By July and August the slender spires of the tall mountain larkspur are conspicuous along the watercourses of the Sierras, where they are usually found in the company of their near relatives, the monk's-hoods and the gay scarlet columbines. A ramble down one of these mountain streams affords a succession of most delightful surprises. Willow copses, alternating with tangles of larkspur, great willow-herb, and monk's-hood, are followed by open, velvety meadows, starred by white and blue daisies, or diversified by the pure spikes of the milk-white rein-orchis, or the lovely blossoms of the pink mimulus; while further down, the stream perchance suddenly narrows and deepens, flowing by some jutting rock-wall, resplendent with crimson pentstemons or brilliant sulphur-flowers.

COMMON ASTER.

Aster Chamissonis, Gray. Composite Family.

Stems.—Two to five feet high; loosely branching. Leaves.—Alternate; sessile; lanceolate; three to six inches long; the upper becoming small or minute. Flower-heads.—Five or six lines long; composed of yellow disk-flowers and violet or purple rays. Rays.—Twenty to twenty-five; half an inch long. Involucre.—Campanulate; of many small imbricated scales. Hab.—Throughout California.

We have not as many species of Aster as are found in the Eastern States, but we have some very beautiful ones. A. Chamissonis is one of our commonest and most widespread species. Its blossoms begin to appear in late summer and linger along through the fall. Many species of Erigeron (very closely allied to Aster) are called "asters" among us, and comprise some of our most charming flowers. These are found chiefly in the mountains, though E. glaucus is found upon the sea-beach and ocean cliffs.

LAVENDER MOUNTAIN DAISY.

Erigeron salsuginosus, Gray. Composite Family.

Stems.—A foot or two high. Radical and lower leaves.—Spatulate to nearly obovate; tapering into a margined petiole. Upper leaves.—Ovate-oblong to lanceolate; sessile. Uppermost leaves.—Small and bract-like. Flower-heads.—Solitary; large; of yellow disk-flowers and lavender rays. Disk.—Over half an inch across. Rays.—Fifty to seventy; six lines or more long; rather wide. Bracts of the involucre numerous; loosely spreading. Syn.—Aster salsuginosus, Richardson. Hab.—Sierra meadows, at an altitude of from six to ten thousand feet.

[COMMON ASTER—Aster Chamissonis.]