34 POLYGONACEAE 



34. Eriogonum pusillum Torr. & Gray. Puny Eriogonum. Fig. 1382. 



Eriogonum pusillum Torr. & Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. 8: 184. 1870. 

 Eriogonum reniforme subsp. pusillum Stokes, Gen. Eriog. 36. 1936. 



Annual with dichotomously or trichotomously branched glabrous stems, 1-3 dm. high. Basal 

 leaves oblong-obovate or rarely rounded, rounded at apex and commonly acute at base, 1-3 cm. 

 long, densely white-woolly beneath, thinly so and green above, petioles about twice as long ; bracts 

 glandular-pubescent ; peduncles very slender ; involucres broadly turbinate, 1 . 5 mm. long, glandu- 

 lar-pubescent, 5-lobed, the lobes broad, rounded, several-flowered; calyx 1.5 mm. long in flower, 

 2.5 mm. in fruit, glandular-puberulent ; lobes yellow with broad red-brown midrib, the outer 

 oblong-elliptic in flower, becoming oblong-spatulate in fruit, the inner similar but a little narrower ; 

 stamens included. 



Granitic sand and gravel, Sonoran Zones; desert regions of Inyo County to the Mojave Desert, California, 

 and western Nevada. Type locality: "Foothills of the Trinity Mountains, borders of the Truckee Desert, 

 Nevada." March-July. Yellow Turban. 



35. Eriogonum reniforme Torr. & Frem. Kidney-leaved Eriogonum. Fig. 1383. 



Eriogonum reniforme Torr. & Frem. in Frem. Second Rep. 317. 1845. 



Annual, the stems 1 or 2, erect, or often with several divergent branches from or near the base, 

 5-20 cm. high, divergently branched with a broad panicle, glabrous above, thinly floccose-tomen- 

 tose toward the base. Leaves in a basal rosette, renif orm, 8-20 mm. broad, densely white-tomentose 

 below, thinly so above; petioles slender, tomentose; peduncles 5-15 mm. long, capillary; involucres 

 barely 2 mm. long, broadly turbinate, shallowly 5-lobed, the lobes rounded, glabrous ; flowers 

 several ; bractlets spatulate, loosely hairy at the apex ; calyx 1 mm. long in flower, glandular- 

 puberulent, the outer lobes elliptic-ovate, the inner a little narrower, pale yellow with a broad 

 greenish or reddish-brown midrib, in fruit 1.5-2 mm. long, and the lobes oblong-ovate, often 

 rose-tinged. 



Sandy or rocky soils, Lower Sonoran Zone; desert ranges of Inyo County to the Colorado Desert, Califor- 

 nia, and western Nevada. Type locality : said to have been collected on the Sacramento River, but probably on 

 the Mojave Desert, California. March-June. 



36. Eriogonum cernuum Nutt. Nodding Eriogonum. Fig. 1384. 



Eriogonum cernuum Nutt. Journ. Acad. Phila. II. 1 : 162. 1848. 



Annual, the stems slender, glabrous, 1-4 dm. high, dichotomously or trichotomously branched, 

 the ultimate branches very slender. Leaves basal, rounded or round-ovate, 1-2 cm. long, densely 

 white-tomentose beneath, less so and often glabrate above ; petioles slender, 2-4 cm. long, pe- 

 duncles capillary, more or less strongly deflexed, 4-25 mm. long, glabrous ; involucres narrowly 

 turbinate, scarcely 2 mm. high, glabrous, 5-lobed, the lobes hyaline-margined ; bractlets con- 

 spicuously white-woolly ; pedicels glabrous ; calyx white tinged with rose, the midribs of the lobes 

 often greenish or purplish, glabrous, scarcely 2 mm. long in fruit, the tube attenuate at base, outer 

 lobes obovate or oblong-quadrate, not cordate at base, the inner narrower ; achene distinctly 

 beaked, 1.5 mm. long. 



