BARBERRY FAMILY 219 



9. Mahonia Fremontii (Torr.) Fedde. Fremont's Mahonia. Fig. 1875. 



Berberis Fremontii Torr. Bot. Mex. Bound. 30. 1859. 

 Mahonia Fremontii Fedde, Bot. Jahrb. 31: 89. 1901. 

 Odostemon Fremontii Rydb. Bull. Torrey Club 33: 141. 1906. 



Erect shrub, with rigid branches, 1-3 m. high. Leaflets 3-7, commonly 5, rather narrowly 

 ovate, 15—25 mm. long, coriaceous, pale gray-green on both surfaces, the spiny teeth prominent, 

 usually 3 on each side ; racemes terminating the numerous short stubby branchlets ; usually 3-5- 

 flowered; bracts acuminate; pedicels slender, 10-16 mm. long; berries becoming more or less 

 inflated and dry, 6-14 mm. in diameter; seeds 5-6 mm. long. 



Dry mountain slopes of the desert regions, Upper Sonoran Zone; southern Nevada east to southern Colorado, 

 south to northern Arizona, the desert ranges of southern California, and adjacent Lower California. Type locality: 

 "On the tributaries of the Rio Virgin," southern Utah. May-June. 



Mahonia haematocarpa (Wooton) Fedde, Bot. Jahrb. 31 : 100. 1901. Plants collected near Dripping 

 Springs, Riverside County, California, have been referred to this species, but they are not typical and must await 

 good fruiting material before they can be satisfactorily determined. In foliage characters they are intermediate 

 between M. Fremontii and M. Nevinii. 



10. Mahonia Nevinii (A. Gray) Fedde. Nevin's Mahonia. Fig. 1876. 



Berberis Nevinii A. Gray, Syn. Fl. N. Amer. I 1 : 69. 1895. 



Mahonia Nevinii Fedde, Bot. Jahrb. 31: 102. 1901. 



Odostemon Nevinii Abrams, Bull. N.Y. Bot. Gard. 6: 359. 1910. 



Much branched shrub, 1-2 m. high. Leaflets 3 or rarely 5, lanceolate, the lateral 2-3 cm. 

 long, the terminal often nearly twice as long, gray-green on both surfaces, spinulose-serrate, 

 the teeth numerous, bristle-like; racemes terminating the numerous stubby branchlets, loosely 

 5-7-flowered; bracts acuminate; berries bright red or yellowish, juicy. 



Dry sandy washes, Upper Sonoran Zone; a rare species, known only from the eastern end of San Fernando 

 Valley, southern California. Feb.-March. 



2. ACHLYS DC. Syst. 2: 35. 1821. 



Perennial herbs with slender creeping rootstocks. Leaves basal, long-petioled, 3-folio- 

 late. Flowers perfect, bractless, in an erect spike terminating the scape. Calyx and 

 corolla absent. Stamens 6-13 ; filaments elongated, filiform or the outer dilated upward. 

 Ovary ovoid, with a broad sessile stigma ; ovule solitary. Fruit somewhat fleshy, becom- 

 ing dry and indehiscent, reniform, the dorsal side cartilaginous, the ventral concave, 

 membranaceous with a fleshy central ridge. [Name from Achlus, the Greek god of 

 night.] 



A genus with two species, one in the Pacific States, the other in Japan. Type species, Achlys triphylla DC. 



1. Achlys triphylla (Smith) DC. Vanilla-leaf, Deer-foot. Fig. 1877. 



Leontice triphylla Smith in Rees Cycl. 20: No. 5. 1812. 

 Achlys triphylla DC. Syst. 2: 35. 1821. 



Plants glabrous throughout. Leaf solitary, from a scaly base, 25-40 cm. high ; leaflets spread- 

 ing, broadly fan-shaped, 5-10 cm. long, coarsely sinuate-dentate, the two lateral ones suggesting 

 the wings of a butterfly; scape equaling or exceeding the leaf; spike 2.5-5 cm. long; fruit with 

 a reddish tinge, 3-4 mm. long. 



Deep coniferous forests, Humid Transition Zone; British Columbia southward through western Washington 

 and Oregon to Mendocino County, California. Type locality: collected by Menzies "on the west coast of 

 America." April-July. 



3. VANCOUVERIA Morr. & Dec. Ann. Sci. Nat. II. 2: 351. 1834. 



Low fern-like perennial herbs with slender creeping rootstocks. Leaves basal, once 

 or twice ternately compound, deciduous or persistent. Inflorescence an open panicle or 

 raceme on a slender, scape-like peduncle, bearing small nodding flowers. Sepals 6, in 2 

 series, obovate, reflexed, petaloid, subtended by 6-9 small sepal-like bractlets and deciduous 

 with them. Petals 6, reflexed, linear-spatulate, tipped with hood-shaped nectary. Stamens 

 6, erect, their filaments broad. Pistil 1, composed of 1 carpel; style slender; stigma cup- 

 shaped; ovules 2-10, on the ventral suture. Fruit a 2-valved follicle. Seeds with a promi- 

 nent fleshy aril. [Name in honor of Capt. George Vancouver, English explorer, who 

 visited the coast of the Pacific States near the close of the 18th century in the ship 

 "Discovery."] 



Three species inhabiting the Pacific States. Type species, Vancouveria hexandra (Hook.) Morr. & Dec. 

 This genus is closely related to Epimedium L. of the Old World and is combined with it by some botanists. 



Leaves deciduous; leaflets thin; panicles glabrous. 1. V. hexandra. 

 Leaves persistent; leaflets coriaceous; panicles glandular. 



Flowers yellow, 12-15 mm. long; filaments glandular-pubescent. 2. V. chrysantha. 



Flowers white, 7-8 mm. long; filaments glabrous. 3. V. planipetala. 



