FLAX FAMILY 9 



late or linear-lanceolate, 4-6 mm. long; petals deep yellow, 20-30 mm. long; filaments glabrous- 

 capsule 5-8 mm. long, pubescent. ' 



Escaped from gardens and naturalized in many places in the Pacific States, especially near the coast in Cali 

 fornia. Type locality: Cape of Good Hope. March-June. 



4. Oxalis corniculata L. Creeping Wood-sorrel. Fig. 2984. 



Oralis corniculata L. Sp. PI. 435. 1753. 



Xanthoxalis corniculata Small, Fl. S.E.U.S. 667. 1903. 



Stems several, decumbent and creeping, arising from a slender taproot and flowering as an 

 annual, but rooting at the nodes and becoming a perennial, the erect branches seldom over 1 dm. 

 high. Leaflets small, green or purplish; flowers 2-5 on very short, strigillose at length, deflexed 

 pedicels ; petals yellow, 4-6 mm. long, often with a reddish spot near the base ; longer filaments 

 sparsely pubescent; capsule columnar, longer than the pedicels. 



An introduced weed of wide distribution, found chiefly in lawns and greenhouses. Type locality: Italy 

 March-Nov. Yellow Sorrel. 



Oxalis corniculata var. atropurpiirea Planch. Fl. Serres 12: pi. 1205. 1857. Herbage deep reddish purple 

 otherwise like the typical species. An escape from gardens, and often a weed along walks and in lawns especially 

 in central and southern California. ' 



5. Oxalis Suksdorfii Trelease. Suksdorf's Wood-sorrel. Fig. 2985. 



Oxalis piimila Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 212. 1838. Not Urv. 1829. 

 Oxalis Suksdorfii Trelease, Mem. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. 4: 89. 1888. 

 Xanthoxalis Suksdorfii Small, N. Amer. Fl. 25: 53. 1907. 



Stems decumbent, arising from slender, sparsely branched rootstocks, 1-3 dm. long, more or 

 less villous, often sparingly so. Leaflets deeply cordate, 15-25 mm. broad, bright green, with 

 few scattered hairs on both surfaces ; peduncles about equaling the petioles, 1-3-flowered ; pedi- 

 cels strigillose, refracted in fruit; petals yellow, 12-18 mm. long; longer filaments pubescent; 

 capsules oblong, stout, densely short-pubescent. 



Open forests, especially in disturbed areas, Humid Transition Zone; Vancouver, Washington, to Del Norte 

 County, California. Type locality: "forests of the Rocky Mountains and Oregon." May-Aug. 



6. Oxalis pilosa Nutt. Hairy Wood-sorrel. Fig. 2986. 



Oxalis pilosa Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 212. 1838. 

 Xanthoxalis pilosa Small, N. Amer. Fl. 25: 54. 1907. 



Stems arising from a woody fusiform root, erect or decumbent, 1-4 dm. long, densely pilose 

 with hairs often retrorsely spreading. Leaflets 7-15 mm. broad, gray-green, densely or sparingly 

 pubescent on both surfaces, ciliate ; pedicels usually shorter than the capsules, refracted in fruit, 

 hirsute; petals yellow, 8-12 mm. long; longer filaments glabrous, capsules cylindric, 12-28 mm. 

 long. 



Open grassy hillsides especially in sandy soil. Upper Sonoran and Transition Zones; California coastal region 

 from Mendocino County to Los Angeles County. Type locality: Santa Barbara. April-Nov. 



7. Oxalis californica (Abrams) R. Knuth. California Wood-sorrel. Fig. 2987. 



Xanthoxalis californica Abrams, Bull. Torrey Club 34: 264. 1907. 

 Oxalis californica R. Knuth, Notizblatt 7: 300. 1919. 



Stems tufted on long-fusiform woody roots, erect or decumbent, 1^ dm. long, pubescent with 

 lax or appressed hairs or nearly glabrous. Leaflets 7-15 mm. broad, gray-green, pubescent on 

 both surfaces and ciliate ; peduncles longer than the petioles, 1-3-flowered ; pedicels very slender, 

 strigillose, usually much longer than the capsule ; petals yellow or tinged with purple, 9-13 mm. 

 long; capsule cylindric, 10-15 mm. long. 



Gravelly or sandy soil, Upper Sonoran Zone; Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties, California, south 

 to Lower California, also Santa Catalina Island. Type locality: Onofre Mountains, San Diego County, California. 

 March-June. 



Tropaeolum majus L. Sp. PI. 345. 1753. Nasturtium. Glabrous, somewhat succulent climbing annual. 

 Leaves peltate, nearly orbicular, undulate on the margins; flowers axillary, showy, ydlow and orange, irregular; 

 sepals 5, united at base, the posterior produced into a straight short spur; two upper petals entire or undulate, 

 three lower fringed on the claw. The common nasturtium, which belongs to the family Tropaeolaceae, has become 

 fairly well established as an escape in southern California. It is a native of Peru. 



Family 7Z. LINACEAE. 

 Flax Family. 



Herbs or shrubs with alternate, or rarely opposite or whorled leaves. Stipules 

 none, or when present small or gland-like. Flowers hypogynous, perfect and regular, 

 racemose or cymose. Sepals 5, rarely 4 or 6, imbricated and persistent. Petals of 

 the same number as the sepals and alternate with them, usually early deciduous. 

 Stamens as many as sepals, their filaments united at base, and sometimes bearing 

 staminodia in the sinuses ; anthers 2-celled, versatile. Pistil with 2-3, or usually 5 



