gg CARYOPIIYLLACKJ':. Silene. 



strongly tubercled on the back. — Proc. Am. Acud. x. 344. S. Engdmanni^ vur. 

 Behrii, Kohrb. in Linn;i'U, xxxvi. 2ti4. 



Rocky liills ni-ar Mission Dolores, Bolaiuier, lichr. 



16. S. Bridgesii, Kobibucli. Finely pubescent below and viscitl above : btenia 

 simple, slender, enuL, u Tool high or more: leaves mther narrowly oblanceolato, acute 

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

 pedicels 3 to G 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, i Monogr. Silene, 204. 



In Yosemite VuUcy and at Olark's on the Murcud, Bridges, Gray. 



17. S. Douglasii, Hook. Finely puberuleut throughout, and rarely somewhat 

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

 slender, 6 to 15 inches high, simple, lew-tiowered : leaves narrowly obhinceolate to 

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

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

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

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

 stipitatu : seeds strongly tubercKid on tliu back. — Fl. i. 88 ; Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. ISiO. 

 aS'. iimUicaid'fi, Mutt.; Torr. k Clray, I'l. i. 1U2. 



From Wusiiiiiglou TtTritoiy and Monliina to the Siicruiueuto River, Donner Pass in the Sierra 

 Nevada, and the Wuhsatuh Mts. ; the most he(iueiit of all the species. Scanty specimens, doubt- 

 fully reiened hero, were collected by Palmer in the Cuyaniaca Mts., San Diego Co. 



S. ScouLEHl, Hook., and S. Spaldingii, Watson, Iwth 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 appwuiiiges ; claw 

 auricled ; capsule ovate, loug-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 occiu- in the Sienii Nevada, apparently undescribed, but the mate- 

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

 Ebbett'sPass {Breicer, n. 2081), and from some locality farther north (Lemmm), arealike in habit, 

 having mostly 1-Howered stems, linear leaves, a short subcampanulate calyx and short bifid pet^ils, 

 but diifer in pubescence and in some of the characters of the llower. They are closely allied to 

 that group of the genus Lychnis which includes L. affinis, trijlora, iipelala, kc, — alpine and 

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

 though some occur farther north and in the Rocky Mountains. 



2. CERASTIUM, i-iun. Mousimcak Ciiickweeu. 



Sepals 5, not carinate nor 3-nerveil. Petals 5, emarginate or bilid. 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. — ]\[ostly pubescent or hirsute low herbs ; leaves 

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

 cymes. 



Distinguished from Arenaria and Stelhiria by habit, as well as by the form and dehisceiue of 

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

 America. 



1. C. nutans, Paf. Annual, vi.scid-pubescent, erect, usually branched at the 

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

 I to H inches long, the lowest spatulate : cyme open, rather many-flowered ; pedi- 

 cels often nodding or retlexed in fruit : calyx 1^ to 2 lines long, the petals slightly 

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



