224 Engelmann and Gray, 



corolla, which are rarely somewhat nerved ; stigmata also pur- 

 ple, and anthers purple or yellow. (En gel.} 



125. C. cuspidata (Engel. n. sp.) : caule filiformi ramosis- 

 simo ; floribus pedunculitis in cymas laxas bracteosas disposi- 

 tis 5-fidis ; tubo corolloe cylindrico sepala usque ad basin 

 libera ovata concava (exteriora cuspidata) et lacinias limbi 

 ovatas acutiusculas uninervias erectas s. patentes superante ; 

 staminibus limbo brevioribus ; squamis ovatis firnbriatis tubum 

 suboequantibus ; stylis filiformibus ovario (minuto) globoso 

 pluries longioribus ; capsula globosa corolla marcescente ob- 

 tecta. — Var. «. pratensis : floribus minoribus; calyce bracteis 

 paucis involucrato ; tubo corollse subcylindrico calycis et co- 

 rolla segmentibus paulo longiore ; staminibus limbi laciniis ova- 

 tis acutiusculis duplo brevioribus ; stylis ovarium parvum duplo 

 superantibus. — Dry prairies west of the Brazos, on Tephrosia, 

 Bradburia, Ambrosia, &c. June. — Var. [3. humida : floribus 

 majoribus ; calyce bracteis pluribus involucrato ; tubo corollee 

 infundibuliformi calycis et corollas segmenta duplo superante ; 

 staminibus laciniis limbi lanceolatis acutis paulo brevioribus ; 

 stylis ovarium minutum quater superantibus. Bottom lands 

 of the Colorado, on Iva ciliata, Ambrosia trifida, &c. August, 

 1844, (No. 276, infra.) — A remarkable species. The stems 

 are very much branched, filiform ; inflorescence loose panicu- 

 late, pedicels with many cuspidate bracts, some of them sur- 

 rounding the calyx like an involucrum, similar in shape but 

 smaller than the sepals ; sepals somewhat lacerate or crenu- 

 late, ovate, carinate, (the carina less distinct in the var. /3,) 

 cuspidate, interior ones rather obtuse, all concave, loosely im- 

 bricated. Lobes of corolla thin membranaceous, with a strong 

 middle nerve, formed by large oblong or linear cells ; when 

 dry, convolute ; the exterior ones generally somewhat cuspi- 

 date, the interior ones obtuse ; at the base the lobes are dilated 

 and cover one another, more than in any other North Ameri- 

 can species. Styles remarkably slender and long, about the 

 length of the stamens, but elongated after flowering, when the 

 corolla assumes an urceolate shape, and finally covers like a 



