SISYKINCHIUM CALIFOllNICUM DRYAND. 495 



whole leaf, and where free have a narrow membranous colourless 

 or pinkish edge ; length 1 J-2 in., with a greatest width of li^-2f lines 

 at the top of the connate sheath-base. Inner spathe somewhat 

 similar in shape, but the broad membranous edges free to the base 

 and overlapping ; length half to two-thirds that of the outer 

 spathe ; greatest width 1^-2 lines just above the middle, from 

 which it tapers rapidly to a subacute apex ; completely sheathing 

 the inner bracts and the lower half of the slender flower pedicels. 

 Inner bracts membranous, lanceolate, with white scarious margins 

 and apex, dimiuishiug in size towards the centre of the inflores- 

 cence, the outermost being about five-sixths the length of the inner 

 spathe ; each succeeding bract sheathes the younger ones. Flowers 

 4 to 5, solitary in the axil of each bract, except the two uppermost ; 

 apparently at the same level, owing to the non-development of 

 internodes between the bracts. Pedicel slender, stiff, about 1 in. 

 long in the flower, and curved into a horizontal position on 

 leaving the spathe ; in the fruit reaching about 1:^- in., and straight 

 or less curved. Perianth-leaves six, spreading, delicate, trans- 

 parent, yellow when fresh, orange-coloured when dry, bluntly oval, 

 narrowing at the base, with 5-7 dark sharply-marked crinkled 

 veins ; about ^ in. long by about a in. broad. Stamens three, and 

 about equal in length to the three filiform styles, and less than half 

 the length of the perianth. Ovary inferior, oval, 1^ line long, 

 Capsules sub-erect or slightly nodding, trigono-ellipsoidal, ^ in. or 

 less in length, and a little more than ^ in. or less in diameter. 

 Seeds borne on slender filiform stalks, sub-spherical, with a large 

 rounded depression on one side ; testa black, hard and rugose. As 

 frequently happens in the genus, the plant stains the paper in 

 which it is pressed a purple colour. 



S. californicum, according to a note in Alton, Hortus Kewensis, 

 iv. 136 (1812), where it is described, presumably by Dryander, was 

 introduced in 1796. We have in the Banksian herbarium a 

 specimen brought from Port Bodega, in California, by Archibald 

 Menzies, and on the same sheet a specimen was subsequently 

 mounted from Hort. Kew., with the date 1798. It is interesting to 

 note that the taller specimens recently found in Ireland closely 

 resemble the plant brought from California by Menzies a century 

 ago. The earliest name is Marica califomk-a Ker, in the Botanical 

 Magazine, t. 983 (1807). The drawing for the plate was made " at 

 Mr. Salisbury's botanic garden " at Mill Hill. Salisbury himself 

 (in the Trans. Hort. Sac. i. [1820] , p. 310) raised the plant into a 

 new genus, Hydrastylus, a name which " was suggested by the late 

 Mr. Dryander." A2)roj)os of its cultivation he says: " A perfectly 

 hardy plant, I believe ; at least many seedlings lived through the 

 winter of 1806 in the open air at Mill Hill ; and if sheltered under 

 a cucumber-frame it may certainly be preserved, flowering and 

 ripening seeds all summer." 



lb occurs native in California and Oregon. 



