492 CARYOPIIYLLACEAE 



Refs. — Arexaria PROPINQUA Rich.: Franklin. Jour. 738 (1S23), type from boreal X. Am. 

 Alsinopnis propinquii R.v<lb. Bull. Torr. Club, 33: 140 (1906). Arenaria verna L. var. Jtirta, 

 Wats. Bot. King. 41 (1871). 



14. A. nuttallii Pax. Stems pi-ostrate or aseeiuling. many from the crown 

 of a perennial taproot, more or less matted, giving rise to erect flowering 

 branches which are commonly densely leafy at base; herbage glandnlar- 

 puberulent; leaves .subulate, rigid, pungent. 3 to 5 lines long; flowers rather 

 loosely and divergently cymose. on pedicels 3 to ti lines long; sepals lanceolate, 

 or oblong-lanceolate, very acute. 2 to 2i o lines long, equaling or exceeding 

 the petals. 



Northern borders of California: Lassen Peak and 'Sit. Eddy. North to 

 Oregon and ^lontana. 



Var. gracilis Rol>. Plant more comj^act and regular; sepals lanceolate- 

 subulate, acuminate or shortly awn-tipped, 2ii.> to 3 lines long, the niidnerve 

 on the back very strong; petals oval or oblong-ovate, acute or acuminate, 

 much shorter than the sepals. — Decomposed granite. 9000 to 12.000 feet ; Sierra 

 Nevada from Yosemite Park south to Farewell Gaj) ; San Bernardino and San 

 Gabriel mountains. Passing into the tyjiical form. 



Loes. — Sierra Nevada:. Rock Creek, Mt. Whitney, Jepson 5060; Siberian Pa.ss, Tulare Co., 

 Hall 4' Babcock 5479; Little Kern River, Purpus 5253; Mineral King, T. Brandegee ; Kaweah 

 Peak, Jepson 4999; Alta Mtlws., G. B. Grant 5318; Mt. Silliman, Jepson 753; Mt. Goddari], 

 Hall 4' Chandler 620; mountains above Mariposa Big Trees, Bolander 4976; Sonera Pass, 

 Brewer 1879. Southern California: Mt. San Gorgonio (Grayback), W. G. Wright: Mt. San 

 ■ Antonio, McClatchie 182. 



Var. gregaria Jepson n. comb. Flowering stems numerous. 3 to 5 inches 

 high, ending above in a cymose panicle, leafy-imbricated at base and borne on 

 ascending or creeping stems arising from the crown of a taproot; herbage 

 purplish or green, clammy or softly viscid-pubescent ; leaves subulate, 3 to 

 5 lines long, blunt; flowers more or less clustered in a many-flowered panicle, 

 1 to 21/0 inches high, the pedicels i/o to 2 (or 3) lines long; sepals often pur- 

 plish, oblong-ovate or -lanceolate, shortly acute or acuminate, 2 to 2\'2 lines 

 long, commonly exceeded b,v the olilong-lanceolate or narrowly obovate petals. 

 —Rocky ridges, high North Coast Ranges, 4000 to 7000 feet July. This is 

 so unlike var. gracilis that the two have the qualit.v of distinct species. But 

 southern forms of var. gracilis pass into the species, and. as there are forms in- 

 termediate between var. gregaria and the species, these two varieties are thus 

 connected in a continuous series. 



Loes. — Snow Mt., T. Brandegee; Mt. Hull. Hall 9530; South Yollo Bolly, Jepson; Lasseek 

 Peak, Goddard 658 ; Devils Backbone, s. w. Siskiyou, Jejtson 2065 ; near Preston Peak, w. Siski- 

 you, Jepson 2871; Goosenest foothills, Butler 1638. Hall 8578, Salmon Mts., connects this 

 variety with the species. 



Refs. — Are.varia nuttallii Pax in Engler, Bot. Jahrb. 18: 30 (1894). A. pangens Nutt. 

 (not Clem.) ; T. & G. Fl. 1: 179 (1838), type loc. n. Rocky Mts., Nuttall. Var. GRACILIS Rob. 

 Proc. Am. Acad. 29: 304 (1S94), type spms. from mt. above Mariposa Grove. Bolander, and 

 from .Tulare Co., Palmer. Coiille 4' Funston. Var. gregaria Jepson. A. gregaria Heller, Bull. 

 S. Cal. Acad. 2: 67 (1903), tvpe loc, Mt. Sanhedrin. Heller 5892. Alsin'opsis gregaria Heller, 

 Muhl. 8: 96 (1912). 



5. SPERGULARIA J. & C. Pre.sl. Sand Spurrey. 



Low herbs, usuall.v of alkaline plains, borders of salt marshes, or maritime. 

 Leaves linear or subulate-filiform, semi-terete, with scarious stipides. Flowers 

 cymose or racemose, the pedicels at length spreading or deflexed. Sepals 5. 

 Petals 5. puri)lish or white, entire. Stamens commonly 10. Style 3, rarely 5. 

 Capsule 3-valved. Seeds often wing-margined. Embryo annular. — Species 

 about 15. widely distributed on seashores and in saline localities all over the 

 earth. (Derivative of Spergula.) 



