124 PORTULACACEAE 



Perennials with a horizontal rootstock; petals 8.5-12 mm. long. 8. M. cordifolia. 



Annuals; petals 2-7 mm. long. 



Stem leaves not united; seeds (under lens) distinctly foveolate. 9. M. saxosa. 



Stem leaves united at least on one side; seeds (under lens) more or less minutely granulate 

 with low tubercles. 



Stem leaves united on both sides forming a rounded though often angled disk. 



10. M. perfoliata. 



Stem leaves united on one side, free above the base or forming a 2-lobed disk. 



Racemes 3-12 cm. long, the peduncle one-third to one-half the length of the 

 raceme; petals 5-7 mm. long. 11. M. gypsophiloides. 



Racemes 0.5—2.5 cm. long, subsessile or with short peduncle; petals 2.5-5 mm. 

 long. 12. M. spathulata. 



Pedicels of the inflorescence bracteate. 



Floral bracts minute, 1-3 rarely 4 mm. long; plants annual. 13. M. arenicola. 



Floral bracts 4—10 mm. long; plants perennial. 



Stem leaves sessile; plant reproducing by bulb scales or from persistent root crown. 



14. M. sibirica. 



Stem leaves petioled; plants reproducing by tuber-bearing rootstock. 



15. M. heterophylla. 



1. Montia parvifolia (Moc.) Greene. Small-leaved Montia. Fig. 1623. 



Claytonia parvifolia Moc. ex DC. Prod. 3: 361. 1828. 



Claytonia filicaulis Dougl. ex Hook. Fl. Bor. Amer. 1: 224. 1832. 



Montia parvifolia Greene, Fl. Fran. 181. 1891. 



Montia obtusata Heller, Muhlenbergia 2: 32. 1905. 



Naiocrene parvifolia Rydb. Bull. Torrey Club 33: 139. 1906. 



Perennial with branched fleshy rootstock, short caudices and decumbent or widely divaricate 

 branches, 1-3 dm. long, often flagelliform and developing stolons. Leaves obovate to oblanceolate, 

 1—3.5 cm. long, petiole enlarged and scarious at the base, usually longer than the blade, more or 

 less fleshy (thick and Sedum-tike in exposed plants), clustered at the base and alternate on the 

 stems, becoming reduced and bract-like above and bearing offshoots in the axils ; flowers 1-10, 

 racemose at the ends of the branches, white flushed with pink to bright pink ; petals 5, 7-8 mm. 

 long, round or retuse at the apex; sepals 2-2.5 mm. long, unequal in size, rounded, the larger 

 sepal sometimes lobed ; ovules 3 ; capsule 2 . 5-3 mm. long ; seeds 1-2, black, granulate. 



Mossy banks by streams and springs, Transition and Canadian Zones; Alaska south through Pacific States 

 to the Santa Lucia Mountains, Monterey County, California. Type locality: Nootka, British Columbia. May- 

 July. 



Montia parvifolia subsp. flagellaris (Bong.) Ferris. (Claytonia flaaellaris Bong. Mem. Acad. St. Petersb. 

 VI. 2: 137. 1832; Montia Sweetseri Henderson, Rhodora 32: 24. 1930.) Petals pink, 12-14 mm. long, basal 

 leaves 2-4 cm. long. Tillamook and Curry Counties, Oregon. Type locality: Sitka, Alaska. 



2. Montia diffusa (Nutt.) Greene. Diffuse Montia. Fig. 1624. 



Claytonia diffusa Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 202. 1838. 

 Montia diffusa Greene, Fl. Fran. 181. 1891. 

 Limnalsine diffusa Rydb. N. Amer. Fl. 21 : 295. 1932. 



Leafy annual, 5-20 cm. high, diffusely much branched from the base. Basal and cauline leaves 

 similar, the blades ovate to deltoid, decurrent on the long petiole ; inflorescence terminal, panicu- 

 late, bracteate below, 4^8-flowered ; sepals obovate, rounded, entire, 1.7-2 mm. long; petals 5, 

 white or pinkish, emarginate, 3-4 mm. long ; stamens 5 ; ovules 3 ; capsule obovate, a little sur- 

 passing the sepals; seeds 1-3, black, 1-1.3 mm. long, finely marked with regular reticulations. 



In woods, Transition Zone; Washington, south to Marin County, California. Type locality: Fort Van- 

 couver, Washington. May-July. 



3. Montia dichotoma (Nutt.) Howell. Dichotomous Montia. Fig. 1625. 



Claytonia dichotoma Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1 : 202. 1838. 

 Montia dichotoma Howell, Erythea 1: 36. 1893. 

 Montiastrum dichotomum Rydb. N. Amer. Fl. 21: 296. 1932. 



Slender annual, 2.5-6 cm. high, with simple stems or with few branches from the base. Leaves 

 alternate, linear, 7-15 mm. long, with enlarged scarious clasping bases; racemes subtended by 

 broad, ovate scarious bracts, 1-2 on the ends of the branches, secund, 1-2 cm. long with 6-12 

 rather crowded nodding flowers; pedicels 3-6 mm. long; sepals 1.8-2 mm. long, rounded ovate, 

 7-9-veined, the upper margin white ; petals 4-5, emarginate or truncate at the apex, unequal in 

 length and width, the longest petal but little surpassing the sepals ; stamens 3-4 ; capsuk ovoid, 

 narrowed at the base, 2 mm. long ; seeds 3, 1 mm. long, black, not dull, faintly but finely reticulate. 



Moist slopes, Upper Sonoran and Arid Transition Zones; Klickitat County, Washington, south to Shasta 

 County, California, and east to Idaho. Type locality: near the mouth of the Willamette River, Oregon. April- 

 May. 



4. Montia linearis (Dougl.) Greene. Linear-leaved Montia. Fig. 1626. 



Claytonia linearis Dougl. ex Hook. Fl. Bor. Amer. 1 : 224. 1832. 



Montia linearis Greene, Fl. Fran. 181. 1891. 



Montiastrum lineare Rydb. Fl. Rocky Mts. 265, 1061. 1917. 



Erect much branched annual, 6-18 cm. high. Leaves alternate, linear, 1.5-3.5 cm. long, the 

 petioles with enlarged scarious bases ; inflorescence terminal, of loose-flowered racemes 2-5 cm. 

 long, subtended by scarious, ovate-lanceolate bracts; flowers 2-7, nodding, pedicels 6-14 mm. 



