98 KEY AND FLORA 



a. 0. Orega'na Nutt. Wood Sorrel. Perennial herbs forming 

 mats, with slender rootstocks from which arise the leaves and flow- 

 ering stems. Leaflets broadly obcordate, rusty underneath. Scapes 

 usually 1 -flowered, with 2 bracts near the flower. Petals nearly an 

 inch long, pink, tcJiite, or rose-color with darker veins. This is common 

 in the redwood forests of the coast, north to Washington. 



b. 0. cornicula'ta L. Yellow Sorrel. This also often forms mats 

 with slender prostrate stems. Leaflets deeply obcordate. Peduncles 

 bearing 2 or more flowers with yellow petals. The reddish-leaved, yel- 

 low-flowered sorrel, which is a common weed in the streets and 

 gardens, is a variety of this s^jecies. 



LINA'CEiE. Flax Family 



Flowers with all parts 5, except the pistil. Sepals per- 

 sistent, imbricated. Petals convolute in the bud, falling 

 soon. Each division of the ovary contains a pair of seeds. 



LFNUM, Flax 



Herbs with, tough fibers in the bark. Leaves sessile, entire. 

 Styles 2-5. Ovary globose, with as many true cells as styles, 

 each cell partially separated into two false cells. The cap- 

 sule splits through the false and true partitions, each half 

 cell containing one seed. The species are rather local and 

 with one exception small-flowered. 



L. Lewis'ii Pursh. Perennial, with erect, leafy stems, smooth 

 and bluish green. Leaves generally linear, an inch or less long, 

 without stipules. Flowers azure blue, nearly an inch in diameter, 

 in racemes or corymbs on elongating pedicels. Pod longer than 

 the calyx, 10-celled and 10-valved, with the valves widely spreading 

 when ripe. Common and widely distributed, blooming in spring 

 and summer. 



The introduced flax, L. usitatis'simum L., is somewhat similar, 

 but is an annual. There are numy small-flowered, annual species 

 in California, but they are difficult to distinguish and are more or 

 less local. 



POLYGALA'CE.a:. Polygala Family 



Herbs or shrubs with simple, entire leaves without stipules. 

 Flowers superficially resembling a pea blossom. Stamens 



