MEADOW FOAM FAMILY 409 



style arising from among them near the base, at length separating from a very 

 short axis as 1-seeded nutlets. — Genera 2 and species 8, North America. 



Bibliog. — Brown, E., Characters and description of Limnanthes (Misc. Bot. Works 2:360- 

 364, — 1833). Trelease, W., Limnantheae [of N. Am.] (Mem. Best. Soc. Nat. Hist. 4:84-86,— 

 1888). Eydberg, P. A., Limnanthaceae in N. Am. Fl. 25 : 97-100,— 1910). 



Flowers commonly 5-merous, never 3-merous; petals notched at apex, longer than the sepals; cis- 

 montane 1. Limnanthes. 



Flowers 3-merous; petals entire, shorter than the sepals; northern Sierra Nevada, mostly trans- 

 montane 2. Floerkea. 



1. LIMNANTHES R. Br. 



Flowers solitary on axillary peduncles, ours 5-merous (exceptionally 4 or 6- 

 merous). Sepals valvate in the bud. Stamens 10, distinct, the filaments alternate 

 the petals with a gland-like swelling at base. Petals with a U-shaped band of 

 hairs on the claw. Stigmas 5, capitate. — Species 7, North America. (Greek limne, 

 marsh, and anthos, flower, in reference to the habitat.) 



Basal leaves mostly 3 to 5 inches long or more ; corolla commonly somewhat bowl-shaped or sub- 

 globose in outline ; claw of petals with a dense band of hairs on each side. 

 Petals white, or yellow and white-tipped; nutlets smooth or with only a few tubercles at 



apex; herbage glabrous; Coast Eanges 1. L. douglasii. 



Petals white, usually fading (more or less) pinkish or roseate; nutlets with scale-like tuber- 

 cles, the ridges or plates of the tubercles commonly covered with very minute round- 

 ish granules, these granules microscopically scaly on the surface ; Great Valley and 

 neighboring foothills. 

 Nutlets very densely set all over with thin whitish scales; calyx and herbage glabrous; 



petals commonly aging pinkish 2. L. rosea. 



Nutlets chiefly scaly at summit ; herbage more or less pilose ; calyx long-hairy, at least 



inside; petals sometimes rose-tinted at apex 3. L. alba. 



Basal leaves mostly 1 to 2 inches long ; Sierra Nevada foothills mostly. 



Base of petals with a row of hairs on each side ; nutlets smoothish but the summit sparsely set 

 with whitish scales; corolla campanulate in outline; petals striately brown-purple- 

 nerved 4. L. striata. 



Base of petals without rows of hairs ; petals not purple-nerved. 



Corolla sub-campanulate in outline ; petals white, broadest towards apex ; nutlets warty 



at summit 5. L. montana. 



Corolla somewhat bowl-shaped in outline; petals cream-color with pinkish tips; nutlets 

 entirely smooth or lightly wrinkled 6. L. versicolor. 



1. L. douglasii R. Br. Meadow Foam. Stems several from the base, ascend- 

 ing or suberect, 6 to 14 inches high ; herbage yellowish-green, succulent, glabrous ; 

 leaves pinnately divided, the divisions 3 to 9 and incisely toothed or parted ; pe- 

 duncles at length 2 to 4 inches long; sepals lanceolate, 2 to 4 lines long; petals 

 white (or occasionally roseate) and yellowish at base, or canary yellow with white 

 tips, or sometimes wholly white, obovate-cuneate, 4 to 7 lines long, a U-shaped 

 band of hairs on the claw ; nutlets smooth to strongly tuberculate, about 2 lines in 

 diameter. 



Low ground in or near shallow water, forming large patches which color in 

 April the valley levels, 40 to 2000 (or 4500) feet: Coast Ranges from Trinity Co. 



to San Luis Obispo Co. 



Color forms. — In Humboldt Co., says J. P. Tracy, the plant vrith white corollas is found only 

 in the "Bald Hills" country where it often colors moist spots on the "prairies" in spring ; whereas 

 the yellow-flowered form is found only in the coastal region of the southwestern part of the county 

 — Bear Eiver and the Mattole. This geographic color segregation seems to hold in Mendocino Co. 

 and southward to the South Coast Eanges, the yellow form occurring on the coast or in coastal 

 valleys, the white form being montane back of the coast or inhabiting interior valleys, as indicated 

 in the localities below. In Little Eabbit Valley, San Benito Co., an interior locality, we find, 

 however, the yellow form. 



Locs. — Coast Eanges: Wimmeshaw, w. Tehama Co., Jepson 13,549 (cor. white) ; Eush Creek, 

 Trinity Co., Yates 426 ; Eedwood Creek, n. Humboldt Co., Jepson 1941 (cor. white) ; Kneeland 

 Prairie, Tracy 2648; Phillipsville, South Fork Eel Eiver, Tracy 5476; Sherwood, Mendocino Co., 

 Jepson 2197 (cor. white) ; Ukiah, Bolander 4664; Porter Creek, e. Sonoma Co., Jepson 9187; Cali- 

 stoga, Jepson 9175; Capell Valley, Hilda Gehringer; Eutherford, Napa Valley, Jepson; Sonoma 



