Not until midsummer is upon us does the common meadow-sweet make itself noticeable by its large feathery clusters of minute white flowers, which have a pleasant odor, reminiscent of slippery-elm.

We have two species of Spiræa with pink flowers—S. Douglasii, Hook., the Californian hardhack, having its blossoms in long clusters, (found in Northern California,) and S. betulifolia, Pall., having flat-topped flower-clusters, (found in the Sierras).

Another shrub closely resembling the Spiræas is Neillia opulifolia, Benth. and Hook., the wild bridal-wreath, or ninebark. Indeed, this has been classed by some authorities among the Spiræas. It may be easily recognized by its hemispherical clusters of white flowers. These clusters are an inch or two across. Though the shrub is quite showy when in bloom, it is almost equally attractive when its carpels are beginning to redden.

CALIFORNIAN AZALEA.

Rhododendron occidentale, Gray. Heath Family.

Shrubs two to twelve feet high. Leaves.—Clustered at the ends of the branches; obovate to lanceolate; two to four inches long; herbaceous. Flower-clusters.—Large, from a special terminal bud. Calyx.—Deeply five-cleft. Corolla.—With funnel-form tube, and five-cleft border; white; the upper lobe blotched with corn-color; sometimes tinged with pink; glandular-viscid without. Stamens.—Five. Anthers two-celled, opening terminally. Ovary.—Five-celled. Capsule.—Very woody. Hab.—Stream-banks throughout the State.

One of the most deservedly admired of all our shrubs is the lovely Californian azalea. In June and July, the borders of our mountain streams are covered for miles with the bushes, whose rich green foliage is often almost obscured from view by the magnificent clusters of white and yellow, or sometimes pinkish, flowers. Its delicious, spicy perfume is always subtly suggestive of charming days spent with rod and line along cool streams, or of those all too brief outings spent far from the haunts of men, in some sequestered mountain-cabin among redwood groves or by rushing waters.

In Oregon it is commonly known as "honeysuckle," and there in the autumn its life ebbs away in a flood of glory, showering the forest floor with flecks of scarlet and crimson. Its root is said to contain a strong narcotic poison, and the leaves are also reputed to be poisonous if eaten, but they are not at all harmful to the touch.

[CALIFORNIAN AZALEA—Rhododendron occidentale.]