498 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE 



of the opposite pairs unequal. Flowers bright silvery-white by reason of the 

 scarious calyx-lobes, borne in dense axillary cymose clusters. Calyx-lobes 5. 

 Petals none. Stamens 10 to 15, only 1 to 5 anther-bearing. Style bifid, in- 



Fig. 98. ACHYKONYCHIA COOPEEI T. & G. ; entire plant, x %. 



eluded. Utricle thin, included in the calyx. Species 2, California and Mexico. 

 (Greek achuron, chaff, and onyx, onychos, a finger nail, in reference to the 

 thin shining calyx-lobes.) 



1. A. cooperi T. & G. (Figs. 98 and 99a.) Stems 2 to 5 inches long, slen- 

 der, prostrate, radiating from the crown of an annual root; leaves spatulate, 

 1% to 9 lines long; flowers 1 line long, in conspicuous dense axillary cymes; 

 calyx-lobes scarious, their lower third fleshy-herbaceous like the urn-shaped 

 calyx-tube. 



Sandy washes and valleys, Mohave and Colorado deserts. Lower California. 

 May. 



Locs. Needles, Jones 3790 ; Salt Well, Mohave Desert, Hall $ Chandler 6891 ; Carrizo Creek, 

 T. Brandegee; Conchilla Desert, Jepson 6053; Indian Well, Hall 5773; Split Mt., Parish 9051. 



Kef. ACHYBONYCHIA COOPERI T. & G. Proc. Am. Acad. 7: 331 (1868), type loc. Camp Cady 

 (near Daggett), Cooper. 



Fig. 99. a, ACHYBONYCHIA COOPERI T. & G., flower laid open, b, EREMOLITHIA 

 RIXFORDII Jepson; flower laid open, x 7. 



13. EREMOLITHIA Jepson nov. gen. 



Perennial with erect stems and linear leaves. Stems arising from a woody 

 root crown crowded with scales and lacerate-fringed stipules. Flowers ses- 

 sile in small axillary 1 to 3-flowered clusters. Calyx tube y^ to % as long as 

 the lobes, the 5 lobes membranous with a central lanceolate green spot. Sta- 



