Flora of the Palouse Region 77 



118. CLEMATIS. 



Perennial herbs, low and erect, or more or less woody vines, 

 climbing by the petioles: leaves opposite: sepals 4, rarely more, 

 petal-like: petals none or minute: stamens numerous: pistils num- 

 erous, i-ovuled: styles feathery or naked in fruit. 



Erect herbs: leaves compound, with narrow divisions. C. hirsutissima. 

 Half woody climbers. 



Flowers white, small. C. ijgusticifolia. 



Flowers large, blue. C. ykkticii.i.aris. 



C. hirsutissima Pursh. Stems tufted, 30-50 cm. tall, from a tough woody 

 caudex: leaves 3-4 pairs, twice-pinnately compound, the ultimate divisions 

 linear or lanceolate, pubescent when young, becoming glabrous: flower sol- 

 itary, at first nodding, then erect, usually long-peduncled: sepals dark-blue, 

 thick, 3-4 cm. long, closely contiguous, pubescent outside: akenes pubes- 

 cent, their long tails very plumose. Common in low places. 



C. ligUSticifolia Nutt. Half-woody climber, the stem 2-10 m. long: leaves 

 pinnately compound, of 5-7 leaflets, or the lower pair ternate; leaflets ovate 

 or lanceolate, sometimes 3-lobed, coarsely incised-dentate or subentire, 3-6 

 cm. long, sparsely pubescent, becoming glabrous: flowers dioecious, in large 

 panicles, the staminate more showy: sepals white, oblong, densely hairy, 2 

 cm. long: akenes pubescent, the long tails plumose. Common along Snake 

 River. 



C. verticillaris var. Columbiana Gray. Half woody climber, with slen- 

 der stems: leaves ternate, petioled: leaflets ovate, acuminate, sparsely pubes- 

 cent, entire or nearly so: flowers solitary on naked peduncles: sepals ascend- 

 ing, blue, oblong-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, ciliate, 4-5 cm. long: outer 

 stamens with the filaments more or less dilated and petal-like, the anthers 

 wanting: akenes with long plumose tails. Moist woods, Cedar Mountain, 

 infrequent. 



119. MYOSURUS. 



Very small annual herbs: leaves entire, linear or at first spatu- 

 late, in a basal tuft: scapes simple, 1 -flowered: sepals 5, spurred at 

 the base: petals 5, greenish-yellow, with long nectariferous claws, 

 or none: stamens 5-20: pistils numerous, borne on a central axis, 

 the receptacle, which becomes greatly elongated in fruit; ovule 1. 



Spike 2-6 mm. long: carpels prominently beaked. M. apetai.is. 



vSpike 10-50 mm. long: carpels obscurely beaked. M. r.KPTt'Krs. 



M. apetalus Gay. Scapes 3-8 cm. high: leaves linear-spatulate, half the 



length of the scapes: fruiting spikes 2-6 mm. long: akenes oblong, the back 

 with a prominent keel which is prolonged into a stout beak as long as the 

 body. Rare within our limits. The plant usually becomes reddish when 

 mature, and often forms dense mats. 



M, lepturus Howell. Taller, 10-20 cm. tall: leaves linear, one-fourth as 

 long as the scapes: fruiting spikes slender, 1-5 cm. long: akenes scarcely 

 keeled on the back, the beak much shorter than the body. In dried-up 

 ponds, infrequent. Very different from the preceding, hut scarcely dis- 

 tinguishable from M. minimus L. 



