CAPER FAMILY 323 



4. Cleome platycarpa Torr. Broad-podded Cleome. Fig. 2156. 



Cleome platycarpa Torr. Bot. Wilkes Exp. 235. pi. 2. 1873. 

 Cleome platycarpa Greene, Pittonia 4:211. 1900. 



Annual, erect, pubescent and somewhat glandular, 3-7 dm. high. Leaves 3-foliolate, long- 

 petioled; leaflets oval or oblong, entire, petiolulate, 1-3 cm. long; fruiting racemes elongated; 

 pedicels 10-15 mm. long, distinct, linear-subulate; petals yellow, 6-7 mm. long, spatulate; pod 

 elliptic, 12-15 mm. long, 6-7 mm. wide, flat with the seeds in two rows; fruiting stipes longer 

 than the pedicels. 



Alkaline and lava soils, Upper Sonoran Zone; Blue Mountains, eastern Oregon, to northeastern California, 

 Idaho, and Nevada. Type locality : Klamath River, near Montague, California. May-Aug. 



2. CLEOMELLA DC. Prod. 1 : 237. 1824. 



Erect branching or sometimes diffuse annuals. Leaves alternate, digitately 3-foliolate, 

 petioled. Flowers nearly regular, small, yellow, in terminal bracted racemes or axillary. 

 Sepals 4, distinct, deciduous. Petals 4, entire, sessile. Stamens 6. Capsule rhomboidal, 

 broader than long, the valves often inflated and helmet-like. Seed usually two on each 

 placenta. [Name diminutive of Cleome.'] 



About 14 species, natives of the arid western United States and northern Mexico. Type species, Cleomella 

 mexicana DC. 



Stipes much longer than the capsule. 



Plants erect, branching, glabrous; sepals not ciliate. 



Leaflets obovate to oblong; valves inflated, helmet-like. 1. C. Hillmanii. 



Leaflets linear-oblong; valves not inflated. 2. C. plocasperma. 



Plants decumbent, pubescent; calyx ciliate. 3. C. obtusifolia. 

 Stipes shorter than the capsule. 



Pedicels 15 mm. long, very slender. 4. C. parvi flora. 



Pedicels 2-3 mm. long, strongly recurved. 5. C. brevipes. 



1. Cleomella Hillmanii A. Nels. Hillman's Cleomella. Fig. 2157. 



Cleomella Hillmanii A. Nels. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 18: 171. 1905. 

 Cleomella longipes var. grandiflora S. Wats. Bot. King Expl. 33. 1879. 



Plants bright green and glabrous throughout, the stems erect, simple or with a few branches 



below, stout and somewhat fistulous, 10-30 cm. high, usually floriferous for half the length. 



Leaves 3-foliolate, long-petioled ; leaflets oblong-ovate, obtuse or truncate, mucronate, 1-2 cm. 



long, glabrous; racemes leafy-bracted, the bracts unifoliolate or the lower trifoliolate ; pedicels 



slender, 12-15 mm. long; petals 6-7 mm. long; fruiting stipe exceeding the pedicel; capsule 



rhomboidal, 6-8 mm. broad ; seeds smooth, stramineous. 



Dry hillsides, Upper Sonoran Zone; western Nevada and probably adjacent California. Type locality: 

 Reno, Nevada. April-June. 



2. Cleomella plocasperma S. Wats. Alkali Cleomella. Fig. 2158. 



Cleomella plocasperma S. Wats. Bot. King Expl. 33. 1871. 



Cleomella oocarpa A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. 11: 72. 1876. 



Cleomella mojavensis Payson, Univ. Wyoming Pub. Sci. 1: 36. 1922. 



Cleomella stenosperma Coville ex Tidestrom, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 36: 182. 1923. 



Plants erect, branching, glabrous throughout. Leaflets oblong-linear, 15-25 mm. long, mostly 

 exceeding the petioles ; pedicels 6-8 mm. long ; petals pale yellow, 5 mm. long ; capsule irregularly 

 rhombic-ovoid, 4-5 mm. long, the lateral angles often evident; stipe filiform, 10-12 mm. long; 

 seeds stramineous throughout or lightly mottled with dark and light patches (both types often 

 occurring on the same plant), smooth or microscopically marked. 



Alkaline soils, Sonoran Zones; eastern Oregon, northern Nevada, south to the Colorado and Mojave 

 Deserts, California. Type locality: Humboldt County, Nevada. May-Aug. 



Variations in habit are quite marked. A tall strict form from the Mojave Desert and Owens Valley, Cali- 

 fornia, has been described as variety stricta Crum, and a diffusely branched form also from the Mojave Desert 

 as variety mojavensis (Payson) Crum. 



3. Cleomella obtusifolia Torr. Bushy Cleomella. Fig. 2159. 



Cleomella obtusifolia Torr. & Frem. in Frem. Second Rep. 311. 1845. 



Cleomella taurocranos A. Nels. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 18: 172. 1905. 



Cleomella obtusifolia var. pubescens A. Nels. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 18: 172. 1905. 



_ Freely branching from near the base, forming a bushy plant 2-3 dm. high. Leaves 3- 

 foliolate, oval or oblong, 5-15 mm. long, equaling the petioles, pale green and more or less 

 pubescent; stipules fimbriate, often conspicuously white-ciliate ; flowers in leafy racemes, the 

 lower scattered nearly to the base of the stems ; petals 4-5 mm. long ; style 2 mm. long ; cap- 

 sule 8-10 mm. broad, the valves produced laterally into more or less well-developed horn-like 

 processes ; fruiting pedicels about 8 mm. long, a little longer than the slender recurved stipe. 



Alkaline or sub-alkaline soils, Lower Sonoran Zone; Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley, Inyo County, Cali- 

 fornia, and adjacent Nevada to the Colorado Desert, southern California. Type locality: "on the American Fork 

 of the Sacramento River." March-Sept. 



Some varieties have been described (Jepson, Fl. Calif. 2: 13. 1936) to indicate the variations in habit 

 of growth. 



