FLOWERS AND FORESTS OF THE FAR WEST 223 



Floixt of the Sierra Nevada and California. 



When we go westward to the Sierra Nevada of Cali- 

 fornia, we meet with another alpine flora, generally similar 

 to that of the Rocky Mountains, but with a smaller pro- 

 portion of Arctic species and more which are character- 

 istic of America. Here we find dwarf shrubby penstemons, 

 curious prickly gilias, Mimulus and Eriogonum in more 

 abundance, and a greater variety of ferns. But it is when 

 we descend to the lower slopes and to the valleys and 

 coast ranges of California itself that we find the greatest 

 abundance of new plants altogether distinct from anything 

 in the Eastern States, and it is to these that we must 

 devote the remainder of our space. 



Few countries have contributed to our gardens a larger 

 number of showy and interesting plants than California. 

 The rich orange yellow Eschscholtzias, the brilliant Calan- 

 drinias, the showy Godetias and Clarkias,the beautiful little 

 Nemophilas and Phacelias, the gaudy Mimuluses and the 

 handsome Collinsias, are known to every lover of garden 

 flowers. Others familiar to every horticulturist are the 

 curious pitcher-plant — Darlingtonia Calif ornica, the hand- 

 some gigantic white poppy — Bomneya coulteri, the elegant 

 Dicentra formosa, the fine yellow-flowered shrub Fremontia 

 Californica, the ornamental blue or white-flowered ever- 

 greens of the genus Ceanothus, the fine shrubby lupines, 

 the lovely flowering currants, including the fine Bibes 

 speciosum with drooping fuchsia-like flowers, the scarlet- 

 flowered Zauschneria Calif ornica, the fine shrubby Diplaciis 

 glibtinosus, and lastly, the many ornamental bulbous plants, 

 such as the triteleias, brodiseas, lilies, and especially the 

 lovely butterfly-tulips of the genus Calochortus, whose 

 flowers are most exquisitely marked inside with delicately- 

 coloured hairy fringes. But this by no means gives an 

 idea of the great peculiarity of the Californian flora, which 

 is best shown by the large number of its genera, probably 

 more than a hundred, which are altogether unknown in 

 the Eastern States. The flora is in fact related to that of 

 Mexico, just as the flora of the Rocky Mountains is related 



