Mesemhrijanthemum. FR'( )1 1 )K.E. 



201 



§ 1. P.viTi.usA, SoiidiT, 1. c. Surface of stciii aii.l l.-avcs covrn-.l with 

 colorless .sliiiiiiij,r i)ai)ula' : our species sprea.ling auiiuaU, liraiM-he.i fn.n, tl„_- base, 

 and with leaves alternate or scattered. 



» Lt-avcs linear, Kcmitercte. 

 M. nodiflorum, L. Snhorcct or procumbent, matted, covero.l witli fine papilla- : leaves 

 half inch to iml. in lenfjtli. a lino iu breadth, oi)tuse: Hower.M Hcatlered. small, Kiilm.-HMil.- „r 

 shortly pedunculate ; 4-5-cleft calyx considerably excee<lin>,' the minute whit.- i>etals : valvei* 

 of the <apsule r>, acut.-, not uncinate, stellately spreading when moist. —Spec. i. 4S0 • DC 

 I'l. Grxss. t. 88; I'arish. Zoe, i. 203. J/. r„,.ticum, L. 1. c. ed. 2, i. C8H ; ,Iac.,. Hort. Vi'ndoh 

 III. t. 6. J/, apelidnm, L. f. Suppl. 258. — Sandy hills on S. Californian coitst. San Diego Co 

 Clivelaud, Onult; San Cleniente Is!., Li/on & Necin, and Sta. Catalina Isl., liratuhqee] 

 locally abundant although, as Mr. I'arish states, our most restricted species. (S. Afr and 

 Mediterranean Uegion.) 



♦ * Leaves flat, with more or le.'^s expanded lamina. 

 M Crystallinum, L. (Kk Plant.) Very succulent, prostrate, forming mat.: papula 

 large and c.iisi.uiu.us : leaves ovate to obovate or bro;i<lly spatulate, amplexicaiil, the lowest 

 witli a cordate or subcordate petiolate base: flowers axillarv. sub..*e.-*.sile or borlie on short 

 thick erect peduncles: campanulate calyx 4 to 6 lines in length and about as broad : petals 

 piiik or purplish red, varying to white: carpels 5; valves of the retu.«e capsule a.s man v. 

 dorsally concave, micinately incurveti, hygroscopic, being opcne<l by moisture and clo.sed in 

 drought; nigrescent epicarp separating from the .stramineous more cartilaginous end.K-arp 

 — Spec. I. 480 (Dill Kith. t. 180, f. 221); DC. I'l Gnvss. t. 128; Sibth. Fl V.rxc v. t 481- 

 Parish, 1. c. 262. -In sandy soil, cjast of California and adjacent islan.ls (where especially 

 abundant and luxuriant), from Sta. Barbara southward, also in .Mojave De.sert. Mrs. firande. 

 ffic, Jid,- Parish ; first collected in California by Fremont. (Lower Calif, an'd adj. islands 

 Greece, N. Afr., Canary Ids., S. Afr.) I-irst recognized as indigenous on the Californian 

 islands by Prof. Greene. 



M. coRniFur.i.M, L. f. (Suppl. 260), a related red-flowered species with even the upper 

 leaves petiolate and cordate, is reported by K. Brandegee (Zoe ii. 332), as an escape about San 

 Francisco. (S. Afr.) 



§ 2. Epapulosa, Sonder, 1. c. 389. Stem and foliage smooth : our species 

 perennial with opposite thick dorsally carinate leaves. 



M. sequilaterale, IIa worth. Very fleshy: stems elongating and forming large mats: 



leaves 2 inches or more in length, oldong. acute, tri(juetroiis prismatic, thicker than broad : 



flowers large, terminal, shortly j)eiluiiculate, fragrant, 1} to 2 inches in diameter: sprea.iing 



lobes of the calyx very uneipial : petals roseate: styles 6 (or more) : fruit edible.— Mi.««c. 



Nat. 77, & Syn. PI. Sue. 237 ; Salm-Dyck, 1. c. fji.sc. L § 19. f. 1 ; Brew. & Wats. Hot. Calif. 



i. 251 ; Parish, 1. c. 261. M. dimidiatum, Torr. Pacif. H. Kep. iv. 75; Newberrv. ihid. vi. 



67; not Ilaw. — Sand dunes and sterile cliffs, Calift>rnia. on and near the coast from Point 



Reyes, Bifjihw, southward. (Lower Calif., Chili, Au.-^tralia, Tjusmania ) 



A .-slender erect-branched purplish-flowered species, probably the S. African M. STfexiM, 



Ilaw. (not the -scarlet-flowered .lA. <;„rineum. Haw., as at first determinetl), was in 1878 collectc.f 



at Point Conception, near Sta. Barbara, Calif., by Minx P!„mmn\ wher.-. :i.» h garden-escap<'. it 



ha<l become temporarily establisheil. However, ace. to Parish, I. c, it h:i.s already di.-<ip|H'are«l 



from this its only known N. American locality. 



