PURSLANE FAMILY 127 



8.5-12 mm. long; capsule 4 mm. high, the fruiting sepals but little longer; seeds 3, 2 mm. long, 

 black and shining. 



Shaded streams and marshy areas, Transition and Canadian Zones; British Columbia to the mountains of 

 southern Oregon and northern California, east to Montana and northern Utah. Type locality: Pend Oreille 

 River, Idaho. May-Aug. 



9. Montia saxosa Brandg. Brandegee's Montia. Fig. 1631. 



Claytonia saxosa Brandg. Zoe 4: 150. 1893. 



Montia saxosa Brandg. ex Robinson in Gray, Syn. Fl. N. Amer. I 1 : 274. 1897. 



Limnia saxosa A. Heller, Muhlenbergia 6: 84. 1910. 



Dense succulent annual with many stems, 1-2.5 cm. high. Basal leaves spatulate to obovate, 

 obtuse or rounded at the apex, 0.5-2 cm. long, the petioles short; cauline leaves 2, opposite, 

 sessile, ovate, obtuse, not connate, subtending the subumbellate 2-5-flowered inflorescence ; sepals 

 4-4.5 mm. long, ovate, entire, rounded at the apex; petals 5, ovate, emarginate at the apex, 5-5.5 

 mm. long, pinkish; stamens 5, shorter than the petals; ovules 3-4; style equaling the stamens, 

 3-cleft at the apex; capsule globose, 2.5 mm. high; seeds 2-3, foveolate, dark, shining, 2 mm. long. 



In rocky places, Transition to Canadian Zone; Lake County to Humboldt County, California. Type locality; 

 Snow Mountain, California. March-May. 



10. Montia perfoliata (Donn) Howell. Miner's Lettuce. Fig. 1632. 



Claytonia perfoliata Donn, Hort. Cantab. 25. 1796. 



Limnia perfoliata Haw. Syn. PI. Succ. 11. 1812. 



Montia perfoliata Howell, Erythea 1 : 38. 1893. 



Claytonia parviflora Dougl. ex Hook. Fl. Bor. Amer. 1 : 225. 1832. 



More or less fleshy, often reddish annual, erect or spreading, 5-30 cm. high. Basal leaves 

 several, petioled, spatulate or lanceolate to rhomboidal, 1-7 cm. long ; stem leaves 2, united in an 

 orbicular or angled disk subtending the inflorescence ; flowers pink or white, in congested or 

 elongated often verticillate racemes with a bract at the first branch of the inflorescence ; sepals 

 rounded, ovate, 2-3 mm. long; petals 5, clawed, notched at the apex, 3-4.5 mm. long; ovules 3; 

 capsule globose ; seeds 3, black, shining, 1-2 mm. long, minutely granulate with low tubercles. 



Common in more or less shady places, valleys and hills, Lower Sonoran and Transition Zones; British 

 Columbia to Lower California and east to North Dakota and Arizona. Type locality : west coast of North America. 

 Feb. -April. Variable as to shape of basal leaves and to size and color of the plants. For complete treatment of 

 the segregates of the species see N. Amer. Fl. 21: 307-311. 1932. 



Montia perfoliata var. nubigena (Greene) Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Calif. 186. 1901. Glaucous annual with 

 petals 4-6 mm. long. Higher elevations of the coastal mountains of central California. 



Montia perfoliata var. depressa (A. Gray) Jepson, Fl. Calif. 471. 1914. Low, spreading reddish plants 

 with broadly rhomboidal basal leaves. Pine forests and chaparral, central California to Oregon. 



Montia perfoliata subsp. glauca (Nutt.) Ferris. (Claytonia parviflora var. glauca Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, 

 Fl. N. Amer. 1: 200. 1830. Montia pallida M. E. Peck, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 47: 185. 1934.) Low tufted 

 glaucous plant with narrowly spatulate basal leaves. Western Washington south through the Willamette Valley 

 to the California border. 



11. Montia gypsophiloides (Fisch. & Mey.) Howell. Coast Range Montia. 



Fig. 1633. 



Claytonia gypsophiloides Fisch. & Mey. Ind. Sem. Hort. Petrop. 2: 33. 1836. 

 Montia gypsophiloides Howell, Erythea 1 : 38. 1893. 

 Montia diaboli Rydb. N. Amer. Fl. 21: 312. 1932. 



Glaucous, sometimes pinkish-tinged annual with few to several erect or ascending slender 

 stems, 6-20 cm. high. Basal leaves many, narrowly linear, 2.5-9 cm. long; stem leaves ovate to 

 lanceolate, 8-12 mm. long, united on one side at the base, often to above the middle ; inflorescence 

 many-flowered, an open pedunculate slender raceme much surpassing the leaves, 5-12 cm. long, 

 elongate in age ; pedicels slender, 6-8 mm. long, the lowest one bracteate, reflexed in age ; sepals 

 2-2.5 mm. long; petals 4, 5-7 mm. long, white or pinkish; capsule 2.5 mm. high; seeds 2-3, dark, 

 shining, more or less minutely tuberculate. 



Open slopes, Upper Sonoran and Transition Zones; northern California south to San Luis Obispo County, 

 California. Type locality: Fort Ross, California. March-May. 



12. Montia spathulata (Dougl.) Howell. Common Montia. Fig. 1634. 



Claytonia spathulata Dougl. ex Hook. Fl. Bor. Amer. 1 : 226. 1832. 



Montia spathulata Howell, Erythea 1 : 38. 1893. 



Montia rosulata Eastw. Proc. Calif. Acad. III. 1: 79. 1897. 



Dense, succulent tufted glaucous annual 2-6 cm. high. Basal leaves many, narrowly linear to 

 linear-spatulate, generally surpassing the stems ; stem leaves ovate-acute to narrowly lanceolate 

 or linear, connate at the base on one side, 1-2 cm. long ; inflorescence 5-20 mm. long, short-peduncu- 

 late to subsessile, 3-6-flowered, the first branch of the raceme bracteate; sepals 1-1.3 mm. long, 

 ovate-lanceolate; petals 5, white or pinkish, notched or rounded at the apex, 2.5-3 mm. long; 

 mature capsule ovoid, 1.5-2 mm. high; seeds 3, about 0.5 mm. long, closely granulate with low 

 tubercles. 



Open, grassy or gravelly hill slopes, Copper and Lower Sonoran Zones; British Columbia to central Cali- 

 fornia. Type locality: Canada. Feb.— May. 



Montia spathulata var. exigua (Torr. & Gray) Robinson in A. Gray, Syn. Fl. N. Amer. I 1 : 275. 1897. 

 Plant more robust, less tufted, petals 3.5—4 mm. long and seeds about 1 mm. long. Washington and eastern 

 Nevada to southern California. 



