Papaverace<z.~\ 



CALIFORNIA.— SUPPLEMENT. 



319 



culturist from ics beauty, as it is to the botanist, from forming' the connecting link between the Ranuncu- 

 lacea and Papaveracece. The trisepalous calyx, and numerous distinct ovaria, would have placed it in the 

 former Order, were it not for the structure of the anthers, the very deciduous sepals, and the general habii. 

 which do not admit of its being removed from Papaveracece, especially considering its close affinity with 

 EschscJioltzia, {Chryseis, Lindl.) through Platystigma and Dendromecon." 



The original discoverer of this curious plant, it is but right to state, is Mr Menzies, who gathered specimens 

 in California, during the celebrated voyage of Captain Vancouver, and distributed them to his botanical 

 friends in this country ; but which, I regret to say, have, along with many other of his treasures thus gener- 

 ously dispersed, remained to the present day unpublished. — The P. leiocarpum, Fisch., is considered by 

 Messrs Torrey and Gray a variety of this. 



PLATYSTIGMA. Benth. 



Sepala 3, ovata, caduca, pilosa. Pelala 4-5. Stamina numerosa. Filamenta filiformia. Antherce 

 lineares, biloculares, lateraliter dehiscentes. Stigmata 3, ovata, acuta, erecto-divergentia. Capsula oblonga, 

 basi attenuata, 1-locularis, 3-angularis, 3-sulcata, 3-valvis, ab apice ad basin dehiscens : valvulis conduplicati* 

 margine in placentis filiformibus productis. Semina numerosa, minuta, ovoidea, nigra, lasvissima, nitida. 

 Benth. 



1. Platystigma lineare. Benth. 1. c. p. 407. Hook. Ic. PI. 1. t. 38. Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 

 1954. Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 3575. Torr. el Gr. Fl. I. p. 65. 



Htrba pusilla, ccespitosa. Caules brevissimi, dense foliosi. Folia linearia, integerrima, amplexicaulia, 

 1-nervia. Scapi semipedales, erecti, uniflori, patentim pilosi. — A smaller plant than Plalystemon, and grow- 

 ing in closer tufts, but otherwise resembling it very much in habit, though so different in botanical character. 

 The flowers are yellow, rather smaller than in Plalystemon. 



DENDROMECON. Benth. 



Sepala 2, ovata, caduca. Pet. 4. Stamina plurima. Filamenta filiformia. Antherce lineares. Stigmata 

 2, sessilia, brevia, crassiuscula. Capsula elongata, siliquasformis, 1-locularis, bivalvis, valvulis coriaceis duris 

 a basi ad apicem dehiscentibus. Placenta marginales, filifonnes. Semina plurima, majuscula, pyriformia, 

 laevia. — Fruticulus dense foliusus. rigidus, glaber. Folia lanceolalu, acuta, denticulata, penninervia, reti- 

 culata, rugosa, rigida. Pedunculi axil/ares, uniflori. 



1. Dendromecon rigidum. Benth. I. c. p. 407. Hook. Ic. Plant. 1. t. 37. Torr. et Gr. 

 Fl. 1 . p. 64. 



A very singular plant, as Mr Benthatn justly remarks, in this Order; with completely woody stems, and 

 rigid pungent leaves, scabrous rather than toothed at the margin, the principal nerves few, and running nearly 

 parallel with the midrib, united by transverse ones, which give a reticulated appearance, particularly on the 

 underside, where the nerves are prominent. 



1. Chryseis Californica ; caule ramoso folioso, foliorum segmentis linearibus, pedun- 

 culi cyatho-infundibiiliformi, limbo maximo dilatato, calyce longe acuminato. — Esch- 

 scholtzia Californica. Cham, (non Lindl. Hook. etc.) — K. crocea. Benth. 1. c. p. 407. Lindl. 

 Bot. Beg. t. 1677. Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 3495.— Chryseis crocea. Torr. et Gr. 1. p. 63.— 

 /3. minor. Chryseis compacta. Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 1948. 



I w as much struck with the circumstance of there being no specimens of the C. Californica of our gardens 

 in this California!! collection, and was thence led to refer lo our first authority for this species, the figure 

 and description of Chamisso, in the Hoi a: Physical Berolintnscs, (p. 73. t. 15.) as well as to original speci- 



