There are two kinds of these plants, one having large pale-pink flowers, which are perfect; the other bearing smaller deep rose-pink blossoms, in which the anthers are only rudimentary.
There are quite a number of species of _Sidalcea_ in California, but they are very difficult of determination for the non-botanist.
Small trees or shrubs. _Leaves._--Alternate; slender-petioled; round-cordate; palmately veined; smooth; about two inches in diameter. _Flowers._--Rose-color; papilionaceous; clustered in the axils. _Petals._--Four lines long; the standard smaller and inclosed by the wings. _Stamens._--Ten; all distinct. _Ovary._--One-celled. _Pods._--Two or three inches long; thin. _Hab._--Mt. Shasta to San Diego.
By April, or earlier, our interior hills and valleys begin to show the rosy blossoms of the Judas-tree. The leafless branches are wreathed with the abundant flowers, which gives the shrub the appearance of a garden fruit-tree. When seen later, in its full summer foliage, it is almost equally attractive. Its shapely leaves are then diversified by the clusters of long purple pods, which hang gracefully among them.
[Illustration WILD HOLLYHOCK--_Sidalcea malvæflora_.]
The Indians find the slender twigs of this shrub very useful in their basket-making. By means of the thumb-nail or flints, they split them into threads, which they use as woof.
A closely allied species of _Cercis_, growing in Palestine, had, according to tradition, white flowers, until the arch-traitor Judas hanged himself from its limbs, when it blushed pink for very shame.
In medieval Europe the Judas-tree was believed to be a favorite rendezvous for witches, and it was considered dangerous to approach one at nightfall.
Evergreen shrubs, three to eight feet high. _Leaves._--Ovate to oblong-lanceolate; leathery; smooth and shining. _Flowers._--In axillary clusters: small; pinkish. _Calyx._--Minutely fine-toothed. _Corolla._--Campanulate; two or three lines long. _Stamens._--Ten; anthers opening terminally. _Ovary._--Globose; five-celled. Style filiform. _Berries._--Small; reddish, turning black. _Hab._--The Coast Ranges from Monterey to Vancouver Island.
When in bloom our Californian huckleberry is a delightful shrub. Its leaves, which are of a particularly rich, shining green, are set at a characteristic angle to the red stems, contrasting finely with their warm tones; and the effect is heightened by the clusters of small pink and white waxen bells scattered here and there amid the foliage.