390 PLANTAGINACfeAB. 



5. O. tuberosa (Gray) Seller. Low, stout, pruinose-puberulent, the thick- 

 ened base of the stem with imbricated scales; inflorescence a dense pyramidal 

 (or more or less globose) cluster of short racemes; calyx unequally cleft, the 

 Lobes aboul as long as the tube of the corolla; corolla yellowish or dark purple 

 or brown. 5 to 7 lines Long, the lobes a line long, scarcely spreading; anthers 

 after dehiscence somewhat hairy.- -(Aphyllon tuberosum Gray.) 



Summits of the Coast Range peaks and ridges, parasitic on Adeuostomia 

 fasciculatum, and similar shrubs: (iabilan ?dts.; Mt. Hamilton; Mt. Diablo; 

 Mt. Tamalpais; \'aca Mts.; Smuv M t . May. 



2. BOSCHNIAKIA C. A. Mey. 



Stems thick, simple, arising from rather large globose tubers which are de- 

 veloped at the point of attachment of the parasite to the root of the host 

 plant. Flowers without bractlets, sessile or pedicellate, more or less concealed 

 by scaly subtending bracts, the whole forming a dense spike. Calyx short, 

 cup-shaped, truncate behind and with teeth in front, or entirely truncate. 

 Corolla ventricose; upper lip erect or fornicate, entire or bifid; lower 3-parted. 

 Stamens slightly exserted. Stigma bilamellate, the lobes right and left, or 4- 

 lobed. Capsule 4-valved, each valve with 1 placenta. (Boschniaki, a Kussian 

 botanist.) 



1. B. strobilacea Gray. Tubers 2 to 3 in. in diameter, bearing 1 to 13 

 spikes; spikes deep red-brown in age; scales (bracts) much imbricated, 

 very broad and obtuse; lower flowers rarely with bractlets; calyx truncate or 

 with 1 to 4 teeth anteriorly and laterally disposed; upper lip of corolla entire, 

 • tnarginate or bifid; filaments densely bearded at base. 



Higher Coast Kange ridges: Santa Cruz Mts., Moraga Ridge, Mt. Tamalpais, 

 Mt. St. Helena and northward to British Columbia; commonly parasitic on the 

 roots of Manzanita. May. The oblong spikes in many cases bear a marked 

 resemblance to Sugar Pine cones; in other cases the inflorescence is more 

 open and the specific name less applicable. For a detailed account see Erythea, 

 \, (53, pi. 1 & 2. 



PLANTAGINACEAE. Plantago Family. 



Acaulescent herbs with 1 to several-ribbed or -nerved radical leaves. Flowers 

 complete, regular, 4-merous, the scarious and veinless corolla commonly wither- 

 ing-persistent. Ovary 2 to 4-celled, superior; style long-stigmatose, simple 

 and filiform. 



1. PLANTAGO L. Plantain. 



Flowers peit'ect or polygamo-dioecious, each subtended by a bract, disposed 

 in spikes or heads which are raised on a leafless scape. Sepals 4. Corolla 

 small, salvcrforin. with a short tube, or nearly rotate. Stamens 4, or sometimes 

 2, alternating with the lobes of the corolla and borne on its tube. Ovary 2 

 or falsely 4-celled, with 1 or more ovules in each cell. Capsule circumscissile, 

 the seeds attached to the face of the loose partition which tails away with the 

 lid. Seed-coat mucilaginous. (Latin name of the Plantain.) 



Corolla closed over the mature capsule, forming a sort of beak; perennial; stamens 4; 



spike 6 to 12 in. long; leaves oblong lanceolate 1. /'. hirtclla. 



Corolla remaining expanded, not closed over the mature capsules. 

 P< ■ ennials; stamens 4. 



2. P lanccolata. 



Leaves ovate 3. /'. major. 



I LVea linear 4. /'. muritima. 



Annuals; leaves linear or oblanceolale. 



Stamens -4; capsule 2-seeded; spike oblong 5. /'. patagonica. 



Stamens _'; capsule 4-seeded; spike narrowly linear <>. /'. bigelovii. 



