PURSLANE FAMILY. Portalacaceae. 



later ones oval, round and kidney ^shaped, and they vary 

 also in tint, in dry places being sometimes a dull yellowish- 

 pink. The stem-leaves are quite odd, for a single pair 

 have united around the stem and become a circular or 

 somewhat two-lobed disk, one or two inches broad, the 

 stalk piercing right through its center. This leaf forms a 

 pretty, shallow saucer, with a small, loose cluster of tiny 

 flowers, on slender flower-stalks, springing from the middle. 

 This is common everywhere in orchards or vineyards, and 

 in shady places in the foothills and canyons, and has long 

 been cultivated in England for salad. It is also called 

 Indian Lettuce and Squaw Cabbage. M. perfolicLta 

 similar. 



This charming little flower resembles 

 Mdntia pa^Jdlia the Spring Beauty of the East, Claytonia 

 White and pink Virginica, and blooms in late spring 

 Spring among the ferns and wet grasses near the 



Northwest Yosemite waterfalls and in similar places 



The white flowers, about three-quarters of an inch across, 

 are often tinged with pink and the five stamens are violet. 

 The tender stems, about eight inches tall, are weak and 

 almost trailing and the pale-green leaves are smooth, the 

 lower ones slightly thick and succulent, with little bulblets 

 in the axils, which drop off in drying; the capsule mostly 

 has only one seed. 



There are several kinds of Claytonia, resembling Montia. 

 A pretty little plant, three or four inches 

 high, with a juicy, reddish stem and 

 lanceolita thickish, bluish-green, juicy leaves, the 



Pink and white root-leaf narrow, the two stem-leaves 

 Spring broader. The flowers, over half an inch 



veined with pink, with a little yellow at 

 the base of the petals; the pistil and stamens pink; the two 

 sepals yellowish-green. This grows on moist mountain 

 slopes, up to an altitude of nine thousand feet, some- 

 times at the edge of the snow, is pretty and delicate and 

 also resembles the eastern Spring Beauty. 



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