BOTANY. 



153 



»" 



\ 



I'" 



Wright 



The stem is 12-18 inches long^ prostrate, and much branched. 



4 



The leaves vary from coarsely sinuate -toothed to nearly entire- Flowers solitarj^, on pedicels 



which are much longer than the petioles. Corolla campanulate-rotate^ purple, half an inch or 



more in diameter. Fructiferous calyx nearly as hroad as long and much larger than the berry. 



Seeds irregular in outline, less compressed, and thicker on the edge than is usual in this genus; 



the testa cellular and spongy, 



Physalis pumila, Nutt, in Trans, Amer. Pliil, Soc, (n. ser.) 5, p. 193 ; Var. ? Sonor^ : glabra, 



foliis lanceolatis integris. FronteraSj Sonora ; June, TJmrher. About a foot high, apparently 



erect, branching towards the summit Leaves solitary, 2-3 inches long, and 5-7 lines wide, 



attenuated at the base into a petiole. Flowers solitary, on pedicels which are shorter than the 



petioles. Segments of the calyx as long as the tube, triangular-lanceolate, acute. Corolla cam- 



panulate, yellowish, immaculate. 



Physalis LANCEOLATA ; Michx. YaT.? SPATHULiEFOLr a : prostrata dichDtomeramosa minute pubes- 

 cens; foliis spathulatis vel oblongo-spathulatis obtusis basi attenuatis solitariis vel geminis ; 

 pedunculis solitariis petiolo sublougioribuserectis ; calycibus campanulatis dentibus tubo duplo 

 brevioribus ; corolla rotato-campanulatapurpureo-maculata. On the sea beach near the mouth of 

 the Rio Grande, May ; Schott. We have a viscidly stellate-pubescent form, collected by Drura- 

 mond in southern Texas, probably on the shore of the Gulf. 



Physalis longifolia^ Nutt. h c. f ; Bimalj L c. Alluvions of the Ptio Grande, 35 miles below 

 San Elceario, and near the Copper Mines, June — July ; Bigeloio. Lower Rio Grande ; Schott. We 

 have also specimens collected by Lieut. Abert, on the upper Canadian, in 1846. Our plant 

 differs from the descriptions given by Nuttall and Dunal in scarcely any respect except the nar- 

 rower leaves. We have, however, only the upper part of the plant, on which the leaves 

 (including the petiole) are rather oblong-lanceolate than ovate-lanceolate. Some of them are 

 about 4 inches long. The root, according to Nuttall, is perennial. 



Physalis Alkekeis'gi /9 digitalifolia, Dunal, L c. p. 438. Along the Rio Mimbres, New 

 Mexico, May ; Thurher. Near the Copper Mines ; Bigeloio. Sierra del Pajarito, Sonora ; 

 Schott. Probably, as Dunal suspects, a distinct species. 



Physalis mollis, Niitt. I. c. Western Texas, and near the Copper Mines ; Thurher. Nos. 

 1599 and 1600, WrigJity seem to be only forms of this species ; and 1597 a smoother form of 

 the same. We have also specimens collected near Monterey. Flowers dull yellow, with dark 

 purple spots at the base. It is near the preceding species. 



Physalis caediophylla (n, sp ): perennis ; caule petiolisque minute puberulis ; foliis plerumrj^ue 

 solitariis late cordatis grosse sinuato-dentatis longe petiolatis glabriusculis utrinque viridibus ; 



pedicellis 



brevioribus 



(lutea) infundibuliformi-rotata immaculata. Sonora, and California, desert of the Colorado ; 

 flowers throughout the season ; Schott. Stem 12-18 inches long, branching from the root, 

 ascending or prostrate. Leaves f-l| inch long, and nearly as broad as long, slightly succu- 

 lent, sometimes nearly entire ; the petiole about as long as the lamina. Pedicels mostly longer 

 than the petioles. Calyx 2 lines long, the teeth triangular and acute. Corolla half an inch in 

 diameter. Anthers eq^ual, yellow. Fructiferous calyx ovate, an inch and a quarter long. Fruit 



small 



much 



testa. 



20 k 



