Whispering Bells
Emmenanthe Penduliflora, Benth. Baby-eyes or Waterleaf Family
Six inches to a foot high; branched above; hairy; somewhat viscid. Leaves.—An inch or more long; pinnatifid. Flowers.—Straw-colored; at length pendulous. Corolla.—Campanulate; about six lines long. (Flower structure as in Phacelia.) Hab.—Lake County to San Diego.
In midspring, when passing among the plants upon our dry, open hillsides, our attention is often attracted by a certain delicate, rustling sound, which we find emanates from the little papery bells of the dried blossoms of the Emmenanthe, which retain the semblance of their first freshness for many weeks.
Though not at first apparent, a little examination will reveal the fact that these plants are very closely related to the Phacelias, the chief difference being in the yellow corollas.