MOUNTAIN MISERY (Chamcebatia foliolosa, Benth.). Flow- 

 ers white, ^ inch or so across, with five petals and a centre of 

 numerous stamens, the whole resembling a strawberry blos- 

 som, in few-flowered terminal clusters. Leaves 1 to 3 inches 

 long, finely dissected, fern-like and very sticky, resinous and of 

 a balsamic odor. A spreading, much-branched shrub, 1 to 2 

 feet high, blooming from May to July and common in the 

 Sierra Nevada woods of Central California. It is noticeably 

 abundant in the Yosemite region, and carpets considerable 

 areas in the open coniferous forests. 



The common name Mountain Misery is not without appro- 

 priateness, when one comes to know the plant intimately. 

 The gummy secretion which thickly covers stems and foliage 

 comes off at a touch, and after a tramp through a patch of the 

 plant one's clothing and shoes become hopelessly smeared with 

 it. So does the wool of sheep that comes in contact with it, 

 and the bells of cows set adrift in the woods to browse may get 

 so deadened in sound by resinous coating from the plant as 

 to be quite useless for betraying the animals' whereabouts. 

 Better regard Chamcebatia (pronounced kam' e-bd-shia) at a 

 discreet distance. Tarweed and Bear's Clover are other local 

 names. 



91 



