When spring is at its height, this charming little _Iris_ may be found upon sunny, open hillsides among the unrolling crosiers of the common brake. There is something peculiarly captivating about these blossoms, with their satisfying richness of hue and perfect symmetry of form, added to which is a sweet, delicate perfume, an ideal exhalation of the springtime.
As the buds unfold beautifully in water, it is better to gather buds than flowers, as the latter are too fragile to carry without breaking.
[Illustration GROUND-IRIS--_Iris macrosiphon_.]
_I. longipetala_, Herb., is the common bog-iris of our central coast. It grows in large clumps in wet places, and while not a delicate flower, it has a certain brave, hardy look as it stands out upon the wind-swept downs of the Coast. Its stems are rather stout, a foot or two high, and have from three to five large lilac flowers. The sepals are veined with deeper lilac and blotched with orange.
_Phacelia tanacetifolia_, Benth. Baby-eyes or Waterleaf Family.
_Stems._--One to three feet high; rough and hairy. _Leaves._--Much divided. _Flowers._--Bright violet to blue; in clustered, scorpioid racemes. _Calyx-lobes._--Linear or linear-spatulate. _Corolla._--Six lines long. Style two-cleft. (See _Phacelia_.) _Hab._--Throughout the western part of the State.
The wild heliotrope is one of the most abundant flowers of midspring, especially in the south. It affects the gravelly banks of streams or the sandy soil of mesas; or grows all along the railroad embankments, making great mounds of foliage, thickly sown with the bright violet-blue blossoms; or it may often be seen clambering up through small shrubs, seeming to seek the support of their stiff branches. It is needless to say that this is not a true heliotrope, but belongs to the closely allied genus, _Phacelia_.
The specific name, _tanacetifolia_, meaning with tansy-like leaves, is more applicable to the _var. tenuifolia_, Thurber. Among the Spanish-Californians it is known as "vervenía."
_P. Douglasii_, Torr., is a species with lavender corolla with much the aspect of the baby-blue-eyes. This is common in the western part of the State, south of Monterey, and is found sparingly north of that point.