Oryctes. SOLAXACE^E. .',41 



the wanner regions, the greater number American, but there are remarkably few in 

 Oregon and California, and those only on the borders. The fruit of several species 

 is edible when cooked, but of little importance. 



§ 1. Corolla violet or purple, opeiwotate : seeds thickish and obscurely tuberculate- 

 rugose : calyx, pedicels, and all (he young parts scurfy-granuliferous 

 or mealy, otherwise wholly glabrous. — CHA2I.XPHYSALIS, Gray, Proc. Am. 

 Acad. x. 62. 



1. P. lobata, Terr. Low, diffusely branched or at length spreading and de- 

 cnmbent from a thickish perennial root: leaves oblong-spatulate or obovate, vary- 

 ing from nearly entire to angu late-toothed and pinnatitid, tapering into a margined 

 petiole : pedicels usually in pairs, longer than the flower : corolla from half to two 

 thirds of an inch wide : fruiting calyx globular-inflated, about half an inch long. — 

 Torr. in Ann. Lye. X. Y. ii. 226. Solatium luteoliflorum, Dunal in DC. 1. c. Saracha 

 acutifolia, Miersl 



Dry plains, from Texas to Arizona ; probably reaching the southeastern border of California. 



§ 2. Corolla while, greenish, or yellow, mostly rotate-campamdate : seeds smooth and 

 even, minutely punctate: no scurf or mealiness, and leaves never truly ptu- 

 natifid. — True Physalis. 



* Root perennial > anthers yellow : corolla not spotted or dark in tlie centre : leaves 



thickish. 



2. P. crassifolia, Benth. Pale or minutely hoary with an extremely short and 

 fine almost imperceptible pubescence: leaves at length nearly glabrous (half to an 

 inch and a half long), ovate or round-cordate, repandly few-toothed or almost entire: 

 pedicels long and slender : corolla apparently i-ivam-color, half an inch in diameter : 

 fruiting calyx an inch long, 5-angled. — Bot. Sulph. 40. P. cardiophylla, Torr. 

 Bot. Mex. Bound. 153, a form with mostly round-cordate leaves. 



Along the Rio Colorado (Bigdow, &c), east of San Bernardino (Parry), ami in Lower California. 



P. glabra, Benth. 1. c, is a diffuse and small-leaved species, n- yet known only in Lower 

 California, well marked by being perfectly glabrous, even to the calyx, tic- leaves ovate-Ian — 

 late ami approaching hastate ; otherwise nearly like P. crassifolia. 



* * Root annual: <n<tlnr.< tinged with blue or violet: corolla greenish-yellow with a 



dark centre: leaves thin or soft. 



3. P. aequata, dacq. Green and almost glabrous, a foot or two high, widely 

 spreading: I. -aw, ovate cm- oblong, sinuate-toothed or repand : pedicel- very short : 



corolla less than half an inch l.r 1 : fruiting calyx ovate-globose and little angled 



at maturity. — Jacq. f. Eclog. 2, t. 137 : Gray, 1. c. 



i is in Coulter's Californian collection, probably from the most southern partofthi S 



as it is a Mexican species, 



I. P. pubescens, I. inn. A foot or two high, widely spreading, villous or 

 pubescent with viscid spreading soft hairs, strong-scented : leaves ovate or cordate, 

 varying From entire to angulate-toothed, rather tender, about 2 inches long: pedi- 

 cels shorter than the ovate stron I. 5 ingled fruiting calyx: corolla barely half an 



inch in diameter. 



Fort Yuma, on the Rio Colorado (Thon Atlantic States, where 



it is common. 



6. ORYCTES, Watson. 



Calyx deeply 5 -cleft, with narrow lobes, somewhat enlarging in fruit and 1 



nearly the length ..f the globose rather feW-S led dry berry. Corolla short tubular. 



a little exceeding thi i-t othed, plaited in the hud; the lobes nearly erect 



