LIZARD'S-TAIL FAMILY 



485 



Sub-class 2. DiCOTYLEDONES. 



Stem exogenous, of pith, wood and bark, the wood in one or more layers sur- 

 rounding the pith, traversed by medullary rays, and covered by the bark (en- 

 dogenous in structure in Nympiiaeaceae). Leaves usually pinnately or palmately 

 veined, the veinlets forming a network. Parts of the flower usually in 4's or 5's, 

 rarely in 3's or 6's. Embryo of the seed with two cotyledones (one only in Cycla- 

 men, NympJiacaccac, and some species of Ranuncnlaceae; in Quercns and a few 

 other genera 3 sometimes occur, and in some species of Anisinckia 4), the first 

 leaves of the germinating plantlet opposite. 



Dicotyledonous plants are first definitely known in Cretaceous time. They constitute between two-thirds 

 and three-fourths of the living angiosperms. 



Series L Choripetalae. 



Petals separate and distinct from each other or wanting (somewhat united in certain 

 species of Portulacaceae, Caryopliyllaceae, Fiimariaccae, Crassulaceae, Malvaceae, and 

 Fabaceae) . 



Family 24. SAURURACEAE. 



Lizard's-tail Family. 



Perennial herbs with broad entire alternate petioled leaves and small perfect brac- 

 teolate flowers in peduncled spikes. Perianth none. Stamens 6—8, or sometimes 

 fewer, hypogynous ; anthers 2-celled, the sacs longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary 3-4- 

 carpelled, the carpels distinct or united, 1-2-ovuled ; ovules orthotropus. Fruit cap- 

 sular or berry-like, composed of 3-4, mostly indehiscent carpels. Seeds globose or 

 ovoid ; endosperm copious, mealy ; embryo minute, cordate, borne in a small sac near 

 the end of the endosperm. 



Three genera and four species, natives of North Ameiica and Asia. Represented in North America ly 

 the following and the Lizard' s-tail(Sauniriis cermitis L.) of the eastern states. 



1. ANEMOPSIS Hook. Ann. Nat. Hist. 1 : 136. 1838. 



Stems nodose, scape-like, stoloniferous from aromatic creeping rootstocks. Leaves mostly 

 radical, minuteh- punctate. Flowers in a compact spike surrounded at the base by a persistent 

 colored involucre of 5-8 bracts; each flower except the lowest also surrounded by a small 

 colored bract. Stamens 6-8. Ovary sunk in the rachis of the spike, 1-celled; stigmas 3-4. 

 Capsule dehiscent at the apex. 



A monotypic genus native of southwestern United States and northern Mexico. 



1. Anemopsis californica Hook. 

 Yerba Mansa. Fie. 1185. 



Anemopsis californica Hook. Ann. Nat. Hist. 1: 136. 1838. 



Anemopsis bolanderi A. DC. Linnaea 37: 333. 1871. 



Houttuynia californica Benth. & Hook.; S. Wats. Bot. Calif. 

 2: 483. 188G. 



Stem 15-50 cm. long, with a broadly ovate clasping 

 leaf above the middle and a fascicle of 1-3 small petioled 

 leaves in the axil. Basal leaves elliptic-oblong, rounded 

 above, more or less narrowed toward the cordate base, 

 5-15 cm. long; petioles 10-20 cm. long; spikes 1.5-4 cm. 

 long; involucral bracts white, often reddish beneath, 

 oblong, 1-3 cm. long; floral bracts white, obovate, un- 

 guiculate, 5-6 mm. long; ovules 6-10 on each placenta. 



Low, usually alkaline ground. Upper and Lower Sonoran 



Zones; Sacramento Valley and Santa Clara County, south to 



northern Lower California, and Arizona. Mar.-Aug. Type lo- 

 cality: Santa Barbara and San Diego, California. 



