Radical-leaves.—Long-petioled. Stem-leaves.—With shorter petioles, round-cordate; variously lobed and toothed; very hairy, with coarse, bristle-like hairs; two to four inches across. Stems.—One to three feet high. Flowers.—In long racemes; on short pedicels; green or rose-color. Calyx.—Campanulate; five-toothed; ribbed; three to six lines long; adnate to the ovary below. Petals.—Five; short-clawed; slashed above; two or three lines long; on the calyx. Stamens.—Ten; very short. Ovary.—One-celled; with a disklike summit, tapering into two stout styles with large capitate stigmas. Hab.—From Santa Cruz to Alaska.

This robust plant bears no resemblance to its delicate relative, T. affinis. It is far more like the alum-root in habit and appearance, and its leaves are prettily blotched in the same manner. It grows along rich banks by shaded roads, and blooms from early spring onward. Its tall racemes of either rose-colored or greenish, obscure flowers look rather like the promise of something to come than a present fulfillment. The petals are small and inconspicuous at a distance; but when closely examined, reveal a delicacy and beauty of form entirely unsuspected.

[CALIFORNIAN BEE PLANT—Scrophularia Californica.]

INDIAN PAINT-BRUSH. SCARLET PAINT-BRUSH.

Castilleia parviflora, Bong. Figwort Family.

Hairy, at least above; six inches to two feet high. Leaves.—Laciniate-cleft or incised; sometimes entire; two inches or so long; mostly alternate. Flowers.—With conspicuous colored bracts. Calyx.—Tubular; about equally cleft before and behind; tinged with scarlet or yellow. Corolla.—Tubular; six lines to over an inch long; the upper lip equaling the tube; the lower very short; three-toothed; the whole tinged with red or yellow. Stamens.—Four; inclosed in the upper lip. Ovary.—Two-celled. Style long; exserted. Hab.—Throughout California.

Scarlet flowers are so rare, and nature is so chary of that beautiful hue, that these blossoms are especially welcome. Their dense tufts make brilliant dashes of color, which are very noticeable amid the vivid greens of springtime. Strange to say, most of their brilliancy is due not to the corollas, but to the large petal-like bracts under the flowers and to the calyxes. In the vicinity of the seashore these blossoms may be found at almost any time of the year, while inland they have their season of bloom in the spring, resting for the most part during the summer.

They are known in some localities as "Indian plume." The specific name is a very misleading one—for these flowers, far from being small, are in reality comparatively large and fine. The species was probably first named from poor or depauperate specimens. It is in every way a larger, more showy flower than the closely allied species—C. coccinea, Spreng.—of the East, commonly known as the "painted cup."

We have a number of species closely resembling one another. C. foliolosa, Hook. and Arn., may be easily recognized by its white-woolly stems and foliage.