350 Rambles Round San Francisco. [June, 
sive thick roots, marked, like the Sigillaria of the coal measures, 
with the scars of former leaves, which were in September either left 
high and dry, or in very shallow water, and from the under side 
of whose leaves we picked water-snails, together with a small 
crustacean (Hyalella dentata Smith), are now entirely covered by 
the water, and we can no longer grope our way among the long 
blades of the tule (Scirpus lacustris) sufficiently far to frighten out 
the grebes (Podiceps californicus) that make their home there. In 
revenge, we will gather flowers on our way to the ocean, and 
take notes on the vegetation of February. The blue nemophila 
(N. insignis), a garden favorite in England, abounds among the 
grass, the yellow sanicle (Sanicula arctopoides) is coming into 
flower, the blue lupine is budding, we pass a bush of the flower- 
ing currant (Ribes sanguineum) gay with its fragrant pink racemes, 
and the Californian poppy (Aschscholtzia californica) flaunts its 
yellow blossoms in the shelter of the bushes of Rhamnus croceus, 
whose blackberries are still abundant. The soft blackberries of 
the Rhamnus have each two large seeds, flat on one side, con- 
vex on the other, and not unlike a coffee-berry in shape; this 
resemblance has deceived many good people who know the 
roasted coffee-berry better than they do the coffee-plant, and has 
been the cause of oft-repeated stories in the Californian papers 
about the “ Discovery of the coffee-plant in California.” ‘ 
The poisonous liliaceous plant, Anticlea fremonti, is thickly 
spread over the hillsides in many places, but its spikes of pale- 
yellow flowers do not attain half the height of their kindred on 
the eastern side of the bay. The common storks-bill, “alfileria” 
(Erodium cicutarium), is everywhere, and, in wet places, another 
introduced plant, Cotula coronopifolia, crowds out the natives. 
But we are now approaching the ocean, and it is low tide, so we 
must hurry on if we wish to gather from the rocks the chitons, 
limpets, barnacles and other marine forms. Among the sand- 
dunes, near high tide level, is a small pool of perfectly fresh 
water, overgrown with duckweed and the pretty Azolla caroliniana, 
which dots the pool with spots of brownish-red. Here we gather 
Hyalella dentata in abundance, and we know there are some 
fresh-water snails here also, but cannot stop to gather them. 
The shore, where we reach it, is sandy, but close by, to the left, 
commences the sinuous line of cliffs, enclosing several small 
coves, which terminates to the south-west of us at Point Lobos. 
PRS S ee ee eee 
