382 



BOTANICAL GAZETTE 



[NOVEMBER 



stand, with no other plants present.^ The Allocarya, however, 

 is sometimes scattered, and the chief mass of vegetation is "gold- 

 fields" (Baeria or Lasthenia). Because of the almost constant 

 occurrence of Allocarya, these plant communities might well be 

 called ''Allocarya depressions." The Allocarya continues in 

 bloom until late in the growing season, even after the general 

 spring aspect has passed. Many of the plants of this late period 



Fig. 1. — A depression in early spring showing a wide circum-area of meadow-foam 

 (Floerkea Douglasii); outskirts of Sacramento. 



are markedly depauperate in vegetative parts, and also as to size 

 of flowers; but even during the early part of the season depauperate 

 individuals are scattered among the more robust plants.** 



Gold-fields {Baeria and Lasthenia) sometimes replace almost 

 completely the Allocarya of the central area. At a dist&nce they 



3 The writer is familiar with such growths of Allocarya at Tolland, Colorado, in 

 the Rocky Mountains along lake and stream margins in fine grained soil. The 

 Colorado species in these places is Allocarya scopulorum. 



* Many Californian species ha\'e depauperate or otherwise atypical individuals 

 mixed with plants of typical form, or in some cases occurring in special habitats. 

 It is often difficult to determine in a given case whether the differences are genetic 

 or merely due to crowding or other environmental factors. 



