64 WILD FLOWERS OF CALIFORNIA 



718. Kelloggia galioides Named for Dr. A. Kellogg, 



the pioneer botanist of 

 the California Academy 

 of Sciences. A slender 

 perennial with opposite, 

 sessile leaves, small pink- 

 ish or white flowers at 

 the ends of forking 

 branches. Fruit small, 

 oblong with hooked 

 bristles. Frequent in 

 damp, shady places in the 

 Sierras, at middle eleva- 

 tions. 



719. Button Bush or Riv- Cephalanthus occidentalis Spreading shrub or tree, 



er Ball-Flower not uncommon along the 



Tree streams of the interior 



valley. Flowers white in 

 a dense round head about 

 an inch across. 



VALERIAN FAMILY VALERIANACEAE 



To this family belongs the cultivated valerian, Valeriana officinalis, a well 

 known medicinal plant, readily cultivated everywhere. The rhizomes and roots are 

 highly valued as a nerve sedative. 



720. Valerian Valeriana sylvatica 



A native species found in moist soil in the Sierras with strong scented, per- 

 ennial roots used by Indians for food. Leaves near the base mostly entire, those 

 of the stem mostly pinnate, with three to eleven toothed leaflets. Flowers white 

 or flesh-colored. Fruit forms with the calyx at maturity a conspicuous plumose 

 crown. Extremely variable, only a few inches tall in the highest mountains to two 

 feet at middle elevations. Sierras. 



721. Valeriana edulis To be looked for in north- 



eastern California. 



PLECTRITIS (VALERIANELLA) 



Annuals nearly smooth with slender, erect stems which bear oblong sessile 

 leaves with dense clusters of small white or rose-colored flowers in the upper axils, 

 forming an interrupted spike or head. The identification of the species of the 

 genus is mainly based on the character of the fruit and the position of its wings 

 which curve inwards, making it saucer-shaped. 



The species are not yet well defined and ample specimens in good fruit with 

 notes would be welcomed by the botanists. 



722. Plectritis macrocera and Low grounds, coast and 



var. valleys. Slender, less 



than a span high. 



723. Plectritis congesta A succulent annual, 6-12 in- 



ches. 4-angled stems, 

 erect. Eastern Sierras in 

 shade of sagebrush and 

 rocks. 

 Other species given by Jepson as from the Coast Ranges are : P. samolifolia, 

 P. Jepsonii, P. glabra, P. magna and P. Davyana. 



TEASEL FAMILY DIPSACEAE 



724. Fuller's Teasel In- Dipsacus fullonum 



dian's comb 

 Conspicuous coarse biennial plants, two to four feet high, with prickly stems, 

 pinkish-white flowers in a cylindrical head, which later becomes a rigid spike cov- 

 ered with strong recurved spines. Used at one time for carding wool. Common 



