348 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



women will be women. The practical conviction that this is 

 after all what they most wish to be must have an important 

 bearing upon their particular aspirations, and it is this convic- 

 tion which, to say the least, suggests misgivings and compels re- 

 serve in the minds of a very large number of average American 

 women whose voices are not heard in the land. 



WILD FLOWERS OF THE CALIFORNIA ALPS. 



BY Miss B. F. HERRICK. 



THE Sierra Nevada mountain range with its lofty, snow- 

 capped peaks and majestic glaciers, its serrated crags and 

 romantic canons, its foaming rivers, sparkling waterfalls, and 

 dense pine forests is the California Switzerland. The climate 

 of this region more nearly resembles that of the mountains of 

 the Atlantic coast than any other section of the far West ; and 

 the vegetation is in most respects quite similar, though there are 

 many varieties of trees and plants that are peculiar to the State. 

 Spring is late in these high altitudes, and the summers are of 

 all too short duration. 



Among the first flowers to greet the new year is the curious 

 snow plant (Sarcodes sanguined), world- renowned not only from 

 the fact that it is exclusively Calif ornian, but on account of its 

 rare beauty and individuality. It was first discovered by one of 

 General Fremont's exploring expeditions on the slopes inclosing 

 the valley of the Sacramento; and is common at the Yosemite 

 and on Mount Shasta, at an altitude of from four to nine thou- 

 sand feet above the sea level. Though generally supposed to be 

 parasitic on the roots of the pine tree, eminent botanists, after 

 careful investigation, now claim it to be a "saprophyte," or a 

 plant growing from a rotten substance near the surface of the 

 soil, like certain species of fungi, an aid to this conclusion hav- 

 ing been found in the fact that the plants are sometimes known 

 to flourish in open places considerably removed from any growth 

 of timber. Their usual habitat is moist, sheltered forests, where 

 the winter snows fall deeply ; and they make their appearance 

 when the spring sun warms the frozen ground and melts the 

 fleecy snowdrifts. True leaves they have none; and the fleshy 

 bracts, bell- shaped blossoms, and thick, brittle stems are all of 

 a brilliant scarlet, icy to the touch, and of the consistence of 

 crystallized sugar. The average height is about one foot, what 

 corresponds to the underground roots or bulbs being of about an 

 equal depth and of a much lighter tint. 



These plants are members of a suborder of the heath family ; 



