Collomia. POLEMONIACE^E. 487 



Sierra Nevada, from Mariposa Co. to Shasta, at 5,000 to 10,000 feet, thence far northward and 

 eastward ; on the westward slope mainly the var. diffusa. A variable species. 



4. P. csespitosa, 2sutt. Forming dense and cushion-like tufts 3 or 4 inches 

 high: leaves short (2 to 5 lines long), from acerose-subulate to oblong-linear, rigid, 

 erect or ascending and usually imbricated, completely covering the short stems, their 

 edges ciliate with short bristly hairs, otherwise glabrous : flowers as in the preced- 

 ing but smaller. Jour. Acad. Philad. vii. t. 6. 



Higher Sierra Nevada : on Silver Mountain at 11,000 feet (Brewer), the var. condensatct. ; a 

 very compact, small-leaved and small-flowered form, which has been confounded with P. Hoodii. 

 The species, in several forms, extends eastward to the Rocky Mountains. 



-{- -{- Leaves hoary ivith soft pubescence or cobwebby wool : flowers white. 



5. P. canescens, Torr. & Gray. Forming broad and mostly compact mats, a 

 few inches high, gray or whitened by the woolly pubescence : leaves acerose or slen- 

 der-subulate, ascending or somewhat spreading, rather rigid, 3 to 5 lines long : tube 

 of the corolla longer than the calyx ; the lobes obovate, entire or emarginate. 

 Pacif. R. Eep. ii. 8, t. 6. 



Eastern side of the Sierra Nevada on the borders of the State (Bloomer, IVatson), and through 

 the interior country to Utah and Wyoming. 



P. MUSCOIDES and P. BRYOIDES, Nutt., are smaller species, in dense moss-like tufts, with the 

 downy leaves compactly imbricated in four ranks, natives of the interior and Rocky Mountains. 



2. COLLOMIA, Nutt. . 



Calyx 5-cleffc. Corolla salverform or tubular-funnelform ; the throat commonly 

 enlarged. Stamens usually more or less exserted, with slender filaments, unequally 

 inserted in or beneath the throat of the corolla. Ovules and seeds solitary or several 

 in each cell. Seed-coat simple, when wetted producing copious mucilage (whence 

 the generic name), which is usually filled with long uncoiling spiral threads. 

 Chiefly annuals (Xorth American, and one or two extra-tropical South American), 

 mostly glandular- viscid ; with alternate leaves, or the lower opposite, either entire, 

 incised, or pinnately compound : flowers cymose-clustered or panicled, or scattered. 



1. Corolla salverform, or with the throat or upper part of the tube somewhat en- 

 larged : seeds solitary in each cell, or 2 or 3 in the last species. 



* Leaves simple and sessile, entire, or the lower occasionally few-toothed or incised. 

 -{- Calyx-tube obconical or top-shaped : leaves all but the lowest alternate. 



1. C. grandiflora, Dougl. Erect, a foot or two high, rather stout: leaves 

 linear, oblong-lanceolate, or the uppermost almost ovate (2 or 3 inches long) : flowers 

 capitate-crowded at the summit and in the upper axils : calyx-lobes obtuse : corolla 

 buff or salmon-color (an inch long and the oblong lobes 4 lines long), showy. 

 Lindl. Bot. Eeg. t. 1174 : Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 2894. 



Sierra Nevada and higher foot-hills, from San Diego Co. northward ; thence to Oregon and the 

 Rocky Mountains. 



2. C. linearis, !N"utt. More branched, and when old spreading, a span to a foot 

 or more in height : lower leaves linear, upper lanceolate : flowers capitate-crowded 

 as in the foregoing, but smaller : calyx-lobes triangular-lanceolate and very acute : 

 corolla yellowish- white or brownish-purple, slender, half an inch long or less ; the 

 oval lobes about a line long. Gen. i. 126 ; Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 1166 ; Hook. Bot. 

 Mug. t. 2893. 



Var. subulata, Gray. Diffusely much branched, a span or so in height, more 

 viscid : leaves acute : flowers fewer in the clusters, and some scattered or nearly 



