LYTHRACEAE 557 



Field note. — In the Oakland Hills considerable colonies of Dirca occidentalis occur on the 

 high east slope of the main ridge between Thorn Notch and Eedwood Peak. Near Thorn Notch 

 two large individuals were measured in 1914, one 8 feet 2 inches high with a trunk diameter of 

 4 inches at 6 inches above the ground, the other 7 feet 7 inches high with a trunk diameter of 4^/4 

 inches at 3 inches above the ground. It also grows on canon sides on the west slope of the 

 Berkeley Hills, where there is sufficient moisture. 



Locs. — Santa Cruz Co. (Anderson, Nat. Hist. Santa Cruz Co. 42) ; Stanford foothills, C. F. 

 Baker 309; Lake San Andreas, Jepson 9536; Strawberry Canon, Berkeley, Jepson 9819a; Oak- 

 land Hills, Jepson 5714; Tocaloma, Marin Co., ace. Mason. 



Refs. — DiECA occiDENTAUS Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 8:631 (1873), type loc. Oakland Hills, 

 Bigelow; Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 260 (1901), ed. 2, 256 (1911) ; Man. 663, fig. 650 (1925). 



ELAEAGNACEAE. Oleaster Family 

 Shrubs or small trees, the foliage scurfy with searious scales. Flowers regular. 

 Calyx herbaceous. Corolla none. Ovary inferior, 1-celled; ovule 1; style 1, stigma 

 1, — Genera 3, species about 20, northern hemisphere. 



1. SHEPHERDIA Nutt. 



Shrub with silvery foliage. Leaves opposite, entire, deciduous. Flowers dioe- 

 cious, nearly sessile in axillary clusters or the pistillate solitary. Staminate flower : 

 calyx 4-parted, rotate; stamens 8, alternating with the processes of the thick disk. 

 Pistillate flower : calyx urn-shaped, 4-clef t, the orifice closed by the teeth of the 

 8-lobed disk. Fruit berry-like, the membranous achene closely covered by the 

 fleshy calyx-tube. — Species 3, North America. (John Shepherd, one-time curator 

 of the Liverpool Botanic Garden.) 



1. S. argentea Nutt. Buffalo Berry. Stout spiny shrub or small tree 6 to 

 15 feet high; thorns rigid, leafy at base; leaf -blades silvery-scurfy below, greener 

 above, mostly oblong, 1 to II/2 inches long, on petioles 2 to 4 lines long; berries red, 

 oblong, 21/^ to 3I/3 lines long, on pedicels ^ to 1 line long. 



River bottoms, flats and canons, 3500 to 6500 feet: Mt. Pinos region; Mohave 

 Desert (rare) ; Mono and Alpine Cos. North to British Columbia and east to the 

 Rocky Mts. May. 



Field note. — The acid berries are edible. On the Overland Trail the emigrants used them 

 in the preparation of a sauce eaten with buffalo meat, whence the name Buffalo Berry. On 

 account of the gray color the small trees in the Mt, Pinos region are sometimes called "Wild 

 Olive". 



Locs. — Mono Creek, San Rafael Mts. ; Ozena, Cuyama River, n. Ventura Co. ; San Emigdio 

 Potrero near Mt. Pinos, Hall 6392 ; Rancho Verde, Victorville, Fosberg 8201; Mono Lake, Brewer 

 1849; Markleeville, Hall 4- Chandler 4765. 



Refs.— SHEPHERDIA ARGENTEA Nutt. Gen. 2:240 (1818) ; Jepson, Man. 664, fig. 651 (1925). 

 Eippophae argentea Pursh, Fl. 115 (1814), type loc. "Missouri River", Lewis. Lepargyrea 

 argentea Greene, Pitt. 2:122 (1890). 



LYTHRACEAE. Loose-strife Family 

 Glabrous herbs with entire simple leaves. Flowers perfect, axillary or whorled, 

 in ours minute or inconspicuous. Calyx tubular, free from but enclosing the 

 ovary, 4 to 6-toothed, sometimes with accessory teeth in the sinuses. Petals 4 to 6, 

 inserted with the stamens on the calyx. Stigmas in ours 4 to 8. Ovary and cap- 

 sule in ours 2 to 4-celled; style 1; stigma capitate, 4-lobed. Seed without endo- 

 sperm. — Genera 21 and species 360, all continents but absent from the colder 

 regions. 



Bibliog. — Koehne, A., Lythraceae monog. describuntur (Engler, Bot. Jahrb. 1:142-178, 240- 

 266, 305-335, 436-458,-1881; 2:136-176, 395-429,-1882; 3:129-155, 319-352,-1882; 4:12-37, 

 386-431,-1883; 5:95-132,-1884; 6:1-48,-1885; 7:1-61,-1886). Lythraceae (Engler, Pfizr. 

 4^«: 1-326, figs. 1-59,-1903). Greene, E. L., Genus Lythrum in Cal. (Pitt. 2:11-13,-1889). 



Flowers subsessile or pedieeled, solitary in the axils; calyx cylindrical; leaves alternate 



1. Lythrum. 

 Flowers sessile in the axils, 2 to 4 in a whorl ; calyx campanulate or globose ; leaves opposite. 



