82 
LOASACEAE 
small, scarious; peduncles shorter than the leaves; upper petals white 
within, the others white or yellow with purple markings at base.—Shady 
woods. 
8. V. canina L. var. adunca Gray. Dog Violet. Stems leafy, 4.8 to 
9.6 cm. high; leaves broadly ovate, often cordate at base, obscurely cre- 
nate, 1.8 cm. to 3.6 cm. long; stipules green, cut-toothed; petals violet- 
purple, or rarely white, the lateral ones bearded on the upper side at base; 
spur as long or much shorter.—Vicinity of the coast. 
LOASACEAE. LOASA FAMILY 
Herbs with either rough or stinging hairs and often white deciduous 
bark. Leaves in ours alternate. Flowers regular. Calyx-tube adnate to 
the ovary, its limb 5-lobed. Petals 5. Stamens usually numerous. Ovary 
1-celled; placentae 2 or 3. parietal. Fruit a capsule.—Species about 120, 
mostly in S. Am. 
1. MENTZELIA L. 
Ours erect annuals or biennials. Leaves coarsely toothed or pinnatifid, 
in age brittle, adhering tightly to clothing by means of barbed hairs. 
Flowers terminal, solitary or cymose, small or showy. Fruit dehiscent 
at the summit. (C. Mentzel, a German botanist of the 17th century.) 
Biennial; capsule oblong; seeds flat, winged....L M. laevicanlis. 
Annual; capsule linear or clavate; seeds cylindric or angular, wingless. 
2. M. gradient a. 
1. M. laevicaulis (Dough) T. & G. Blazing Star. Stem stout, whi¬ 
tish, 5.7 to 10 dm. high; leaves narrowly oblong to lanceolate, sinuate¬ 
toothed, 7.2 to 16.8 cm. long; flowers light yellow, 7.2 to 9.6 cm. broad; 
petals broadly oblanceolate.—Dry gravelly stream beds. 
2. M. gracilenta T. & G. Stems green, 1 to 4.3 dm. high; flowers 
clustered at the summit ; petals yellow, 8 to 12 mm. long; filaments dilated 
and somewhat united at base.—Los Angeles Co. to Monterey Co. 
CUCURBITACEAE. GOURD FAMILY 
Annual or perennial herbs with simple leaves. Corolla sympetalous, 5 to 
7-lobed. Calyx-lobes about 5 or obsolete. Staminate flower with 3 sta¬ 
mens. Pistillate flower with an inferior 1 to 6-celled ovary and 2 or 3 
stigmas. Fruit gourd-like, or dry and splitting open.—About 637 species, 
especially in the tropics. 
Flowers large, staminate and pistillate on separate peduncles ; seeds flattened. 
Both kinds of flowers solitary in the axils. 
Corolla bell-shaped; seeds mostly margined . 1 . Cucurbita. 
Corolla rotately expanded; seeds marginless.2. Citrullus. 
Staminate flowers clustered, the pistillate ones solitary in the axils. 
3. Cucumis. 
Flowers small, the staminate in racemes, the pistillate solitary; seeds large, thick.. 
4. Echinocystis. 
1. CUCURBITA L. Gourd 
Stems prostrate, trailing and vine-like, scabrous. Flowers large, yel- 
