450 CELASTRACEAE 



253 (1901), ed. 2, 249 (1911"), Man. C09, fi|r. 607 (1925). Var. parisiiii Jcpson, Man. GIO. E. 

 parishii Trel. Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis 5:354 (1889), type loc. San Jacinto Mts., S. B. 4- 

 W. r. Parish 057. 



2. PACHYSTIMA Kaf. IMountain Lover 



Low everp:reen shrubs witli squarish twip^s and opposite coriaceous leaves with 

 minute deciduous stipules. Flowers small, perfect, solitary or in few-flowered 

 axillarj' cymes shorter than the leaves. Calyx-lobes, petals and stamens 4. Sta- 

 mens inserted on the edge of the rounded disk. Ovary 2-cened, each cell with 2 

 ovules. Capsule not lobed, 1 to 2-seeded. Seed with a pale lacerate aril at base. — 

 Species 2, North America. (Greek pachus, thick, and stima, stigma.) 



1. P. myrsinites Raf. Oregon Box-bush. Densely branched, very leafy, 1 

 to 3 feet high, or sometimes nearly prostrate and rising about 6 inches from 

 ground; leaf -blades ovate to obovate or spatulate, l^ to 1 (or ll^) inches long, 

 serrulate above the base, subsessile; peduncles about 1 line long, 1 to 3-flowered; 

 flowers 11/2 to 2 lines wide; petals ovate, deep red. 



Moist sandy slopes in the mountains, 2200 to 5600 feet : Humboldt Co. to Sis- 

 kiyou Co.; Butte Co. to Modoc Co. East to the Rocky Mts., north to British 

 Columbia. May-July. 



Locs. — North Coast Ranges: Brannan Mt., n. Humboldt Co., Tracy 6042; Trinity Summit, 

 Davy 5754; Dunsmuir, Siskiyou Co., Jepson 6158; Mt. Eddy, Copeland 3880; Edgcwood, Siskiyou 

 Co., Kisling ; Kidder Creek, Siskiyou Co., Butler 1219; Cold Spr., Woolly Creek, w. Siskiyou Co., 

 Butler 20; Marble Mt., Chandler. Northern Sierra Nevada: South Yuba lliver, Butte Co. (Pac. 

 R. Eep. 4:74) ; Forestdale, Modoc Co., M. S. Balcer; Happy Camp Mt., L. S. Smith 1246. 



Refs. — Pachystima myrsinites Raf. Fl. Tellur. 42 (1838), type loc. Ilimgry Creek, n. Ida., 

 Lewis (cf. Piper, Contrib. U. S. Nat. Herb. 11:384,-1906) ; Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal, 253 (1901), 

 Man. 610, fig. 608 (1925). 



3. GLOSSOPETALON Gray 



Deciduous shrubs with slender spinescent branches. Leaves small, alternate, 

 entire, with minute stipules. Flowers 4 to 6-merous, one at each axil, borne on a 

 slender pedicel. Calyx parted into unequal lobes. Petals narrow-oblanceolate, 

 much longer than the calyx. Stamens mostly 5 to 10, inserted under the edge of 

 the crenately 8 or 10-lobed disk. Ovary 1-celled, with 2 ovules; stigma sessile. 

 Follicle obliquely ovoid, finely striate, 1 or 2-seeded, splitting down the ventral 

 suture. Seed with a small thin white aril. — Species 1. (Greek glossa, tongue, 

 and petalon, petal, because of the shape of the corolla parts.) 



1. G. spinescens Gray. Grease Thorn. Intricately branched, 1 to 4 feet 

 high; leaf -blades oblong or obovate, glaucous, glabrous or nearly so, II/2 to 3 lines 

 long, narrowed to a very short but slender petiole with a broad base and awl-like 

 stipules; pedicels shorter than the leaves; flowers 1 to 2 lines long; calyx-lobes and 

 petals usually 5, sometimes 4; stamens 6 to 10, rarely 5 or 4; pod 2 lines long, con- 

 taining 1 or 2 brown seeds. 



Desert canons, 3000 to 6500 feet : Mohave Desert; Inyo Co. South to northern 

 Mexico, east to Colorado and Texas, and north to eastern Oregon. Apr. 



Note on relationship. — It is only with reluctance and with certain reservations that one 

 includes the genus Glossopetalon in Celastraeeae. Its gynoecium, so far as observed by us, 

 always consists of a single carpel which is 1-celled and 1 or 2-ovuled. The small and very short 

 awl-like persistent stipules are, however, in favor of the reference to this family. The blades are 

 jointed near the base and fall away from the persistent petiolar base which is thickened or rounded 

 and to which the short subulate stipules are adnate. 



The form called Glossopetalon nevadense Gray does not differ essentially in pubescence, 

 number of flower parts or in any other character as yet suggested from G. spinescens. Both G. 

 spinescens and G. nevadense are markedly variable in stamen number. While the follicle is 

 readily dehiscent, the ovary, we have noticed, is sometimes open along the ventral suture. The 

 delicate and slender petals are early deciduous or fall readily in drying, hence they are rarely 



