200 THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. 



cedars ( Wellingtonia gigantea\ which was long con- 

 sidered the largest of large trees on earth. 



It is a matter of extraordinary interest that these 

 giant pines of California, which were regarded with 

 awe by the aborigines, have caused one of the few 

 superstitious to crop up which are found among Amer- 

 icans. The gold miners of that region, we are 

 told, sometimes tip a cone with the first gold they 

 find, and preserve and sometimes even wear it on 

 their person as an ornament, hoping that it will bring 

 them luck. The curious belief has probably been im 

 ported by some of the German miners, in whose 

 homes superstitions connected with fir and pine are as 

 abundant as the crop of pine cones themselves. 



THE MANDRAGORA OR MANDRAKE. 



Country people can still recall the fright which the 

 simple name of this plant used to produce among 

 our ancestors. It was a vegetable, but seemed also, 



The Mandrake 



