[MATILIJA POPPY—Romneya Coulteri.]

The round buds (which, however, are sometimes pointed) are closely wrapped in three overlapping hairy sepals. These gradually open, and at dawn the buds unfurl their crumpled petals to the day, exhaling a pleasant fragrance. The blossoms remain open for many days.

These plants have long been in use among the Indians of Lower California, who esteem them highly for their medicinal qualities. The seeds require a long period for germination, and they have been known to come at the end of two years. The better method of propagation is from root-cuttings.

The plant has been called "Mission poppy" and "Giant Californian white poppy," but the pretty Indian name cannot be improved upon.

WHITE SAGE. GREASEWOOD.

Audibertia polystachya, Benth. Mint Family.

Shrubby, three to ten feet high; many-stemmed. Leaves.—Opposite; lanceolate; narrowing into a petiole; several inches long. Flowers.—White or pale lavender, in loose panicles a foot or two long. Calyx.—Tubular; bilabiate. Corolla.—About six lines long, with short tube and bilabiate border. Upper lip small; erect. Lower lip three-lobed; the middle lobe large. Stamens.—Two; jointed. Ovary.—Of four seedlike nutlets. Style slender. Stigma two-cleft. Hab.—Santa Barbara to San Diego.

The classic honey of Hymettus could not have been clearer or more wholesome than that distilled by the bees from the white sage of Southern California, which has become justly world-renowned. The plants cover extensive reaches of valley and hill-slopes, and are often called "greasewood."

Certain it is that the white stems have a very greasy, gummy feel and a rank, aggressive odor. In spring the long, coarse, sparsely leafy branches begin to rise from the woody base, often making the slopes silvery; and by May these have fully developed their loose, narrow panicles of pale flowers and yellowish buds.