PURSLANE FAMILY. 



187 



tinct or somewhat connate upon one (rarely on both) sides, nearly 

 equaling the short raceme; sepals much shorter than the petals, these 

 somewhat quadrangular, retuse or rounded at apex, short-clawed, 

 white or very light pink, with darker pink markings at base of blade; 

 corolla 4 lines broad; anthers vermilion. — (Claytonia spathulata 

 Dougl.) 



Common on gravelly or rocky hill tops (often in vineyards and 

 other cultivated areas) from the Oakland Hills and San Francisco 

 northward along the coast and as far eastward as the summit of the 

 mountains bounding Napa Valley. Feb. -Mar. 



5. M. parvifolia (Moc.) Greene. Stems at base bearing clusters 

 or tufts of ovate or obovate petioled leaves, 1 j in. long or less; above 

 the somewhat caudex-like base the stems are slender with scattered 

 small (2 to 4 lines long) leaves and are, therefore, peduncle-like; 

 sepals roundish, 1 line long; petals scarcely unequal, obovate or 

 oblanceolate, emarginate, rose-color or white, 4 or 5 lines long; cap- 

 sule mostly 1-seeded. 



North Coast Kanges; Sierra Nevada from Yosemite,' Bolande?', 

 northward. Thought to be perennial; certainly propagating by 

 bulblets formed in the leaf axils. 



(i. M. diffusa (Nutt.) Greene* Diffusely dichotomous, the stems 

 5 to 8 in. high, leafy and flower-bearing throughout; leaves deltoid- 

 ovate, the upper oblong-ovate, contracted at base into a petiole as 

 long; racemes numerous, few-flowered; pedicels very slender; petals 

 emarginate, white or rose-color, 2 lines long, surpassing a little 

 the calyx; seeds covered with fine elevated lines crossing each other 

 at right angles. — (Claytonia diffusa Nutt.) 



Coniferous woods: Mill Valley, Marin Co., ace. to Brandegee; 

 Humboldt Bay. Rarely collected in California. 



7. M. fontana L. WATER MONTIA. Annual: stems slender 2 

 to 6 in. long, ascending or procumbent; leaves opposite, narrowly 

 oblanceolate or oblong, somewhat connate at base; petals minute, 

 white, unequal, united at base into a sympetalous corolla which is 

 split down one side and exceeds little the calyx; seeds minute, 

 roughened. 



Growing along the margin of small surface streams or in muddy 

 places. Marin Co. to Napa Co., and northward. Mai. -May. 



M. Chamissoxis (Esch.) Greene, is an opposite-leaved species of 

 the higher Sierras; 3 to 5 in. high; petals 5, 3 times the length of 

 the calyx. 



5. CALYPTRIDIUM Nutt. 

 Depressed and rather succulent herbs with alternate spatulate leaves 

 and small ephemeral flowers in solitary or clustered scorpioid spikes. 

 Sepals 2, scarious or scarious-margined, orbicular, emarginate at apex 

 and base. Petals in ours 4, obovate; stamens 1, 2, or 3, twice the 

 length of the petals. Style simple; stigmas 2. Capsule membrana- 

 ceous, globose-ovate, 2-valved, few to many-seeded. (Name derived 

 from kaluptra, a calyptra, the petals closing over each other and 

 carried up on the capsule.) 



