266 PORTULACACEAE 



from the base, lanceolate; sepals oval, abruptly acuminate; petals white. Lewisia 

 minima A. Nels. Creek banks: n Wyo. Mont. Ida. Submont. Jl. 



3. O. pygrnaea (A. Gray) Howell. Root usually elongated-conic, 2-8 cm. 

 long; leaves many, narrowly linear, 2-7 cm. long; scape 2-5 cm. high; bracts 

 scarious, lanceolate, inserted at the middle of the scape; sepals rounded-ovate, 

 short-acuminate; petals 6-8, pink or white, 8-10 mm. long. C. pygmaea A. Gray. 

 O. Grayi (Britt.) Rydb. Gravelly hills and mountain sides: Mont. Colo. 

 Calif. Wash. Mont. Alp. Je-Au. 



4. O. brachycalyx (Engelm.) Howell. Leaves spatulate or oblanceolate, 

 spreading, 3-7 cm. long, contracted into a margined petiole; scape 2-5 cm. long; 

 bracts elliptic, about 6 mm. long, equalling the oval sepals; petals 7-9, cuneate 

 or obovate, white, 1-2 cm. long; stamens 10-15. C. brachycalyx Engelm. Moun- 

 tains: s Utah N.M. s Calif. Ap-Je. 



9. EROCALLIS Rydb. 



Perennial, with globular corms. Radical leaf usually solitary, not present 

 at flowering time. Stem low, with 2 or 3 whorled leaf-like bracts. Sepals 2, 

 somewhat unequal. Petals 3-10, oblong. Capsule oblong-conical, circumscissile. 



1. E. triphylla (S. Wats.) Rydb. Corm globose, 5-8 mm. thick; stem 2-10 

 cm. high, slender; basal leaves solitary or none; stem-leaves 2-4, verticillate, 

 linear-filiform, 1-5 cm. long; inflorescence 2-20-flowered ; petals 3-10, oblong, 

 4 mm. long. Claytonia triphylla S.Wats. Lewisia triphylla B. L. Robins. Moun- 

 tains: Wyo. -Colo. Calif. Wash. Mont. Je-Au. 



10. SPRAGUEA Torr. PUSSY-PAWS. 



Biennial or perennial herbs, with rosulate leaves. Flowers in dense scorpioid 

 spikes clustered in an umbel-like or subcapitate inflorescence. Sepals 2, orbic- 

 lar, scarious-hyaline, accrescent and persistent. Petals 4, somewhat unequal. 

 Stamens 3, opposite to the three larger petals. Ovary 8-10-ovuled. Styles 2, 

 united to near the apex. Capsule 2-valved, membranous. Seeds black, shining. 



1. S. multiceps Howell. Perennial, with a cespitose caudex, forming 

 cushions; basal leaves numerous, petioled; blades spatulate, fleshy, 0.5-5 cm. 

 long; flowering stems scape-like, 3-15 cm. long; stem-leaves small, oblanceolate; 

 flowers in a dense head-like inflorescence; sepals with broad, scarious, white or 

 pink margins, orbicular or somewhat reniform, in fruit 7-8 mm. broad. Volcanic 

 sand and geyser formations: Wash. -Mont. Wyo. Mont. Alp. Je-Au. 



11. PORTULACA (Tourn.) L. PURSLANE, PUSSLEY. 



Annual or perennial fleshy herbs, mostly with diffusely branched stems. 

 .Leaves terete or flat, opposite or alternate, with bristle-like or scarious stipules. 

 Sepals 2, deciduous. Petals 4-6, fugaceous. Stamens 8 01 more. Ovary partly 

 or wholly inferior; styles 3-8, slender. Capsule 1-celled, circumscissile. Seeds 

 flattened, reniform. 



Leaf-blades flat, glabrous in the axils or nearly so; petals yellow. 



Stem prostrate; sepals pointed in the bud; seeds obscurely granulate. 1. P. oleracea. 



Stem ascending; sepals obtuse in the bud; seeds echinate-tuberculate. 2. P. retusa. 



Leaf-blades terete or nearly so, pilose in the axils; petals red or purple. 3. P. pilosa. 



1. P. oleracea L. Annual; stem diffusely branched at the base, prostrate, 

 1-6 dm. long; leaves fleshy, sessile or nearly so, cuneate or obovate, 1-3 cm. long, 

 rounded at the apex; buds flattened; stamens 7-12. Cultivated grounds and 

 waste places: Me. Fla. N.M. Wash.; Mex. and W. Ind.; nat. from the Old 

 World. Plain. Ja-D. 



2. P. retusa Engelm. Annual; stem ascending, branched near the base; leaves 

 cuneate, 1-2.5 cm. long, often retuse, fleshy, sessile; sepals carinately-winged; petals 

 minute; stamens 10-19. Sandy soil: Ark. Utah N.M. Son. Submont. Jl-S. 



3. P. pilosa L. Annual; stem ascending, branched; leaves nearly terete, 

 linear or linear-subulate, 1 cm. long or less, with numerous hairs in the axils; 

 petals carmine to purple, 3-4 mm. long, retuse; capsule globose. Sandy soil: 

 Fla. Mo. Colo. Calif.; Trop. stral Sorii Au.Am 



