CACTI, SHRUBS AND FLOWERS 65 



rattlesnake that goes sideways and bites without 

 "ringing the bell." 



I have not yet spoken of the plant that makes the 

 greatest show of all about the borders of the desert, 

 where it covers dark caiion walls and the lower slopes 

 of mountains with a stipple of gray that changes in 

 spring to gold. This is Encelia farinosa, a stiff bush 

 up to two feet high, growing in the favorite hemi- 

 spherical shape of desert shrubs, with pale gray 

 leaves and brittle twigs that exude a yellow resin. 

 This resin, it is said, has been used, under necessity, 

 in place of orthodox incense, so that Mexicans and 

 Indians call the plant " yerba de incienso." The flow- 

 ers are yellow stars, profuse and beautiful, and are 

 borne on long slender stems that project evenly sev- 

 eral inches beyond the outline of the bush, which 

 then is like a big gray pincushion stuck full of yellow 

 floral hatpins. The plant is very prolific, and, whether 

 in flower or not, is a noticeable feature in any land- 

 scape in which it finds a place. Another species, E. 

 calif ornica, with dark -green leaves, is found oftener 

 on the levels than on hillsides. 



The mention of the encelias brings to mind spring 

 days a year or two ago that I spent in Deep Cafion, 

 one of the principal canons of the northwestern part 

 of the desert. The winter had been one of unusually 

 heavy rains, and every desert plant was doing honor 

 to the rare event. It is hopeless to attempt to give 

 the reader any true impression of the floral outpour- 

 ing that year as it was revealed to me in Deep Caiion. 

 To put it in one weak figure of speech, it was a tor- 

 rent of floral color, billows of red, yellow, and blue, 



