SUNSHINE. FLY-FLOWER.
Bæria gracilis, Gray. Composite Family.
Six inches or so high; branching freely. Leaves.—Mostly opposite; linear; entire; an inch or so long. Flower-heads.—Yellow; of disk and ray-flowers. Rays.—Ten to fourteen; three or four lines long. Involucre.—Campanulate; of a single series of small lanceolate, herbaceous scales. Hab.—From San Francisco southward.
Considered singly, the blossom of this plant is a simple, unassuming little flower; but when countless millions of its golden stars stud the nether firmament, it becomes one of the most conspicuous of all our Compositæ. It literally covers the earth with a close carpet of rich golden bloom, and other plants, such as scarlet paint-brushes, blue Phacelias, and yellow and white tidy-tips, rise out of its golden tapestry. Mile after mile of it whirls by the car-window as we journey along, or long stretches of it gild the gently rounded hill-slopes of the distant landscape.
There are several other species of Bæria, but this is the most abundant and widespread. In some localities this little plant is so much frequented by a small fly, which feeds upon its pollen, that it is called "fly-flower." It then becomes a serious nuisance to horses and cattle, which grow wild and restive under the persecution of this insect.
In the Spanish deck of playing-cards in the early days, the "Jack of Spades" always held one of these flowers in his hand. By the Spanish-Californians it was called "Si me quieres, no me quieres"—"Love me, love me not,"—because their dark-eyed maidens tried their fortunes upon it in the same manner that our own maidens consult the marguerite.
[PENTACHÆTA—Pentachæta aurea. SUNSHINE—Bæria gracilis.]
![[PENTACHÆTA—Pentachæta aurea. SUNSHINE—Bæria gracilis.]](#3624944100741987669_f042.png.id-8781549431998365353.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
Growing in brilliant beds by themselves, or intermingling their gold with that of the Bæria, the charming feathery blossoms of Pentachæta aurea, Nutt., are found in midspring. They have from fifty to seventy rays and their involucres consist of several rows of scarious-margined bracts.