Orossosoma. BERBERIDACE^. 



bears one or two leaves wliich are really ternately decompound, but very often each tornnnil 

 division IS stalked and again ternate y divided, wliile the lateral ones are scLile a"id onh too ?' 

 or lobed, thus making the last division pinnately 5-foliolate. LeaHets 1 to 2 inches lo . do 1 

 or unequally serrate. In our variety the raceme is short and capitate in flower becom'inL' 3 u. 



^::^::^^mJ::^:^' '''''''- ^^""'^^' ''- ^-^-- -- -"-^ -^ « to in^sVng" 



12. P^ONIA, Linn. 

 Sepals 5, herbaceous, persistent, imbricated in the bud. Petals 5 to 10. Sta- 

 mens numerous, inserted on a fleshy disk. Pistils 2 to 5. Fruit of 2 to 5 leathery 

 several-seeded follicles. — Perennial herbs with ternately or pinnately compound 

 leaves and showy flowers. 



Species 3 to 6, according to the different views of different authorities, all belonging to the 

 ^;n^::^Z.ert'''^ '''''''''' ''-''''' ''''' '' '''-' varieties) are in common culVationVr 



1. P. Brownii Dougl. Leaves thick, 1 - 2-ternately compound, the leaflets ter- 

 nately and pinnately lobed : follicles 3 to 5. —Hook. PI. Bor -Am i 97 p rn/; 



fornica, Xutt. ; Torr. & Gray, PI. i. 41. 



1 „^f ^ Bernardino to Vancouver and Western Utah, but rare east of the Sierra Nevada Stems 

 10 to 18 indies high smooth, striate, erect when growing but gradually bending over until matu- 

 rity, when the follicles rest on the ground. Leaves glauSous beneath, either glaucous or"lab?ous 

 above. Sepals green, sometimes quite unequal in size. Petals scarcely larger than the sepals, 

 thick and leathery, dull, dark red. Follicles very leathery, smooth, erect, 1 to U inches Ion- 

 Ihis plant endures a great range of station and climate, from wet to very dry soils" and from the 

 liot plains of Southern California to near the confines of perpetual snow on the mountains. 



13. CROSSOSOMA, Nutt. 

 ^ Sepals 5, orbicular, imbricated in the bud, unequal, persistent, scariously mar- 

 gined, united at base into a short turbinate tube. Petals 5, not clawed. Stamens 

 numerous (12 to 30), inserted with the petals in 2 or 3 irregular series upon the 

 somewhat thickened base of the calyx, persistent : anthers attached dorsally a little 

 above the base, dehiscing longitudinally down the sides. Carpels 2 to 6, distinct, 

 sessile upon a short stipe, coriaceous, folHcular, many-seeded. Seeds in 2 rows, with 

 a large fringed arillus, globose-reniform, black and shining : embryo strongly curved 

 in the thick fleshy albumen and nearly as long, the narrowly oblong cotyledons 

 exceeding the radicle.— Smooth shrubs with alternate simple entire mucronulate 

 leaves, and solitary flowers terminating the branchlets. 



A genus anomalous among the PMnuncidaccce on account of its perigraous stamens, arilled 

 seeds, the characters of the embryo, &c It is referred doubtfully by Bentham and Hooker to the 

 UiUcniaeece. 1 he following are the only known species. 



1. C. Californicum, Xntt. A stout difi-use shrub, 4 feet hi-h, with Avhitish 

 wood and gray bitter bark : leaves oblong, 1 to 3 inches long, attenuate to a very 

 short petiole : flowers large, on long stout peduncles ; petals orbicular, 6 to 9 lines 

 long : carpels oblong, 8 to 12 lines long, 20 - 25-seeded : seeds over a line in diame- 

 ter, with a shming crustaceous testa, covered with the brown fringe of the arillus. 

 — PI. Gamb. 150, t. 22 ; Torr. Pacif. E. Rep. iv. t. 1, fig. 1, only. 



Catalina Island {Gamhel, Wallace, D'lU) ; Guadalupe Island, growing in the crevices of high 

 clitls, Palmer. Flowers in February, ripening its seeds in April ; stamens 25 to 30. 



2. C. Bigelovii, Watson. Low and more slender : leaves glaucous, 3 to 6 lines 

 long, somewhat fascicled : pedicels shorter : petals purple or white, spatulate-obloug, 



6 lines long : stamens 15 to 25 : carpels 10- 12-seeded, h inch long. Pruc. Am.' 



Acad. xi. 122. C. Californicum, Torr. in Pacif. R. Pep. iv. 63, t. l^excl. lig. 1. 



Canons near the mouth of Bill Williams River {Bigeloic) ; east of San Bernardino, Parry. 



