164 RESEDACEAE. 



leaflets oblong to lanceolate, equaling the petioles, entire, mucro- 

 nate; flowers in terminal bracteate racemes; bracts simple; petals 

 yellow, 10-16 cm. long, twice longer than the sepals; capsule oblong, 

 2.5-3.5 cm. long, attenuate into the stipe and abruptly tapering at 

 the apex. 



Frequent on bluffs and hills along the coast, Playa del Rey; 

 San Pedro; San Joaquin Hills; also at San Diego and in the desert 

 regions. 



Family 40. RESEDACEAE. Mignonette Family. 



Annual or perennial herbs with alternate leaves, gland- 

 like stipules and racemose or spicate bracted unsymmetri- 

 cal flowers. Calyx 4-7-parted, more or less irregular. 

 Petals 2-6, usually laciniate or dentate. Stamens hypog- 

 ynous, 3-40, borne on the base of the calyx or on a dilated 

 nectariferous and oblique disk, declined or unilateral. 

 Ovary 1, composed of 3-6 carpels, at least the tips dis- 

 tinct; ovules many. Fruit capsular. Seeds reniform; 

 endosperm none; cotyledons incumbent. 



Petals 4; disk present. 1. Reseda. 



Petals 2; disk wanting. 2. Oligomeris. 



1. RESEDA L. 



Erect or decumbent herbs with entire, lobed or pin- 

 natifid leaves and small spicate or narrowly racemose 

 flowers. Petals 4-7, toothed or cleft. Disk cup-shaped, 

 glandular. Stamens 8-30, inserted on the inner surface 

 of the disk and on one side of the flower. Capsule 3-6- 

 lobed, horned at the top before maturity. 



1. R. lutea L. Ascending or decumbent, somewhat pubescent 

 with short stiff hairs or nearly glabrous; leaves 5-10 cm. long, 

 broadly ovate or oblong, deeply lobed or divided, sometimes pin- 

 natifid; segments linear-oblong with undulate margins; flowers in 

 narrow racemes, 4-6 mm. broad, greenish yellow; pedicels ascending, 

 about 4 mm. long in fruit; petals 6 or 5, all but the lowest irregularly 

 cleft; sepals of the same number; capsule oblong, about 8 mm. long, 

 with 3 or rarely 4 short teeth. 



An occasional escape from gardens. 



5 cnief 



OLIGOMERIS. 



Low glaucous chiefly annuals with linear and entire 

 leaves, and small greenish flowers in terminal spikes. 



