i 



VI. 



PLANT.E WRIGHTIAN.E 



31 



P. (MoNNiNorsis) HEMIPTEROCARPA (sp. iiov.) : glabra, perennls ; caulibus gracili- 

 bus ramisque strictis striato-angulatis foliosis ; foliis subulato-lincaribus unincrviis 

 alternis; racemo mgato multifloro ; floribus albis mox peuclulis ; carina cristata 

 alis obovatis paullo breviore ; capsula oblonga membranacea, loculo postico duplici- 

 ter alato inter laminas debiscente, antico pauUo minore indebiscente scmcn fcre 

 ecarunculatum includente. — Stony hills of the Sonoita, near Deserted Kancho, on 



the borders of Sonora. 



(937.) 



Root perpendicular, perennial. Stems erect, 



sparingly branched above (the branches strict), slender, strongly striatc-angled, 12 



Leaves mostly erect, rather rigid, somewhat crowdcd, alternate, 



to 20 inches high. 



sessile ; acute, seldom half a line Avide ; the lower cauline about 8 lines long ; the 

 upper and those of the branches 7 to 10 lines long. Eaceme rather densely flow- 

 ered, 2 or 3 inches in length. Bracts subulate-lanceolate, about the length of the 

 short pedicels, very caducous. Calyx white or whitish ; the three small scpals 

 ovate, rather obtuse ; the wings obovate, slightly unguiculate, rather longer than 

 the corolla, one third shorter than the capsule. Lateral petals obovate, as long as 

 the entire and hooded keel, not including its crest ; which is nearly as in P. scoparia. 

 Stamens 8, in two sets. Stigma cucullate and bilabiate ; the sliort uppcr lip trun- 

 cate and tlpped witli a small tuft of bearded liairs; tlie lower lip dccurved, also 

 somewhat tmncate and ciliolate. Ovary equal-sided, two-celled, with a single ovule 

 in each celL Capsule thin and memhranaceous, glabrous, oblong, obscurely emargi- 

 nate, 2^ lines in length, somewhat gibbous ; the cell next the axis being rather 

 larger than the other, and appendaged with a crenulate, bilamellar wing, rcaching 

 from near its base to the apex, dehiscent between the two laminre; the valves 

 then becoming outspread, so that they form, as it were, a broad, obcordate wing, 

 surrounding the anterior cell (the one next the carina), which is indehiscent, con- 

 formed to the seed, and not at all winged or margined on its back. Seed cylin- 

 drical, hirsute w^ith spreading hairs ; that of the posterior ccU with a conspicuous 

 caruncle, the linear lobes of which are fully half the length of the seed ; that of 

 the indehiscent and anterior cell with the caruncle obsolete or rudimentary. — In 

 general aspect, this species is intermediate between P. alba and P. scoparia ; but 

 taller than either. From the singular structure of the fruit, it must constitute a 

 marked new section of the genus. 



MoN^^iNA Wrigiitii (sp. uov.) i annua, fere glabra; caule gracili; foliis lanceo- 

 latis linearibusve subsessilibus ; floribus parvis mox deflcxis hexandris ; fructu sicco 

 complanato insequaliter ovato acutissime marginato uniloculari, faciebus uninerviis 

 venulosis. — Crevices of rocks, mountain-sides, near the copper mines, New Mexico; 



Aug., 



in fiower; Oct, in fruit (938.) 



Tlie 



flowering 



specimens are about a 



span, the slender fruitful ones a foot or more, in height. Leaves one or two inches 



2 to 4 lines wide; the very lowest small and obovate; the others acute. 



long, 



Eaceme one or two inches long; sometimes there are other and very short raccmes 

 in the axils. Bracts minute. Flowers a line and a half lonor, o-reenish-white tin^ed 



with purple. Stamens 3 in each phalanx : filaments glabrous, Fruit deflexed, fiat- 

 tened, scarcely 2 lines long, with a sharp and wing-like margin, and the sides cari- 

 natcly one-nerved, minutely puberulent under a lens. Seed smooth, not carunculate. 



# 



■f- 



<.- 



