Wet prairies, Arkansas, Nuttall! Dr. Pitcher. 0. Near St. Augustine
l exas, Dr. Leavenworth ! March-April.—Stem 4-8 inches high, branching
from the base, 3-sided. Leaves pinnatifid, the radical ones somewhat
rosuiate, with the segments more or less toothed. Raceme at first corymbose,
but afterwards elongated into a leafy raceme; the pedicels with a folia-
ceous bract at the base of each, or. rather axillary, the leaves gradually di-
mimshing in size upward. Flowers about half an inch in diameter, golden
yellow, fragrant. Sepals linear-oblong, yellow. Petals spatulate, entire, near-
ly twice as long as the calyx. Glands 8 by pairs at the base of the sepals
and 2 (emargmate) at the base of the shorter stamens. Ovary linear-oblong’
flat : style ensiform : stigma capitate. Silicle 5-6 lines long and 3-4 broad’
(in 0. one-thud larger), abruptly acuminated with the persistent style : valves
very thin, reticulated with slightly prominent veins : septum complete in the Arkansas
plant, a mere narrow border in /?., the central part being entirely want-
mg ; areola; linear. Seeds in a double series, exactly orbicular, with a notch
at the hilum, dotted ; the border thin, but rigid. Radicle scarcely half as
long as the cotyledons, not truly accumbent, but lying on the side of one of
cotyledons, very near its ed g e.-T h is remarkable plant resembles the
tnbe Cremolobeæ of R. Brown ( Oudney,p. 7.) in its inverted or resupinate
seeds ; but differs in so many respects, as well from that, as from all thè tribes
or u e Oandofle, that we have been obliged to give it a place by itself.
T ribe V. ALYSSINEÆ. DC.
Silicle dehiscent ; valves plane or convex : septum broadly oval and
membranaceous. Seeds compressed, often margined. Cotyledons
plane, accumbent (lying next the placentæ), parallel with the septum.
21. VESICARIA. Lam. ill. t. 559 ; DC. syst. 2.p. 295.
Silicle globose or ovate, inflated; valves hemispherical, membranaceous
or somewhat rigid. Seeds several (4-6 in each cell, or by abortion fewer)
sometimes margined: funiculi partly adnate to the septum. Petals entire —
Flowers yellow.
§ 1. Silicle globose, membranaceous, inflated.—Vesicariana DC.
1. V. arctica (Richards.): canescent with a stellate pubescence ; radical
leaves crowded spatulate mostly entire, obtuse; cauline ones few linear
style slender, about half the length of the globose silicle.—.fficAark arm
Frankl. joum. ed. 2. p. 26 ; Hook. ! fl. Bern.-Am. 1. p. 48. UPP'
a. flowers larger ; silicles glabrous [or minutely pubescent! Hook —V
arcuca, B o a r d s . ; DC. prodr. 1. p , W Alyssun? a r c S J ’ FI. Dan i.
0. flowers smaller ; silicles [densely] pubescent. Hook.—V. arctica Hook
bot. mag. t. 2882. V. arenosa, Richards. 1. c. *
British America, from Canada! to the Arctic Regions ! Island of Anti
costi, Mr. Shepherd! Apnl-May.—If. Stem 3-8 inches hi°b ; the neck
marked with the vestiges of former leaves. Pedicels 4-6 lines long. Sflfcle
somewhat ovate-globose, as large as a small pea. Style filiform: stigma capitate
distinct Seeds 4-6 m each cell, roundish, without a margin.8 Funiculi
adnate to the septum towards the base.
2. V. Ludoviciana (DC.): canescent with a stellate pubescence; radical
leaves spatulate, entire, obtuse ; cauline linear; style slender, longer than
the ovary, and nearly as long as the obovate-globose silicle.—DC. syst. 2. p.
297. Alyssum Ludovieianum, Nutt.! gen. 2- p 63. Myagrum argenteum,
Pursh, fl... 2. p. 434.
Rocky hills of the Missouri and Platte, Nuttall, Dr. James! N. W.
Coast, Douglas. April-June.—% Stem 6-8 inches high, simple, or somewhat
branched above. Leaves about an inch long. Flowers golden-yellow.
Petals obovate. Silicle smaller than in the preceding species, nearly smooth
when old.
3. V. grandiflora (Hook); canescent with a stellate pubescence ; leaves
sessile, cuneate-oblong, sinuately toothed; silicle globose, glabrous; style
about two-thirds the length of the silicle; petals obcordate, twice as long as
the calyx ; stamens thickened at the base.—Hook. bot. mag. t. 3464; D.
Don in B rit.fl. gard. (ser. 2.) t. 401.
0. pa llid a : stem sparingly pubescent; leaves narrowed at the base, rather
coarsely toothed; flowers almost white; silicle globose.
Texas, Drummond! 0. Small prairies near St. Augustine, Texas, Dr. Leavenworth
!—(T) Stem slender, decumbent, much branched, about a foot
long. Leaves an inch in length. Calyx copiously hairy : sepals elliptical-
oblong. Ovary spherical, scarcely stipulate; septum veinless : ovules 6 in
each cell. D. Don.—We do not recognise this species among our Texan
specimens collected by Drummond, kindly sent us by Sir William Hooker;
but our var. 0. agrees so nearly with the description and figure of Don,
that we cannot regard it as specifically distinct.
4. V. repanda (Nutt.! mss.): stem minutely and sparingly pubescent,
decumbent; leaves linear-oblong or nearly linear, almost glabrous, narrowed
at the base, repand, obtuse; silicle obovate-globose, on a short stipe; style
about two-thirds as long as the silicle; stigma capitate; petals obovate,
twice the length of the calyx ; filaments subulate.
Banks of the Red River, Arkansas, Dr. Pitcher!—Stem a foot or more
in length, branching from the base, rather stout and angular, the upper part
sparingly pubescent. Leaves l i - 2 i inches long; the upper ones slightly
repand-denticulate, with a few minute appressed stellate hairs on both surfaces.
Pedicels an inch long, spreading. Sepals linear-oblong. Petals 3-4
lines long, with distinct claws. Ovary obovate-oblong: each cell with 6-8
ovules. Silicle 2 lines long, on a distinct pedicel: style rather slender: stigma
conspicuous.
5. V. angustifolia (Nutt.! mss.) : canescently and stellately pubescent:
radical leaves lyrately pinnatifid or repandly toothed, oblong, attenuated at
the base; cauline linear, entire, or repand; silicle globose, glabrous, nearly
sessile; style filiform; rather shorter than the silicle; petals obovate-oblong,
twice the length of the ovate sepals; filaments subulate, dilated at the base.
Prairies of Arkansas and Red River, Nuttall! Dr. Leavenworth ! April.
—(T) Stems several from one root, about a foot high. Radical leaves tapering
at the base into a long petiole; cauline ones about a line wide. Raceme
not much elongated in fruit. Seeds mostly abortive, few in each c e ll: funiculi
adhering to the septum at the base.
6. V. Nuttallii: somewhat pubescent, branched from the base and procumbent
; leaves lanceolate-oblong, obtusely repand-dentate or almost entire ;
silicle pyriform-subglobose, somewhat stipitate, glabrous ; style two-thirds as
long as the silicle ; petals obovate; filaments dilated at the base.
Prairies of Red River, Arkansas, Nu tta ll! Dr. Leavenworth!—(T) Stem
12-18 inches long. Leaves an inch or more in length, harrowed at the base.
Racemes much elongated in fruit: pedicels nearly an inch long, spreading
or somewhat recurved. Flowers bright yellow. Silicle 3 lines long, a little