BUCKWHEAT FAMILY 39 



51. Eriogonum truncatum Torr. & Gray. Contra Costa Eriogonum. Fig. 1399. 



Eriogonum truncatum Torr. & Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. 8: 173. 1870. 



Annual, the stems solitary or several from the base, 1-3 dm. high, the first and sometimes the 

 second internodes elongated, erect, the upper ones more spreading forming an open umbel-like 

 cyme, loosely floccose becoming unevenly glabrate. Leaves basal and on the lower nodes, white- 

 floccose below, thinly so and green above, oblong-lanceolate to obovate, 2-4 cm. long, tapering to 

 the petiole, the margins undulate; involucres sessile, solitary or 2-4 together at the nodes, the 

 uppermost terminal but in the axils of bracts, 3 mm. long, tomentose, narrowly obconic, very 

 shallowly and broadly 5-toothed, the sinuses between filled by a papery membrane ; calyx gla- 

 brous, pale rose, about 2 mm. long; outer lobes elliptic-obovate, the inner similar, but a little 

 narrower ; filaments pubescent below ; achene minutely scabrous except toward the base. 



Dry hillsides, Upper Sonoran Zone; a species of restricted distribution in the interior of Contra Costa 

 County, California. Type locality: east base of Mount Diablo, Contra Costa County, California. April-June. 



52. Eriogonum Covilleanum Eastw. Coville's Eriogonum. Fig. 1400. 



Eriogonum Covilleanum Eastw. Proc. Calif. Acad. 20: 138. 1931. 

 Eriogonum vimineum var. Covilleanum Stokes, Gen. Eriog. 53. 1936. 



Annual, the stem simple below or branching from the base, 1-3 dm. high, glabrous, repeatedly 

 branched above, with slender glabrous branchlets. Leaves all basal, suborbicular, rounded at apex, 

 subcordate or truncate and then short-cuneate at base, white-tomentose beneath, glabrous and 

 often reddish above; involucres solitary, sessile in the forks and at the nodes of the very slender 

 branchlets, 5-veined, glabrous without, the margin entire and sparsely ciliate ; calyx 2 mm. long, 

 rose or white and rose-veined, the lobes elliptic, puberulent on midveins at base. 



Dry hills, Upper Sonoran Zone; Inner Coast Ranges, Alameda County to San Benito County, California. 

 Type locality: "On bluffs along the road from Mt. Hamilton to Livermore," California. April-June. 



Eriogonum Covilleanum subsp. adsurgens (Jepson) Abrams. (£. truncatum var. adsurgens Jepson, Fl. 

 Calif 414 1914. E. vimineum subsp. adsuraens Stokes, Gen. Eriog. 52. 1936. E. Eastwoodianum J. 1. 

 Howell, Leaflets West. Bot. 2: 134. 1938.) Plants very similar to the typical species, but all parts a little 

 larger; involucre toothed, the membranous connection not extending to the apex of the midribs. This subspecies 

 inhabits the Inner Coast Ranges from San Benito County to San Luis Obispo County, California. 



53. Eriogonum Nortonii Greene. Norton's Eriogonum. Fig. 1401. 



Eriogonum Nortonii Greene, Pittonia 2: 165. 1891. 



Eriogonum vimineum subsp. Nortonii Stokes, Gen. Eriog. 52. 1936. 



Annual, di- or trichotomously branching, S-20 cm. high, the stems glabrous, reddish in age. 

 Leaves whorled at the base and usually on the lower nodes, orbicular or reniform, cordate at base, 

 deeply emarginate at apex, 5-15 mm. broad, densely white-tomentose beneath, glabrous above, 

 the petiole very slender ; involucres sessile in the forks and terminal on the short branchlets, soli- 

 tary, broadly turbinate, 3 mm. long, glabrous without, the teeth usually 8, short and blunt ; flowers 

 many, white or rose-colored, 1.5 mm. long calyx-lobes similar, obovate, rounded at apex, 

 glabrous. 



Dry rocky ridges. Upper Sonoran Zone; Inner Coast Ranges of Monterey and San Benito Counties, Cali- 

 fornia. Type locality: Palisades and Cholone Peaks near Gonzales, Monterey County, California. May-Aug. 



54. Eriogonum deserticola S. Wats. Desert Eriogonum. Fig. 1402. 



Eriogonum deserticola S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 26: 125. 1891. 



Diffusely branched shrub, 10-15 dm. high, the young branchlets hoary-tomentose, soon gla- 

 brous and light green. Leaves scattered along the young branchlets, broadly or round-ovate, 4-8 

 mm. long, hoary-tomentose on both surfaces, the margins undulate, petioles about as long, early 

 deciduous leaving the plants leafless and glabrous at flowering time ; involucres solitary at the 

 nodes in the axils of the short bracts, subsessile or short-pedicelled, turbinate-campanulate, 

 scarcely 2 mm. long, tomentose, the teeth low and rounded, 1-3-flowered ; calyx 2 mm. long, lobed 

 almost to the base, villous without, the lobes narrowly elliptic, yellow, with green or reddish mid- 

 veins. 



Dry sandy washes, Lower Sonoran Zone; Colorado Desert, California, in the western part, also on the 

 eastern border in the sandunes west of Yuma. Type locality: southwestern part of Colorado Desert, Calitornia. 

 Sept.-Dec. Desert Buckwheat. 



55. Eriogonum crocatum Davidson. Saffron Eriogonum. Fig. 1403. 



Eriogonum crocatum Davidson, Bull. S. Calif. Acad. 23: 17. pi. e. 1924. 

 Eriogonum saxatile var. crocatum Munz, Man. S. Calif. 120. 1935. 



Perennial with a loosely branched woody caudex, clothed with withered leaves or old leaf 

 bases, 1-3 dm. high, densely white-woolly. Leaves scattered, with broad winged petioles often re- 

 curved at base, broadly ovate, 15-25 mm. broad, obtuse or acutish at apex, abruptly narrowed at 

 base, densely white-woolly on both surfaces; inflorescence a rather dense cyme terminating a 

 stout terminal scape-like peduncle 5-10 cm. long, once or twice branched at right angles ; invo- 

 lucres terminating the branches of the cyme and in the forks, broadly campanulate, 3-4 mm. long, 

 obscurely 7-8-toothed, densely white-woolly ; flowers many, yellow, becoming 5-6 mm. long gla- 

 brous, with an elongated stipe-like base ; calyx-lobes similar, oblong-lanceolate ; filaments hairy 

 at base ; achene glabrous ; styles elongate. 



Rocky slopes, Upper Sonoran Zone; coastal ranges, Ventura County, California. Type locality : rocky 

 grounds west of Conejo Grade, Ventura County, California. April-June. This and the next species show a close 

 relationship with Eueriogonum. 



