108 LIMNANTHACE/E. LIMNANTHES. 



ORDER XVIII. LIMNANTH ACE.E Lindl. Nat. Syst. ed. 2, 14?. 



Glabrous annual herbs with pungent juice , pinnately dis- 

 sected alternate leaves wi'hout stipules and pale flowers. Sep- 

 als 3-5, valvatein the bud, united at base, persistent. Petals 

 3-5, withering-persistent. Stamens twice as many as petals 

 and inserted with them upon a somewhat perigynous disk, all 

 antherif erous , filaments distinct, those opposite the sepals hav- 

 ing a small gland at the base on the outside : those opposite the 

 petals usually shorter: anthers roundish introrse. Ovary con- 

 sisting of 2- 5 distinct 1-ovuled carpels opposite the sepals, the 

 styles rising from the centre of each carpel and united into one 

 nearly to the top : stigmas simple. Carpels becoming semi- 

 drupaceous tuberculate nutlets. Seeds erect, anatropous. with- 

 out albumen. Embryo with very large cotyledons and very 

 short radicle. 



1. Li until lit lies. Sepals, petals and carpels normally 5: stamens 10. 



2. Floerkea. Sepals, petals and carpels normally 3: stamens 0. 



1 L1MNANTHES R. Br. Lond. & Edinb. Phil. Mag. 1833 ii, 70. 



Low annuals with estipulate pinnatifid leaves and showy white, 

 yellowish or rose-color flowers, solitary on lateral and terminal 

 peduncles : growing in water or wet places. Calyx deeply 5- 

 parted. Petals 5, persistent. Glands 5 r *alternating with the pet- 

 als. Stamens 10. Style 5-cleft at the apex. Ovary with solitary 

 ascending ovules. Carpels distinct, subglobose, at first fleshy, at 

 length hard and indehiscent, separating from the axis. 



L. Douglasii R. Br. 1. c. Glabrous throughout, diffusely branched 

 from the base: the succulent stems 6-8 inches long: leaves pinnate, the 

 leaflets incisely lobed or parted into linear acute lobes: peduncles at 

 length 2-4 inches long: sepals lanceolate acute, 3 or 4 lines long: petals 

 obovate, cmarginate, 6-8 lines long, white, with yellow base: style very 

 slender 3-4 lines long: seeds densely covered with coarse obtusish tubercles. 

 TJmpqua valley, Oregon. 



L. gracilis. Glabrous throughout, branching from the base, the slen- 

 der stems 6-18 inches long : leaves pinnate, the ovate to ovate-lanceo- 

 late or linear acute, leaflets entire or 3-parted: sepals lanceolate, acumi- 

 nate, 3 lines long : petals oblanceolate, truncate or emarginate 6-7 lines 

 long, white with yellowish base : fruit smooth or sparsely tuberculate. On 

 \vet' rocks, Rogue River Valley and southward. 



L. rosea Hart, in Benth. PI. Hartw. 301. Glabrous, petals obovate 

 and emarginate or obcordate, light rose-color or purplish below, villous 

 within near the base: fruit strongly tuberculate. California, to be looked 

 for on our southwest border. 



L. puniila. Glabrous, simple or sparingly branched near the base, 2-4 

 inches high : leaves commonly bipinnate with trifoliolate pinnae ; pinules 

 lanceolate to oblanceolate acute : sepals lanceolate acuminate 3-4 lines 

 long: petals white, oblong entire, little if at 'all longer than the sepals : 

 stamens about half the length of the petals: carpels ovoid, rugose below, 

 crowned with short-conic processes. On top of Table Rock, Jackson 

 County, Oregon. 



L. floccosa. Floccose-villous, stems simple or sparingly branched 



