284 



ROSACEA. 



1. A. gyrosepala Wallr. Common Agrimony. Stems erect, 2 to 

 3 ft. high; herbage glandular, and both hirsute and puberulent; leaflets 

 5 or 7, with interposed smaller ones, ovate or ohovate, 3£ in. long or 

 less, coarsely toothed, entire at the base; terminal leaflet usually 

 largest and cuneate at base; flowers 2} lines long. — (A. Eupatoria of 

 Hot. Gal., etc.) 



Borders of woods in the mountains: Elk Mountain, Lake Co.; 

 northern Sierra Nevada. 



10. AC/ENA L. 



Perennial herbs with a woody base, pinnate leaves and pinriatifid 

 leaflets. Flowers in more or less crowded spikes. Calyx persistent, 

 its tube oblong, contracted at the throat, at length armed with 

 retrorsely barbed prickles; limb 3 to 7-parted, valvate, deciduous. 

 Petals none. Stamens commonly 3 to 5, but varying from 1 to 10. 

 Pistils 1 or 2, free and distinct; style terminal; ovule solitary, 

 suspended. Achene enclosed in the indurated calyx. (Greek akaina, 

 a thorn, in reference to the spines on the calyx.) 



1. A. trifida R. & P. Flowering stems erect witn decumbent 

 base, 5 to 13 in. high, sometimes almost naked, the leaves borne 

 mostly at base or tufted on the short woody branches crowning the 

 perennial root; herbage villous, especially when young, and more or 

 less silky on the under surface of the leaves; leaflets 11 to 17, nearly 

 uniform, 3 to 4 lines long, pinnately cleft into 3 to 7 segments; 

 flowers green, in a crowded spike, or the lower flowers remote; calyx- 

 tube white-hirsute with short hairs and armed with slender prickles, 

 in fruit 4-angled; stamens dark purple; achene round-oblong. 



Dry or rocky soil of hilltops in the Coast Ranges near the ocean 

 from Marin Co. and the Oakland Hills to the Gabilan Range and 

 Monterey. June. 



11. ALCHEMILLA L. Lady's Mantle. 

 Ours a diminutive annual herb with palmately lobed leaves and 

 sheathing stipules. Flowers minute, greenish, pediceled and fas- 

 cicled in the axils. Calyx persistent, its tube pitcher-shaped, i. e., 

 enlarged above the base and somewhat contracted at the throat; 

 limb 4 or 5-partedand bearing an equal number of alternate bractlets, 

 or these minute or obsolete. Petals none. Stamens 1 to 4. Pistils 

 1 to 4 (in ours 1), distinct, the slender style lateral or arising from 

 near the base. Achene ovate, slightly compressed, smooth, concealed 

 in the tube of the persistent calyx. (So named because valued in 

 alchemy. ) 



1. A. arvensis (L.) Scop. Simple or commonly branching from 

 the base, 1 to 3 in. high or more, the branches slender and flower- 

 bearing throughout; herbage scantily pubescent with soft hairs; 

 leaves fan-shaped, 3-parted, the segments 2 or 3-cleft; calyx about £ 

 line long, the tube usually densely hirsute and much contracted 

 under the lobes. 



Hills and plains; common. Apr. A sheet of specimens (identical 



