Papaveraceee.1 CALIFORNIA.— SUPPLEMENT. 319 



culturist from its beauty, as it is to the botanist, from forming the connecting link between the Ranuncu- 

 lacece and Papavcracete. The trisepalous calyx, and numerous distinct ovaria, would have placed it in the 

 former Order, were it not for the structure of the anthers, the very deciduous sepals, and the general habit, 

 which do not admit of its being removed from Papaveracece, especially considering its close affinity with 

 Eschscholtzia, {Chryseis, Lindl.) through Platystigrna and Dendromecon." 



The original discoverer of this curious plant, it is but right to state, is Mr Menzies, who gathered specimens 

 in California, during the celebrated voyage of Captain Vancouver, and distributed them to his botanical 

 friends in this country ; but which, I regret to say, have, along with many other of his treasures thus gener- 

 ously dispersed, remained to the present day unpublished. — The P. hiocarpum, Fisch., is considered by 

 Messrs Torrey and Gray a variety of this. 



PLATYSTIGMA. Benth. 



Sepala 3, ovata, caduca, pilosa. Pelala 4-5. Stamina numerosa. Filamenta filiformia. Anthera 

 lineares, hilucularcs, lateraliter dehiscentes. Stigmata 3, ovata, acuta, erecto-divergentia. Capsula oblonga, 

 basi attenuata, 1 -(ocularis, 3-angularis, 3-sulcata, 3-valvis, ab apice ad basin dehiscens : valvulis conduplicatis 

 margine in placemis filiformibus productis. Semina numerosa, minuta, ovoidea, nigra, laevissima, nitida. 

 Benth. 



I. Platystigma lineare. Benth. 1. c. p. 407. Hook. Ic. PL 1. t. 38. Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 

 1954. Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 3575. Torr. el Gr. Fl. I. p. 65. 



Htrba pusilhi, caespitosa. Caules brevissimi, dense foliosi. Folia linearia, ititegerrima, amplexicaulia, 

 1-nervia. Scapi semipedales, erecti, uniflori, patentim pilosi. — A smaller plant than Platystemon, and grow- 

 ing in closer tufts, but otherwise resembling it very much in habit, though so different in botanical character. 

 The flowers are yellow, rather smaller than in Plutystemon. 



DENDROMECON. Benth. 



Sepala 2, ovala, caduca. Pet. 4. Stamina plurima. Filamenta filiformia. Anthera> lineares. Stigmata 

 2, sessilia, brevia, crassiuscula. Capsula elongata, Biliquaeform'u, 1-locularis, bivalvis, valvulis coriaceis duria 

 a basi ad apiccm dehiscentibus. Placenta marginales, filiformes. Semina plurima, majuscula, pyriformia, 

 Isevia. — Fruticulus dense foliusus, rigidus, glaber. Folia lanceolata, acuta, denticulata, penninervia, reti- 

 culata, rugosa, rigida. Pedunculi uxillares, uniflori. 



1. Demlromecon rigidum. Benth. I. c. p. 407. Hook. Ic. Plant. 1. t. 37. Torr. et Gr. 

 Fl. ]./>. 64. 



A very singular plant, as Mr Bentham justly remarks, in this Ortler ; with completely woody stems, and 

 rigid pungent leaves, scabrous rather than toothed at the margin, the principal nerves few, and running nearly 

 parallel with the midrib, united by transverse ones, which give a reticulated appearance, particularly on the 

 underside, where the nerves are prominent. 



1. Chryseis Californica ; cattle ramoso folioso, foliorum segmentis linearibus, pedun- 

 culi cyalho-infiindibnliformi, limbo maximo dilatato, calyce longe acuminato. — Esch- 

 scliohzia Californica. Cham, (non Lindl. Hook, etc.) — E. ctocea. Benth. I.e. p. 407. Lindl. 

 Bot. Reg. t. 1677. Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 3495— Chryseis crocea. Torr. et Gr. \.p. 63 — 

 0. minor. Chryseis compacta. Lindl. Bot. Reg, t. 1948. 



I was much struck with the circumstance of there being no specimens of the C. Californica of our garden* 

 In this Californutn collection, and was thence led to refer to our first authority for this species, the figure 

 and description of Chaiuisso, in the Hurw Physical Berolinenses, (p. 73. t. 15.) as well as to original speci- 



