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The three species of Cheilanthes in the Valley C. californica, C. gracillima, and myriophylla, with beautiful two-to-four-pinnate fronds, an inch to five inches long, adorn the stupendous walls however dry and sheer. The exceedingly delicate californica is so rare that I have found it only once.
This shrub is nearly allied to our native Myrica or Sweet Gale. M. CALIFORNICA. Californian Wax Myrtle. California, 1848. In this we have a valuable evergreen shrub that is hardy beyond a doubt, and that will thrive in the very poorest classes of soils. In appearance it somewhat resembles our native plant, but is preferable to it on account of the deep green, persistent leaves.
The leaves are hairy, and the twigs, too, are thickly covered with short grey hairs. ZAUSCHNERIA CALIFORNICA. Californian Fuchsia, or Humming Birds' Trumpet. California and Mexico, 1847. A small-growing, densely-branched shrub, with linear-lanceolate silvery pubescent leaves, and bright red or scarlet tubular flowers, with a long, slender style resembling some of the Fuchsias.
Clambering up occasional tall trees, it flaunted its crimson and party-colored foliage with true bacchanalian jollity, each leaf seeming drunk with its own red wine. There is truly nothing that grows in the Golden State more beautiful than the Vitus Californica in October. That was Nature's side of the picture.
It can, however, be said that it is equally hardy with some of the finer kinds of Hydrangea, to which genus it is nearly allied. CARPENTERIA CALIFORNICA. Sierra Nevada, California, 1880. This is undoubtedly one of the most distinct and beautiful of hardy shrubs.
Haughton, F.R.S., told me long ago that Darlingtonia californica always reminds him of a cobra when raised and puffed out in a rage, and certainly the likeness is a close one.
Both are of value for planting in the shade. SAMBUCUS CALIFORNICA. Californian Elder. A rare species as yet, but one that from its elegant growth and duration of flowers is sure, when better known, to become widely distributed. S. GLAUCA has its herbaceous parts covered with a thick pubescence; leaves pubescent on both sides, and with yellow flowers produced in umbels. S. NIGRA. Common Elder.
Flowers pure white, and arranged in large dense panicles. FREMONTIA CALIFORNICA. California, 1851. A handsome and deciduous Californian shrub, but scarcely hardy enough for the open air without protection. In Southern England and Ireland, however, it does well, and all the better if planted within the influence of the sea.
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