219 
and the lower 4 mm. wide, almost straight, the lower side rarely a lit- 
tle concave, narrowed and cleft deeper above at the end, but teeth e- 
qual, rather truncate and equally inserted on the very short and stout 
pedicels, red, thinly shaggy with fine and spreading tangled hairs, as- 
cending in flower and fruit. Bracts 3-4 mm. long, triangular, white- 
shaggy so as to be concealed by the hairs. Peduncles 2-3 mm. thick, 
coarsely sulcate. somewhat curved in fruit. Leaves with the white- 
shaggy petioles as long as rachis, the petioles and peduncles persist- 
ing iong and closely imbricated below, with the rather small stipules 
concealed by the shaggy pubescence. Leaflets 3-5 pairs, hardly I cm, 
long, about elliptical, but a little narrower below, acutish at both ends 
and with the pubescence short-shaggy and somewhat appressed. The 
crowns few and often 5 cm. wide, longer than wide and forming a 
dense mat 2-4 dm. wide combined with the many leaves. Roots rath- 
er fleshy, erect and long. From the Panamint Mts. to the Colora- 
do desert south of the Salton Sink, blooming in April. The stems do 
not seem to elongate at all, being represented by the thick’ crowns. 
178 Astragalus funereus Jones Cont. 12 11 (1908). Pods decided- 
ly inflated, about 5 cm. long, 1.5 cm. wide, broadly- to ovate-oblong, 
from nearly half-oval to lunate, hooked at the end, the ventral suture 
a little concave and the subulate tip ascending about 45 degrees and 
3-4 times as long as wide, normally somewhat obcompressed at base 
and shallow-sulcate at least ventraliy, with cross-section nearly round 
and with walls having scarcely any flesh and are chartaceous when 
dry and with cavity much larger than the sceds and without pulp. 
Flowers few, pink-purple-tipped, becoming biuish (and therefore 
naturally acid) when dry, about 2 cm. long, with the claws not exser- 
ted and about as iong as the calyx ora little more. Banner oval-ovate 
and about 1.5 cm. iong and 1.2 cm. wide, with sides reflexed 5 mm. 
wide in the middle to 45 degrees and arcuate in gentle arc to 45 de- 
grees from calyx tip. Groove deeply V-shaped, fully 2 mm. deep and 
less than 1 mm. wide, abruptly widening 7 mm. below tip of banner, 
most of it deep-purple and veined with white on the edges, the white 
spot being present asa narrow band. Wings concave to keel, 3 mm. 
wide at base to the middle and then contracted to 2 mm. wide 4 mm. 
from tip, very blunt and rounded, a little declined, quite as long as keel. 
Keel that of A. coccineus but about 1 cm. long and 3 mm. wide and 
with tip4 mm. high and a little arched and with the end nearly in 
line with the upper side and obtuse and rounded barely apiculate, the 
general outline being half-oblanceolate. The general character of the 
flowers is that of A. coccineus but shorter. Calyx tube about 7 mm. 
long and 3 mm. high and nearly as wide, a little contracted at both 
ends, nearly equally inserted, the upper side arched a little, not cleft 
deeper above, nigrescent-shaggy with rather long and spreading and 
very fine hairs. Bracts deltoid, hardly 3 mm. long, very hairy and in- 
clined to be nigrescent. Peduncles very stout, about 3 mm. thick and 
5-7 cm. long, arcuate, with 5-10 flowers, and with fruiting rachis 1-5 
em.long. Leaves rarely 5 cm. long, with slender petioles much short- 
er than their rachis. Leaflets about 8 pairs, oval and obtuse, rarely a 
little obovate, 5-8 mm. long, rarely 1 cm. long. Pubescence very dense 
and much tangled and almost woolly, or only wavy, but much tangled 
on the pods. Neither petioles nor peduncles persisting when old. 
Young plants rather acaulescent but older ones with rather slender 
and knotted stems often 1 dm. long, and with internodes longer than 
the deltoid and greenish stipules, and about as thick as the peduncles, 
white-hairy and prostrate. The plants form rather large mats. The 
roots are thickened. fleshy an short.d It blooms early in April on clay 
ridges at Rhyolite Nevada, probably in the Charleston Mts., rare at 
Tonopah, and Darwin Cal. . ern DAE sm 
> 
