304 BORAGINACEAE. 



Calyx twice as long as the acuminate nutlets. C. ambigua. 



Calyx little longer than the acute nutlets. C. muriculata. 



Cryptantha ambigua (Gray) Greene. Slender, 15-30 cm. high, short- 

 hispid; leaves oblong-linear, 12 cm. long; spike nearly bractless, rather few- 

 flowered; fruiting calyx 6-8 mm. long, with rather small bristles, the lobes 

 linear, twice as long as the fruit; nutlets all four maturing, ovoid, acute, rough, 

 with papillae of two sizes; ventral groove forked at the very base. 



Prairies, rare; first collected by the Wilkes Expedition at Fort Nisqually, 

 Washington. 



Cryptantha muriculata (A. DC.) Greene. Erect, branched from the base, 

 10-20 cm. high, hispid throughout; leaves oblong or linear, 1-3 cm. long; 

 spikes often in pairs or 3-5 in a cluster, bractless; fruiting calyx 5 mm. long, 

 short-bristly, with linear lobes which are a little longer than the fruit; corolla 

 5-6 mm. broad, with prominent appendages in the throat; nutlets 2 mm. long, 

 usually all four present, ovoid-triangular, obtuse, roughened with minute 

 papillae and some larger ones on the back and usually on the ventral face; 

 ventral groove extending from the apex to near the base where it widens out 

 into a triangular depression. 



In dry prairies. 



421. PLAGIOBOTHRYS. 



Hispid annuals, the juice staining purple; basal leaves in a 

 rosette; flowers small, in spikes or racemes; calyx campanulate; 

 corolla small, white, short-funnelform; nutlets rough, rarely 

 smooth, each attached by the middle of the somewhat concave 

 inner face to a hemispherical or globular gynobase. 



Nutlets somewhat cruciform, muriculate. P. tenellus. 



Nutlets ovoid, carinate, dull, roughened. P. nothofulvus. 



Plagiobothrys tenellus (Nutt.) Gray. Stems usually several, slender, 

 5-20 cm. high; leaves mostly in a basal rosette, oblong-linear or lanceolate, 

 5-20 mm. long; nutlets pale green, shining, keeled and papillate. 



In dry ground, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to California. 



Plagiobothrys nothofulvus Gray. Stems erect, 30-60 cm. high, branched; 

 basal leaves oblong or lanceolate, 2-5 cm. long, mostly in a rosette; calyx with 

 long hairs, reddish when young, but becoming paler; nutlets ovoid, not shining, 

 keeled on the back and roughened. 



In dry fields and prairies, Willamette Valley, Oregon, and southward. 



422. ALLOCARYA. 



Small annuals or perennials, branched from the base; lower 

 leaves mostly opposite, narrow; flowers small, white; calyx 5- 

 parted, erect or little spreading in fruit; corolla white, salverform, 

 usually w r ith appendages at the throat; nutlets not armed with 

 barbed prickles, attached only at the inside of the base to a 

 slightly elevated gynobase. 



Corolla small, 2-3 mm. broad; branches prostrate. A. hispidula. 



Corolla large, 6-8 mm. broad; stems erect or ascending. 



Racemes leafy-bracted; pedicels 6 mm. long; scar of the 



nutlets linear. A. chorisiana. 



