308 ERICACEAE. 



1. P. flavescens Xutt. YELLOW Mistletoe. Foliage yellowish green; 

 leaves orbicular to ovate or narrowly elliptic, obtuse, 3i/> in. long or less, con- 

 spicuously 5-nerved from the base and distinctly petioled; fruiting spikes dense, 

 1 1 ._. in. long or less; berries white, 2 lines in diameter. 



Interior of California on Common Cottonwood and California Buckeye, the 

 Cottonwoods frequently killed by the parasite. The haustoria spread in the 

 bark of Buckeye branches and by buds give rise to a twiggy growth. 



2. P. villosum Xutt. Common Mistletoe. Foliage deep green; leaves 

 elliptic, obtuse, 3-nerved, 1 in. long, on short petioles; berries pinkish, iy* 

 lines in diameter. 



( "oast Range and Sierra Nevada foothills, parasitic on oaks. Observed by the 

 author on the following species: Quercus douglasii, lobata, wislizenii and 

 kelloggii. 



3. P. bolleanum (Seeman) Eichler. Stems % to % ft. long; leaves nar- 

 rowly oblong or spatulate, obtuse, contracted to a short petiole, % to 1 in. 

 long; bracts ciliolate; spikelets short, mostly less than % in. long, opposite 

 or in fours; berries pearl-like on account of their whiteness, translucency 

 and luster, rather less than 2 lines in diameter. 



Coast Ranges, on cypress and juniper, rare in our region. 



2. ARCEUTHOBIUM Marsch-Bieb. 



Plants yellow or yellowish brown, leafless, fragile- jointed, parasitic on conifer- 

 ous trees. Stems quadrangular or angled. Leaves represented by connate scales. 

 Flowers solitary or several in each axil, crowded into apparent spikes, opening 

 in autumn. Staminate flower: — calyx mostly 3-parted, compressed; stamens 

 consisting of a single 1-celled roundish anther, opening by a circular slit. Pis- 

 tillate flower: — calyx 2-cleft, the teeth laterally disposed, the ovary ripening 

 the next autumn after flowering and exserted on the recurved pedicel. Berry 

 circumscissile near the base, when fully ripe explosively dehiscent at a touch or 

 when teased, the glutinous seed being expelled to a distance of several feet. 

 (Greek arkeuthos, juniper, and bios, life.) 



1. A. occidentale Engelm. Pine Mistletoe. Stems dichotomously 

 branched, 4 to 15 in. long, the branches bearing numerous spikes, the lower 

 spikes commonly with accessory spikes in the axils; staminate spikes deep yel- 

 low, I/, to % in. long; staminate flowers exceeding 1 line in breadth; pistillate 

 plants olive-brown; spikes short, 5 or 6-flowered, arranged along the axis of the 

 inflorescence, the upper spikelets mostly reduced to 1 flower, and the inflores- 

 cence paniculate; berries brown, oblong, tapering to each end, 2 to 2 1 /> lines 

 long. — (Razoumofskya occidentals Ktze.) 



• oast Ranges and Sierra Nevada, on Digger Pine and Yellow Pine. 



KYMPETALAE. 



Calyx usually present, mostly herbaceous and synsepalous, often strongly 

 modified. Corolla sympetalous. Stamens inserted on corolla. Pistil 1 and 

 compound (except Asclepiadaceae and Apocynaceae). 



ERICACEAE. Heath Family. 



Trees, shrubs or herbs. Leaves simple, alternate in all our genera except 

 Cnimaphila, mostly evergreen and still' and coriaceous. Flowers regular and 

 symmetrical, with the parts in 5s, rarely in ts. Stamens free from the corolla, 

 as many or commonly twice as many as its lobes or petals and distinct from 



