t66 LOASACEAE. 



Viola glabella Nutt. Whole plant glabrous or nearly so; rootstock rather 

 stout, creeping; stem leafy above, 10-20 cm. tall; radical leaves reniform, 

 acuminate, crenate-serrate, 1-5 cm. broad, long-petioled; cauline similar, 

 short-petioled; stipules thin, membranous, ovate or lanceolate, entire; pe- 

 duncles 2-6 cm. long; petals yellow, purple-veined, 10-12 mm. long; spur short 

 and broad. Moist rich woods, in the mountains. 



Viola venosa (Wats.) Rydb. ( V. atriplicifolia Greene.) Minutely 

 puberulent or glabrous, 5-15 cm. high; leaves mostly ovate, cuneate or truncate 

 at base, coarsely dentate or angularly lobed, purple veined, the blades 5-20 

 mm. long; peduncles little exceeding the leaves; petals 8-12 mm. long, yellow, 

 the upper ones dark purple or brownish on the back, the lateral ones bearded 

 at the base; capsules globose, pubescent. High ridges of the Blue Mountains 

 in stony soil. 



Viola nuttallii linguaefolia (Nutt.) Piper n. comb. ( V. linguaefolia Nutt.) 

 Stems mostly very short from rather thick fleshy roots; leaves numerous, 

 more or less pubescent; blades oblong or narrowly ovate, obtuse, cuneate or 

 truncate at the base, crenate or entire, 2-4 cm. long; petioles margined, longer 

 than the blades; stipules narrow, entire; flowers yellow, the peduncles usually 

 shorter than the leaves; petals about 5-10 mm. long; spur short and blunt. 

 Rather rare, in meadows. 



Viola nuttallii major Hook. ( V. flavovirens Pollard.) Flowers larger, 

 the petals 10-14 mm. long; leaves sometimes more hairy. In the Blue and 

 Craig Mountains. 



Family 60. LOASACEAE. 



Herbs, with rough-barbed or stinging hairs; leaves alternate 

 or opposite, without stipules; flowers perfect; calyx 4- or 5-lobed, 

 adherent to the ovary; stamens usually very numerous, rarely 

 few, some of the outer occasionally petal-like; ovary 1-celled, 

 with 2 or 3 parietal placentae; endosperm mostly scant or none. 



235. MENTZELIA. 



Annual or biennial erect herbs, more or less rough with rigid 

 barbed hairs, the stems becoming white and shining; leaves 

 alternate, mostly coarsely toothed or pinnatifid; flowers ter- 

 minal, solitary or in cymose clusters; calyx cylindrical, 5-parted; 

 petals 5 or 10, regular, spreading, perigynous; stamens perigy- 

 nous; styles 3, more or less united into one; capsule few-many- 

 seeded. 



Biennial; flowers large; outer filaments dilated. M. laevicaulis. 



Annual; flowers small; filaments all filiform. M. integrifolia. 



Mentzelia laevicaulis (Doug!.) T. & G. Biennial; stem stout, erect, 30-100 

 cm. high, hoary-pubescent throughout or glabrate, branched above; radical 

 leaves lanceolate, acute, petioled, 10-15 cm. long, coarsely dentate or lobed, 

 hoary-pubescent; cauline similar, sessile, gradually reduced upwards; flowers 

 nearly sessile, terminal, mostly solitary; calyx-lobes lanceolate-attenuate, 

 2-3 cm. long; inner petals, when present, narrow; stamens numerous, as long 

 as the style, shorter than the petals; capsule oblong, about 2 cm. long. 

 Gravelly places, locally abundant. 



