PRIMROSE FAMILY. 317 



other genera of the order by the absence of a corolla. Calyx purplish or white, 

 campanulate, ;>lobed, assuming the appearance of a corolla, the stamens alter- 

 nating with its lobes. Capsule 5-valved at apex. Seeds few, immersed in the 

 tissue of the placenta. (Greek glaukos, sea-green.) 



1 . G. maritima L. Sea Milkwort. Herbage somewhat succulent ; running 

 rootstocks slender; stems 8 to 11 in. high, erect, or ascending from a decumbent 

 base, simple or eventually branching; leaves oblong, 4 to 7 lines long; flowers 

 less than 2 lines long, solitary in the axils, almost sessile; calyx-segments ellip- 

 tic ; capsule globose, a little over 1 line long. 



Marshy shores of Tomales, San Francisco and Suisun bays. June. 



5. ANAGALLIS L. Pimpernel. 



Low herbs with opposite or sometimes ternate entire leaves. Flowers axillary, 

 on slender pedicels. Calyx deeply 5-cleft into narrow segments. Corolla rotate, 

 deeply 5-parted, the rounded lobes convolute in the bud. Stamens 5; filaments 

 hirsute or pubescent. Capsule circumscissile. (Greek, meaning delightful.) 



1. A. arvensisL. Poor Man's Weather-glass. Stems 1 ft. long, procum- 

 bent or ascending; leaves deltoid-ovate, acute, sessile, 4 lines long, shorter than 

 the pedicels; sepals lanceolate, acuminate, scarious-marginecl toward the base, 

 nearly distinct; corolla vermilion, 4 to 5 lines broad, the petals lightly joined 

 at base, minutely glandular-ciliate at apex; capsules on recurved pedicels; seeds 

 % line long, triangular, the surface pitted. 



Xaturalized Old World weed, mostly near the coast : common about San Fran- 

 cisco Bav. 



6. CENTUNCULUS L. 



Very small annuals with alternate entire leaves and minute solitary flowers in 

 their axils. Calyx 4 (or 5) -parted, the narrow lobes linear-lanceolate, acuminate. 

 Corolla 4 (or 5) -cleft, the tube subglobular and lobes acute. Stamens 4 or 5, 

 inserted on the throat of the corolla. Capsule globose, circumscissile. Seeds 

 many. (Meaning of name obscure.) 



1. C. minimus L. Chaffweed. Slender, glabrous, 1 to 5 in. high; leaves 

 obovate, sessile or short-petioled, 1 to 2 lines long; flowers sessile or very nearly 

 so, shorter than the leaves, mostly 4-merous, filaments much dilated at base. 



Moist ground: near San Francisco, Kellogg, 1866; Laundry Farm; Antioch 

 (Zoe, v, 144) ; Humboldt Bay, Chandler, and northward. 



7. DODECATHEON L. Shooting Star. 

 Low perennial herbs with radical leaves and a naked scape bearing an umbel 

 of few or many flowers. Corolla 5-parted, with very short tube and dilated 

 thickened throat, the long and narrow divisions reflexed in flower (as also the 

 calyx-lobes). Stamens on the throat of the corolla; filaments short and flat, 

 monadelphous, but at length separable above. Style filiform, exserted. Fruit a 

 capsule with columnar placenta, surrounded at base by the now erect calyx. 

 (Greek dodeka, 12, and theos, god, the Primrose being under the care of the 

 deities. Singularly handsome flowers similar to those of the cultivated Cycla- 

 men.) 



Flowers rose-purple; plants commonly 6 to 12 in. high 1. D. hendersonii. 



Flowers white or cream-color; plants 3 to 4 in. high 2. D. patulum. 



1. D. hendersonii Gray. Mosquito Bills. Sailors' Caps. Scapes red or 

 reddish, 9 to 14 in. high, from a strong cluster of fleshy-fibrous roots; leaves 

 elliptic, often widest below the middle, the margin more or less crisped, 1 to 

 1% in. long, on petioles about as long; umbels 3 to 13-flowered, the pedicels :>'•. 



