PINK FAMILY 



511 



21. S. watsonii Rob. (Fig. 105.) 

 Flowering stems densely eaespitose 

 on tlie branched crown of a taproot, 

 3 to 5 inches liigh, nearly filiform; 

 herbage glandular-puberulent ; leaves 

 mostly crowded at base, narrowly 

 linear to narrowly oblaneeolate, i/t 

 to IV2 inches long, rarely exceeding 

 1 line in breadth ; flowering stems 

 with 1 terminal flower or often with 

 1 to 3 lateral short-pediineled flowers 

 racemosely scattered below the ter- 

 minal flower, sometimes a lateral 



„. _ „ T, , ^ , flower replaced by a 2-flowered cliis- 



Fie. 10.). SiLENE WATSONII Rob. a. flDWPr; 6, , , ^ , . , , ,, ,. 



petal; 0, another petal, typical form, x 2. ter;calyx purplish, broadly cylm- 



dric or soon becoming obovate, 5 to 

 G lines long, its teetli obtusish, scarious-margined ; corolla white or rose-color, 

 4 to 6 lines broad ; petal blades 1 to 2 lines long, bifid, the lobes obtuse, laterally 

 short-toothed or entire; crests quadrate and obtuse, or 2-cleft; styles 3 (or 4), 

 spirally twisted and exserted in anthesis ; capsule eylindric-ovoid. 



Above timber line, Sierra Nevada, 6500 to 12,000 feet, to Siskiyou Co. North 

 to Oregon. 



Loes.— Long Lake, Plumas Co., Eall 9,349; Pyramid Peak, Eall <f- Chandler 4720; Macomb 

 Ridge, Yosemite Park, Jepson, 4.5.59 (lateral teeth of petal blades often nearly or quite obso- 

 lete) ; Mt. Dana, Congdon ; Mt. Warren, Conftdon; Mt. Goddard, HaU J'- Cliaiuller 67.5; Denel's 

 Peak, upper Kern, EaJl c)'- Bahcocl: 551.5; Mineral King, T. Brandegce; Hockett Mdws., Ball 

 8471. 



Refs. — SiLENE WATSONII Rob. Proc. Am. Acad. 28: 143 (1893). Lychnis californica Wats. 

 Proc. Am. Acad. 12: 248 (1877), type spms. from Ebbett's Pass {Breicer 2081), Mt. Dana 

 (Bolandcr), and Sierra Co. (Lemmon) ; not Silene californica Dur. Silene lacustris Eastw. Bot. 

 Gaz. 41: 284 (1906), type loc. Monarch Lake near Mineral King, Eastwood, seems to belong 

 here. 



S. watsonii, as well as the nearly related S. grayi, is variable in shape and size of the 

 petals, but there could not be specific division of either species on this basis without violence, 

 since our material of each represents a natural unit. It may be specially observed that the 

 lateral loljes in both these species vary in size, and are often much reduced or obsolete. 



S. suKSDORFii Rob. (Bot. Gaz. 16: 44, pi. 6, figs. 9-11,-1891, type loc. Cascade Mts., 

 Wash.) is chiefly characterized by the rounded or obsolete lateral teeth of the petals and 

 the 10 caly-x nerves anastomosing above. It is said to be allied to S. grayi and is attributed 

 to Mt. Stanford, Nevada Co. (Syn. Fl. 1': 222). In view of what has been said above the 

 points of difference between this species on the one hand and S. grayi and S. watsonii on 

 the other seem weakened. Such material as is before us from the Nevada Co. region we have 

 definitely referred to S. watsonii. 



19. AGROSTEMMA L. 



Tall hairy annual, with linear exstipulate leaves and few long-peduncled 

 purplish-red flowers. Calyx-tube ovoid, with 10 strong ribs, the 5 teeth con- 

 spicuously prolonged into foliaceous lobes exceeding the 5 large entire unap- 

 pendaged petals. Stamens 10. Capsule coriaceous, dehiscent by 5 teeth. 

 — Species 2, Mediterranean region. (Latin ager, a field, and stemma, a wreath, 

 the showy flowers in ancient times made into garlands.) 



1. A. "githago L. Corn Cockle. Erect, rather strictly l)ranching. li.. to 2 

 feet high, hirsute with long ascending or somewhat appressed whitisli hairs, 

 especially on the peduncles and calyx; leaves 2 to 4 inches long, IV2 to 21/2 

 lines wide, tapering to the acute apex ; flowers solitary, long-peduncled ; calyx- 

 teeth % to % iiit^li l""g' rather longer than the tube, or in age mucli longer 



