Popular Studies of California Wild Flowers 75 



"Therefore all seasons shall be sweet to thee." COLERIDGE. 

 Blazing Star, Mentzelia laevicaulis (Loasa Family) 



By Bertha M. Rice 



After "Wild-Flower Time," those fragrant, colorful days of 

 the springtime have departed, and are replaced by the warm brown 

 tones of summer, our California fields and hillsides assume a drearier 

 aspect to those unfamiliar with these seasonal changes. The East- 

 ern and Middle Western people are apt to associate the good old 

 summertime with flower-starred meadows, watered by happy 

 streams, where pond lilies dream and blue-flags challenge ; where 

 cattle stand knee deep in waving grasses or contentedly chew cuds 

 amid bordering fragrant woodlands. 



The disappointed Easterner looks with disapproval upon our 

 straw-colored fields and sun-scorched hills, devoid of that summer- 

 time color and rain-washed freshness characteristic of his territory. 

 But Californians love it. The exuberance of colorful charm and 

 infinite variety has been theirs in abundance during that season 

 which transformed the whole of California into a rich and flowery 

 wilderness. Then the desert "blossomed as the rose" ; then colors 

 ran riot everywhere, from the seas of blossoming orchards to the 

 outlying districts, massed with wild flowers in such profusion that, 

 familiar as they are to dwellers by this sea coast, yet so dazzle and 

 bewilder the stranger as to make him wellnigh incredulous, at 

 times, as to whether these gardens are really of Nature's planting. 

 It is not that one ever tires of this dreamful, splendid beauty; but 

 as long dwellers in the land, Californians have learned to know and 

 love the rich and varied charms of her seasonal changes. It is not 

 always springtime ; mellow tones hint of harvest days to come, and 

 likewise veil much loveliness and happy surprises of canons and 

 woodlands. Wee-flowering, dainty things spring up by dusty road- 

 sides, spray through tall, dry grasses, and crop out unexpectedly 

 from the large waste places. 



It is in summer, when most flowers have disappeared, that the 

 Blazing Star, Mentzelia laevicaulis, suddenly blooms with a bril- 

 liancy and beauty that is amazing when first seen. Its appearance 

 justifies its name. The blooms are star-shaped, of a pale, clear 

 yellow, with multitudes of long, soft-colored stamens, radiating from 

 the center like beams of starlight, and producing a strangely beau- 

 tiful effect. These plants haunt dry stream beds and sandy borders, 

 and have a gray appearance before blooming, blending well with 

 their surroundings. They are rather tall, branching plants, with 

 pale, shining, brittle stems ; and it is astonishing to discover, some 

 day, magnificent flowers crowning their lifeless-looking branches. 

 The blossoms are from three to five inches across, and their loveli- 

 ness is one of Nature's compensations for our long, dry summers. 



There are at least eight species of Mentzelia in California ; some 

 are smaller and inconspicuous, but all have the same general appear- 

 ance. They belong to the small and rather aristocratic Loasa 



