WATER STARWORT FAMILY 151 



1. E. serpyllifolia Pers. Thyme-leaf Spurge. Stems often 

 reddish, repeatedly branched, forming leafy prostrate mats 

 3 in. to 1 ft. across, rarely ascending. Leaves oblong, nar- 

 rowed to the oblique base, minutely toothed around the blunt 

 apex, about *4 m - long. 



All species of spurge are poisonous when taken in quantity 

 and several of them are used medicinally. The present spe- 

 cies, which grows in loose soil at altitudes of less than 5000 

 ft., is one of the sorts known as Golondrina, under which 

 name it is often used by Indians and others as an antidote 

 for the bite of the rattlesnake. The plant, either fresh or 

 dried, is bruised, steeped in wine, and applied to the wound. 

 But the permanganate and other modern treatments are 

 doubtless more efficacious. 



2. E. leptocera Engelm. Stems erect, leafy, 6 to 12 in. high. 

 Leaves obovate or oblanceolate, obtuse, entire, y^ to 1 in. 

 long; floral leaves opposite or in 3's, roundish, often united 

 at base. Glands of the involucre greenish yellow, crescent- 

 shaped. — A foothill species, occasionally seen in the pine belt, 

 even as high as Mono Pass. 



CALLITRICHACEAE. Water Starwort Family. 

 This family is represented only by an undetermined species 

 of the single genus, Callitriche, the Water Starwort. It is a 

 low, slender, aquatic herb, the submersed leaves linear and 

 entire, the floating ones roundish (about % in. across). The 

 staminate flowers bear each a single stamen; the pistillate 

 flowers have each a single 4-celled ovary becoming a nut-like 

 fruit. It grows in pools along the Tuolumne River at 10,000 

 ft. alt. 



ANACARDIACEAE. Sumach Family. 

 A family represented with us by only two species, the first 

 of which is sometimes classified under the genus Toxicoden- 

 dron and the second under the genus Schmaltzia. 



1. RHUS. Sumach. 



Deciduous shrubs with alternate leaves and very small 

 flowers. Parts of the calyx, petals, and stamens 5 each. 

 Ovary superior, becoming a 1-seeded berry-like fruit. 



1. R. diversildba T. & G. Poison Oak. Leaves roundish 

 to ovate or oblong, 1 to 4 in. long, entire or variously toothed 

 or lobed or more often compound, and the 3 leaflets are also 

 variable. Flowers greenish, in somewhat pendulous short- 



