UTRICULARIACEiE. 



419 



long; sepals green in the middle, with scarious edges; capsule 2-celled 

 with 4 to 8 seeds in each cell, circumscissile near the middle. 



Not uncommon in low fields and waste places. The species is prol>- 

 ably introduced from Europe. Called by the Indians " White Man's 

 Foot," since it has closely followed the advance of civilization, 

 springing up about the earliest frontier settlements. It has repute in 

 rustic medicine for the cure of certain cutaneous disorders. 



Var. Asiatica Dec. Leaves in a rosette-like cluster, the petiole 

 about 1 in. long or less; peduncles surpassing the leaves; spike below 

 less dense; capsule circumscissile near the base and well within the 

 calyx. — Stockton; Sierra Nevada. 



4. P. maritima L. Sea Plantain. Low stout maritime peren- 

 nials with many thick and fleshy linear or narrowly linear leaves; 

 peduncles ascending, 3 to 4, rarely 6 to 7 in. long, equaling or exceed- 

 ing the leaves; spike cylindrical, l 1 to 2 or 3 in. long; sepals some- 

 what carinate; corolla-tube pubescent externally; capsules 2 to 

 4-seeded. 



Cliffs and rocks near the sea: Santa Cruz; San Francisco; West 

 Berkeley. 



5. P. Patagonica J acq. var. Californica Greene. Annual, silky- 

 pubescent, 4 to 5 in. high; leaves narrowly linear to oblanceolate, 

 about § the length of the scapes, rarely equaling them, less than 1 to 

 nearly 3 lines wide; spike dense and short, oblong, or even almost 

 capitate, 4 to fi lines long; sepals obtuse, with a firm and broadly 

 linear central portion, this scariously margined; capsule 2-seeded; 

 seeds oblong-oval with a pronounced ventral sulcus, and tough 

 leathery testa. 



Very common on hillsides everywhere. Apr.— May. Fr. June. 



Var. rosulata (Plantago Californica Greene). Rosulate leaves 

 mostly depressed, the scapes somewhat decumbent at base, twice 

 the length of the leaves. — Contra Costa Co. southward in the Mt. 

 Diablo Range. 



6. P. Bigelovii Gray. Slender annual, 3 to 5 in. high; leaves 

 linear or filiform, commonly shorter than the scapes, less than 2 lines 

 broad, both scapes and leaves erect; fruiting spike f to 1£ in. long, 

 about 1£ lines wide; stamens 2; capsule ovoid-oblong, "1 to H lines 

 long, circumscissile much below the middle (well within the calyx), 

 4-seeded, occasionally a fifth seed; seeds winged at one end. 



Alkaline fields of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys west- 

 ward to the Potrero San Pablo, Davy % and Hollister. SetcJiell. 

 Apr. -May. 



88. UTRICULARIACEyE. Bladderwort Family. 



Aquatic insectivorous plants. Calyx bilabiate. Corolla deeply 

 bilabiate, the lower lip larger, 3-lobed, spurred at the base in front. 

 Stamens 2, anterior. Ovary 1-celled, with free central placenta bear- 

 ing several ovules. Fruit a 2-valved capsule. Seed with a straight 

 embryo and no endosperm. 



