﻿PLANTiE PRATTENIAN^ CALIFORNIA. 83 



HYPERICACE.E. 

 HYPERICUM Scouleri, Hook. PL Bor. Am. vol. i. p. 111. 



H. conctnnum, Benth. PI. Hartw. No. 1670. " Suffruticosum, glabrum, ramis her- 

 baceis teretibus vel superne compressis ; foliis oblongis, sessilibus, semiamplexicaulibus, 

 opacis, subtus nigro-punctatis ; cymis confertis paucifloris, sepalis ovatis acutis glan- 

 duloso-dentatis, lineatis, petalorum dimidium aequantibus ; staminibus numerosis, 

 obsolete triadelphis ; stylis 3-distinctis, suberectis." 



"Stems ligneous at base, numerous, erect, simple, half a foot high. Leaves tough, 

 8 — 10'" long, 2'" broad, with a sharp acumination, entire, sparingly nigro-punctate, 

 the middle rib somewhat prominent, veins inconspicuous. Flowers 3 — 7 together at 

 the summit of the stems, of the size of those of H. perforatum. Pedicels short, 

 with two opposite bracteoles, half the length of the calyx. Petals yellow, almost 

 equal, Si'" long, mucronate-acute, margins irregularly crenulate with a few glands 

 and sometimes 1 — 2 acute teeth ; the middle rib bestrewed with long linear and 

 almost parallel glands, and the whole surface sprinkled over with oblong black dots ; 

 anthers also dotted black. Ovary quite triangular, with a trilobed apex. Styles 

 longer than. the ovary. On high land. July and August." 



CARYOPHYLLACE.E. 



ARENARIA (Alsine) Douglassii, Fenzl. in Hook, and Arn. Beechey, suppl. p. 

 325. 



SILENE Greggii, Gray, PI. Wright, part ii. p. 17. 



S. Californtca, spec. nov. ? Caulis subramosus, debilis, pubescens, foliis caulinaribus 

 oblongo-lanceolatis, integris, ciliatis, fere semiamplexicaulibus ; cymis trifloris ; calyce 

 ample elliptice-cylindrico, obscure striato, pubescente, dentibus late ovatis, margine 

 membranaceo ciliato ; petalis purpureis magnis quadrifidis, lobis mediis amplis, pro- 

 funde partitis, obtusis, lateralibus minoribus acutis, unguiculis latis, ciliatis ; staminibus 

 tubo exsertis. 



This plant, of which I have several other specimens collected at Calaveras by Dr. 

 Heermann, may be the JS. Virginica of Benth. PI. Hartw. ; but its characters are so 

 constant that I feel justified in separating it from that species, which it resembles at 

 first sight. It is more pubescent, the stem and calyx less striate than in the latter, 

 and I have not seen more than three flowers in each cyme, whilst S. Virginica has 

 generally more, and S. rotundifolia, with which it has likewise some affinity, has 

 them solitary or in twos. Its habits are also very different from those of S. regia and 

 S. Greggii, which are robust and erect plants, with thickish oval or obovate leaves. In 

 S. regia, the petals are entire, in S. Greggii they are 4-fid with linear lobes, in 



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