102 Popular Studies of California Wild Flowers 



to the best advantage along shaded, tree-lined banks and amid ferns 

 and brakes, whose companionship it seems greatly to appreciate. 

 The little flower is especially captivating amid such delicate green- 

 ery. Clarkia concinna Greene is not abundant, but quite widely dis- 

 tributed in the middle altitudes of the Coast Range Mountains. 

 This plant is described by some botanists as Eucharidium concin- 

 num Gray (concinnum means beautiful), supposed to be closely 

 related to the Clarkia; but the majority of the botanists assign it to 

 the genus Clarkia. 



A rare variety, somewhat localized in distribution, found on 

 the Mt. Diablo Range, and reported from a few other localities, is 

 Clarkia breweri Greene or E. breweri Gray, for some botanists con- 

 sider this species also entitled to generic distinction and designate 

 it Eucharidium breweri Gray, closely related to the Clarkia. This 

 variety has fan-shaped petals, the loveliest imaginable pink in color ; 

 its filaments and style are colored like the petals, but the anthers are 

 brick-red and the stigmas white. It usually grows but a few inches 

 high and its presence is often indicated by its sweet fragrance akin 

 to that of the old-fashioned honeysuckle which grew in our grand- 

 mothers' gardens. Its name, "Breweri," was given in honor of 

 William H. Brewer, botanist of the California Geological Survey. 



The species designated by botanists as Clarkia rhomb old ea is 

 not especially abundant, but is widely distributed in the Yosemite 

 and the lower foothill regions of both the Sierra and Coast Range 

 Mountains. This plant is not so conspicuous, but is delicate in 

 appearance, with slender, smooth, branching stems, from one to 

 three feet tall ; it has smooth leaves, mostly alternate, nodding buds, 

 and a few pretty little flowers about three-quarters of an inch across. 



Clarkias are frequently found in cultivation in the Northwest 

 and in Californian gardens, as well as in European countries, where 

 they are especially popular. 



What I wish to bring out particularly does not concern the 

 enrichment of botanical and zoological knowledge, greatly important 

 as I regard this, but rather the enlarging and liberalizing influences 

 which Nature has on the public mind generally. DR. WILLIAM E. 

 RITTER. 



