early summer. It is an important bee plant, and so are many of 

 the annual species common in the state. The pretty little L. strigo- 

 sus, Greene, with its fine, rather rigid leaves, and L. Wrangelianus ^ 

 F. &M., with succulent leaves, have few rivals in the attentions of 

 hive bees; they have devices for pollination similar to those of the 

 Lathyrus. There are other, more handsome species that are widely 

 distributed, and are worthy of individual attention. Several species 

 of Lotus have the same device for seed distribution as the Lupines, 

 that is, the valves coil back, so expelling the seeds forcibly. Other 

 Leguminosse will be referred to in Chapters XIV and XVI. 



Few of our native Geraniaceae are conspicuous, and the kinship of 

 the introduced members of the family, the filaree, Pelargonium, the 

 so-called nasturtium, and the Oxalis is not -easily made apparent to 

 children, but all these genera have mechanical contrivances, some of 

 them very striking. Perhaps the story of the filaree is told in sufficient 

 detail in the Reader; the young plants are referred to in Chapter V, and 

 the weed-like qualities of the plant are discussed in Chapter XVI. Its 

 flowers have a primitive and wasteful methpd of pollination; they are 



80 



