The holly-leaved barberry, or Oregon grape, is a very ornamental shrub and one much prized in our gardens, where it is known as _Mahonia Aquifolium_. In the spring, when yellow with its masses of flowers; or in its summer dress of rich, shining green; or in the autumn, when its foliage is richly touched with bronze or scarlet or yellow, amid which are the beautiful blue berries, it is always a fine shrub. In its native haunts it affects greater altitudes than our other species.
[Illustration TWIN-BERRY--_Lonicera involucrata_.]
Among our Californian Indians, a decoction made from the root is a favorite tonic remedy, and it has become a recognized drug in the pharmacopœia of our Coast, being used as an alterative and tonic. The root is tough and hard, of a bright golden yellow, and intensely bitter. The bark of the root is the part that is used medicinally.
The shrub is very plentiful in the woods of Mendocino County, where it covers considerable areas.
_Bæria gracilis_, Gray. Composite Family.
Six inches or so high; branching freely. _Leaves._--Mostly opposite; linear; entire; an inch or so long. _Flower-heads._--Yellow; of disk and ray-flowers. _Rays._--Ten to fourteen; three or four lines long. _Involucre._--Campanulate; of a single series of small lanceolate, herbaceous scales. _Hab._--From San Francisco southward.
Considered singly, the blossom of this plant is a simple, unassuming little flower; but when countless millions of its golden stars stud the nether firmament, it becomes one of the most conspicuous of all our _Compositæ_. It literally covers the earth with a close carpet of rich golden bloom, and other plants, such as scarlet paint-brushes, blue Phacelias, and yellow and white tidy-tips, rise out of its golden tapestry. Mile after mile of it whirls by the car-window as we journey along, or long stretches of it gild the gently rounded hill-slopes of the distant landscape.
There are several other species of _Bæria_, but this is the most abundant and widespread. In some localities this little plant is so much frequented by a small fly, which feeds upon its pollen, that it is called "fly-flower." It then becomes a serious nuisance to horses and cattle, which grow wild and restive under the persecution of this insect.