4 NYCTAGINACE.E. Abronia. 



A genus peculiar to Western North America. The wings of the fruit are often very unequally 

 developed. 



1. Wings coriaceous, lateral and not completely encircling the fruit. ABROXIA 



proper. 



* Body of the fruit more or less rigid or ligneous, the wing consisting of a simple 



lamina. 



\. A. umbellata, Lam. Perennial, prostrate, slender, viscidly puberulent, the 

 stems often elongated, 1 to 3 feet long : leaves nearly glabrous, ovate to nar- 

 rowly oblong, 1 to 1| inches long, attenuate into a slender petiole, obtuse, the 

 margin often somewhat sinuate : peduncles 2 to 6 inches long : involucral bracts 

 small, narrowly lanceolate, 2 or 3 lines long, 10- 15-flowered : perianth rose-colored, 

 6 to 8 lines long, with emarginate lobes : fruit 4 or 5 lines long, nearly glabrous, 

 the body oblong, attenuate at each end ; the thin wings nearly as long, rounded, 

 broadest above and often truncate, narrowing downward to the base of the fruit : 

 akene 1 lines long. 111. i. 469, t. 105 ; Hook. Exot. El. iii. t. 194 ; Watson, 

 Bot. King Exp. 476, t. 31, tig. 7. 



Common on the sands of the sea-coast, from the Columbia River to Lower California. Flowers 

 with little fragrance. 



2. A. maritima, Nutt. in herb. Very stout, prostrate, somewhat pubescent 

 and viscid : leaves thick, broadly ovate to oblong, cuneate or rounded at base, about 

 an inch long, on short stout petioles : peduncles usually a little exceeding the 

 leaves : involucral bracts short, ovate oblong : flowers " bright red," half an inch 

 long : fruit viscid-pubescent, the wings somewhat coriaceous, otherwise nearly as in 

 the last. 



On the sea-coast from Santa Barbara to San Diego ; resembling A. latifolia in habit. 



3. A. villosa, Watson. A smaller and more slender plant than A. umbellata, 

 apparently annual, covered with a more or less dense spreading glandular villous 

 pubescence : leaves usually small, rarely an inch long : peduncles 1 to 3 inches 

 long, 5- 15-flowered : involucral bracts lanceolate, acuminate, 3 or 4 lines long: 

 perianth rose-colored or purplish, the lobes obcordate with a deep sinus : fruit 3 

 lines long, strongly reticulate-veined, the broad wings usually truncate and acute or 

 rounded above. Amer. Naturalist, vii. 302. 



Colorado Valley (Palmer), and eastward to Southern Utah, Wheeler, Janvier, Parry. 



A. GRACILIS, Benth. Bot. Sulphur, 44, from the coast of Lower California, may perhaps be dis- 

 tinguished from very slender forms of A. umbel/ata by the more strongly sinuate leaves, and by 

 the body of the smaller fruit not attenuate above the wings. 



A. MELLIFKRA, Dougl. (Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 2879), the only other species of the group, is found 

 in Washington Territory and Oregon, at a distance from the coast, and may be known from A. 

 umbellata by its stouter habit, much larger scarious involucre, and larger white flowers ; the fruit 

 4 or 5 lines long, with narrower wings, often laterally elongated. 



* * Fruit wholly coriaceous and the central cavity extending through the wings. 



4. A. latifolia, Eschscholtz. Perennial, stout and fleshy, very viscid-pubescent, 

 the stems a foot or two long, prostrate : leaves thick, broadly ovate or reniform, \ 

 to 1^ inches long, obtuse, on short thick petioles : peduncles usually exceeding the 

 leaves : involucral bracts 5, rounded to ovate or oblong, 2 to 4 lines long : flowers 

 numerous, 5 or 6 lines long, bright yellow, the lobes emarginate : fruit 4 to 6 lines 

 long, coriaceous, acute at each end, the wings more or less developed, usually nar- 

 row. Mem. Acad. Petersb. x. 281. A. arenaria, Menzies ; Hook. Exot. El. 

 t. 193 ; Watson, Bot. King Exp. 476. 



Common on the seashore from Vancouver Island to Monterey, and perhaps still further to the 

 south. The root is stout and fusiform, often several feet long, said to be sometimes eaten by the 

 Indians. The flowers are very fragrant, with the odor of orange-blossoms ; in spring and early 



