496 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE 



petioled, 2 to 6 lines long; cyme leafless, many-flowered, dense, the flowers 1 

 line long, short pediceled ; sepals green or purplish, strongly keeled, apiculate- 

 hooded; style slender, % as long as the ovary; stigma 3-lobed; capsule nearly 

 equaling the calyx. 



Beaten gravelly places. Naturalized from Europe. July-Aug. 



Locs. Vallejo, Michener $ Bioletti in 1892; St. Helena, Jepson in 1897; Berkeley, Trac 

 in 1903. 



Refs. POLYCARPON TETRAPHYLLUM L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 881 (1759); Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. 

 Cal. 171 (1901). Mollugo tetraphylla L. Sp. PI. 89 (1753), type European. 



2. P. depressum Nutt. Plants prostrate, 1 to 3 inches broad with slender 

 stems; leaves spatulate, varying to obovate, obtuse or acute, y 2 to 2 lines 

 long; flowers y 2 as large as in the preceding; sepals not keeled or scarcely so, 

 about y 2 line long ; petals white, membranous, linear, y 2 as long as the sepals ; 

 style very short, 3-cleft. 



Southern California, from the coast east to the base of the San Bernardino 

 Mts. ; Monterey Co. 



Loes. Pajaro Hills, Chandler 426; San Bernardino, Parish 3643; Claremont, Los Angeles 

 Co., C. F. Baker; Avalon, F. M. Seed in 1909; San Diego, T. Brandeaee. 



Refs. POLYCARPON DEPRESSUM Nutt.; T. & G. Fl. 1: 174 (1838), type loc. San Diego, 

 Nuttall; Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 171 (1901). 



8. LOEFLINGIA L. 



Low rigid annuals, dichotomously branched from the base, with subulate 

 leaves and setaceous stipules. Flowers small, sessile in the axils. Sepals 

 . acuminate or awn-tipped, the outer with a tooth on each side. Petals 3 to 

 5, minute or none. Stamens 3 to 5. Style 1, very short or none; stigmas 3. 

 Capsule 3-valved, several-seeded. Species 5, North America, Mediterranean 

 region, Asia. (Peter Loefling, Swedish traveler of the 18th century.) 



Sepals recurved; style very short but present 1. L. squarrosa. 



Sepals straight ; style none 2. L. pusilla. 



1. L. squarrosa Nutt. Steins diffusely branched from base, 2 to 5 inches 

 high; herbage glandular-pubescent; leaves cuspidate, squarrose-spreading, 2 

 to 3 lines long ; petals very minute ; sepals rather strongly recurved and squar- 

 rose; capsule shorter than the sepals. 



San Diego north to the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys; Sierra Co. 

 (ace. Syn. Fl. I 1 : 255). 



Locs. San Diego, T. Brandegee; Pasadena, Grant; San Bernardino, Parish 7104; Oakdale, 

 Jepson. 



Refs. LOEFLINGIA SQUARROSA Nutt.; T. & G. Fl. N. Am. 1: 174 (1838), type loc. San Diego, 

 Nuttall; Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 171 (1901). 



2. L. pusilla Curran. Much like the preceding but more delicate; stems 

 spreading, 2 to 3 inches long; sepals narrowly lanceolate, abruptly acute, en- 

 tire, neither rigid nor squarrose ; petals none ; stamens 3 ; capsule as long as 

 the sepals. 



Tehachapi, 4000 feet. 



Ref. LOEFLINGIA PUSILLA Curran, Bull. Cal. Acad. 1: 152 (1885), type loc. Tehachapi, 

 Mary K. Curran. 



9. HERNIARIA L. 



Ours a very small annual, with minute scarious stipules. Flowers minute, 

 green, in clusters, crowded, sessile. Sepals 5 or 4, united at base. Petals 

 setaceous and minute, or none. Stamens 2 to 5, inserted on the calyx base. 

 Style very short, 2-cleft or -parted. Fruit a 1-seeded indehiscent achene, 

 with a thin pericarp, enclosed in the calyx. Species about 20, Europe, Asia, 

 Africa. (Latin hernia, a rupture, which one species was thought to cure.) 



JEPSON, Fl. Cal. vol. 1, pp. 465-496, Dec. 21, 1914. 



