WATERLEAF FAMILY. Hydrophyllaceae. 



This is a straggling plant, with pretty 

 Nemophila delicate flowers, which suggest some sort of 



Nemdphila aurlta Nightshade. The stems are pale, square, 

 Purple juicy and very brittle, from one to three 



Summer feet long> and the i eaves are bright green 



and most of them are alternate, with leaf- 

 stalks which are winged and clasping at base. The backs 

 of the leaves, and the stems and calyxes, are covered with 

 hooked bristles, which enable the plant to climb over its 

 neighbors and give it the feeling of Bed-straw to the touch. 

 The flowers are nearly an inch across, with purple corollas, 

 shading to white in the center and paler outside, with 

 purple scales in the throat and purple stamens. This is 

 rather coarser than most Nemophilas and grows in light 

 shade on hillsides. 



There are several kinds of Conanthus, low hairy herbs, 

 with alternate, toothless leaves. The calyx and corolla 

 are without appendages; the stamens are not protruding, 

 and are unequal in length and unequally inserted in the 

 tube of the corolla; the style is two-lobed and the capsule 

 is roundish and contains from ten to twenty, smooth seeds. 

 This is a pretty little desert plant, , 

 Conanthus spreading its branches flat on the ground i 



Condnlhus r , / r i 



aretiotdes ancl beann g tufts of grayish-green, very 



Pink hairy foliage and a number of charming ; 



Spring little flowers, which are three-eighths of an i 



Idaho, Nev., nc | 1 acrosSj w jh V ery hairy calyxes and ! 



bright purplish-pink corollas, with a white 

 and yellow "eye" and a long, slender, yellow tube, which 

 is slightly hairy on the outside. The styles and anthers 

 are of various lengths in different plants. These gay little 

 flowers look very pretty on the dreary mesas around Reno 

 and suggest some sort of Gilia. 



414 



