12 
THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
like outgrowth which is regarded as a rudimentary spathe. 
There are but three genera and nineteen species of this 
group in the world, but they are spread in all waters, ex- 
cept those of the frigid zone. In our own region they grow 
so abundantly as to completely cover the surface of many 
ponds. 
A MOUNTAIN MEADOW IN CALIFORNIA. 
BY MARIETTE POWERS BENTON. 
T^EVER shall I forget the joy and surprise when one 
day as we w^ere following a mountain trail it sudden- 
ly opened up into a little mountain meadow or cienaga, as the 
Spanish call it. We had l^een long absent, as it seemed to 
us, from our beloved New England meadows. Bnt here, 
four thousand, three hundred feet above sea level, in the 
heart of the California mountains, were many of our old-time 
favorites. Golden-rod I Xot otice during our exile in this 
land of flowers (Southern California) had we seen a single 
plant. Here they were, recalling to our hungry mind the 
g-olden splendor of many a vanished autumn. Cardinal 
flower (Lobelia splcndcns), not a few plants only, but hun- 
dreds of large, dark red sprays. So vivid were they that we 
shut our eyes and opened them again to see if we were 
dreaming or awake. And, yes, there 'was one spray pure 
white. Columbine nodded and danced its cups upon the 
banks of the little bn^ok. True, they seemed somewhat out 
of season, blrx)ming beside golden-rod and cardinal flower, 
but they were none the less welcome. Elder berries shook 
their tempting bunches of purple fruit above our heads, 
while clinging to and clitnbing over everything was wild 
clematis, that n^adside favorite of the Eastern States. But 
most pleasing of all were the evening primroses (Oenothera 
grandiiiora). Many of them yet lingered into the sunshine, 
