8o CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. [Proc. 3D Ser. 



Newberrya subterranea, sp. no v. 



Plate VII, Fig. 4. 



Stem brown, covered with broad, ovate or orbicular scales, which broaden 

 as the stem becomes bulbous towards the inflorescence; scales surrounding 

 the flowers becoming oblong-lanceolate, acuminate; flowers sessile on a disk- 

 like receptacle 15 mm. in diameter; sepals of two brown, linear-lanceolate scales 

 equalling the corolla, and two white membranous scales variable in length; 

 corolla I cm. long, the four or five divisions as long as the tube, 2 mm. broad, 

 oblong, obtuse, or emarginate, ribbed, densely hairy within, sparingly so ex- 

 ternally, with ciliate margins; filaments varying in length, densely clothed 

 with long hairs under the anther, sparsely hairy below, equalling or slightly 

 surpassing the ovary. Anthers 2-celled, the half of each cell only poUiniferous, 

 ovate-elliptical; style thick, elongating with age, very hairy under the de- 

 pressed, capitate stigma. 



The snow-white flowers contrast beautifully with the dark 

 brown scales and stem. In the plant from which the de- 

 scription is drawn, the middle flower is on the plan of five, 

 while all the others are on the plan of four. This seems 

 nearest to Hemitomes ptiniiluni Greene, Erythea, Vol. II, 

 p. 121. 



It was communicated by Mr. R. A. Plaskett of Mansfield, 

 Monterey County. He reports that he found it in bloom 

 three inches below the surface of the ground,^ growing in 

 Willow Creek Cafion, under J^aercus densijiora. This is 

 the third plant that he has found under such unusual con- 

 ditions, the other two having been lost before they could be 

 sent. They all grew within a radius of forty feet and were 

 from three to eight inches below the surface of the ground. 



The genus Newberrya has heretofore been found only in 

 Oregon and Northern California. The discovery of this 

 interesting species extends its distribution from Mendocino 

 County to the southern extremity of Monterey County. 

 Willow Creek is not far from the southern limit of the red- 

 woods and abounds in the vegetation peculiar to the Redwood 

 Region; so that the conditions are quite similar to those 

 under which the northern species flourish, and it is, there- 

 fore, really not surprising to find this northern genus here. 



^Leaf-mould i to i^ inches; loam, or black soil, 3 inches; subsoil of coarse, loose, and 

 mouldy nature, light-colored and very gravelly; on north hill-side, under heavy timber 

 (Tanbark Oak and Redwood), where the sun never shines. — R. A. Plaskett. 



