P O R T U L A C E yE. 181 



rouprheued. -Common in very wet places in subalpine swamps throuf^fliout 



California. The seeds are exactly those attributed to his M. lampros- 



perma by Chamisso, and the species may jjossibly be identical. 



* * Leaves alternate. 



■)— Annuals. 



4. M. linearis, Greene. Dougl. in Hook. Fl. i. 222. t. 71 (1833), under 

 Claijlonia. Stems erect, branching, 3—6 in. high : leaves narrowly 

 linear, 1 — 2 in. long, clasping at base : racemes rather numerous : calyx 

 large (2 lines or more), broad and obtuse : petals little exceeding the 

 calyx, white, unequal: stamens 3, epipetalous: seed large {% line broad), 

 orbicular, compressed, obtusely margined, smooth and shining. — From 

 near Napa, Bigrluir, and Sierra Co., Lemmon, far northward. 



5. 31. diffusa, Greene. Nutt. in T. & G. Fl. i. 202 (1838), under 

 Ctayiuiiia. Diffusely and dichotomously branched, 6 in. high, leafy and 

 fioriferous throughout : leaves ovate or deltoid, acute, 1^ — 1 in. long : 

 racemes numerous, few-fiowered ; pedicels very slender : calyx minute : 

 corolla a little longer, pale rose-color : seeds compressed, minutely 

 cancellate, obtusely margined. An Oregonian species apparently rare; 

 said to have been collected in California by Kellogg & Harford. 



-)- H— Perennial ( f ), vinparous by deciduous axillary leafy buds. 



6. M. parvifolia, Greene. Moc. in DC. Prodr. iii. 361 (1828), under 

 Clayiouia. Slender, succulent, 4-10 in. high : leaves borne on a short 

 stem or caudex ^3— 1 in. high, ovate or lanceolate, 1 in. long or less, 

 including the slender petiole : racemose peduncles elongated, leafy 

 below, the nodes in age bearing bud-like plantlets : calyx minute : petals 

 rose-color, 2 -4 lines long : seeds mostly solitary in the capsules, oval, 

 shining.— From Calaveras Co., and Donner Lake, northward in the 

 Sierra, on moist rocks. ■ Plant with the fleshiness and something of the 

 aspect of a Seduru. 



6. CALYPTRIDIUM, Nuitall. Glabrous and rather succulent herbs, 

 with alternate leaves, and small ephemeral flowers in scorpioid solitary 

 or clustered scorpioid spikes. Sepals 2, broadly ovate or cordate-orbicu- 

 lar, scarious, usually persistent. Sepals 2 — 4. Stamens 1—3. Style 

 bifid. Capsule membranaceous, 2-valved, 6 -12-seeded.— A small genus, 

 almostly exclusively Californian, and uncommonly well-defined for a 

 genus of this family. 



* Annuals; branches leafy; slauten 1. 



1. C. nioiiaiidriim, Nutt. T. & G. Fl. i. 198 (1838). Branches 

 depressed, 2—6 in. long : leaves spatulate or linear, 1 in. long or more : 

 sepals and petals each 2, aboiTt a line long, the latter in age coherent and 

 borne calyptra-like upon the summit of the long-exserted linear capsule. — 

 From the Santa Clara Valley and Fort Tejon southward. 



