2 12 BOTANICAL GAZETTE Lsepiember 



wood, Lc. 156,. N, fallax Eastwood,/, c. 156. N. diversifolia 



Eastwood, /^/^. 29:473. 1902, N. decumbens Eastwood, /. t:. 



Plants when growing in deep shade weak and only moderately 



hairy; in more open places usually more stout and hispid: branches 



from a few centimeters to 6^^ long: cotyledons with orbicular or 



oval blade and slender petiole : leaves exceedingly diverse in 



form and size, i to lo'^'" long; the lower opposite, mostly pinnate 



with 5 to 9 suborbicular, often 2 or 3-lobed divisions on narrow 



petiolules ; the upper often alternate, less divided, not rarely 



entire: peduncles slender, shorter or longer than the leaves, 



spreading: calyx-lobes from ovate- to linear-lanceolate, 1.5 to 



gmm \qx\^ ; appendages proportionately broader, most!}' less than 



a fourth as long, reflexed : corolla pelviform or broadly cam- 



panulate, 4 to 10™™ across, white or bluish; scales various, 



semicircular, oblong or triangular, occasionally half free, entire 



or laciniate : style from i to 3 times as long as the ovary, parted 



for from a third to a half its length : capsule globular, 2 to 4 



in diameter : seeds 2 to 5 per capsule, elongated-globular, scro- 



biculate ; caruncle cap- or stipe-like. Plate IV. 



This species includes several forms which have long been classed with /v. 

 parviflora. It represents a larger range of variation than any other Nemo- 

 phila, but these variations are nearly all directly referable to life relations. 

 In view of the attempt which has recently been made^ to define several spe- 

 cies in this group, a discussion of the characters employed in discrimination 

 of the forms seems worth while. 



Habit, pubescence, and leaves do not afford satisfactory characters, for 

 they all depend to a great extent on the life relations of the individual. For 

 example, plants growing in deep shade tend to produce broad leaves and 

 sparse pubescence, the degree of dissection of the leaves and the density of 

 the pubescence being fairly accurate measures of the intensity of the light 



mm 



received ; moisture very strongly increases the general thrift of the plant and 

 diminishes the pubescence ; competition prevents spreading and lengthens 

 the internodes ; so, too, soil, temperature, wind, and a dozen other factors 

 have their influences. When we remember that not one, but all of these 

 factors are operative on each plant, and when we realize that we are dealmg 

 with one of the most unstable of genera, we are constrained to put little faith 

 in vegetative characters. 



•Eastwood, Bull. Torn Bot. Club 28: 137 ei seq. 



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