Box.— Vol. 1.] EASTWOOD— STUDIES FROM THE HERBARIUM. 73 



pistil extending 2 or 3 mm. beyond the stamens, stigma round and thick, 

 more than 2 mm. in diameter; ovary 4-toothed at summit; capsule fusiform, 

 contracted under the spreading, 4-toothed, reddish summit, 4-ribbed, splitting 

 into four valves to within i mm. of the base and connivent at the top, persistent 

 and becoming woody; seeds dark brown, irregular in outline, becoming 

 mucilaginous when moistened; one row in each cell. 



This differs from typical CE . tuhicula chiefly in the very 

 narrow leaves and a more condensed habit of growth, the 

 slender branches becoming almost fasciculate. The pecu- 

 liarities are probably due to poverty in the environment, 

 which by slow starvation would bring about a reduction in 

 the size and form of its organs. 



CEnothera albicaulis gypsophila, var. nov. 



Plate VI, Fig. 2. 



Stems woody, corymbosely branched, canescent throughout, with dense, 

 closely appressed pubescence; leaves narrowly oblong to lanceolate, acute, 

 8-20 mm. long, 2-5 mm. wide, cuneate at base, margin sinuate-dentate, with 

 3 or 4 short teeth on each side, midrib conspicuous, petioles 2 mm. or less in 

 length; flowers axillary, 3 cm. in diameter; calyx with tube 3 cm. long, slender, 

 divisions 15 mm. long, united in one or two sets, free at the tips and bases; 

 petals white, rhomboidal, as broad as long, narrowed at base to a broad claw, 

 slightly wavy on the upper margin; stamens shorter than the petals, about 

 equalling the style; capsule 3 cm. long, almost perpendicular to the stem, 

 variously curved or even inclined to coil, splitting almost to the base into 

 four narrow valves; seeds 1-2 mm. long, ovate-lanceolate, acute, obtusely 

 angled, usually mottled with purple, minutely tuberculate. 



The description and figure were drawn from specimens 

 without roots. The older parts of the stems present a 

 ragged appearance due to the shreddy epidermis and the 

 narrow spreading valves of the empty capsules. 



The desert environment is suggested by stiff, dry stems, 

 close branches and leaves, and rapid development of the 

 fruit. The flowers show but little tendency to become pink 

 as they fade. 



CEnothera albicaulis is a variable species, easily recog- 

 nized amid all its forms. Its most constant and distinctive 

 characters are the white, shreddy epidermis, the capsules 

 sessile by a hard, broad base, spreading from the axis so 

 strongly as to make the stem somewhat zig-zig, valves sep- 

 arating almost to the base and widely spreading. 



