528 LOASACEAE 



blades oblong to oblam-cdlati'. onliiv to siiiuato-piiinatilicl. 1 to 3 inehos long, the 

 upper sessile, the lower with winged petioles; flowers numerous, terminal on the 

 brani'hes in eymose clusters, subtended by a minute lanceolate bract; calyx-teeth 

 lanceolate-subulate. 3Vo lines long, closely retlexed in flower, spreading or erect 

 in fruit; jietJils narrowly oblong or obovate, 4 to 8 lines long; stamens numerous; 

 about 10 filaments of oiiter stamens dilated or petaloid, the 5 alternate the petals 

 with anthers, the others without anthers; capsule broadly oblong-obconic, 5 to 8 

 lines long, 3 to 4^ 2 li»<?s wide, commonly naked at summit in maturity, that is, the 

 calyx-lobes deciduous; seeds white, flat, broadly wing-margined. 



Sandy washes and river bottoms. 100 to 3500 feet: eastern Mohave Desert; 

 lower Colorado River Valley. South to Mexico, east to Wyoming and Texas. 

 ^lay-Aug. 



Note on the flower. — Alternate with the corolla circle of 5 are 5 petaloid stamens a little 

 shorter than the petals, commonly but not always with an anther at the rounded apex ; next are 

 borne 15 stamens with dilated filaments, all anther-bearing; after which there are about 50 to 

 75 ordinary stamens. 



Locs.— Yermo, central Mohave Desert, Jepson 15,867; Ord Mt., Mohave Desert, Jepson 

 15,495; McCoy Wash, e. Eiverside Co., Hall 5925; Fort Yuma, Jepson 11,729; Pilot Knob, 

 J. Grinnell. 



Eefs. — Mentzelia multiflora Gray, Mem. Am. Acad. n. ser. 4:48 (1849); Jepson, Man. 

 651 (1925). Bartonia multiflora Nutt. Jour. Acad. Phila. n. ser. 1:180 (1848), type loc. Santa 

 Fe, Gambtl. Toutcrea multiflora Eydb. Bull. Torr. Club 30:277 (1903). NuttalUa multiflora 

 Greene, Lflts. 1:210 (1906). M. pumila var. multiflora Urb. & Gilg, Nova Acta Acad. Nat. Cur. 

 76:93 (1900). M. xvrightii Parish, Zoe 4:163 (1893) ; probably not M. wrightii Gray (1849). 



3. M. leucophylla T. Bdg. White Stick-leaf. Stems several from a biennial 

 root, erect. 10 to 18 inches high; leaf-blades oblong, shallowly repand-dentate or 

 -denticulate, narrowed below to a short mostly winged petiole, 1 to 2 inches long, 

 the cauline similar and sessile, the uppermost cauline sessile-auriculate, all more 

 or less whitened with a dense covering of short hairs; branches of the inflorescence 

 few and more or less divaricate; calyx-lobes lanceolate, attenuate, closely reflexed 

 in anthesis; petals pale j^ellow, 5 to ^Yz lines long, narrowly obovate with a broad 

 claw; ovary purplish or with a transverse purple band at summit; capsule 3 to 4 

 lines long, 3 to 3^/2 lines wide; seeds flat, margined by a border less than ^^ line 

 wide. 



Gravelly washes in arid canons, 3800 to 4200 feet : eastern Inyo Co. East to 

 southern Nevada. May. 



Locs. — Mazourka Canon, Inyo Mts., Buran 3467; Emigrant Canon, Jepson 7112; Hanaupah 

 Canon, Jepson 7077. 



Ref. — Mentzelia leucophylla T. Bdg. Bot. Gaz. 27:448 (1899), type loc. Ash Mdws., 

 Nev., Purpus 6032. The leaves in the plants of Purpus are very white with a close felt-like 

 covering. The Death Valley specimens are less pubescent, but otherwise agree well with the 

 type from Nevada. 



4. M. torreyi Gray. Lava Stick-leaf. Stems caespitose, densely branched, 

 3 to 6 inches high; branches chalk-white in age; herbage hispidulose or scaberulous; 

 leaf -blades very narrow with 1 to 3 pairs of acute or lanceolate lobes, the margins 

 revolute; floral leaves narrowly linear-acuminate, entire or with 1 pair of lance- 

 olate lobes, % to 1 inch long; flowers solitary, sessile in the forks and axils; calyx- 

 lobes subulate, 1 to 1% lines long, united at base into a tube 1 line long, erect in 

 fruit; petals oblanceolate, pale yellow, 4 to 5 lines long; stamen-filaments all fili- 

 form; capsule ovate, 2 to 3 lines long, crowned by the calyx and a little constricted 

 beneath it, thus somewhat jug-shaped in outline; seeds 4 or 5, oblong, truncate at 

 apex, subacute at base, 5-angled, slightly rugulo.se, 1 line long. 



Rocky volcanic plains, 4000 to 6500 feet : Mono Co. East to Nevada. July- Aug. 



Locs. — Volcanic table-land (north part), Mono Co., Peirson 752; Mono Lake (n. shore), 

 Peirson 9200. 



Ref.— Mentzelia torreyi Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 10:72 (1874), type loc. Humboldt Co. 

 plains, Nev., Torrey. 



