[Hosackia gracilis.]

The peppery root is highly esteemed for medicinal purposes, and is gathered and made into a salve, which is considered a specific for ringworm, white swelling, inflammatory rheumatism, etc. The root is said to enter largely into the composition of a patent medicine called "Skookum."

Mr. Johnson, of the U.S. Forestry Department in Oregon, tells me that the bears are very fond of this root, and dig industriously for it, often making a hole large enough to bury themselves, and he mentions having seen whole fields plowed up by them in their search for it.

This plant belongs to the same family as the skunk-cabbage of the East and the calla-lily. It has been found in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

BLAZING-STAR.

Mentzelia lævicaulis, Torr. and Gray. Loasa or Blazing-star Family.

Stems.—Stout; two or three feet high; white. Leaves.—Alternate; sessile; lanceolate; sinuate-toothed; two to eight inches long. Flowers.—Sessile, on short branches; light yellow or cream-color; three or four inches across. Calyx-tube.—Cylindrical; naked; limb five-cleft nearly to the base. Petals.—About ten; oblanceolate; acute. Stamens.—Numerous on the calyx; almost equaling the petals. Ovary.—One-celled; truncate at summit. Style three-cleft. Capsule.—Fifteen lines long. Hab.—San Diego to the Columbia River, and eastward to Wyoming.

After most other flowers have departed, the magnificent blossoms of the Mentzelia come forth. It seems as though they had waited for the firmament to be clear of other stars before bursting upon the sight. Their enormous blossoms are crowned by the soft radiance of the long stamens, "like the lashes of light that trim the stars."

These plants are furnished with barbed hairs, which cause them to cling to whatever they come in contact with. They are of tall and spreading habit, and are often found in the dry beds of streams, where their flowers open in the daytime—unlike those of M. Lindleyi, which open at night.