PURSLANE FAMILY. Portulacaceae. 



There are only one or two kinds of Spraguea, natives of 

 North America; low herbs, not very succulent, with fleshy 

 roots; the leaves alternate, or from the root; the small 

 flowers in coiled clusters ; the two sepals and the four petals 

 all papery; the stamens one, two,. or three in number; the 

 style long, with two stigmas; the capsule roundish, with 

 two valves, containing few or many, shining, black seeds. 



Sandy spots in the mountains are often 

 Pussy-paws brightened by lovely patches of the soft 



bl oms f tn ^ s attractive and odd- 



(Calyptridium) looking little plant. Near Wawona, on 

 Pink the Glacier Point trail, I saw at least half 



an acre of sand carpeted with beautiful 

 rose-color. In moderate altitudes the 

 plants are about ten inches tall, but they get dwarfish as 

 they climb and on the mountain-tops they are only an 

 inch or so high, with close mats of small leaves. They 

 have strong tap-roots and the leaves are dull gray-green, 

 rather thick and stiff but hardly succulent, and grow 

 mostly in rosettes at the base, those on the stem having 

 shrunk to mere bracts, with several, smooth, reddish 

 stalks springing from among them. Each stem bears a 

 close, roundish head, two or three inches across, consisting 

 of many tightly-coiled tufts of shaded pink, each composed 

 of innumerable, small, pink flowers, the papery, pink and 

 white sepals and bracts being the most conspicuous part. 

 They overlap each other and have daintily ruffled edges. 

 The three stamens are long and protruding and the style 

 long and threadlike. The flower-clusters are like soft 

 pink cushions, so the pretty little name of Pussy-paws is 

 appropriate, both to form and coloring. Chipmunks are 

 very fond of the small, black seeds. 



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