OUR LORD'S CANDLE (Yucca Whippld, Torr.). This strik- 

 ing plant, common in the chaparral belt of the Southern Cali- 

 fornia mountains and extending eastward to Arizona, is an 

 evergreen hemisphere of bristling, bayonet-like leaves set close 

 to the ground, each leaf 1 to 3 feet long and terminating in a 

 slender spine. Out of this repellent mass arises in early sum- 

 mer a stout flower-stalk to the height of 10 to 15 feet, breaking 

 for half its upper length into a huge panicle of creamy-white 

 (sometimes purplish tinted), fragrant, pendent flowers. 

 Such gleaming spikes, visible from long distances projected 

 against the dark background of shaggy hillsides, are a char- 

 acteristic sight in June and July throughout Southern Cali- 

 fornia, and one of the dramatic scenes in Western plant life. 



After the flowers pass the plant dies, but an examination at 

 the base usually shows thrifty young offsets from the old root. 

 The dead flower stalks, pithy and light of weight, are turned 

 to some account by curio manufacturers, the cross sections, 

 for instance, making serviceable pincushions. The young 

 flower stalk was roasted and eaten by Indians. 



Spanish Californians call the plant quidte (kee-6-ta) which 

 seems to be a case of popular transference, as quiotl is one of 

 the Aztec names for the Agave, or Maguey. 



