An undescribed Species of Paronychia from California 



By Alice Eastwood 



Paronychia Franciscana sp. nov. 



Perennial from a woody tap-root, with the thread-like fibers 

 numerous : stems wiry, slender, diffusely spreading, prostrate, 

 forming mats often 4 dm. in diameter, branching about midway, 

 glabrous, with internodes 2-15 mm. long, generally shorter than 

 the leaves or even the stipules : lower part of stems simple with 

 knotted nodes which are without leaves but generally with ragged, 

 persistent stipules : leaves opposite, oblong-linear, 5-8 mm. long, 

 1-2 mm. wide ; apex tipped with a callous point and a weak 

 bristle, the latter about 1 mm. long ; base tapering to a short 

 petiole which is horny at its intersection with the stipules ; surface 

 more or less clothed with a stiff, scattered, upwardly spreading 

 pubescence of short hairs papillate at base and forming cilia on 

 the margins, veinless except for the, midrib which is elevated on 

 the lower side : stipules silvery scarious, thin, tapering to a weak 

 filiform apex, ciliate-laciniate on the margin, 2-2.5 mm - wide at 

 base, 5-6 mm. or more long, thickened at base and together with 

 the hardened bases of the petioles forming a horny ring around 

 the stem at the nodes : flowers few in the axils on very short 

 pedicels which are 1 mm. or more in length : calyx 2 mm. long, 

 green or purplish, with 5 somewhat unequal divisions ; these con- 

 nivent, oblong, veiny with a prominent midvein and a simple or 

 branched one on each side ; apex cucullate on the three narrower 

 divisions, less so on the two broader, tipped with a spine .5-2 mm. 

 long, rather densely hairy at summit, glabrous below except at the 

 very base : stamens minute with short slender filaments and bi- 

 globular anthers : ovary orbicular, styles 2 : fruit a utricle with 

 thin membranous papillate coat, loosely investing the flat round 

 brown seed which is attached and almost encircled by a ribbon-like 

 funiculus having a central vein. 



This species is common on grassy hillocks at the Presidio, San 

 Francisco, from which there are specimens in the herbarium of the 

 California Academy of Sciences, collected by Dr. E. L. Greene, 

 Mrs. Brandegee, and Miss Evelina Cannon ; also one from Bodega 

 Port collected by the writer. 



This species was identified with Paronychia Chilensis DC, by 

 Dr. E. L. Greene, in West American Scientist, 3 : 1 56. 



288 



