WATERLEAF FAMILY. Hydrophyllaceae. 



Whispering Bells . plants from eight to fourteen 



Emmendnthe inches tall, with branching, hairy stems 



pendulifldra and light green, soft, downy leaves. The 



Yellowish flowers are less than half an inch long, 



With Pale yell W corollas and are at fir st 

 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 01 

 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 an 

 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 tc 

 twelve incn es high, with a rather weal 

 Hydrophyllum stem and conspicuous leaves, which an 

 capitfaum alternate, pale green, soft and downy, 01 



Lilac hairy, with five or seven divisions, prettilj 



? pn " g lobed and cut, with rather prominenl 



Northwest, Utah . i . 



veins, and long, succulent, pinkish leaf 



stalks, sheathing the stem. The flowers are rather small 

 with short pedicels, and a number are crowded together it 

 roundish clusters, about an inch across, with almost n( 

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

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

 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 co 

 spicuous, very fuzzy, round head, covered with brisl 

 white hairs, making the children's quaint common nan 

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

 mountain woods, and is one of the earliest spring flowe 

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

 fetched, both as regards bears and cabbages! 



418 



