66 CARYOPHYLLACE^;. Silene. 



strongly tubercled on the back. Proc. Am. Acad. x. 344. S. Engelmanni, var. 

 Behrii, Rohrb. in Linnaea, xxxvi. 264. 



Rocky hills near Mission Dolores, Bolander, Behr. 



16. S. Bridges!!, Rohrbach. Finely pubescent below and viscid above : stems 

 simple, slender, erect, a foot high or more : leaves rather narrowly oblanceolate, acute 

 or acuminate, an inch or two long : flowers simply racemose, on slender spreading 

 pedicels 3 to 6 lines long : calyx oblong-cylindric, 4 to 5 lines long, with rather nar- 

 row acute teeth : petals white, very narrow, 8 lines long, the claw scarcely auricled 

 and lobes narrowly linear ; appendages very small : styles greatly elongated : capsule 

 equalling the calyx, ovate. Ind. Sem. Berol. 1867, & Monogr. Silene, 204. 



In Yosemite Valley and at Clark's on the Merced, Bridges, Gray. 



17. S. Douglas!!, Hook. Finely puberulent throughout, and rarely somewhat 

 glandular above : stems erect or ascending from a branching decumbent rootstock, 

 slender, 6 to 15 inches high, simple, few-flowered : leaves narrowly oblanceolate to 

 linear, an inch or two long : flowers erect, on slender pedicels : calyx oblong-cylindric, 

 often somewhat inflated, 5 to 7 lines long, with broad acutish teeth : petals rose- 

 color or nearly white, 8 to 10 lines long, with broad obtuse lobes, a broadly auricled 

 claw, and narrow appendages : capsule oblong-ovate, equalling the calyx, rather long- 

 stipitate : seeds strongly tubercled on the back. Fl. i. 88 ; Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 190. 

 S. multicaulis, Nutt.; Torr. <k Gray, Fl. i. 192. 



From Washington Territory and Montana to the Sacramento River, Donner Pass in the Sierra 

 Nevada, and the Wahsatch Mts. ; the most frequent of all the species. Scanty specimens, doubt- 

 fully referred here, were collected by Palmer in the Cuyamaca Mts., San Diego Co. 



S. SCOULERI, Hook., and S. SPALDINGII, Watson, both from beyond the limits of the State 

 northward, but perhaps to be found on its northern borders, belong to a group of stout perennials 

 with the flowers shortly pedicelled and often fascicled in the axils of the rather leaf-like bracts. 

 The first has conspicuous petals, the broad bifid limb with notched lobes and appendages ; claw 

 auricled ; capsule ovate, long-stipitate ; leaves narrow, distant. The latter is viscidly pubescent 

 throughout, with numerous lanceolate leaves ; petals with a very broad claw, but short and obtuse 

 emarginate limb, and four short distinct appendages ; capsule oblong, short-stipitate. 



One or two dwarf alpine species occur in the Sierra Nevada, apparently undescribed, but the mate- 

 rial collected is too scanty for satisfactory description. Specimens from Mt. Dana (Brewer), near 

 Ebbett's Pass (Brewer, n. 2081), and from some locality farther north (Leinmon), are alike in habit, 

 having mostly 1 -flowered stems, linear leaves, a short subcampanulate calyx and short bifid petals, 

 but differ in pubescence and in some of the characters of the flower. They are closely allied to 

 that group of the genus Lychnis which includes L. ajfinis, triflora, apetala, &c., alpine and 

 arctic species of doubtful limitation, none of which seem to have been found in California, 

 though some occur farther north and in the Rocky Mountains. 



2. CEKASTIUM, Linn. MOUSE-EAR CHICKWEED. 



Sepals 5, not carinate nor 3-nerved. Petals 5, emarginate or bifid. Stamens 10. 

 Styles 5, rarely 4 or 3. Capsule cylindric or cylindric-conic, often incurved, 1 -celled, 

 many-seeded, dehiscent by twice as many equal teeth as there are styles. Seed sub- 

 reniform-globose, usually granulate. Mostly pubescent or hirsute low herbs ; leaves 

 rarely subulate ; flowers white, in terminal leafy or scariously bracted dichotomous 

 cymes. 



Distinguished from Arenaria and Stellaria by habit, as well as by the form and dehiscence of 

 the capsule. A genus of perhaps 100 species, widely distributed, but sparingly represented in 

 America. 



1. C. nutans, Raf. Annual, viscid-pubescent, erect, usually branched at the 

 base, about a span high : leaves narrowly oblong or linear-lanceolate, acute, clasping, 

 \ to 1| inches long, the lowest spatulate : cyme open, rather many-flowered ; pedi- 

 cels often nodding or reflexed in fruit : calyx \\ to 2 lines long, the petals slightly 

 longer : capsule 4 to 6 lines long, curved. Gray, Gen. 111. ii. 40, t. 114. 



