
OWL’S CLOVER 
(Orthocarpus purpurascens) 
In March or April the meadows and the slopes of the foot- 
hills in some localities are dyed magenta with extensive patches 
of the Owl’s Clover. Perhaps to the vision of the burrowing 
owls which frequent such places, the showy heads of bloom may 
pass for clover tops, and so the quaint common name may be 
accounted for, but as a matter of fact the plant is not at all akin 
to the clover, <‘‘Escobita’’ is the Spanish name, meaning <<little 
broom.’’ 
The relationship ot this flower is most closely with the 
Indian Paint-brush, from which, however, it is readily distin- 
guished by the little puffed-up, white sacs that form a prominent 
feature of the corolla’s lower half. 
INDIAN PAINT-BRUSH 
(Castilleia latifolia) 
This fiery beauty of the California spring is a Western 
cousin of the Painted-cup, so familiar in the grassy swales of the 
East. As in the case of the latter, the brilliant color that be- 
tokens the plant’s presence is due not to the flower but toa 
scarlet-tipped leaty sheath in which the flower is partially 
enveloped. 
There are several species ot Indian Paint-brush, one of 
which is abundant on dry hillsides and in desert places, where it 
is often seen flaming out from amid the scrub and cactuses. 
The variety here depicted is indigenous in the neighborhood 
of Monterey and thence northward near the coast. 

