FIGWORT FAMILY 



(Scrophulariaceoe) 



Herbs or shrubs with a 2-lipped corolla (sometimes ob- 

 scurely so) ; stamens 2 or 4 (2 long and 2 short) or sometimes 

 J5 with one sterile; style one, undivided. 



| CALIFORNIA BEE PLANT (Scrophularia calif ornica, Cham.). 

 Flowers dull red or greenish, | to 5 inch long, in a terminal 

 panicle; stamens 4 in 2 pairs, with a rudimentary fifth stamen 

 in the shape of a scale on the corolla throat. The upper lip of 

 .the globular corolla is 4 lobed and erect, the lower lip consist- 

 ing of one lobe which is extended outward. Leaves opposite, 

 i ovate or triangular, 2 or 3 inches long, coarsely toothed. 

 Blooming May until August (sometimes in midwinter), in 

 .rather moist ground throughout much of California at low or 

 {moderate altitudes, and eastward to Nevada a coarse, 

 branching plant with square stems, from 2 to 6 feet high. 



The smallness of the flowers of the California Bee Plant 

 jmay cause it to be overlooked entirely, but if noticed at all, 

 fthey are sure to delight alert little flowers with a grotesque, 

 Ignomelike sort of character that appeals to the imagination. 

 As the name indicates they are famous honey producers. 

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