48 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. 



often called wild slippery elm. This name is given to it because its 

 bark resembles that of the slippery elm. The beauty of the leaves 

 comes to those who look closely, but the flowers can be seen from a 

 distance. They are as large as twenty-dollar pieces, but more golden 

 and shining. The arrangement of the stamens is beautiful. The 

 flowers clothe the stems so that they look like golden wands swaying in 

 the breeze. This shrub is not so common in the Coast Mountains as 

 in the Sierra Nevada, nor so beautiful. 



Two species of syringa, or mock orange, grow in California. While 

 the flowers are not so large as in the cultivated species, they are no less 

 lovely. The showy, white flowers are in panicles or racemes at the 

 summits of the stems. Somewhat similar to the Philadelphus or 

 syringa is the styrax. The flowers are of the same color and even 

 greater profusion. The blossoms hang like snowy bells. It reminds 

 one of orange blossoms, but, of course, has not the characteristic odor. 

 Belonging to the saxifrage family there is a shrub growing wild in 

 Fresno County, which is perhaps the rarest known in California. It 

 is really better known in Europe than here, though not well known 

 anywhere. It has large white flowers like the Cherokee rose, and is 

 known as Carpenteria. I have never seen this, though I have been 

 told that it grows and has bloomed in the botanical garden at the 

 University of California. The wild currants and gooseberries also 

 belong to the saxifrage family, and those native to California are the 

 most beautiful species to be found anywhere. There is one common in 

 southern California which is full of small red flowers like tiny 

 fuchsia (Ribes speciosum). That which is commonly known as the 

 flowering currant begins to bloom soon after the rains commence, and 

 in different localities the blooming period is kept up until late in the 

 spring. 



The dogwood family furnishes, besides the common flowering dog- 

 wood and the beautiful tree known as Cornus Nuttallii, two or three 

 species of a most peculiar shrub. It is known botanically as Garrya; 

 the common name is quinine bush, fringe bush, or silk-tassel tree. It 

 is quite different in appearance from any other member of the dog- 

 wood family, and has been considered by some botanists as the type of 

 a distinct family. Its nearest relatives are natives of the West Indies, 

 and therefore this is looked upon as one of the ancient types which have 

 been preserved in California. The names by which it is commonly 

 known arise from the bitter juice like quinine, and from the fringe-like 

 clusters of gray-green flowers which hang in sreat profusion on the 

 branches. It is one of the first shrubs to be in bloom, often before 

 Christmas. The male and female flowers are not on the same bush, 

 the former being the more abundant and beautiful, as is generally the 