Sandy or alkaline soils, Upper Sonoran Zones; eastern Oregon to the Mojave Desert!, California, east to 

 Nebraska and New Mexico. Type locality : "On the plains of the Oregon and in the Rocky Mountains." 

 June-Sept. 



Eriogonum nutans Torr. & Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. 8: 181. 1870. Annual, the stems 1-2 dm. high, 

 divaricately branched, the angle of branching broad, glabrous or the upper branches sometimes glandular- 

 puberulent. Leaves basal, rounded, 10-15 mm. long, cordate or subcordate at base, densely white-tomentose on 

 both surfaces or sometimes glabrate above; petioles as long or longer than the leaves; peduncles spreading and 

 more or less recurved or deflexed, 3-15 mm. long, glandular-puberulent; involucres campanulate, about 3 mm. 

 long; bractlets glandular-puberulent; calyx rose-colored or white, 2-3 mm. long, obtuse at base, outer lobes 

 oblong or oval, not cordate at base. Gravelly slopes, Transition and Sonoran Zones; western Nevada to Utah, 

 reported from Lassen County, California. 



37. Eriogonum deflexum Torr. Flat-crown Eriogonum. Fig. 1385. 



Eriogonum deflexum Torr. in Ives Rep. 24. 1860. 



Annual, the stems solitary or several from the base, 2-4 dm. high, divaricately and often 

 intricately branched into a wide spreading flat-topped crown, pale green and glabrous. Leaves all 

 basal, densely white-woolly or less so above, rounded, 2-5 cm. broad, usually cordate at base, the 

 petioles slightly longer ; peduncles pedicel-like, usually 1-2 mm. long ; involucre solitary, tur- 

 binate, about 2 mm. long, glabrous, 5-lobed ; flowers several ; calyx white turning rose, tube very 

 short, obtuse at base; outer calyx-lobes ovate-elliptic, 2-2.5 mm. long in fruit, rounded at apex, 

 cordate at base, glabrous without, the inner smaller, narrowly ovate, acute. 



Desert washes and plains, Lower Sonoran Zone; Mojave and Colorado Deserts, California, western Nevada, 

 Arizona, and Lower California. Type locality: Three Point Bend, Chocolate Mountains, California. May- 

 July. Skeleton Weed. 



Eriogonum deflexum subsp. Watsonii (Torr. & Gray) Stokes, Gen. Eriog. 44. _ 1936. (£. Watsonii Torr. 

 & Gray, E. barbatum Elmer.) This subspecies differs chiefly from the typical species in the more slender and 

 longer (4-10 mm.) peduncles. Desert slopes, mainly Upper Sonoran Zone; western Nevada to northwestern Ari- 

 zona and the western edge of the Mojave Desert, California. Type locality: Humboldt Mountains, Nevada. 



Eriogonum deflexum var. brachypodum (Torr. & Gray) Munz, Man. S. Calif. 119. 1935. (£. brachy- 

 Podum Torr. & Gray.) Low wide spreading annual with the habit of the typical species and similar short peduncles, 

 but the branches, peduncles, and involucres glandular instead of glabrous. This subspecies ranges from Inyo 

 County, California, and adjacent Nevada to western Arizona and Lower California. Type locality: Kingston 

 Spring, Kingston Mountains, San Bernardino County, California. 



Eriogonum Rixfordii Stokes, Leaflets West. Bot. 1: 29. 1932. Annual, intricately and divaricately 

 branched, with very short internodes, glabrous and glaucous. Leaves basal, rounded, tomentose; peduncles 

 1-2 mm. long or the involucres sessile; calyx glabrous, the outer lobes cordate at base, slightly inflated; achene 

 3-angled, beaked. Desert washes, Inyo County, California. Closely related to Eriogonum deflexum var. brachy- 

 podium, but taller and the branches forming a succession of stories suggesting a pagoda. 



