Turkish Rugging
Chorizanthe Staticoides, Benth. Buckwheat Family
A foot high or more, with widely spreading branches. Leaves.—All radical; oblong; obtuse; twelve to thirty lines long, including petioles. Involucres.—Loosely clustered; sessile; one-flowered; campanulate; with six bristle-like teeth. Perianth.—Pink; two lines long; six-lobed; not fringed. Stamens.—Mostly nine; on the perianth. Ovary.—One-celled. Styles three. Stigmas capitate. Hab.—From Monterey to San Diego.
In late spring the dry, open hills of the south are overrun with the soft lavender of the Chorizanthe. The flowers are small, but the whole plant is purplish, and the stems are quite as productive of color as the blossoms. In fact, the whole plant seems to consist of a scraggly interlacement of slender branches and small flowers, as the leaves, which nestle close to the ground, are not very noticeable.