122 PORTULACACEAE 



pact clusters ; pedicels 1-3 times the length of the calyx ; sepals 4-6 mm. long, with narrow 

 scarious margins, ovate, obtuse ; petals white, 3-5, obovate, shorter than or equaling the sepals ; 

 stamens 5-8 ; stigma subcapitate, undivided ; capsule 5-6 mm. long ; seeds numerous, not strophio- 

 late, black, shining, the surface scarcely marked. 



Widely distributed in alkaline areas, Lower Sonoran Zone; the Death Valley region south through the 

 Mojave and Colorado Deserts to Lower California. Type locality: El Rio on the Colorado River, California. 

 March-May. 



4. Calandrinia maritima Nutt. Seaside Calandrinia. Fig. 1617. 



Calandrinia maritima Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1 : 197. 1838. 

 Claytonia maritima Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 57. 1891. 



Glaucous, basally branching annuals 5-30 cm. high with scape-like stems. Basal leaves spatu- 

 late, 1-5 cm. long, the cauline reduced or none; inflorescence in terminal loose cymes; sepals 

 ovate, dark-veined, shortly acute, 4-5 mm. long; petals 3-5, 3.5-5 mm. long, rose-red; stamens 

 4-8; style short, stigmas 3; capsule ovate, 4.5-6 mm. high; seeds dark, dull, minutely rough- 

 ened, strophiolate. 



Seacoast, Upper Sonoran Zone; Santa Barbara County, California, to Lower California. Type locality: San 

 Diego, California. March-May. 



CLAYTONIA L. Sp. PI. 204. 1753. 



Glabrous perennial herbs with deep-seated corms or fleshy roots. Basal leaves 1 to 

 many, cauline leaves 2, opposite or nearly so, a third leaf rarely present. Inflorescence 

 terminal, racemose or subumbellate, 1-2 bracts present at the base of the raceme. Flowers 

 perfect, regular. Sepals 2, persistent, herbaceous. Petals 5-6, variable in width, hypog- 

 ynous, pink, white or yellowish. Stamens 5, adnate to the petals. Ovules 6, styles 3, 

 united at the base, free at the apex. Capsule ovate, 3-valved, the valve margins involute 

 in age. Seeds 2-6, dark, shining, smooth or faintly marked. [In honor of John Clayton, 

 American botanist of the 18th century.] 



About 15 species, native of North America and the arctic regions. Type species, Claytonia virginica L. 



Plants with globose corms; basal leaves 1 or wanting. 



Stem leaves thick, obtuse or rounded. 1. C. umbellata. 



Stem leaves thin, acute or acuminate. 2. C. lanceolata. 



Plants with rootstocks or fleshy taproot; basal leaves several to many. 



Plants with elongate caudices 1—3 cm. broad with crowded basal leaves. 



Scapes after flowering slightly surpassing the basal leaves; petals cuneate, 10-12 mm. long. 



3. C. nivalis. 



Scapes after flowering shorter than the basal leaves; petals clawed, 6-8 mm. long. 



4. C. bellidifolia. 



Plants with fleshy rootstocks, basal leaves several. 5. C. nevadensis. 



1. Claytonia umbellata S. Wats. Great Basin Claytonia. Fig. 1618. 



Claytonia umbellata S. Wats. Bot. King Expl. 43. 1871. 

 Claytonia obovata Rydb. N. Amer. Fl. 21 : 299. 1932. 



Perennial from a globose or globose-depressed corm 1.5-2.2 cm. in diameter, the stem 

 mostly subterranean. Basal leaf thick, ovate to obovate, the petiole two-thirds the length of the 

 stem; cauline leaves opposite, thick, 3-nerved, 1.5-2.5 cm. long, the petiole one-fourth the length 

 of the blade or equaling it, oval to obovate, rounded or obtuse at the apex ; inflorescence sub- 

 umbellate or corymbose, shorter than the leaves ; sepals obtuse, 4-5 mm. long ; petals 5, white or 

 pink, obovate, entire, 6-7 mm. long; seeds dark, shining. 



Exposed slopes, Transition to Canadian Zones; southern Oregon south on the east slope of the Sierra Nevada 

 to El Dorado County, California, and in adjacent Nevada. Type locality: Mount Davidson and Truckee Pass, 

 Nevada. June-July. 



2. Claytonia lanceolata Pursh. Western Spring Beauty. Fig. 1619. 



Claytonia lanceolata Pursh, Fl. Amer. Sept. 175. 1814. 



Perennial from a globose corm 1-2 cm. broad with 1 to several stems 7-15 cm. high arising 

 from the corm. Basal leaves 1-2, sometimes absent, 5-8 cm. long, the blade shorter than the 

 petiole ; stem leaves 2 subtending the inflorescence (a third leaf rarely present on a branched 

 inflorescence), broadly or narrowly oblanceolate to ovate, acute, 2.5-7 cm. long, sessile or at- 

 tenuate at the base into a short petiole; inflorescence 4-15-flowered, subumbellate or racemose, 

 occasionally branched, pedicels 5-8 mm. long, recurved in fruit, the lowest branches of the 

 raceme bracteate ; sepals ovate, entire to obscurely repand, 3-3.5 mm. long; petals 5-6, 6-12 mm. 

 long, retuse or obtuse, pink or white with pink lines or yellowish ; capsule ovoid, 4 mm. high ; 

 seeds 4-6, black, smooth, shining. 



In woods and meadows, upper Transition and Boreal Zones, British Columbia and Alberta, south to the 

 mountains of northern New Mexico and northern California. Type locality: "Rocky Mountains." May-July. 



Claytonia lanceolata var. sessilifolia (Torr.) A. Nels. Bull. Torrey Club 27: 259. 1900. Leaves mostly 

 linear-lanceolate, usually surpassing the inflorescence, sepals rarely toothed, petals 6-8 mm. long. Southern Ore- 

 gon south in the Sierra Nevada to Plumas County, California. In its northern limit more nearly approaching 

 the species. 



Claytonia lanceolata subsp. chrysantha (Greene) Ferris. (.Claytonia chrysantha Greene, Leaflets Bot. 

 Obs. 2: 45. 1910.) Leaves ovate, 2.5-4 mm. long, petals yellow. Northern Cascade Mountains, Washington. 



Claytonia lanceolata var. Piersonii Munz & Jtn. Bull. Torrey Club 49: 352. 1923. Leaves short-petiolate, 

 widest below the middle, axis of raceme shortened so that the flowers appear umbellate. San Gabriel Mountains, 

 southern California. 



