MEXICAN FREMONTIA 
Fremontodendron mexicanum Davidson 
Fremontia is quite unlike any other plant of the Pacific coast. It 
gtowsasashrubor small tree with many branches. When the showy 
flowers first open they are bright yellow, but they soon fade to red 
and finally turn brown. The flowers remain on their stalks after they 
have withered, and a bizarre effect is produced by the various colots 
of flowers in different stages of development. 
The genus Fremontodendron was named for General John C. Fré- 
mont, one of the early explorers of the West. The Mexican fremontia 
has a nartow range, and is found only in southern California and 
northern Lower Calitornia. The only other species, Fremontodendron 
californicum, grows farther northward in the mountains of California. 
The specimen sketched was grown in Los Angeles, California. 
PLATE 206 
