194 RANUNCULACEAE 



2. Clematis ligusticifolia Nutt. Western Virgin's Bower. Fig. 1812. 



Clematis ligusticifolia Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, FI. N. Amer. 1: 9. 1838. 



Woody climber, the stems often 4-6 m. long, leaves pinnately 5-7-foliolate, lanceolate to 

 ovate-lanceolate varying to ovate, rounded or somewhat cuneate at base, usually acuminate at 

 apex, 3-8 cm. long, sparingly strigose ; branches of the irregularly toothed or lobed inflorescence 

 nearly erect; sepals oblanceolate, about 1 cm. long, white; filaments of the staminate flowers 

 slender, those of the pistillate somewhat dilated and sterile; achenes pubescent with straight 

 spreading or somewhat appressed hairs ; styles 4-5 cm. long. 



Stream banks, growing over bushes; Transition and Upper Sonoran Zones; British Columbia to central 

 California, east to North Dakota and New Mexico. Type locality: "Plains of the Rocky Mountains." June- 

 Sept. Yerba de Chivato. 



Clematis ligusticifolia var. brevifolia Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, loc. cit. (C. brevifolia Howell, Fl. N.W. 

 Amer. 8. 1897.) Leaflets ovate in outline, usually cordate at base, nearly or quite glabrous; branches of the 

 inflorescence more spreading and shorter; sepals somewhat spatulate. This variety is the common form of 

 eastern Washington and Oregon. Type locality: Blue Mountains, Oregon. 



Clematis ligusticifolia var. californica S. Wats. Bot. Calif. 1: 3. 1876. (C. biflora Eastw. Bull. Torrey 

 Club 32: 193. 1905.) Leaflets more or less densely silky-canescent on both surfaces. The common repre- 

 sentative of the species in southern California. 



Clematis Suksdorfii Robinson, Syn. Fl. N. Amer. I 1 : 4. 1895. This species is closely allied to C. 

 ligusticifolia var. brevifolia from which it differs chiefly in the somewhat smaller flowers and fruiting heads, 

 and especially in the dense woolly tomentum of the achenes. It is known only from the vicinity of the type 

 locality, and may be only a local variation. Originally collected by Suksdorf on the Klickitat River, Washington. 



3. Clematis lasiantha Nutt. Chaparral Clematis or Virgin's Bower. Fig. 1813. 



Clematis lasiantha Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1 : 9. 1838. 



Woody climber, the stems 2-4 m. long. Leaflets 3, mostly broadly ovate, 2.5-5 cm. long, 

 coarsely toothed and somewhat 3-lobed, the teeth rounded ; flowers polygamo-dioecious, solitary 

 or 3-5 on bibracteate peduncles ; sepals broadly oblong, about 3 cm. long, white ; achenes 

 pubescent, their styles 3 cm. long. 



Hillsides, climbing over chaparral, Upper Sonoran Zone; Coast Ranges and foothills of the Sierra Nevada, 

 northern California to northern Lower California. Type locality: San Diego, California. April-May. 



4. Clematis pauciflora Nutt. Small-leaved Clematis or Virgin's 



Bower. Fig. 1814. 



Clematis parviflora Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1 : 9. 1838. Not DC. 1828. 

 Clematis pauciflora Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1 : 657. 1840. 



A low woody climber with short-jointed stems, usually scrambling over chaparral. Leaves 

 3-5-foliolate ; leaflets 1-2 cm. long, cordate to cuneate-obovate, usually 3-toothed or 3-lobed, 

 glabrous or sparsely silky-tomentose ; flowers dioecious, solitary or in few-flowered panicles 

 with slender pedicels ; sepals oblong-oblanceolate, 8-12 mm. long, thin, white ; achenes glabrous. 



On chaparral-covered hills and mesas, Upper Sonoran Zone; Los Angeles County, California, to northern 

 Lower California. Type locality: San Diego, California. Feb.-May. 



5. Clematis columbiana (Nutt.) Torr. & Gray. Columbia Clematis or 



Virgin's Bower. Fig. 1815. 



Atragene columbiana Nutt. Journ. Acad. Phila. 7: 7. 1834. 



Clematis columbiana Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 11. 1838. 



Clematis verticillaris var. columbiana A. Gray, Syn. Fl. N. Amer. I 1 : 8. 1895. 



Atragene grosseserrata Rydb. Bull. Torrey Club 29: 156. 1902. 



Half-woody climber with slender stems. Leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets broadly ovate, usually 

 obliquely cordate at base, acute or short-acuminate, 3-4 cm. long, entire or coarsely toothed, 

 thin, glabrous or sparsely hirsute; flowers solitary on elongated bractless peduncles; sepals 

 lanceolate, acuminate, 3-5 cm. long, purple or blue ; achenes densely pubescent ; styles 3-5 cm. 

 long. 



Deep forests, scrambling over bushes, Arid Transition and Canadian Zones; British Columbia southward 

 east of the Cascades to the Blue Mountains, eastern Oregon, and eastward to Alberta, Colorado, and Utah. 

 Type locality: Flathead River, Montana. May-Aug. 



14. MYOSURUS L. Sp. PI. 284. 1753. 



Diminutive acaulescent annual herbs, with fibrous roots. Leaves basal, tufted, linear 

 or linear-spatulate, entire. Flowers small, solitary on very short or more elongated scapes. 

 Sepals 5, rarely 6-7, long-spurred at the base. Petals when present of the same number, 

 greenish yellow, narrow, bearing a nectariferous pit at the summit of the claw. Stamens 

 5-25, about equaling the sepals. Pistils numerous borne on a cylindrical axis, which 

 becomes greatly elongated and spike-like in fruit. Achenes apiculate or aristate. [Name 

 Greek, meaning mouse-tail.] 



A genus of about 8 species, usually of local occurrence, but of wide geographical distribution. Type 

 species, Myosurus minimus L. 



Mature achenes with beaks closely appressed; carpel-spike narrow, 15-45 mm. long. 



Back of achene flat or depressed without lateral ridges, quadrate or rhomboidal. 1. M. minimus. 



Back of achene with a lateral submarginal ridge on each side, narrowly oblong. 2. M. lepturus. 



