ELATINACEAE. 263 



Herbaceous; stems from rootstocks, simple or branched above 3. H. formosum. 



Suffrutescent; stems branching from the base 4. H. concinnum. 



1. H. mutilum L. Stem mostly simple below and branching above, 10 to 

 17 in. high; leaves ovate, 5 to 10 lines long, 3 to 6 lines broad, 5-nerved at 

 base, sessile; flowers in leafy cymes at the ends of the branches; stamens 6 

 to 12; sepals linear to lanceolate, mostly shorter than the capsule; capsule 

 ovate, 1% lines long. 



Shores of the lower Sacramento and lower San Joaquin rivers. Aug.-Sept. 



2. H. anagalloides C. & S. False Pimpernel. Commonly forming dense 

 mats 6 to 15 in. broad, with ascending or erect branches 2 to 5 in. high; leaves 

 lanceolate to ovate or orbicular, obtuse, 5 to 7-nerved at base, 2 to 6 lines long 

 and almost as broad; flowers in a leafy paniculate cyme, scarcely 2 lines long; 

 sepals ovate or linear-oblong, unequal, longer than the capsules; stamens 15 

 to 20. 



Common about springy places and along streamlets in the mountains: Santa 

 Cruz Mts. ; Lake Co. and northward ; Sierra Nevada. July-Aug. 



3. H. formosum H.B.K. var. scouleri Coulter. Stems from running root- 

 stocks, slender, simple or branching at summit, 2 to 3 ft. high; leaves ovate 

 or oblong, obtuse, conspicuously black-dotted along the margins, sessile by a 

 more or less clasping base, 1 in. long or less; flowers in more or less panicled 

 cymes; sepals and petals black-dotted similarly to the leaves; sepals 2 lines 

 long or less; petals 6 lines long; stamens numerous, in 3 clusters. 



Howell Mt. and northward in the Coast Eanges at the higher altitudes, but 

 rare; more common in the Sierra Nevada. 



4. H. concinnum Benth. Gold- wire. Stems wiry, numerous from the 

 woody crown, forming a bushy plant about 1 ft. high; leaves thickish, lance- 

 olate or linear-oblong, acute, inserted by a narrow base, usually folded, black- 

 dotted as in the preceding but more scantily, % to 1% in. long; flowers 1 in. 

 or more broad, in rather close clusters at summit of the stem; sepals ovate, 

 mucronate-acuminate, longer than the capsule; stamens numerous, 4 of the 

 filaments in each of the 3 clusters distinctly united at base, the others free; 

 styles divaricately spreading. 



Dry brushy mountain slopes and ridges: North Coast Eanges; Sierra Nevada. 

 June-Sept. "Poisons sheep (and even horses and cattle, particularly of a 

 white color)." — Wallace Dinsmore, Marysville. 



ELATINACEAE. Water- wort Family. 



Small annuals with opposite leaves and membranous stipules between them. 

 Flowers 2 to 5-merous, small, perfect, symmetrical, solitary in the axils. Sepals, 

 petals and stamens all distinct and hypogynous. Ovary with as many cells as 

 there are sepals; styles distinct. Capsule 2 to 5-celled, septicidal or the 

 partitions more or less persisting with the axis; placentae central. 



Flowers 2 to 4-merous; sepals obtuse, without midrib 1. Elatine. 



Flowers 5-merous; sepals pointed or acute, with thickened midrib and scarious margins. . . . 



2. Bergia. 



1. ELATINE L. Water- wort. 

 Glabrous dwarfs, somewhat succulent, growing in water or in wet places, 

 rooting at the nodes. Leaves entire. Flowers 2 to 4-merous. Sepals sub- 

 membranous, obtuse. Petals white or whitish. Capsule globose, thin-mem- 

 branous, 2 to 4-celled, several- or many-seeded. Seeds striately sculptured. 

 (Greek, etymology obscure.) 



