Flora of the Palouse Region 135 



Low shrub, 10-30 cm. high. V. caespiTosim. 



Large shrub, 1-2 m. high. V. membra xacki'm. 



V. caespitOSUm Michx. Low bushy shrub, 10-30 cm. high, glabrous or 

 minutely puberulent: leaves obovate, obtuse or acute, crenulate-serrulate, 

 cuneate at base, very short-petioled, 1-2 cm. long: flowers solitary in the 

 axils, longer than the drooping pedicels: calyx-lobes very short: corolla pink, 

 ovoid, 5-6 mm. long: berry blue, with a bloom, sweet, 3-5 mm. in diameter. 

 North hillsides, common. 



V. membranaceum Dougl. vShrub, 1-2 m. high, glabrous throughout or 

 nearly so: leaves oval or ovate, acute, rarely obtuse, cuneate at base, finely 

 serrate, paler beneath, 1-4 cm. long, short-petioled: pedicels slender: calyx- 

 limb entire: corolla nearly globose, yellowish, 4-5 mm. long: fruiting ped- 

 icels erect: fruit without a bloom, dark-wine-color or nearly black. Open 

 pine woods, common. 



Family 58. PRIMULACEAE. 



Herbs: leaves simple, mostly entire, alternate, opposite or clus- 

 tered, without stipules: flowers regular, perfect: corolla gamopet- 

 alous, 4-8 usually 5-lobed or cleft: stamens as many as and op- 

 posite the corolla-lobes, epipetalous: ovary superior, 1 -celled, with 

 a free central placenta rising from the base: fruit a capsule: seeds 

 several or many; endosperm fleshy. 



Stems present, leafy. 225. STEIROXEMA. 



vStemless: leaves all radical. 226. dodecaTheox. 



225. STEIRONEMA. , 



Leafy-stemmed perennials: leaves all opposite but seemingly in 

 whorls on the flowering branches: flowers yellow, on slender ax- 

 illary peduncles: calyx 5-parted: corolla rotate, deeply 5-parted: 

 capsules 10-20-seeded. 



S. ciliatum Raf. Stems erect, usually simple, 30-90 cm. high, puberu- 

 lent above or wholly glabrous: leaves opposite, or the upper whorled, ovate, 

 acuminate, rounded or cordate at base, the margin ciliate, 2-4 cm. long: 

 petioles broad, coarsely ciliate, 1-2 cm. long: pedicels exceeding the leaves: 

 flowers yellow, 1.5-2 cm. broad: calyx-lobes lanceolate, acuminate, shorter 

 than the petals. Along streams and ponds, common. 



226. DODECATHEOX. 



Perennial smooth or glandular stemless herbs: leaves all in a 

 radical cluster, oblong or spatulate: flowers showy, nodding, in an 

 umbel, on a scape, with an involucre: calyx deeply 5-cleft: corolla 

 with a very short tube, 5-parted, purple or white: capsule ovoid 

 or oblong, many seeded: filaments distinct and short or united into 

 a tube. 



