CALLITRICHACEjE. 



263 



stipitate, circular and discoid, with or without a narrow margin; 

 capsule 1 line long; seeds round-ovate, smooth or obscurely rugose. 



Stockton, Sanford, and southward through the San Joaquin Valley 

 to Southern California. 



5. E. dictyosperma F. & M. Annual, glabrous; stems erect, 

 5 to 15 in. high, simple or branching from the base, dichotomously 

 branched above; stem-leaves alternate, oblong- or obovate-spatulate, 

 serrulate, often retuse, £ to 1} in. long; upper and floral leaves oppo- 

 site, round-ovate to oblong, 3 to 6 lines long; inflorescence umbelli- 

 form, the rays 2 or 3 times forked; involucre and glands small; 

 capsule with warty lobes, 1 to 1^ lines long. 



Throughout California but much less common than no. 6. Sacra- 

 mento Valley. 



E. Peplus L., Petty Spurge, is sometimes spontaneous within 

 inclosures at Berkeley; the involucres bear 4 crescent-shaped glands 

 with long slender horns, and a pair of wing-like crests on each lobe. 

 E. exigua L., reported as occurring in Santa Clara Co., has linear 

 cauline leaves and a smooth capsule. 



6. E. leptocera Engelni. Annual or biennial, glabrous, branch- 

 ing at base, 10 to 16 in. high; branches decumbent at base or 

 commonly erect, 2 or 3 times dichotomous above; leaves alternate, 

 obovate to spatulate, obtuse, sometimes mucronate, entire, 4 lines to 

 1^ in. long; the floral opposite or ternate, deltoid or broadly rhombic- 

 ovate, sometimes cordate at base or connate, acute, 3 to 5 lines long; 

 involucre turbinate, its transversely oblong lobes denticulate; glands 

 large, crescent-shaped, the slender horns entire or cleft; capsule 

 smooth, 1£ lines broad; seeds ash-colored, dark-pitted, H lines long, 

 with a prominent caruncle. 



Common. Coast Ranges: Vacaville; Ukiah; San Francisco; 

 Sierra Nevada. 



7. E. Lathyris L. Caper Spurge. Tall stout annual or biennial. 

 1 to 3 ft. high, very smooth and glaucous; stem-leaves linear or nar- 

 rowly oblong, thick, in 4 vertical ranks, the floral oblong-ovate and 

 cordate; umbels of 3 or 4 rays, once or twice forked; glands of the 

 involucre crescent-shaped, the horns short and blunt; capsule large 

 and smooth; seeds wrinkled. 



Naturalized about the early settlements of Alta California: San 

 Francisco Co. 



59. CALLITRICHACE>E. Water Starwort Family. 



Herbs growing in shallow water or in the mud of vernal pools from 

 which the water has disappeared. Leaves opposite, entire, exstipu- 

 late, often crowded and forming a rosette at the ends of the branches. 

 Flowers monoecious, axillary and solitary, or 2 or 3 together in one 

 axil, without calyx or corolla but often with two membranous bracts. 

 Staminate flower consisting of 1 terminal stamen. Pistillate flower 

 consisting of a 4-celled ovary with 2 filiform stigmas. Fruit 4-lobed, 

 splitting at maturity into as many nutlets. 



