402 LOBELIACEAE. 



placentae. Capsule long and linear, crowned with the persistent calyx-lobes, 

 dehiscenl below the apex by 1 to 3 long fissures. (A. J. Downing, an American 

 horl tculturist.) 



The discrimination of the species as here listed depends to a large degree 

 on color marks. D. pulchella is taken as the type of the second group of 

 species (nos. 2 to 6), with two diverging lines of variation, one reaching to- 

 wards B. concolor with disappearance of yellow in the corolla; the other ex- 

 tending to B. ornatissima through B. bicornuta (not within our limits) and 

 ending in B. humilis. 



Anther-tube much incurved, nearly hook-shaped 1. D. elegans. 



Anther-tube straight or only slightly curved. 

 Corolla conspicuously bilabiate. 



Lower lip with a central maroon spot 2. D. concolor. 



Lower lip with a central yellow spot. 



Tube shorter than calyx-lobes 3. D pulchella. 



Tube much longer than calyx-lobes 4. D. cuspidata. 



Corolla small and pale 5. D. ornatissima. 



Corolla obscurely bilabiate, the lobes similar 6. D. humilis. 



1. D. elegans (Dougl.) Torr. Commonly simple, 4 to 7 in. high; leaves 

 oblong to oblong-lanceolate, % in. long; corolla-tube campanulate; the upper 

 lip cut % the way down, the segments ascending and parallel; lower lip 3- 

 lobed at apex, the lobes and lateral parts of the body sky blue marked with 

 darker veinlets, main portion white and bearing 2 oblong parallel green or 

 greenish yellow spots; side of throat next to lower lip frequently with purple 

 spots and yellow lines; stamen-column long-exserted, about equaling the upper 

 segments. — (Bolelia elegans Greene. B. insignis Greene.) 



Beds of vernal pools (where water has recently stood), on the plains of the 

 Sacramento Valley. May. Lower lip somewhat concave. 



2. D. concolor Greene. Branched from the base and somewhat tufted 

 or nearly simple, 4 to 5 in. high, minutely puberulent; corolla light blue; 

 base of lower lip or all of it below the lobes or divided part with a well- 

 defined spot or area of dark maroon; upper lip cleft to the middle only; 

 lobes of lower lip slightly unequal; stamen-column little exserted. — (Bolelia 

 concolor Greene.) 



Low fields near Suisun. May-June. 



Var. tricolor Jepson, n. comb. Lower lip with the transverse somewhat 

 quadrate spot of dark maroon bordered by white, this color sometimes extend- 

 ing to the liases of the violet lobes; throat often with yellow folds. — Suisun. 

 Varying into the next. (Bolelia concolor var. tricolor Jepson.) 



3. D. pulchella (Lindl.) Torr. Erect or ascending, 2 to 10 in. high, 

 usual I v simple; leaves oblong-ovate or narrower, y 2 in. long; lower lip of 

 corolla cleft into •"> roundish apieulate lobes; upper lip deeply 2-cleft, the 

 oblong-lanceolate lobes divergent and spreading; corolla deep blue, the center 

 of the lower lip yellow with a white border, this somewhat irregular in outline 

 but sharply defined against the blue; side of throat next to the lower lip 

 with three .lark \ inlet spots either side of and in the interval between a pair 

 of narn>\\ yellow folds or lines which join the yellow held; corolla-tube 1 

 line long, the limb ample, <i lines broad and 4 lines deep, the lower lip plane 

 and ai a righl angle to the tube; st amen-column nearly or quite equaling the 

 lobes of the upper lip. — (Bolelia pulchella Greene.) 



The mosl common ami mosl beautiful species: plains of the lower Sacramen- 

 to in Solano Co.; abundant ami of rank growth in salt marshes near Alvarado; 



low places in the Gilroy Valley. May-June. 



