234 LOASACEAE. 



2. V. blanda Willd. Acaulescent, leaves and scapes from slender 

 filiform rootstocks, glabrous or nearly so; leaves thin, ovate-cordate 

 to round-reniform, crenulate; petals oblong to ovate-lanceolate; 

 petals white with purple veins on the lower and sometimes the lateral 

 ones, usually beardless; spur short and saccate. 



Occasional about cold springs in the upper portions of the pine 

 belt of the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains. 



3. V. pedunculata T. & G. Stems 5-15 cm. long, prostrate or 

 ascending, puberulent or nearly glabrous; leaves rhombic-cordate, 

 usually almost truncate at the broad base, obtuse, coarsely crenate; 

 stipules foliaceous, narrowly lanceolate, entire or incised; peduncles 

 erect, much exceeding the leaves, 10-20 cm. long; conspicuously 

 bibracteolate; flowers 2 cm. broad or more, yellow, the upper petal 

 dark brown without, the others purple-veined within, the lateral 

 ones bearded. 



Frequent in open grassy places in the lower foothills and on the 

 mesas. March-April. 



4. V. lobata Benth. Rootstocks erect; stems stoutish, erect, 

 15-30 cm. high, leafy to the summit, puberulent or nearly glabrous; 

 leaves reniform or cordate in outline, 5-10 cm. broad, palmately 

 cleft into 5-9 narrowly oblong lobes, the central largest or longest, 

 some of the basal leaves often less lobed or merely coarsely toothed; 

 petals 12 mm. long, yellow, the upper brownish without, the lateral 

 slightly bearded. 



Occasional on the borders of mountain meadows in the San Ber- 

 nardino Mountains. Bear Valley. 



5. V. douglasii Steud. Stems clustered from a deep fascicled 

 root, mostly subterranean, only the leaves and flowers appearing 

 above the ground, more or less pubescent; leaves large, bipinnately 

 dissected into long linear or oblong segments; stipules lanceolate, 

 entire or toothed; peduncles equaling or exceeding the leaves; 

 petals 10-14 cm. long, yellow, the upper brownish purple without. 

 ( V. chrysanlha Hook.) 



Bear Valley, San Bernardino Mountains. 



Family 68. LOASACEAE. Loasa Family. 

 Erect or climbing branching herbs, often armed with 

 hooked stinging or viscid hairs, with alternate or oppo- 

 site exstipulate leaves, and solitary, racemose or cymose, 

 regular and perfect flowers. Calyx-tube adnate to the 

 ovary, its limb 4-5-lobed, persistent. Petals 4-5, in- 

 serted on the throat of the qalyx. Stamens many, in- 

 serted with the petals; filaments filiform, commonly 

 arranged in clusters, opposite the petals; anthers introrse, 

 longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary 1-celled, rarely 2-3- 

 celled with 2-3 parietal placentae; styles filiform, entire 

 or 2-3-lobed; ovules anatropous; endosperm scanty. 



