CALIFORNIA LILAC. SOAP-BUSH.
Ceanothus divaricatus, Nutt. Buckthorn Family.
Tall, almost arborescent shrubs; with very divergent and rigid branches. Twigs cylindrical; smooth; mostly very pale. Leaves.—Alternate; short-petioled; ovate; four to ten lines long; three-nerved; somewhat leathery. Flowers.—In a narrowly oblong, dense cluster two or three inches long; pale blue to white. Capsule.—Two or three
[HOUND'S-TONGUE—Cynoglossum grande.]
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lines in diameter; not lobed; scarcely crested. (See Ceanothus.) Hab.—Chiefly the southern Coast Range.
This species of California lilac is very abundant in the south, and is specially characterized by its widely branching habit and its round, pale-green twigs. The flowers are usually light blue; but in some localities they are pure white. Near Santa Barbara, in January, the mountain-slopes are often snowy with them.
Dr. Gregg, of San Diego, while hunting one day in Lower California, just over the border, had his attention called to the wild lilac by his old Mexican guide, who assured him that the blossoms in themselves were excellent soap. Taking a handful of them down to the stream, he rubbed them vigorously between his wet hands, and found to his astonishment that they made an excellent lather, with a pleasant fragrance of wintergreen. I have since proved the fact for myself. A more delightful way of performing one's ablutions can hardly be imagined than at the brookside with so charming a soap. It is very cleansing and leaves the skin pleasantly soft.
It was probably the blossoms of C. integerrimus he used, as that shrub is called "soap-bush" in that region; but I have since tried the experiment upon C. divaricatus and some other species with perfect success, from which I suspect this may be a generic characteristic.