WHIPPLEA.
Whipplea modesta, Torr. Saxifrage Family.
Slender, diffuse, hairy undershrubs. Leaves.—Opposite; short-petioled; ovate; toothed or entire; an inch or less long; three-nerved. Flowers.—White; barely three lines across; in small terminal clusters. Calyx.—White; five-cleft. Petals.—Five. Stamens.—Usually ten. Filaments awl-shaped. Ovary.—Three- to five-celled, globose. Styles of the same number. Hab.—Coast Ranges from Monterey to Mendocino County.
Under the redwoods, or in moist cañons in their vicinity, may be found this pretty undershrub trailing over banks or brushwood. In April its exquisite little clusters of pure white flowers, with a pleasant fragrance, make their appearance, and the plants have then been sometimes mistaken for a species of Ceanothus.