106 



'THE am£:rican botanist. 



exclusion of all else for it blazes in sheets of flame from the 

 hillsides ; and the plains though embroidered in many col- 

 ors, wear the boldest splashes of yellow. No fear of exter- 

 minating this brilliant native, no need of a protective so- 

 ciet}^ ; gather what you please. Acres and miles of flowers 

 as far as the eye can reach, even to the dim horizon : our 

 flowers are not scattered on the plain but laid on in glori- 

 ous masses of color, an acre or less of white, of yellow, 

 purple, blue* 



When you have had time to take it in, and to realize it 

 a little, you may note that there are two species of Esch- 

 scholtzia growing together, one orange, the other yellow. 

 In the mountains there are also two others, but with 

 small difference : the famed California poppy is the flower 

 of the plains and lower hills. 



Then, rarely seen, is a red poppy of a somewhat small- 

 er size and more fragile form, gorgeous as the red poppy 

 of our gardens. It is the wind poppy" and sways as air- 

 ily as if it never felt the weight of its name, Meconopsis 

 heterophylla. 



Another genus is Dendromicvn rigidum the tree poppy. 

 Its flowers are the size of Eschscholtzia^ a pale yellow, and 

 it gets its name from the thick rigid leaves. It is, how- 

 ever, a bush instead of a tree and likes to live on the bank 

 ^of a stream in the upper reaches of the canon. 



About the same time, which is May or June the Ar- 

 gemone blooms. It is a large white flower like a garden 

 poppy only the petals are thinner and somewhat wrinkled 

 and the leaves are veritable thistle leaves, giving the one 

 species the name of hispida. It grows two or three feet 

 high. 



Another genus is called Platystigma with four or 

 more species, but I am not going to describe that, simply 

 because I never saw any of them. 



Last, not least, comes Romneya Californica. We call 

 it the Matilija poppy and if you pronounce it correctly — 

 Mah-til-la-ha— you will agree that in name, at least, it is 

 graceful. I wish I could give you one real glimpse of this 



