60 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. 



The sand verbena (Abronia California) is also a perennial; it has 

 very showy yellow blossoms, which are fragrant. 



Keseda (mignonette,, Dyer's weed) is very plentiful all along the sea- 

 coast, and its flowers bear a strong resemblance to the garden favorite 

 of that name. 



Mesembryanthemum, with its bright rose-purple flowers and thick, 

 fleshy leaves, makes many a gay patch along the beach. Its fruit resem- 

 bles a fig, and is very agreeable to the taste. The early Spanish were 

 very fond of it, and called it "tornitis." 



Another of our perennials which seeks its home by the seas is the 

 lovely beach daisy, Erigeron glances. It seems to love to grow on 

 banks touching the beach, ever within sound of the waves. The violet 

 shade of the ray flowers, with the golden ones of the disc and the dark 

 green of the leaves, makes it a plant well worth cultivating. We have 

 another of this family, but, unlike its violet sister, it raises its head 

 proudly along stream banks far from the salt air. It also is beautiful, 

 with its daisy-like flowers of white shading into pink. Its name is 

 Erigeron Philadelphicus. It is not common with us. 



Aristolcochia Californica, the pipe vine, is one of our most interest- 

 ing perennials. It is difficult to find, as it grows under the shade of 

 the shrub oaks. The flowers are strange looking, very much like a 

 Dutchman's pipe; the color, a dull red-brown. I have often traced its 

 hiding-place by the black butterfly hovering around; these moths feed 

 on its leaves. 



The wild ginger, belonging to the same family, is also a strange- 

 looking plant. Its flowers look like great spiders; in fact, it has an 

 uncanny look. 



Nasturtium Officinale, the watercress, is not only a plant of beauty, 

 but of use. We garnish our dishes with its leaves. It is also converted 

 into a delicious salad. Most people are fond of it. 



Another useful plant is the Scrophularia Californica, the bee plant. 



t is quite a quaint-looking plant, with its little sunburnt face, not 



beautiful, like many of its sisters, but there is something very enticing 



and interesting about it. The bees love it. On the bee farms in the 



southern part of the state, the bee plant is cultivated. 



Castilleia Latifolia, or painted cup (the latter name I always object 



to as it bears no resemblance to a cup), is another of our perennials 



which lingers with us all the year. Its gay scarlet flowers brighten 



many a somber hillside. When mother nature calls her children to 



is well she leaves a few to gladden us through the winter 



We have some goldenrod perennials, besides numbers of the beautiful 

 and interesting flowers, most of them having medicinal values. How- 

 ever, time will not permit my dwelling on them. 



San Francisco, Col. 



