396 LINACEAE 



Ovary glands. — In Krameria grayi the ovary glands are quadrangular in outline with the 

 outer face glaudular-tessclate ; they are a little smaller than in K. parvifolia, in which the quad- 

 ratish glands are as if composed of a number of laterally joined sterile filaments. This presumed 

 distinction between the species appears to hold consistently. In certain cases there is a sugges- 

 tion that the glands of K. parvifolia may possibly be derived from staminodes. In both species 

 the glands are purple. 



Locs. — Ludlow, Jepson 5504; Needles, Newlon 547; Riverside Mts., Colorado Eiver, Jepson 

 5238 ; Milpitas, Imperial Co., Jepson 5290 ; Palm Canon of Mt. San Jacinto, Jepson 1394, 1403 ; 

 Devils Canon, Santa Rosa Mts., Clary; Vallecito, e. San Diego Co., Jepson 8539; Myers Creek 

 bridge, foot of Mountain Sprs. grade, Jepson 11,765; Coyote Wells, sw. Colorado Desert, Newlon 

 393. 



Refs. — Krameria grayi Rose & Painter, Contrib. U. S. Nat. Herb. 10:108 (1906). K. 

 canescens Gray, PI. Wright. 1:42 (1852), type loc. "prairies near the Pecos", Tex., Wright; 

 Jepson, Man. 512, fig. 510 (1925) ; not K. canescens Willd. (1825). K. triandra var, humboldtiana 

 Chod. Arch. Sci. Phys. et Nat. ser. 3, 24:498 (1890). 



2. K. parvifolia Benth. Pima Rat any. Shrub mostly low and spreading, 1 

 to lYo feet high, 2 to 4 feet broad, similar to no. 1; peduncles bearing 2 or 3 oppo- 

 site pairs of leaf-like bracts; calyx 3 to 3^/2 lines long; sepals roundish-ovate, the 

 lateral a little broader than the upper, the lowermost oblong, all somewhat obtuse; 

 upper petals with ovatish limb. 



Gravelly slopes and mesas, 500 to 2700 feet : Mohave Desert, south along west- 

 ern borders of the Colorado Desert to Lower California. East to New Mexico, 

 Apr.-May. 



Locs. — Palm Canon of San Ysidro, Jepson 8814; Silent Canon, foothills, se. end of Santa 

 Rosa Mts., Jepson 11,692; Devils Canon, Santa Rosa Mts., Clary; Palm Caiion of San Jacinto, 

 Jepson 1371; Cushenbury Canon, n. side San Bernardino Mts., Parish; Ord Mt., Jepson 5851. 



Var. glandulosa Mcbr. Heart-nut. Habit more erect, branching less angular; peduncles 

 and outer sepals stipitate-glandular ; ovary glands crimson. — Santa Rosa Mts. (Devils Caiion, 

 Clary; Agua Alta, Clary 1202) ; Summit sta., e. of Haloran Spr., e. Mohave Desert, Jepson 15,808; 

 betw. Vontrigger and GofPs, ace. Mary Seal. East to Utah and Texas, south to Sonora. 



Refs. — Krameria parvifolia Benth. Bot. Voy. Sulph. 6, pi. 1 (1844), type loc. Magdalena 

 Bay, L. Cal. ; Jepson, Man. 512 (1925). K. parvifolia var. imparata Mcbr. Contrib. Gray Herb. 

 56:52 (1918), type loc. Mountain Sprs., e. San Diego Co., M. F. Spencer. K. imparata Britt. N. 

 Am. Fl. 23:199 (1930). Var. glandulosa Mcbr. Contrib. Gray Herb. 56:52 (1918). K. glandu- 

 losa Rose & Painter, Contrib. U. S. Nat. Herb. 10:108 (1906), type loc. El Paso, Tex., Rose 4904. 



LINACEAE. Flax Family 



Herbs. Leaves alternate, or sometimes opposite, simple, small, entire, without 

 stipules or these sometimes replaced by a gland. Flowers mostly in cymose pan- 

 icles, perfect, regular, in ours 5-merous. Petals distinct, very quickly falling. 

 Stamens 5, more or less united at base. Styles 2 to 5, distinct. Cells of the superior 

 ovary as many as the styles, or twice as many by the formation of a false division 

 wall from the back of each cell, these false partitions frequently not complete. 

 Fruit a capsule, splitting through the false partitions and frequently also septi- 

 cidal. — Genera 10 and species about 150, all continents. 



Bibliog. — Gray, A., Linum sect. Hesperolinon (Proc. Am. Acad. 6:521, — 1865) ; Trelease, W., 

 Revision of N. Am. Linaceae (Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci. 5:7-20, pis. 3-4, — 1887), Linaceae in 

 Gray, Syn. Fl. T: 344-349,— 1897. 



1. LINUM L. Flax 



Leaves sessile or subsessile. Our only genus. — Species about 90, all continents, 

 mainly temperate regions. (Ancient Latin name of these plants). 



Our species, save three, are of the section Hesperolinon which is limited to the Pacific Coast 

 of North America and has its chief development in Lake Co. and the surroimding region of the 

 North Coast Ranges. The petals in species of this section bear ventrally at base a transverse 

 wing which is continuous with the angle or tooth on each side of the claw or narrowed base. This 

 wing, sometimes reduced or obsolete, is cleft into 3 divisions or scales, the lateral ones usually 

 being smaller. 



