LOASA FAMILY. Loasaceae. 



A pretty plant, two to four inches high. 

 Blue violet 



Viola adunca var. with sli g htl Y hair 7 leaves and flowers 

 longipes nearly an inch long, with bright purplish- 



Blue, purple blue or violet petals, more or less veined 



with purple, the side petals hairy at base 

 inside. This grows near the coast. 



Charming flowers, often growing in 

 Johnny Jump-up, quantities on open hillsides. The leafy 

 Yellow Pansy , . . ... 



yi l a stems are from two to six inches high, the 



pedunculhta leaves rather dark green and the scentless 



Yellow flowers, about an inch across, have bright 



golden petals, with some purple lines at 

 the base of the three lower ones, the spur 

 and upper petals tinged with brownish-purple on the out- 

 side, the two side petals hairy at base inside, and the stigma 

 hairy. The Spanish-Californian name is Gallito. There 

 is no technical difference between Pansies and Violets. 



LOASA FAMILY. Loasaceae. 



Not a very large family, all but one natives of America; 

 herbs, armed with hooked, stinging or sticky hairs; with- 

 out stipules; the flowers perfect, with five sepals and five 

 to ten petals; the stamens numerous, with threadlike 

 filaments, the outer ones sometimes petal-like, inserted 

 with the petals on the throat of the calyx and usually 

 arranged in clusters opposite the petals; the ovary inferior, 

 with a threadlike style; the capsule crowned with the calyx- 

 lobes. 



There are many kinds of Mentzelia, all western, often 

 with white shining stems and alternate leaves; the calyx 

 cylindrical or top-shaped, with five lobes; the petals five 

 or ten; the styles three, somewhat united. The barbed 

 hairs which clothe the stems and leaves make the plant 

 stick to whatever it touches, probably helping to distribute 

 the seeds, hence the common name Stick-leaf. 



A stout, branching biennial, two to 



Blazing Star oyer three feet tall with shining w hite 



Mentzelta , . . 



laevicaulis stems, almost smooth, long, rather narrow, 



Yellow wavy-toothed leaves and enormous 



Summer, autumn flowers, in clusters of two or three at the 

 West, except endg of the b ranc ries and opening only in 

 Wash, and Ariz. . 



bright sunlight, ihcy are from three to 



300 



