Part 11

Very few species of this genus have any economic value. A. gummifer and some other similar species of Western Asia, low, spiny shrubs, yield the gum tragacanth of commerce.

OENOTHERA, L. Evening-Primrose Family.

Herbs, or plants sometimes woody at the base. Leaves.--Alternate. Flowers.--Axillary or in spikes or racemes. Calyx-tube.--More or less prolonged above the ovary with four reflexed segments.

Petals.--Four; obcordate to obovate; sessile; yellow to white, often tinged with red or turning red in fading. Stamens.--Eight; equal; or those opposite the petals shorter. Anthers perfect; two-celled; versatile. Ovary.--Four-celled; many ovuled. Style filiform. Stigma four-lobed or capitate. Fruit.--A capsule with the seeds in one or two rows in each cell.

The name OEnothera is from two Greek words, meaning wine and a hunt, or pursuit. Mr. Gray tells us that it was given in ancient times to some plant whose roots were eaten to provoke a relish for wine.

This is a large genus, containing a hundred or more species, which are mostly confined to America, about a quarter of them being Californian. Many of them are very beautiful and have long been favorites in gardens. The flowers are yellow or white, and are commonly designated as "evening primroses," as many of them open upon the edge of evening.

GODETIA, Spach. Evening-Primrose Family.

The genus Godetia is closely allied to that of OEnothera; but is distinguished from the latter in several points. Its flowers are purple, lilac, or rose-colored--never yellow; the anthers are basifixed--i.e. fixed by their bases--not versatile; and the stigma, instead of being capitate, has four linear lobes.

The plants of this genus were formerly included under OEnothera; but it has been thought best to put them into a separate genus, which has been named for a Dr. Godet.

There are numerous species, many of them very beautiful and showy. They vary a great deal under different conditions and in different seasons, and are not well understood by botanists as yet.

The genus is confined to the western coast of North America, and is most largely represented in California.

The species flower mostly in late spring and early summer, which has given rise to the pretty name of "farewell to spring" for the plants of this genus.

GILIA, Renz. and Pav. Phlox or Polemonium Family.

Herbs or plants somewhat shrubby at base. Leaves.--Opposite or alternate; simple or compound; without stipules. Many species with showy flowers. All the parts of the flower five, except the pistil, which has a three-celled ovary and a three-lobed style. Calyx.--Imbricated in the bud. Corolla.--Regular; funnel-form, salver-form, or sometimes short campanulate or rotate; convolute in the bud. Stamens.--Five; on the corolla alternate with its lobes; distinct. Filaments mostly slender; sometimes unequal in length; not bearded at base.

This genus was named in honor of Philip Gil, a Spanish botanist. In America the name is pronounced jil'i-a, though according to the rules of the Spanish language he'li-a would be the correct pronunciation.

This is a comparatively large genus, comprising about a hundred species, most of which are native to the western parts of the United States. The flowers are often showy and beautiful, and some of them closely resemble the phloxes. A number are cultivated under the botanical name of Ipomopsis or Leptosiphon.

PHACELIA, Juss. Baby-eyes or Waterleaf Family.

Herbs, mostly branched from the base and hairy. Leaves.--Alternate; the lower sometimes opposite; simple or compound. Flowers.--Usually in one-sided scorpioid racemes. Calyx.--Deeply five-parted; without appendages. Corolla.--From almost rotate to narrowly funnel-form; five-lobed; with ten vertical plates or scales at the base within. Stamens.--Five; equally inserted low or at the base of the corolla. Ovary.--One-celled. Styles two; or one which is two-cleft. Fruit.--A capsule.

The name Phacelia is from a Greek word signifying a fascicle, or bunch, and refers to the fascicled or clustered flower-racemes.

This genus is closely allied to Nemophila, but differs from it in several points. The calyx is not furnished with appendages at the sinuses; the corolla is imbricated in the bud--i.e. the lobes overlap one another in the manner of bricks in a wall,--and is not convolute, or rolled up, as in Nemophila.

This is mainly a North American genus, having about fifty species, about thirty of which are Californian. Many of the species have beautiful and showy flowers, and are cultivated in gardens. The blossoms are blue, violet, purple, or white, but never yellow (save sometimes in the tube or throat).

MIMULUS, L. Figwort Family.

Leaves.--Opposite; simple. Flowers.--Axillary on solitary peduncles; sometimes becoming racemose by the diminution of the upper leaves to bracts. Calyx.--Tubular or campanulate; mostly five-angled and five- toothed. Corolla.--Funnel-form; bilabiate; the upper lip erect, two-lobed; the lower three-lobed; a pair of ridges, either bearded or naked, running down the lower side of the throat. Stamens.--Four. Anthers often near together in pairs, with divergent cells. Ovary.--Superior; two-celled. Style filiform. Stigma two-lipped, with the lips commonly dilated and petaloid.

The genus Mimulus is so named from the shape of the corolla, which is supposed to resemble the gaping countenance of an ape. It comprises forty or fifty species, and affords us some of our most beautiful flowers. The greater number of species and the handsomest are Pacific, and several of our Californian species are especially prized in cultivation.

The plants of the genus are all known as "monkey-flowers." They exhibit an interesting character in the structure and movements of the stigma. It is usually composed of two somewhat expanded lips. These are extremely sensitive, and when touched, or when pollen has been received by them, they close quite rapidly.

ORTHOCARPUS, Nutt. Figwort Family.

Low herbs; almost all annuals. Leaves.--Mainly alternate; sessile; often cut into from three to five filiform divisions; the upper passing into the bracts of the dense spike and usually colored, as are the calyx-lobes. Calyx.--Short-tubular or oblong-campanulate; evenly four-cleft, or sometimes cleft before and behind and the divisions again cleft. Corolla.--Tubular; the upper lip, or galea, little or not at all longer than the lower; small in comparison with the large, inflated, one- to three-saccate lower one, which usually bears more or less conspicuous teeth. Stamens.--Four; inclosed in the upper lip. Ovary.--Two-celled. Style long. Stigma capitate. Fruit.--A capsule.

The genus Orthocarpus is mainly Californian, comprising within our borders something less than twenty species. Most of them are to be found from San Francisco northward and in the mountains.