GENTIANACK*:. 



tinct long-clawed petals, each with a stamen on its base. Styles fili- 

 form, united at the very base. (Latin name of a Pink, transferred to 

 Thrift.) 



1. A. vulgaris Willd. Sea. Pink. Leaves flat or re volute- 

 channeled; scapes 9 to 18 in. high, few or solitary; flowers dull pink 

 or flesh-color; calyx-tube 10-nerved, the nerves densely hispid; limb 

 of the calyx more or less erose. — (Statice Armeria L.) 



Common on sandy beaches or fields near the sea along the California 

 coast or about San Francisco Bay. May-June. 



2. STATICE L. Marsh Kosemary. 



Leaves broad, fleshy, in a radical tuft. Flowers secund, in short 

 spikes or clusters terminating the many branchlets of a branching 

 scape. Calyx hairy on the angles below. Styles wholly distinct- 

 (Greek statike, astringent.) 



1. S. Limonium L. var. Californica Cray. Boot J to 1 in. 

 thick, reddish, woody; leaves obovate- to oblong-spatulate, obtuse or 

 sometimes retuse, tapering below into a rather long petiole, 4 to 9 in. 

 long; scapes 1 to 2 ft. high, loosely paniculate; flowers lavender-color. 



Common about San Francisco Bay and along the coast. July-Dec. 



80. GENTIANACE^E. Gentian Family. 



Glabrous herbs with a colorless bitter juice. Leaves opposite r 

 simple in ours, entire. Flowers perfect, regular 5 or 4-merous. 

 Calyx persistent. Corolla usually withering-persistent. Stamens on 

 the tube or throat of the corolla, the lobes of which are commonly 

 convolute. Ovary 1-celled, with 2 parietal placentae. Fruit a 

 2-valved septicidal capsule, the incurved edges bearing the seeds. 



Menyanthes trifoliata L., Buck-bean, is an aquatic or marsh 

 plant of the Sierra Nevada, with alternate compound leaves and white 

 or pink flowers in a raceme; it was found near San Francisco in early 

 days by Bigelow and by Behr, but has since become extinct. The 

 genus Frasera includes perennials with small rotate 4-parted corolla 

 and flattened capsule. F. nitida, of the Sierra Foothills northward, 

 has been found on Mt. Hanna of the Coast Ranges, Jepson, July, 

 1897; it has a pale bluish corolla with a single greenish gland on each 

 lobe. F. speciosa Dougl., of the Sierra Nevada, lias 2 glands on 

 each corolla-lobe with a separate crown below them. 



Perennials; flowers blue; anthers remaining straight 1. Gentiana. 



Annuals. 



Flowers red or pink ; anthers twisting spirally after shedding pollen . . . 



2. ERYTHR2EA. 



Flowers yellow; anthers unchanged 3. Microcala. 



1. GENTIANA L. Gentian. 

 Herbs with opposite sessile leaves and showy usually blue flowers. 

 Corolla withering-persistent and enclosing the capsule. Calyx 4 or 

 5-cleft, commonly with a membranous or spathe-like tube. Corolla 



