130 PORTULACACEAE 



1. Spraguea umbellata Torr. Pussy Paws. Fig. 1638. 



Spraguea umbellata Torr. Smiths. Contr. 6: 4. pi. 1. 1853. 



Spraguea paniculata Kell. Proc. Calif. Acad. 2: 187. 1863. 



Spraguea umbellata var. montana Jones, Bull. Torrey Club 9: 31. 1882. 



Calyptridiutn nudum Greene, Pittonia 1 : 64. 1887. 



Spraguea eximia Eastw. Bull. Torrey Club 30: 486. 1903. 



Spraguea irregularis Rydb. N. Amer. Fl. 21: 318. 1932. 



Spraguea Hallii Rydb. N. Amer. Fl. 21 : 318. 1932. 



Low glabrous annual or perennial herbs, 5-25 cm. high, with several spreading stems. Leaves 

 spatulate, 1 . 5-7 cm. long, basal, flowering stems with reduced cauline leaves or sometimes naked ; 

 inflorescence umbellate-cymose, sometimes capitate in appearance ; flowers pink or white, imbri- 

 cate-crowded, scarious-bracted ; sepals pink or white, orbicular-reniform, 4.5-8 mm. long, scarious 

 except for the greenish center, accrescent; petals 4, 3-6 mm. long, oblong or ovate; stamens 

 usually 3, usually exserted ; pistil 5-6 mm. long, exserted ; stigma 2-lobed ; capsule ovate, 3-4 mm. 

 high, 2-10-seeded. 



In loose sandy or gravelly soil, in the mountains, Arid Transition to Hudsonian Zones; British Columbia to 

 Lower California and east to the Rocky Mountains. Type locality: probably in Shasta County, California. 

 June-Aug. 



Spraguea umbellata var. caudicifera A. Gray, Syn. Fl. N. Amer. I 1 : 278. 1897. A perennial with 

 branching caudex, thick basal leaves, a short scape-like stem and a glomerate-capitate inflorescence. Alpine Zone; 

 Washington to southern California and east to the Rocky Mountains. 



2. Spraguea monosperma (Greene) Rydb. One-seeded Pussy Paws. Fig. 1639. 



Calyptridium monospermum Greene, Erythea 3: 63. 1895. 

 Spraguea pulchella Eastw. Bull. Torrey Club 29: 79. 1902. 

 Spraguea monosperma Rydb. N. Amer. Fl. 21: 319. 1932. 



Slender glabrous annual, 2-5 cm. high. Basal leaves spatulate, 1-2 cm. long, cauline leaves 

 few, reduced ; inflorescence of crowded scorpioid spikes arranged in a panicle ; sepals scarious 

 except for center, 2-2.5 mm. long, orbicular-reniform, emarginate, equal or nearly so; petals 4, 

 equaling the sepals or nearly so ; capsule orbicular, 1-2-seeded. 



Exposed slopes, Canadian Zone; known only from Mariposa and Inyo Counties, California. Type locality: 

 Big Cottonwood Meadows, Inyo County, California. June-Aug. 



6. CALYPTRIDIUM Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1 : 198. 1838. 



Low, somewhat succulent herbs with basal and alternate leaves. Flowers in scorpioid 

 spikes or spike-like panicles. Petals 2-4, fragile, folding over the pistil after anthesis and 

 carried up on the ripening capsule. Sepals 2, unequal, scarious or scarious-margined, 

 plane, more or less accrescent, mostly broader than long. Stamens 1-3. Style simple, 

 short, 0.5-2 mm. long; stigmas 2. Capsule 2-valved, 6-many-seeded. Seeds compressed, 

 black. [Name Greek, a covering or calyptre.] 



A genus of four or five species found only in western North America. Type species, Calyptridium monandrum 

 Nutt. 



Sepals not exceeding the mature capsule. 



Capsule linear, one or two times longer than the sepals. 1. C. monandrum. 



Capsule oblong, exceeding the sepals by one-half its length or less. 2. C. Parryi. 

 Sepals exceeding the mature capsule. 



Petals 2; sepals herbaceous with a scarious margin. 3. C. roseum. 



Petals 4; sepals scarious throughout. 4. C. quadripetalum. 



1. Calyptridium monandrum Nutt. Common Calyptridium. Fig. 1640. 



Calyptridium monandrum Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1 : 198. 1838. 



Depressed or spreading annual with branches 2-15 cm. long. Leaves spatulate, 1.5-4 cm. 

 long, mostly basal, a few scattered along the branches ; inflorescence paniculate, the branchlets 

 scorpioid when young, elongate and secund with age ; sepals . 5-2 mm. long, with a narrow 

 scarious margin, slightly unequal, little accrescent ; petals 3, occasionally 2, ovate ; stamen 1 ; 

 style very short; capsule linear, 5-6 mm. long, obscurely notched at the apex, usually curved, 

 dehiscent; seeds 6-10. 



In sandy or clay soils, Uppet and Lower Sonoran Zones; Santa Clara County, California, south to Lower 

 California, Mexico, and east to central Nevada, Arizona, and Sonora, Mexico. Type locality: San Diego, Cali- 

 fornia. March— June. 



2. Calyptridium Parryi A. Gray. Parry's Calyptridium. Fig. 1641. 



Calyptridium Parryi A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. 22: 285. 1887. 

 Calyptridium pygmaeum Parish ex Rydb. N. Amer. Fl. 21 : 320. 1932. 



Depressed or spreading annuals, with branches 2-10 cm. long. Leaves mostly basal, spatulate, 

 1-3 cm. long; inflorescence paniculate, with short, few-flowered scorpioid clusters, secund with 

 age; sepals unequal, 2-3.5 mm. long, mostly oval, white, scarious-margined, somewhat accrescent; 

 petals 3 or 4, shorter than the sepals ; stamens 2 or rarely 3 ; style short, about one-half to one- 

 third the length of the ovary; capsule oblong, minutely emarginate at the apex, 8-15-seeded. 



In open places, Upper Sonoran and Transition Zones; Mount Hamilton Range and Mount Pinos region to 

 the San Jacinto and San Bernardino Mountains, California, east to southwestern Arizona. Type locality: Bear 

 Valley, San Bernardino Mountains, California. June-July. 



