PURSLANE FAMILY. 161 



racemes dense; flowers white or pinkish, twice as large as in the species. — Marin 

 Co.; Mt. Diablo. 



3. M. gypsophiloides (F. & M.) Howell. Slender, 2 to 9 in. high, the 

 branches erect or ascending; herbage very pale and glaucous; radical leaves 

 linear or filiform, the flowering stems 2 to several times as long; cauline pair 

 ovate to linear-lanceolate, partially united on one side; raceme slender, elong- 

 ated; flowers for their size showy and most delicately beautiful; petals pink, 

 cuneate-obovate, refuse, about 3 times as long as the sepals. — (Claytonia 

 gypsophiloides F. & M.) 



Northward slopes and summits of the Coast Eanges from Mt. Diablo to Mt. 

 Tamalpais; Napa Co.; Healdsburg and northward. Last of Mar. to early 

 May. 



4. M. spathulata (Dougl.) Howell. Caespitose, 2 to 6 in. high, the herb- 

 age glaucous and very fleshy; leaves linear or lanceolate; cauline leaves lan- 

 ceolate, nearly distinct or somewhat connate upon one (rarely on both) sides, 

 nearly equaling the raceme; sepals much shorter than the petals; petals some- 

 what quadrangular, refuse or rounded at apex, short-clawed, white or very 

 light pink, with darker pink markings at base of blade; corolla 4 lines broad; 

 anthers vermilion. — (Claytonia spathulata Dougl.) 



Common on gravelly or rocky hill tops (often in vineyards and other cul- 

 tivated areas) : Oakland Hills and San Francisco northward along the coast 

 to British Columbia, and south to Southern California. Sierra Nevada. Feb.- 

 Mar. 



5. M. chamissonis (Esch.) Greene. Perennial by means of bulblets pro- 

 duced at the end of slender runners; stems decumbent or ascending, 4 to 6 in. 

 (less commonly 1 ft.) long, rooting at the lower nodes; leaves opposite, nar- 

 rowly oblong (varying to elliptic or spatulate), obtuse or acute at apex, taper- 

 ing into a petiole at base, ^ to 1 (or 2) in. long; racemes 2 to 8-flowered, 

 rarely 1-flowered, bractless except 1 or 2 small bracts at base; pedicels re- 

 curved after anthesis; sepals 1 line long, the petals pink or white, rounded at 

 apex and entire, or sometimes retuse, 3 times as long ; stamens 5 ; capsule small, 

 1 to 3-seeded; seeds conspicuously muriculate-roughened under a lens. — 

 (Claytonia chamissonis Esch.) 



Wet or swampy meadows: North Coast Eanges (Snow Mt. and northward) ; 

 Sierra Nevada. Said to have been collected long ago at San Eafael by Kel- 

 logg and Harford. 



6. M. parvifolia (Moc.) Greene. Stems at base bearing clusters or tufts 

 of ovate or obovate petioled leaves 1% in. long or less; above the somewhat 

 caudex-like base the stems are slender with scattered small (2 to 4 lines long) 

 leaves and are, therefore, peduncle-like; sepals roundish, 1 line long; petals 

 scarcely unequal, obovate or oblanceolate, emarginate, rose-color or white, 4 

 or 5 lines long; capsule mostly 1-seeded. — (Claytonia parvifolia Moc.) 



North Coast Eanges; Sierra Nevada from Yosemite northward. Thought 

 to be perennial; certainly propagating by bulblets formed in the leaf axils. 



7. M. diffusa (Xutt.) Greene. Annual, diffusely branched from the 

 base, 2 to 6 in. high; cauline leaves alternate, ovate, sometimes varying to 

 deltoid, roundish, the upper narrower, / 2 to 1 in. long, the petiole nearly as 

 long or longer; racemes 2, 3 or 4, opposite the upper leaves or terminal, 1 to 

 \y 2 in. long; raceme 5 to 7-flowered; petals emarginate, white or "rose- 

 color, ' ' 2 lines long, slightly exceeding the sepals ; pedicels deflexed in fruit ; 

 seeds 3, black, y 2 line long, lineated, the lineations composed cf narrow trans- 

 verse plates. — (Claytonia diffusa Nutt.) 



