PLANTS GROWINCx IN DRY SOIL. 275 



But the farmer and the artistic eye seem to be always at 

 variance. He understands the seriousness of things and re- 

 gards the plant as an impudent foreigner that has secured first 

 a footing, then a home, and finally a kingdom in his corn fields. 

 The cockle is also alarmingly clever. It mixes its black seeds 

 with those of the grain and so increases its dominion every 

 year. They draw tears of lamentation from the sturdy miller 

 who prides himself on his flour's purity and whiteness. 



The plant also contains a poisonous ingredient called sapo- 

 nin which is freely soluble in water and when inhaled produces 

 violent sneezing. It is known that a small quantity of bread 

 that contains these seeds if eaten regularly will produce a pe- 

 culiar and chronic disease. 



CALIFORNIA POPPY. {Plate CXLII) 

 Eschscholtzia Calif ornica. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Poppy. Ora7tge red or yellow. Juice^like iituri- Cali/ontia. June-September. 



atic acid. 



Flowers: large; solitary. Calyx: of two sepals that form a pointed cap 

 which drops off as the petals expand. Corolla: of four concave petals. Sta- 

 mens : numerous. Capsule : one-celled and covered by the compound stigma. 

 Leaves: dissected, pale, glaucous. Stem: twelve to eighteen inches high; 

 the end dilated into a top-shaped receptacle with a broad rim upon which are 

 the stamens. Juice : watery ; narcotic. 



" How gently, O sleep, 



fall thy poppies on me !" — Ed. Johnson. 



The flowers from which the illustration was taken, were 

 picked in Santa Rosa, California. There, to see the fields 

 aglow with the silky, flame-coloured beauties, which have every 

 variety of tint from pale yellow to deep orange, is most en- 

 chanting. 



At one time, when China wished to prevent the large use of 

 opium which is extracted from the opium poppy, she destroyed 

 an immense quantity of plants that belonged to British mer- 

 chants and as a result became involved in her first war with 

 England. To this poppy, therefore, is due, in a measure, the 

 opening of China and Japan to the commerce of the world. 



