206 



PA PAYER ACE.*:. 



Not acquiescent; peduncles glabrous; flowers light yellow; ovary linear; capsule 

 tw.sted 1. P. Californicum. 



Acaulescent or nearly so; scapes hairy; flowers light yellow; ovary and capsule 

 3-lobed 2 P. lineare. 



1. P. Californicum (Torr.) B. & H. Very slender, erect, 4 to 7 

 in. high, paniculately or dichotomously branched above or even 

 from the base; glabrous throughout; radical and lower leaves elliptic 

 to obovate-spatulate, 5 to 11 lines long, often contracted into a 

 petiole, the upper cauline oblanceolate to linear; peduncles 2 to 3 in. 

 long, erect in anthesis, in fruit deflexed almost horizontally but the 

 capsule vertical or nearly so; sepals often reddish; petals white, 

 elliptic to oblong, often narrowed to a short claw, 3 to 5 lines long; 

 stamens 6 to 12, rarely 4, unequal, in two series, the outer shorter; 

 filaments filiform, slightly dilated upwards; capsule ^ to 1 (rarely 1J) 

 in. long. — (Platystemon Torreyi Greene.) 



San Francisco Peninsula and southward. Mar. -Apr. 



2. P. lineare Benth. Acaulescent or nearly so; scapes commonly 

 4 to 8 in. high, hispid with spreading hairs; leaves linear, 1 to 2 in. 

 long, sessile; sepals brownish; petals light yellow cuneate-orbieular 

 or obovate, 4 to 9 lines long; stamens numerous, filaments conspicu- 

 ously dilated; body of capsule 5 to 7 lines long. 



Clear Lake to Oakland, Holder; San Francisco, Bloomer, and south- 

 ward. Mar. -May. Leaves often with several parallel nerves 

 beneath. 



3. DENDROMECON Benth. 



Low branching shrub with alternate entire and coriaceous leave* 

 and yellow flowers. Sepals 2. Petals 4. Stamens numerous, with 

 short filiform filaments and linear anthers. Ovary linear with 2 

 nerve-like placenta'. Capsule linear. Seeds pitted, provided with a 

 caruncle. (Greek dendron, tree, and mecon, poppy.) 



1. D. rigidum Benth. Tree Poppy. Glabrous, 2 to 4 or even 

 7 ft. high; main stems one or several, somewhat trunk-like, often 1 

 in. thick and with very shreddy bark; branches white or light colored; 

 leaves reticulate-veiny, oblong or acute at each end, yellowish green 

 above, hispidulous on the margin, mucronate-acuminate, 3 in. long, 

 borne on very short petioles which, by a twist, bring the blade verti- 

 cal; upper leaves smaller and oblong-ovate or lanceolate; flowers 

 golden yellow, 1 to 2.] in. in diameter, on pedicels 1 to 3 in. long; 

 sepals orbicular; capsules curved, 2 to 4 in. long, attenuate into a 

 short style bearing 2 oblong stigmas. 



Dry slopes and ridges of the Coast Eanges at middle altitude.- from 

 Lake Co. and Caux's Knob (east of St. Helena) to Mt. Tamalpais 

 and Mt. Diablo; thence southward to San Diego; also in the Sierras. 

 Last of Apr.-June. 



4. ESCHSCHOLTZIA Cham. 



Annuals or perennials with watery juice, petioled tcrnatoly dis- 

 sected leaves and peduncled yellow flowers. Receptacle hollowed or 



