252 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



less attenuate above and smaller than is usual in the ordinary large- 

 flowered state of the plant. 



Mentzelia hirsutissima. Stout, erect, with ascending branches, 

 very hirsute with spreading rigid hairs in addition to the usual barbed 

 pubescence: leaves linear-lanceolate, 1^ to 3 inches long, acuminate, 

 irregularly pinnatifid with divaricate acute segments and teeth ; lobes 

 of the floral leaves vei'y narrow : flowers terminal, sessile : calyx-limb 

 deeply 5-cleft, 8 to 12 lines long, the lanceolate lobes long-acuminate : 

 petals yellow, acute, 1^ inches long: filaments very numerous, orange- 

 colored above, shortly cuspidate on each side of the anther, nearly ^ 

 inch long, shorter than the style: capsule oblong, ^ inch long. — Angels 

 Island, in the Gulf of California ; Dr. T. H. Streets, U. S. N,, February, 

 1876. With M. tricuspis forming a section distinct from § Bartonia, 

 characterized by the filaments dilated and bicuspidate above ; style 

 tubular and terete, 3-cleft at the summit (sometimes twisted) ; seeds 

 (in M. tricuspis) in one row on each thin jjlacenta, horizontal, not mar- 

 gined, irregularly flattened, coarsely and irregularly rugose, opaque 

 and very minutely and densely tuberculate. 



Elaterium minimum. Stems very slender, almost filiform, a 

 foot or two long, glabrous or nearly so : leaves thin, smooth above, 

 white-papillose and scabrous beneath, triangular-cordate and more or 

 less deeply hastate-lobed, 1 to li- inches broad, the lobes entire or some- 

 what serrate: the sterile raceme little exceeding the leaves; limb of the 

 flowers 4 lines broad : fertile flowers on slender pedicels 1 to 6 lines long, 

 the limb 3 lines broad, and the slender tube 2 lines long : fruit very small 

 (4 lines long), acute at each end and beaked above by the persistent 

 calyx-tube, echinate with spine-like processes, 2-celled and bursting 

 irregularly on each side near the top; cells 3-ovuled, mostly 1-seeded: 

 seeds oblong-ovate, 1^ lines long, compressed, dark-colored. — Marah 

 minima^ Kellogg, Proc. Calif. Acad. ii. 18. On Cerros Island, off 

 Lower California (Dr. J. A. Veatch, Dr. T. H. Streets), and at Cape 

 St. Lucas, L. J. Xantus. 



Elaterium Bigelovii. Very similar : leaves more decidedly has- 

 tate, the middle segment lanceolate, acute and cuspidate, the lateral 

 ones 2-lobed, all entire or obscurely sinuate : staminate panicles shorter 

 than the leaves: flowers smaller; limb less than 2 lines broad: 

 ovary smooth, seemingly 1-ovuled: fruit unknown. — In the Lower 

 Colorado Valley, Dr. J. M. Bigelow and Dr. E. Palmer. Referred 

 to Melolhria pendula in the Botany of California. 



Angelica leporina. Tall and stout in the manner of the genus, 

 glabrous : leaves bipinuate ; leaflets linear-lanceolate, acuminate, entire 



