
MINT FAMILY. Labiatae. 
There are only a few kinds of Sphacele. 
This is a rather handsome shrubby 
Pitcher Sage, : ‘ 
eas: plant, from two to five feet high, woody at i 
Sphécele calycina base, with many stout, leafy, woolly or 
White hairy stems, and rather coarse leaves, 
Spring, summer },iry, more or less wrinkled and toothed, . 
California ‘ 
and rather dark green. The flowers are 
over an inch long, in pairs along the upper stem, something | 
the shape of a Monkey-flower, with a five-toothed calyx 
and a corolla with four, short, spreading lobes and the 
fifth lobe much longer and erect, the tube broad and dull- 
white, with a hairy ring at the base inside, the lobes tinged 
with pink or purple; the stamens four, one pair shorter. 
After the flowers have faded the large, pale green, inflated : 
calyxes, veined with dull purple, become conspicuous. 
If the flowers were brighter in color this would be very 
handsome. It is strongly but rather pleasantly aromatic 
and grows on dry hills in southern California. The name ~ 
is from the Greek, meaning “sage,” as these plants have ~ 
sage-like foliage and smell, but the flowers are quite 
different. 
There are several kinds of Salvia, widely distributed, 
herbs or shrubs; flowers usually in whorls, with bracts; 
upper lip of the corolla erect, seldom two-lobed, lower lip 
spreading and three-lobed; resembling Ramona, except 
that the two stamens have filaments which are apparently 
two-forked, one fork bearing an anther cell and the other 
only the mere rudiment of an anther; the smooth nutlets 
are mucilaginous when wet. The Latin name means “to 
save,’’ as some kinds are medicinal. 
: | A fantastically beautiful and decorative 
Thistle Sage, ee < 
Persian Prince Plant, very individual in character. The 
Sélvia carduacea stout purplish stem, a foot or two tall and 
- Lilac covered with white wool, springs from a 
Spring, summer iocette of thistle-like leaves of palest 
California ‘ a : 
green, so thickly covered with cushions 
of white wool that they appear to be inflated, their teeth 
tipped with brown spines. The stem bears a series of 
flower-clusters, resembling large, round, pale balls of wcol, 
pierced here and there by long prickles and encircled by 
lovely flowers, so etherial that they appear almost to hover 
in the air. They are each about an inch long, the corolla 
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