BOTANY. 369 



After the wild oats, in importance to the herdsman, comes 

 the " burr-clover," so named from a spherical burr, about a 

 quarter of an inch in diameter, which it bears in clusters of 

 three. This burr-clover is found in all the settled parts of the 

 State. Cattle do not like it when green ; but after it dries, 

 the burrs fall upon the ground and are picked up by the cat- 

 tle, while the stranger is astonished at seeing them eating and 

 keeping fat on what appears to him to be bare earth. On ex- 

 amining the surface of the ground, he will^find that it is cov- 

 ered with the dry stalks and burrs of the burr-clover. The 

 bloom consists of three very small yellow flowers. It is said 

 that the stalks of this clover take root whenever the joints 

 touch the ground. 



The alfilerilla, vulgarly called " filaree," (Erodium cicuta- 

 rium) is another indigenous nutritious herb of much import- 

 ance to the herdsman. It is succulent, sweet, hardy, bearing 

 clusters of spikes, which are an inch and a half long, and 

 have given it the name of pin-grass. The resemblance of its 

 leaves to the geranium has suggested the name of " wild ger- 

 anium," by which title it is also known to some persons. Its 

 large root sinks deep into the ground, thus enabling it to re- 

 sist the drought, while above the surface it puts forth a dense 

 mass of stalks and leaves, spreading out sometimes several 

 feet in every direction. Cattle prefer it to every other indig- 

 enous herb of the State. The seeds seem to abound through- 

 out the soil, for wherever the earth is ploughed up for the 

 first time, there the alfilerilia appears, though it may never 

 have been seen there before. It is common in gardens, culti- 

 vated fields, and fallow lands. 



The white Californian clover has a large yellowish-white- 

 bloom, from an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, a 

 beautiful plant, well suited as an ornament for yards and gar- 

 dens. It grows very large, and is two feet high in moist, fa- 

 vorable situations ; while in dry places it will also mature its 

 seed without rising more than two or three inches above th& 

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