WATERLEAF FAMILY. Hydrophyllaceae. 



Pretty plants, from eight to fourteen 

 Whispering Bells . * * ' 



Emm*ndn//>e mches tall > wlth branching, hairy stems 

 pendulijldra and light green, soft, downy leaves. The 



Yellowish flowers are less than half an inch long, 



Spring, summer with le Uow corollas and are at first 

 Southwest 



erect, but gradually droop until they hang 



gracefully on their very slender pedicels. They become 

 dry and papery as they wither, but keep their form, and 

 when the wind shakes their slender stems they respond 

 with a faint rustling sound. This grows in dry places and 

 is common in the South. In Arizona it grows only in 

 protected canyons. 



There are several kinds of Hydrophyllum, perennial or 

 biennial herbs, with fleshy running rootstocks and large, 

 more or less divided leaves, mostly alternate. The corolla 

 is bell-shaped/with a honey-gland at the base of each of the 

 petals, which are rolled up in the bud. The filaments are 

 hairy, the style two-cleft above, both stamens and style 

 are generally long and protruding, and the ovary is one- 

 celled and hairy, containing from one to four seeds. 



This is a pretty plant, from six to 

 twelve inches high, with a rather weak 

 Hydrophyllum stem and conspicuous leaves, which are 

 capithtum alternate, pale green, soft and downy, or 



Lilac hairy, with five or seven divisions, prettily 



Spring lobed and cut, with rather prominent 



Northwest, Utah . , , , 



veins, and long, succulent, pinkish leaf- 

 stalks, sheathing the stem. The flowers are rather small, 

 with short pedicels, and a number are crowded together in 

 roundish clusters, about an inch across, with almost no 

 flower-stalk. The calyx is covered with white hairs, the 

 corolla is lilac or white, somewhat hairy on the outside, and 

 the stamens and style are long and conspicuous, sticking 

 out like cats' whiskers and giving a pretty feathery appear- 

 ance to the whole cluster, which becomes in fruit a con- 

 spicuous, very fuzzy, round head, covered with bristly 

 white hairs, making the children's quaint common name 

 for this plant quite appropriate. It grows in rich soil, in 

 mountain woods, and is one of the earliest spring flowers. 

 It is sometimes called Bear's Cabbage, but this name is far 

 t'etched, both as regards bears and cabbages ! 



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