CACTACEAE 537 



Desert canons, 4000 to 7000 feet: Inyo Co.; Mohave Desert. East to Utah. 

 July. 



Locs. — Silver Canon, White Mts., Jepson 7206; Panamint Eange (Contrib. TJ. S. Nat. Herb. 

 4:106); Indian Wells, s. Inyo Co. (Contrib. U. S. Nat. Herb. 4:106); Cushenbury Sprs. (Zoe 

 4:163). 



Eefs. — Petalonyx nitidus Wats. Am. Nat. 7:300 (1873), type loc. s. Nev., Wheeler; Jep- 

 son, Man. 653 (1925). 



DATISCACEAE. Datisca Family 



Perennial herbs with alternate and in ours divided leaves. Flowers dioecious 

 or in ours the pistillate commonly with a few stamens. Calyx synsepalous. Co- 

 rolla none. Stamens indefinite. Ovary inferior, 1-celled, with 3 parietal pla- 

 centae; styles 3, bifid. Fruit a capsule, opening at the top between the styles. — 

 Genera 3, species 5, North America, Asia, Malay Archipelago. 



1. DATISCA L. 



Stout glabrous herb. Leaves divided and more or less incised and sharply ser- 

 rate. Flowers in clusters in the axils of the leafy branches. Calyx of staminate 

 flowers very short, with 4 to 9 unequal lobes ; stamens in ours 8 to 12, mostly 10 ; 

 filaments short. Calyx of pistillate flowers with ovoid tube, somewhat 3-angled, 

 3-toothed; stamens (when present) 2 to 4, alternate with the teeth. Seeds nu- 

 merous, small, in 2 to several rows on the placentae. — Species 2, the following 

 and one in Asia. (Derivation unknown.) 



1. D. glomerata Baill. Durango Root. Stems commonly clustered, stoutish 

 and somewhat fistulous, erect, branching above, 2^/^ to 5 (or 8) feet high; leaf- 

 blades 5 to 6 inches long, petioled; staminate calyces less than 1 line long, the 

 pistillate calyces 4 to 5 times as long. 



Dry stream beds or washes in the foothills and mountains, 150 to 2000 feet, 

 occasionally to 5000 or 6500 feet: almost throughout cismontane California; also 

 in the western Mohave Desert. South to Mexico. May-June. 



Locs. — Coast Eanges: Little Shasta, Siskiyou Co., Butler 1723; Dunsmuir, Jepson; Forks 

 of Salmon, Jepson; Sommes Bar, Klamath River, Chandler 1518; Martins ranch, South Fork 

 Trinity River, Jepson; Mad River near Ruth, Tracy 3548; Round Valley, ne. Mendocino Co., 

 Jepson; Ukiah, Gondii; Elk Mt., n. Lake Co., M. S. BaTcer 3077a; Putah Creek near Winters, 

 Jepson; Vaca Mts., Jepson 556f ; Los Guilicos, Bioletti; Mt. Tamalpais, Jepson; Orinda, Contra 

 Costa Co., Jepson 13,951; Black Mt., Santa Clara Co., Elmer 4768; Santa Lucia Creek, Santa 

 Lucia Mts., Jepson; San Miguelito Rancho, Jolon, Jepson. Sierra Nevada: New York Falls, 

 Amador Co., Hansen 77; Wawona, Jepson; Kern Lake, Kern Canon, Jepson 4926; Middle Tule 

 River, Purpus 5626. S. Cal.: Antelope Valley, Vogt; VictorvUle, Parish 10,590; Acton, Barber 

 188; Santa Anita Canon, San Gabriel Mts., Peirson 122; San Bernardino, Parish; San Jacinto 

 Valley, Beinhardt; Ramona, K. Brandegee; Palomar, Jepson; Mesa Grande, San Diego Co., 

 E. Ferguson; San Diego, M. F. Spencer 40. 



Refs. — Datisca glomerata Baill. Hist. PI. 3:407 (1872). Tricerastes glomerata Presl. Rel. 

 Haenk. 2:88, t. 64 (1831), based on spms. from western Mexico and Monterey, Cal., HaenTce; 

 Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 321 (1901), ed. 2, 269 (1911), Man. 654, fig. 647 (1925). 



CACTACEAE. Cactus Family 

 By Samuel Bonsall Parish.^ 



Perennial succulent plants with columnar, cylindrical, globose or flattened 

 stems, either continuous or jointed, simple or branching, smooth, ridged or tuber- 

 eulate, furnished with specialized organs (areoles) from which are developed 

 branches, spines, spicules (glochids), wool, flowers and other parts; ours leafless 



^ This paper was left incomplete by Mr. Parish. Since his death many m inor additions and 

 corrections have been made to the manuscript, including the addition of Opuntia fragilis Haw. 

 to the California flora. Mr, Parish's concepts of genera and species have, however, been care- 

 fully preserved. The vernacular names are an addition. 



