508 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE 



15. S. montana Wats. (Fig. 103b.) Stems several to many, erect, 9 to 

 16 inches high, from the branching crown of a taproot; herbage puberulent, 

 glandular above; leaves narrowly linear-lanceolate or -oblanceolate, 1 to 2y 

 inches long; flowers in a spicate panicle; calyx cylindric, soon clavate-dis- 

 tended, 6 to 7 lines long, its short teeth very acute and narrowly scarious- 

 margined; corolla greenish white to rose, 4 to 7 lines broad; petal blades 

 cut at apex into 4 (or 6) narrow segments; scales 2, fimbriate or toothed; 

 auricles roundish, commonly denticulate; filaments scarcely exserted; capsule 

 slender-cylindric, tapering to apex, 4 to 5 lines long, included, its stipe iy 2 

 to 2 lines long. 



Sierra Nevada and desert region adjoining on the east, 4000 to 6500 feet; 

 inner North Coast Range. 



Locs. Janesville, T. Brandegee; Lake Tahoe, Blasdale; Crane Creek, Yosemite Park, Jepson 

 4646; Mineral King, Hall # Babcoclc 5586. Mt. Hull, Lake Co., Hall 9540. 



Kefs. SILENE MONTANA Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. 10: 343 (1875), type spms. from Carson 

 City, Anderson, and Big Meadows, Plumas Co., Lemmon. S. shockleyi Wats. 1. c. 25: 127 

 (1890), type loc. White Mts., Mono Co., W. H. ShocTcley, a synonym ace. Robinson in Gray, 

 Syn. PI. I 1 : 220. 



1.6. S. bernardina "Wats. (Fig. 103c, d.) Steins erect, densely leafy at base, 

 7 to 15 inches high, several to many from the loosely branching crown of a 

 stout taproot or sometimes caespitose; herbage dark green, glandular-puber- 

 ulent throughout, or often grayish pubescent below; leaves grass-like, nar- 

 rowly linear- or subulate-lanceolate, acuminate, 10 to 16 lines long, y 2 to 1 

 (or 2) lines wide; flowers in a narrow panicle; calyx cylindric, at length 

 turbinate- distended, 6 lines long, its teeth broadly lanceolate, acute, scarious- 

 margined, 1 to iy 2 lines long; corolla white, nearly half longer than the 

 calyx, 3 to 4 lines broad; petal blades 4-cleft, or deeply 2-cleft with the 

 divergent lobes again 2-cleft to middle; claws commonly sparingly woolly on 

 lower part ; scales long, laciniate nearly or quite to the base ; auricles rounded 

 or lanceolate; capsule ovoid, 3y 2 to 4 lines long, long-stiped. 



Southern Sierra Nevada, 5000 to 8000 feet. 



Locs. Kearsarge Mill (below Kearsarge Pass), Jepson 901; Tulare Co., Hall 4' BabcocTc 

 5558 (Kern Canon at East Fork), 5343 (Coyote Meadows), 5142 (Salmon Creek). 



Ref. SILENE BERNARDINA Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. 24: 82 (1889), type loc. Long Meadow, 

 south of Mt. Whitney, Palmer 185. The specific name used by Watson is inexplicable. 



17. S. verecunda Wats. (Fig. 104a.) Stems erect or decumbent, several 

 from the branching crown of a stout taproot, leafy along the lower part of 

 the stem and also very leafy at base, y 2 to 1 foot high ; herbage finely pubescent 

 below, glandular-viscid above; leaves linear-lanceolate, acuminate; flowers 

 in 1 to 3-flowered peduncled clusters scattered along the simple or sparingly 

 branched flowering stems, the pedicels short and stout ; calyx densely pubescent 

 and also glandular, cylindric, 5 to 6 lines long, or becoming clavate or obovate 

 as the fruit develops : corolla rose-color, 4 to 6 lines broad ; petal blades cleft 

 to the middle into 2 entire or slightly toothed oblong lobes, and with 2 nearly 

 obsolete lateral lobes or rounded teeth ; scales broadly oblong, obtuse or often 

 notched; claws woolly pubescent; auricles rounded; capsule ovoid, slightly 

 exserted, sessile or stiped; seeds papillate, the papillae developed into a crest 

 on the margin. 



South Coast Eanges. May-Sept. The stipe is very variable in length. 



Locs. Lone Mt., San Francisco, Chandler; PresMio, San Francisco, Jepson, Tidestrom. 

 Only the plants of the San Francisco peninsula are truly typical. The plant on Mt. Diablo 

 (Greene) seems different but we are unable to segregate it varietally. We lack material to 

 define the limits southward but presumably the species must, at least provisionally, include the 



