32 T. Holm — ChionopJiila BentJi. 



Recently C. Tweedyi has been raised to generic rank, 

 receiving the unfortunate name '^Pentstemoniopsis/'^ 

 for as will be shown in the subsequent pages, the plant 

 is undoubtedly just as close an ally of Chionophila 

 as of Pentstemon; moreover the frequent use of making 

 generic names by adding ^^opsis" has resulted in names 

 of too great length, and sometimes also in such terrific 

 combinations as : Saxifragopsis, Stellariopsis, Bombac- 

 opsis etc. 



Now with respect to Chionophila Jamesii the plant is 

 not caespitose, but stoloniferous , and the shoot above 

 ground shows very plainly the structure of a typical mon- 

 opodium. There is a rosette of leaves, and generally only 

 one flower-bearing stem, which is axillary. In the center 

 of the rosette is a bud, vegetative, which terminates the 

 shoot, and the flower-bearing stem is always axillary, pro- 

 ceeding from near the base of the shoot, from the axil of 

 one of the basal leaves. The leaves are opposite with 

 long sheaths, and the accompanying diagram (fig. 1) 

 shows the structure, which is the commonest met with. 

 Four pairs of leaves constitute" the rosette, L.^ — L.'^ ; of 

 these L.^ enclose a vegetative bud, which will develop a 

 new rosette in the coming year, and in the axil of one of 

 the leaves L.^ is a floral stem (St.) When stolons develop, 

 they generally proceed from the axils of the leaves of the 

 previous year, now present as withered leaf-sheaths, and 

 these stolons consist of two to three stretched internodes, 

 covered by leaf-sheaths ; they grow in a horizontal direc- 

 tion, and become terminated by a rosette of leaves, repeat- 

 ing the structure of the mother-shoot. During the first 

 season the stolons remain attached to the mother-shoot, 

 and roots develop freely from the nodes. The number of 

 stolons may vary from one to as many as six, but one or 

 two are the most frequent. The subterranean stem is 

 ascending, densely covered with remnants of leaf- 

 sheaths, and of a soft, fleshy consistence. — The monopo- 

 dium represents a structure, which is evidently rare ; we 

 remember this structure being characteristic of certain 

 species of Carex, for instance C. laxiflora, C. digitata, C. 

 Fraseri and some others, which I have described in this 

 journal. A sympodium, however, is the most frequent 

 structure observed in rhizomes especially. Among the 

 Smilaceae Smilax herbacea shows the interesting case of 



^ Rydberg, P. A. Flora of the Eocky Mountains, New York 1917. 



