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tridentata glutinosa). It is the most prevalent large desert shrub 

 and very charming despite its being coated with a sticky, evil- 

 smelling, resinous exudation from which comes its common 

 name of Creosote Bush. ... A shrub valued by all desert 

 dwellers is the MORMON TEA {Ephedra viridis). Equisetum- 

 like in appearance, the Mormon Tea has slender, jointed stems 

 with leaves reduced to rudimentary scales. Staminate and 

 pistillate flowers are borne on different plants and, in spring- 

 time, the male-flowered shrub becomes a glory of golden- 

 stamened catkins. A tea made from an infusion of the branches 

 is regarded by Indians and Whites alike as a sovereign remedy 

 in the treatment of disease. . . . Among the beautiful flowering 

 plants of the Sacramento Valley are such perennials as the 

 SALMON GLOBE MALLOW (Sphaeralcea pedata), a compact 

 silvery bush with dozens of long spikes flaunting hollyhock-like 

 blossoms of from salmon-pink to terra-cotta; The CREEK 

 SENECIO (Senecio douglasi), a charming plant of wide distri- 

 bution with much divided leaves and an inflorescence of bright 

 yellow blossoms; and the DESERT MARIGOLD (Baileya 

 multiradiata) with basal tufts of hoary silver foliage and long- 

 peduncled, semi-double flowers of deepest golden yellow. . . . 

 Cactuses of varying forms frequent this great desert plain. 

 The CHOLLA CACTUS (Opuntia bigelovii) is strikingly appar- 

 ent on hillside slopes with its single straight black trunk bearing 

 many short and porrect branches, aglow with glistening spiny 

 armament. The inconspicuous flowers are greenish. The BAR- 

 REL CACTUS (Ferocactus lecontei) is a stout and massive 

 barrel intricately protected by broad annulated curved spines, 

 pink and yellow in color. The bright golden blossoms and red- 

 rosy fruits are borne in a nest-like arrangement on top of the 

 plant. The HEDGEHOG CACTUS (Echinocereus engelmanii) 

 is a most abundant desert succulent and is everywhere easily 

 distinguished by its cucumberesque stems, all cruelly armed 

 with varicolored spines and its great open chalices of rose- 

 purple loveliness filled with golden stamens, over which, like a 

 tiny butterfly, hovers the pale green stigma. . . . One of the 

 strangest of all desert plants is the DESERT TRUMPET 

 (Eriogonum inflatum). From a basal rosette of round, crinkled 

 leaves, the leafless stems arise to repeatedly branch and re- 

 branch. Just below the point of branching these slender stems 



