Descriptive Flora 



139 



CISTACEAE. Rock-Rose Family. 



Heliantkemum majus (L.) B. S. P. Frost- weed. 



Erect, woody-stemmed plants, 12 to 18" high, with simple, 

 alternate, entire leaves and many fragile, light yellow, 5-petaled 

 flowers, about 1" across, scattered over the top. Leaf-blades 

 oblong-lanceolate or oblong, y 2 to iy 2 i nc h long, greyish under- 

 neath, darker green above, either short petioled or sessile. 

 Flowers loosely clustered at the ends of short ascending 

 branches. Petals 5, very delicate, and falling early. Stamens 

 about 30. Pods small, ovoid, containing 30 to 60 very small 

 seeds. March, April and May. In sandy soil. 



This plant is distinctly different from most of our plants in 

 that later, inconspicuous, petal-less flowers having 4 stamens 

 appear, clustered in the axils of the upper leaves. The 5 petals 

 and numerous stamens of the early flowers give it the general 

 appearance of a miniature wild rose. 



VIOL ACE AE. Violet Family. 

 Viola mdssouriensis Greene. Blue Violet. "Violeta" 



Low apparently stemless plants with basal clusters of simple, 

 long stalked, triangular to heart-shaped leaves that have some- 

 what wavy blunt-toothed margins, prominent basal lobes and 

 several veins at base. Flowers solitary on equally long, slender 

 stalks, bluish-purple, irregular, with the 5 petals arranged like 

 the cultivated Pansy. Petals 5, unequal, the low r er one formed 

 into a flat spur, whiter at the base and marked with deep 

 purple lines, the two side ones bearded within and marked 

 with purple lines like the lower petal. Uppermost petals curved 

 backward. Stamens 5, hidden in the throat of the flower. Fruit a 

 many-seeded capsule that splits in 3 parts as it dries. February, 

 March and April. In shaded river-bottoms, often in rich soil at 

 the base of the limestone cliffs. 



