DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS 115 



LOASA'CE^. Blazing Star Family 



Herbs covered with rougli barbed hairs. Calyx tube attached 

 to the 1-celled ovary with parietal placentse. Stamens numer- 

 ous, merging into the petals. 



MENTZE'LIA, Blazing Star 



Tall and erect, or loosely branching herbs, with stems white 

 and shining. Flowers showy, yellow, orange or cream-color ; 

 from very small to 3 or 4 in. in diameter. The barbed hairs 

 cause the plant to adhere to whatever it happens to touch. 

 The numerous stamens and spreading petals give this plant a 

 radiant appearance like a star. The species are local. 



M. laevicau'lis T. & G. Biennial, with stout branching stems, 

 2-3 ft. high. Leaves lanceolate, 2-8 in. long. Flowers sessile on 

 short branches, 3-4 in. broad, light yellow, blooming in the morn- 

 ing. Calyx tube naked. Petals 5-10. Stamens numerous. This 

 is generally found growing in the beds of streams in the mountains 

 through California to Washington. 



CACTAXE^. Cactus Family 



Peculiar green fleshy perennial plants, armed with bundles 

 of spines, and rarely possessing leaves. Flowers with numer- 

 ous sepals, petals, and stamens, in several series, forming a 

 cup above the 1-celled, many-ovuled ovary. Style 1, with 

 several stigmas. Fruit a pulpy or, rarely, a dry 1-celled 

 berry with numerous seeds. The following are the common 

 genera. 



I. MAMILLA'RIA, Bird's-nest Cactus 



Round or oval j^lci^ts, covered ivith spine-hearing tubercles. 

 Flowers small, arising between the tubercles. Ovary naked. 

 Seeds without endosperm. 



n. ECHmOCAC'TUS, Indian Melon 



Round or oval pla.nts^ usually ribbed, ivitli bundles of spines 

 on the ribs. Flowers from the youngest part of the ribs close 



