ened, or of causing the body to jump at a sud- 

 den noise. 



The pasque flower of South Dakota is a 

 speaking likeness of an English variety, if in- 

 deed it is not the direct descendant of that 

 flower. There is a tradition that the plant first 

 arose out of the blood of the Danes who were 

 killed on the field of battle in the stormy days 

 of Britain's early history, and many people 

 call it the "Danesblood." Opinions differ as to 

 how it came by its name of pasque flower. 

 Some say that before the Gregorian revision 

 of the calendar it was the most abundant flower 

 at Eastertide ; hence its name. Others declare 

 that a dye for coloring Easter eggs was ob- 

 tained from it. Be that as it may, the pasque 

 flower itself brings delight to the prairies even 

 before the last winter winds have roared their 

 farewell. 



THE OREGON GRAPE 

 (Berberis aquifolium Pursh) 



The Oregon grape is one of the State flowers 

 which has the prestige of legal status behind 

 its queenship. It belongs to the barberry fam- 

 ily, other members of which are the twin-leaf, 

 the blue cohosh, and the May apple. Between 

 its dainty blossoms of early summer and its 

 bright purple berries of late fall, it wins ad- 

 miration wherever it grows. It lives close to 

 the ground and is not a climber like the ordi- 

 nary American wild grape. But no fruit of 

 field or forest ever made a more delicious jelly 

 than that of this handsome shrub of the West. 

 Though the berries resemble the huckleberry, 

 the foliage looks like that of the holly, and the 

 wood inclines to a yellow-cast red. Its range 

 is wide, extending as far east as Nebraska, as 

 far south as Arizona, and as far north as 

 British Columbia (see page 515). 



It is one of the strange things about nature 

 that so many of its creatures are unable to 

 perpetuate their species without a periodic 

 change of environment. For instance, the 

 germ of yellow fever dies and disappears 

 where it cannot spend part of its time in the 

 human body and part in the stomach of a 

 stegomyia mosquito. Likewise, cedar rust be- 

 comes extinct if it cannot live one year on an 

 apple tree and the next on a cedar tree. In 

 the case of one species of wheat rust the bar- 

 berry is necessary to its continued hold on life. 

 This rust cannot live without changing hosts 

 periodically. 



But the Oregon grape is wiser than some of 

 its immediate kinsfolk. It has a preference 

 for situations where the communication of rust 

 spores to it from wheat and from it to wheat is 

 not quite so readily accomplished. It is found 

 most abundant and beautiful on the foothills 

 and mountain slopes deep in Oregon's lumber 

 lands. 



THE INDIAN PAINTBRUSH 



(Castilleja linariaefolia Benth.) 



Some years ago the school children of Wy- 

 oming, feeling that their State ought to have 

 a duly chosen queen of the flowers, undertook 



to elect one. They chose the dainty and uni- 

 versally admired fringed gentian. But while 

 no flower is more beautiful, many people in 

 Wyoming thought there were others more rep- 

 resentative and typical of their State. This 

 feeling culminated in legislative action in 1917, 

 with the result that beautiful Queen Gentian 

 had to abandon her throne to the narrow- 

 leaved Indian paintbrush (see page 515). 



The paintbrush belongs to the figwort family, 

 which includes a great host of beauties. Some 

 of its cousins are the mullens, the toadflaxes, 

 the snap-dragons, the turtle-heads, the beard- 

 tongues, the monkey flowers, the speedwells, 

 the foxgloves, and the eye-brights. Closest of 

 kin are the painted cups, an attractive group 

 of posies. 



Most of the Castilleja tribe are inclined to 

 be parasitic in their habits. Instead of sending 

 out rootlets themselves in order to absorb the 

 plant food and moisture that Nature provides, 

 some of them send their roots down into those 

 of other plants and feast all summer long. 

 Like the lily, they toil not, neither do they 

 spin; but if Solomon was ever in all his glory 

 arrayed as they are, that fact was overlooked 

 by the historians of his day. 



Wyoming's flower, while not possessed of 

 the deep hue characteristic of the Castilleja 

 tribe — declared by one of our leading botanists 

 to be "the brightest spot of red the wild palette 

 can show" — makes up in delicacy what it lacks 

 in intensity. The blossom is light red, with 

 touches of soft yellow and hints of salmon 

 pink. 



No traveler in the Rocky Mountains, the 

 High Sierras, or the sagebrush regions of the 

 Great Basin can forget the paintbrushes. 

 Where they dwell among the blue lupines, the 

 yellow mimulus, and other bright blossoms, 

 they perfect a combination of hues that trans- 

 forms the veriest riot of color into an orderly 

 aggregation of polychromatic beauty. 



RHODODENDRON 



(Rhododendron maximum Michx.) 



The superb beauty of the rhododendron has 

 won for it universal admiration and the dis- 

 tinction of being the flower of two States. 

 The legislature of West Virginia and the State 

 organization of women's clubs in Washington 

 have elevated it above all other floral rivals in 

 their communities. The chosen variety of 

 West Virginia is Rhododendron maximum, 

 while that of Washington is Rhododendron 

 calif or nicum, also called the California rose 

 bay. The latter is the most splendid of western 

 shrubs. Both kinds are of the heath family, 

 cousins of the mountain laurel, and have deli- 

 cate, waxen blossoms tinted like the "rosy- 

 fingered dawn," with upper petals flecked with 

 golden and greenish spots (see page 516). 



A true artist in selecting its background, the 

 rhododendron not only surrounds its exquisite 

 blossoms with smooth, rich green leaves which 

 set them off effectively, but also makes its home 

 commonly on moist, forested mountainsides, 

 where the gloomy greens and browns of dark 

 rocks and lofty trees contrast with its dainty 

 pink and white ruffles. 



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