PURSLANE FAMILY. 159 



Sepals 6 to 8, distinct and free from the ovary, persistent; capsule circumscissile near the 



base, the upper deciduous part splitting from below 2. Lewisia. 



B. Capsule 2 to 3-valved. 

 Sepals 2, distinct and free from the ovary, persistent. 



Flowers racemose or axillary; style-branches 3; capsule 3-valved. 



Petals mostly red, showy; stamens mostly 5 or more 3. Calandrinia. 



Petals mostly white or pinkish; stamens 3 to 5 4. Montia. 



Flowers in scorpioid spikes; capsule 2-valved; sepals more or less scarious 



5. Calyptridium. 



1. PORTULACA L. 



Fleshy prostrate annual with alternate leaves and yellow flowers. Calyx 2- 

 cleft, the tube adnate to the ovary below. Petals 5 (rarely 6), inserted with 

 the stamens on the calyx. Stamens 7 to 20. Style mostly 3 to 8-parted. 

 Capsule globose, opening transversely, the upper part coming off like a lid. 

 Seeds many. (Old Latin name.) 



1. P. oleracea L. Common Purslane. Glabrous; leaves cuneate or ob- 

 ovate; flowers sessile, opening only in sunshine; petals yellow, notched or 2- 

 lobed. 



Frequent in low lands: Lake Co.; Napa Valley; Berkeley; Sacramento 

 and San Joaquin valleys. June-Cct. 



2. LEWISIA Pursh. 



Acauleseent fleshy perennials with very thick farinaceous root bearing a 

 rosulate cluster of leaves and short (in ours) 1-flowered scapes. Flowers 

 large and handsome. Sepals (in ours) 6 to 9, herbaceous, persistent. Petals 

 (in ours) 12 to 16, varying from white to red. Stamens (in ours) numerous. 

 Style-branches 3 to 8, filiform, stigmatic their whole length. Capsule circum- 

 scissile near the base, the upper deciduous part more or less valvate-cleft from 

 the base. (In honor of Capt. Lewis of the Lewis & Clarke expedition across 

 the continent, who collected the following species.) 



1. L. rediviva Pursh. Bitter Root. Leaves thick, linear; scapes 1 or 2 

 in. high, jointed above the middle and bearing an involucral whorl of 5 or 7 

 scarious subulate bracts; petals pink or bright rose, % to 1 in. long, spread- 

 ing rotately. 



Santa Lucia Alts. ; Mi. Hamilton ; Mt. Diablo ; Mt. Tamalpais ; Napa 

 Range; Pope Valley; Kelseyville ; Sierra Nevada and far northward to Idaho. 

 May. 



3. CALANDRINIA H.B.K. 



Low fleshy annuals with alternate entire leaves and ephemeral red or rose- 

 colored flowers, rarely varying to white. Sepals 2, persistent. Petals 3 to 7 

 (commonly 5). Stamens 5 or more, rarely 3, seldom of the same number as 

 the petals. Style-branches 3. Capsule 3-valved from the apex. Seeds numer- 

 ous, black and often shining. (J. L. Calandrini, Swiss botanist.) 



Capsule enveloped by the fruiting calyx; branches mostly ascending or erect 



1. C. caulescens. 

 Capsule nearly twice as long as the fruiting calyx; branches mostly trailing.. 2. C. breweri. 



1. C. caulescens H.B.K. var. menziesii Cray. Red Maids. Branching 

 from the base and more or less diffuse, or erect and simple, 2 or 3 to 18 in. 

 high; leaves narrowly oblanceolate to linear, acute; calyx glabrous, or some- 

 what hispidulous on the margin or midrib of the sepals; petals 5, orbicular- 

 obovate, retuse at apex, crimson or rose-red, 3 or 4 lines long; stamens 7 to 

 14, commonly 10 to 12, rarely fewer than 7 ; capsule ovate, short-pointed, en- 

 veloped bv the sepals which are nearly or quite as long. — (C. menziesii T. & 

 G.) 



