252 HYDROPHYLLACE^. 



in bud; the throat appendaged within with 10 scales or plaits. Stamens 

 and style mostly shorter than the corolla; filaments naked; anthers 

 sagittate. Ovary tardily dehiscent by 2 valves, 1 16-seeded. Seeds 

 globular or nearly so. 



* Leaves alternate,' stems beset with short retrorse prickles. 



1. N. aurita, Lindl. Stems both fleshy and very brittle, 13 ft. 

 long, reclining or trailing by the prickly angles: leaves deeply pinnatifid 

 above into mostly retrorse lobes, the petiole broadly winged and the 

 wing auriculate-dilated at the base : lower peduncles 1 flowered, upper 

 often 3-flowered: appendages of the calyx very small: corolla 1 in. broad, 

 dark violet, its appendages broad, partly free : seeds globose, reticulate. 

 Shady slopes of hills, in San Mateo Co., and on Angel Island. 



2. N. membranacea (Benth.). More slender, paler, glaucescent, 

 prickly-angled and procumbent, 1 1J^ ft. long: leaves pinnately divided 

 into 39 linear obtuse nearly entire divisions; the petiole winged: fl. 

 few or many on the peduncles, very small; calyx and corolla without 

 appendages, the latter white: seeds globose, reticulated. Shady hillsides 

 from the Livermore Valley southward. Thoroughly congeneric with 

 N'. racemosa; only empirically placed under "Ellisia," notwithstanding 

 the absence of calyx-bractlets. March, April. 



* * Leaves often opposite; stems not prickly-angled. 



3. N, iusignis, Dougl. At length very branching, the branches 

 ascending, 6 10 in. high: leaves pinnately parted into 79 oblong, 

 sometimes 3 5-lobed, small divisions: corolla rotate-campanulate, 1 in. 

 broad, clear blue; its internal scales short and rounded, partly free, short- 

 hirsute: seeds oval, somewhat corrugated or tuberculate. Very common 

 in rich fields and on low hills. April, May. 



4. Jf. Menziesii, Hook. & Arn. Smaller than the preceding, the 

 leaves less divided: corolla as large, rather more nearly rotate, white or 

 very pale blue, sprinkled with dark dots toward the centre, the spots 

 confluent into a purplish eye; its scales narrow, one edge wholly adherent, 

 the other free and densely ciliate: seeds oval or oblong, either smooth or 

 somewhat tuberculate. Not as common as the last, though plentiful in 

 some parts of Marin and Napa counties. April, May. 



5. N. pedunculata, Benth. Every way much smaller than the last; 

 whole plant 24 in. high: corolla seldom 2 lines wide, white, with purple 

 veinlets. Rocky shades, and very wet plains; not uncommon. May. 



6. X. parviiiora, Dougl. Slender, weak and procumbent, neither 

 the leaves nor the stems notably succulent: leaves pinnately 5 9-parted, 

 the divisions obovate or oblong, obtuse: corolla campanulate, 35 lines 

 broad, white; its appendages oblong, wholly adherent by one edge, 

 nearly or quite glabrous. Shady mountain sides. April June. 



