. LOAS \CKAi: (LOASA FAMILY') 



LOASACEAE (LOASA FAMILY) 



Herbs, with a rough or stiiiying pubi-nci'tu:?. no stipules, the calyx-tube adher- 

 ent to a 1-celled ovary with 2 or -\ /mrfcful />l<tventae; represented here only by 

 the genus 



1. MENTZELIA [Plumier] L. 



Calyx-tube cylindrical or club-shaped ; the limb 5-parted, persistent. Petals 

 5 or 10, regular, spreading, flat, convolute in the bud, deciduous. Stamens in- 

 serted with the petals on the throat of the calyx. Styles 3, more or less united 

 into 1 ; stigmas terminal, minute. Capsule at length dry and opening at the 

 summit. Seeds flat, anatropous. Stems erect. Leaves alternate, very adhe- 

 sive by the barbed pubescence. (Dedicated to C. Mentzel, an early German 

 botanist.) 



1. M. oligosp6rma Nutt. (STICK LEAF.) Much branched, 3-9 dm. high; 

 leaves ovate and oblong, cut-toothed or angled, often petioled ; flowers yeU<>"\ 

 1.5-2 cm. broad, opening in sunshine ; petals 5, wedge-oblong, pointed ; stamens 

 20 or more ; capsule small, about 9-seeded. Limestone hills and banks, 111. to 

 Kan. and Col., s. to Tex. May-Aug. 



2. M. decapetala (Pursh) Urban & Gilg. Larger in all its parts ; leaves 

 elongate-lanceolate, sharply and coarsely dentate ; flowers white or pale yellow, 

 7-12 cm. broad, opening in the evening; petals 10, lanceolate; stamens abun- 

 dant ; seeds numerous. Rocky hillsides and dry prairies, n. w. la. to Sask., 

 Tex. , and westw. July-Sept. 



CACTACEAE (CACTI-S FAMILY) 



Fleshy and thickened mostly leafless plants, globular or columnar and many- 

 angled, or flattened and jointed, usually with prickles. Flowers solitary, semtilr ; 

 the sepals and petals numerous, imbricated in several rows, the bases adherent 

 to the 1-celled ovary. Stamens numerous, inserted on the inside of the tube or 

 cup formed by the union of the sepals and petals. Style 1 ; stigmas numerous. 



1. Mamillaria. Globose or ovoid plants, covered with spine-bearing tubercles. Flowers tmni 



between the tubercles. Ovary naked ; berry succulent. 



2. Opuntia Branching or jointed plants ; the joints flattened or cylindrical. 



1. MAMILLARIA Haw. 



Flowers about as long as wide, the tube campanulate or funnel-shaped. 

 Ovary often hidden between the bases of the tubercles, naked, the succulent 

 berry exserted. Seeds yellowish-brown to black, crustaceous. Globose or 

 moid plants, covered with spine-bearing cylindrical, ovoid, or conical tubercles. 

 the flowers from distinct, woolly or bristly areoles at their base. (Nairn- from 

 tit<iiiii//<i, a nipple, referring to the tubercles.) 



1. M. vivipara (Nutt.) Haw. Single or tufted, 2.5-12 cm. high, the almost 

 terete tubercles bearing bundles of :>-S reddish-bro\vn spines (2 cm. long or less) 

 surrounded by 1"> -jo grayish ones in a single series, all straight and riuid : flnir- 

 crx i-/ <>, purple, with mnged sepals and lance-subulate petals ; f,, rri<s nnn'tl. 

 green; seeds pitted, light brown. (Cactus Nutt.) Granite ledges, w. Minn. 

 (Moyer}, and on prairies and dry plains to Alb. and Cal. 



2. M. missouriSnsis Sweet, var. caespitbsa (Kngelm.) Wats. Smaller, si ems 



ulolx.se, clustered, the tnbereles with fewer (lU-l'O) weaker ash-colored spines ; 

 flnii-i-i'K ii<llnii\ 2.5-5 cm. broad; berry subgloboxt. *<-</r/<t; <*<ix few, pitted. 

 blin-k. (Catt** misxnHi'ifiisis, var. ximilis Coult.) Dry prairies, e, Kan. to 

 Tex., and westw. 



