Synthtipsis. CRrCIFKIMO. | •_' ] 



8. PHYSARIA, Gray. (Xaino from (pvrrdinoi', a dimiiiutivo of «/!>ro-u. a 

 pair (tl hclluw.s, .suygcsti'cl by the didyinous fruit and siciid.r stylt;. Tin.* iiamo 

 first ai){)lied by Nuttull in Torr. & (Iray, l-'l. i. Kfi, as a sertioiial di-signatidu 

 in the genus Vesicaria.) — A small genus witli the wiiole aspect of Lrsifuvnlln, 

 but to be distinguished by its strongly didynious fruit with a narrow partitinn. 

 Perennials, many-gteninicd and spreading. — (Jiii. 111. i. KrJ; Wats. Prm-. Am. 

 Acad. xvii. 363; Prantl in Engl, ct l*ranll, Nat. I'llanzenf. iii. Ab. 2, IH?. — 

 Species with excellent characters in the fruit, l)ut otherwise very dillicult to 

 distinguish. [By B. L. RoHlNSON.] 



* Fruit at maturity uiucli iuliated : upper sinus :uuto, usually narrnw. 



P. didymocarpa, Gray, 1. c. Very canesceut ami Iciiulolo with close white stellate ])u)>et(- 

 ceuee: radical leaves petiolate, with roundish tootheil au>i;led or entire lihide or olilaneeolaie 

 and moro or less sinuately toothed helow : cauliue loaves mostly entire, spaiidate : racemes 

 dense; pedicels becoming 6 or 7 lines long, ascending or spreading : llowers variable a-s to 

 size: sepals lanceolate, surpassed by the rather narrow pale yellow petals: fruit strongly 

 didymous, rather deeply notched above, entire or more or less cordate at biuso, U-coming 

 6 or 8 lines in breadth ; lobes subglobose with no demarcation between the dorsal and 

 lateral surfaces; walls pa])cry. — Wats. Bot. King Exp. 2o, & I'roc. .\m. .\cad. xvii. ;}fi.'{. 

 Vesicaria didymocarpa, Hook. Fl. 13or.-Am. i. 49, t. 16; Torr. & Cr.ay, Fl. i. IOl'. — 'Ihe com- 

 monest species and rather variable; Colorado to N. Nevada an<l Oregon, northward to Hrit. 

 America, chiefly in mountainous regions. A noteworthy form fnjm Middle I'.irk, ('olura4lo, 

 Pamj, has a laxer inflorescence and fruit divided almost to the base. 



P. Ne"wberryi, Gr.vy. Very similar in habit and foliage: flowers nnwtly larger: ]K'UtU 

 sometimes 8 lines in length, usually narrow: cells of the fruit provided wi;h two angles or 

 keels rather sharply separating the convex di)rsal portion from the tlattish lateral jMirtion.s; 

 walls firmer in texture tlian in the preceding, .and in drying tending to fold regularly along 

 the keels. — Hot. Ives Rep. 6, & Am. .Tour. Sci. ser. 2, xxxiii. 24.'5 ; Wats. I'roc. .\m. Acad, 

 xvii. 363. — Mountain valleys, New Mexico near Tegua, Xrirhcrri/, Ft. Wingate, Matthews ; 

 Arizona, on Cave Dwellers' Mountain, Lc.mmon ; S. Utah, Parrif ; Nevada, Pahrauagat 

 Mts., Miss Searle, and Mountain Sjjring, Baileij. 



# # Fruit strongly conii)ressed laterally, only moderately or scarcely at all intlated : sinus 

 at the apex of tlie fruit shallow, rounded : species of Oregon and Washington. 



P. Geyeri, CrKAY. Wliitish with very dense stellate tomentum : radical leaves with sliort 

 broadly ovate entire obtusely -pointed blades narrowed behjw to long ehaiuielled petioles; 

 cauliue leaves small, spatulate: racemes rather dense, an inch or two long: pedicels spread- 

 ing or curved-ascending, 3 lines long: fruit small for the genus, bro.adly ami sliallowly 

 obcordate, narrowed toward the base; cells but 2Mo 3.^ lines long at ilehi.scence ; re|ihim 

 ovate, much exceeded by the persistent style. — Gen. 111. i. 162; Torr. Rot. Wilkes F.ximmI. 

 232; Wats. 1. c. Vesicaria Gcf/eri, Hook. Loud. .Tour. Rot. vi. 70, t. .5. — Sandy soils mid 

 volcanic ash ; Upper Spokane Valley, ^c//er; on prairies between the S|>ok;uie lliver and 

 Ft. Colville, Wilkes, and on Spokane River, Henderson. 



P. Oregona, Watsox, 1. c. Leaves larger, canesceut, not so white as in the preceding: 

 pedicels mostly curved-ascending, G lines or more in length : seji.ils ovate-Ianceohifo to lanci»- 

 oblong, 2i lines in length, consider.ably exceeded by. the pale yellowish petals, rapsnli' 

 becoming 6 to 8 lines broad, rounded or very ,shallowly cordate at ba.se ; ells somi-what 

 inflated but dorsally narrowed to a more f>r less distinct keel; style scarcely a line in 

 length. — Oregon, gulches near niontli of Pine Creek :ind upi«n gnivelly banks of Snake 

 River below Brownlce Ferry, Cusic/,- ; II. Ajnil. fr. .hnie. 



9. SYNTHLiPSIS. Gray. (Sri^Aiii'i?, compression, in reference to tlic 

 flattened fruit.) — A small genus of sjjreading grayish-pubescent herbs of rhc 

 Southwest, nearly related on the one hand to Li/rtinir/iii :ind <>n the oiIht to 

 Lesquerella. Stems leafy: leaves sinuate-tootiied or pinnatilid. Hacemes lax. 



