PURSLANE FAMILY 123 



3. Claytonia nivalis English. Wenatchee Claytonia. Fig. 1620. 



Claytonia nivalis English, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 47 : 189. 1934. 



Perennial, with stout taproot and thick, sometimes branched caudex 1-2 cm. in diameter. 

 Basal leaves many, very fleshy, 1 -nerved, spatulate, rounded or rarely acute at apex, cuneate at 

 base, 3-8 cm. long ; petioles 2-6 cm. long, not winged above, with enlarged scarious base ; stems 

 several, 4-9 cm. long, with 2 subopposite linear leaves 1 cm. long; inflorescence corymbiform, 

 3-10-flowered ; pedicels subtended by lanceolate bracts; sepals somewhat unequal, ovate, 8-11 

 mm. long ; petals 5, rose-colored, cuneate, rounded or nearly truncate at apex, 12-14 mm. long ; 

 stamens 5 ; ovules 6 ; capsule ovate, 4-5 mm. high ; seeds 2-3, 2 mm. long, black, shining, faintly 

 muriculate. 



Loose rock, talus slopes, Hudsonian to Arctic-Alpine Zones; Wenatchee Mountains, Washington. Type 

 locality: Ingalls Peak, Washington. July- Aug. 



4. Claytonia bellidifolia Rydb. Rydberg's Claytonia. Fig. 1621. 



Claytonia bellidifolia Rydb. N. Amer. Fl. 21 : 301. 1932. 



Perennial with stout taproot and thick caudex 2-12 cm. long and 1-3 cm. broad. Basal leaves 

 crowded, fleshy, faintly pinnate-nerved, 4.5-10 cm. long, the petioles 3-8 mm. long, but little 

 winged, with a broad scarious base, the blades broadly oblanceolate to obovate, acute or rounded 

 at the apex; stem leaves subtending the inflorescence, subopposite, linear to linear-lanceolate, 

 bract-like ; stems several, shorter than the leaves ; inflorescence 2-6-flowered, corymbiform ; 

 pedicels usually with short lanceolate scarious bracts ; sepals ovate, acute, 5 mm. long ; petals 5, 

 white to pale pink in age, slightly dissimilar in width, narrowed to a broad claw, acute or some- 

 what rounded at the apex, 6-7 mm. long; stamens 5 ; styles filiform, 3-cleft, 2.3 mm. long; ovules 

 6; capsule ovate, 4^4.5 mm. high; seeds usually 4, 2 mm. long, minutely tuberculate, sometimes 

 only on the margin. 



In loose rock or gravel, talus slopes, Hudsonian to Arctic- Alpine Zones; central Cascade and Wallowa 

 Mountains of Oregon, south to Mariposa County, California, and east to Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. 

 Type locality: Wallowa Mountains, Oregon. July-Aug. 



5. Claytonia nevadensis S. Wats. Sierra Claytonia. Fig. 1622. 



Claytonia nevadensis S. Wats, ex Brewer & Wats. Bot. Calif. 1 : 77. 1876. 

 Claytonia chenopodina Greene, Leaflets Bot. Obs. 2: 271. 1912. 

 Montia alpina Eastw. Leaflets West. Bot. 1: 11. 1932. 



Perennial, 5-12 cm. high, arising from tangled fleshy but slender rootstocks. Basal leaves 

 fleshy, 5-10 cm. long, the petioles 3 . 5-8 cm. long, but little enlarged at the base, the blades 1 . 5-2 

 cm. broad, obovate to suborbicular, abruptly narrowed at the base; stem leaves 7-15 mm. long, 

 sessile, ovate, subtending the subumbellate or short racemose inflorescence; flowers 2-6, white 

 with a pink center, occasionally the lower flower bracteate ; sepals ovate, acute, 5-6 mm. long ; 

 petals 5-8 mm. long, somewhat variable in width, spatulate with a narrow claw ; stamens shorter 

 than the petals; style 2.5-3 mm. long, 3-cleft; ovules 6; capsule ovoid, 3-3.5 mm. long; seeds 

 4-6, black, shining. 



In gravelly soil, Arctic-Alpine Zone; Sierra Nevada from Tuolumne County south to Mono County, Cali- 

 fornia. Type locality: Mount Dana, California. July-Aug. 



4. MONTIA L. Sp. PI. 87. 1753. 



Annuals or perennials with rootstocks and propagating by stolons or bulblets. Leaves 

 more or less fleshy, opposite, alternate or basal. Inflorescence racemose or paniculate, 

 bractless, with bracts or leafy. Pedicels enlarged at the base of the flower, commonly re- 

 curved in fruit. Sepals 2, usually a little unequal, persistent. Petals 2-5, sometimes 6, often 

 unequal in length and width, pink or white, partially united at the base or free. Stamens 2-5. 

 Ovules 3, rarely 4. Styles 3, united, 3-parted above. Capsule globose to ovoid, 3-valved, 

 the valves involute and spreading in age. Seeds 1-3, smooth, tuberculate, muricate or 

 foveolate, usually shining. [Name in honor of G. Monti, Italian botanist of the 18th cen- 

 tury.] 



About 40 species, natives of both hemispheres. Type species: Montia fontana L. 



Stem leaves alternate, more than 2. 



Thick-leaved perennials reproducing by runners or bud scales. 1. M. parvifolia. 



Thin-leaved annuals. 



Panicles leafy; stamens 5. 2. M. diffusa. 



Racemes not leafy, bractless except at the base; stamens 3. 



Inflorescence terminal, longer than the leaves; petals 4-5. 



Flowers 6-12 in each crowded raceme. 3. M. dichotoma. 



Flowers 2-7 in each open raceme. 4. M. linearis. 



Inflorescence axillary, shorter than the leaves; petals 2 or wanting. 5. M. Howellii. 



Stem leaves opposite, one pair only except in M. fontana and M. Chamissoi. 



Petals united above the base, the 3-5-lobed corolla split on one side. 6. M. fontana. 



Petals free or united only at the base. 



Stems with 2 to several pairs of leaves; the inflorescence axillary or terminal. 7. M. Chamissoi. 

 Stems with a single pair of leaves subtending the terminal inflorescence. 



Pedicels of the inflorescence bractless or with a single bract at the lowest branch. 



