WATERLEAF FAMILY. HydrophylIlaceae. 
Pretty plants, from eight to fourteen ° 
Whi ing Bells . - i i 
wage tall, with branching, hairy stems 
Emmendnthe ; 
penduliflora and light green, soft, downy leaves. The 
Yellowish flowers are less than half an inch long, 
Spring, summer 
Fr a with pale yellow corollas, and are at first 
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 or 
* 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 are 
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 to 
Cat's Breeches, twelve inches high, with a rather weak 
Waterleaf : : 
Hydrophsllum Stem and conspicuous leaves, which are 
capitdtum _ alternate, pale green, soft and downy, or 
Lilac hairy, with five or seven divisions, prettily 
Spring 
lobed and cut, with rather prominent 
veins, and long, succulent, pinkish leaf- 
stalks, sheathing the stem. The flowers are rather small, 
with short pedicels, and a number are crowded together in 
roundish clusters, about an inch across, with almost no 
flower-stalk. The calyx is covered with white hairs, the 
corolla is lilac or white, somewhat hairy on the outside, and 
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 con- 
spicuous, very fuzzy, round head, covered with bristly 
white hairs, making the children’s quaint common name 
for this plant quite appropriate. It grows in rich soil, in 
mountain woods, and is one of the earliest spring flowers. 
It is sometimes called Bear’s Cabbage, but this name is far 
tetched, both as regards bears and cabbages! 
Northwest, Utah 
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