CHAPTER XI 



The genus Salvia is properly the sage genus, but our native plants 

 called sages, belong to the allied genus Audibertia. Both genera have 

 very peculiar stamens. The tissue joining the two cells of an anther 

 is called the connective ; in these flowers the connective is usually 

 developed so that it separates, rather than connects, the two cells. In 

 the Salvias both anther cells contain pollen, and the connective rests 

 on the filament like a see-saw board on its support. In the genus 

 Audibertia but one anther cell remains, and the connective is simply 

 joined at or near the other end to the filament, so that the stamen 

 appears to be a spliced filament bearing a single anther cell at the 

 top. In the little chia, Salvia Columbaria?, Benth., the value of this 

 curious mechanism appears ; as the guest, usually a large bee, thrusts 

 his head into the flower for honey, he strikes it against the lower 

 anther cell, the connective swings on the filament and the other anther 

 cell strikes the bee's back, so that he is well dusted with pollen to 

 carry to older flowers, whose stigmas are mature. The big chia, ,5". 

 carduacea, Benth., has its filaments so short as almost to escape 

 notice ; the two parts of the connective are rigid, and are easily mis- 

 taken for filaments ; in fact the essential organs in this flower do not 

 seem well adjusted, and pollination is very much a matter of chance. 

 Watching the pollination of the black sage, Aiidibertia stachyoides, 

 Benth., and the white sage, A. polystachya, Benth., is delightful field 

 work. The process is fully described in the Reader. Another sage 

 common on hillsides in some parts of Southern California is A. nivea, 

 Benth. In this species the stamens and style are longer than in the 

 black sage, and stand about midway between upper and lower lip, so 

 that the bees generally use them as a perch while they are gathering 

 honey ; this brings pollen-covered anthers in younger flowers, and 

 mature stigmas in older ones, against the bee's body. A handsome 

 mountain sage will be noticed in Chapter XV. The botanical name 

 for the crimson sage is A. grandiflora, Benth. 



In the vicinity of Los Angeles, I frequently find very interesting 

 hybrid forms, crosses between A. polystachya and A. stachyoides. 

 The whole subject of hybridization is full of interest. Of course, the 

 production of hybrids among cultivated plants is extremely common. 

 It has been practiced by Chinese and Japanese gardeners from the 

 beginning of historic times. It is estimated that about 6,000 kinds of 

 roses alone have been produced in this way. Wild hybrids are much 

 more common than is generally supposed. About 1,000 new hybrids 

 were reported in Europe alone in forty years. Hybrids exist among 

 mosses and ferns as well as among flowering plants. Kerner devotes 

 many pages to this topic, and states, as an indisputable conclusion, that 



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