The collection contains watercolor illustrations of California native plants by schoolteacher and artist Clara Mason Fox that were made in the Silverado Canyon area of Orange County in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The collection also includes a small biographical file and publications by or about Fox.

Clara Mason was born in 1873 in Jackson Township, Ohio. In 1887, she moved with her family to Orange County, California and settled in Silverado Canyon, where she worked as a schoolteacher. During this time, she created watercolor drawings of the flora of Silverado Canyon, as well as drawing landscapes, animals, and people. She married George Fox in 1905 and eventually moved to El Toro (Lake Forest). In addition to her artwork, she published poetry and produced a history of El Toro. She died in Orange, California in 1959.

0.79 linear feet (2 boxes)

Copyright of the materials in this collection is held by California Botanic Garden.

The collection is open to research.