December 31, 1906 193 



MiRA^iuS GLUTiNOSA Aven Nelson, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 

 17: 92. 1904. 

 No. 8248, collected May 14, on the Red Hill west of Bishop, 

 Inyo county, in volcanic detritus. It has white flowers, and is 

 rather common in the vicinity, occurring also about granite 

 rocks in the Sierra foothills. The type was collected at "Kar- 

 shaw, Meadow Valley Wash, Nev., May 27, 1902," by Leslie 

 N. Gooding, no. 967. 



Mirabilis retrorsa 



Stems several from a branched woody caudex, about 4 dm. 

 high, branched from the base and diffusely spreading, glabrous 

 and glaucescent below, sparsely armed above with short retrorse 

 chaffy hairs as well as glandular in and near the inflorescence, 

 leafy throughout: leaves light green, coriaceous, ovate, acute or 

 acutish, the base oblique or somewhat rounded, but apparently 

 not cordate, covered on both sides with short curved chaffy 

 hairs, the largest with blades 22 mm. long, 16 mm. wide, on 

 margined petioles 7 mm. long, the smaller ones somewhat 

 shorter petioled but none sessile: involucres one-flowered, gland- 

 ular, campanulate, 5 mm. high, 5-lobed, the lobes slightly un- 

 equal, lanceolate, acute, 2 mm. long; peduncles uniformly short 

 (2-3 mm.): corolla white, campanulate-funnelform, its lobes 

 slightly notched: immature fruit pale olive, glabrous, faintly 

 striate. 



The type is no. 8336, collected May 25, 1906, in Owen's 

 valley in the extreme southern part of Mono county, California, 

 near the Southern Belle mine, in gravel, growing in clumps near 

 low shrubs. The smooth appearance and pointed leaves at once 

 attracted attention to this plant as different from M. glutinosa^ 

 its nearest relative. The hairs of that species are "flattened or 

 crinkled," the "leaves reniform, or broadly ovate-cordate, obtuse 

 at apex and mostly broadly rounded," and the lobes of the invo- 

 lucre "short-ovate," all characters in which M. retrorsa differs. 



