GILIA FAMILY 207 



Sandy flats, mesas and washes, 700 to 4000 (or 6000) feet, often very abundant 

 locally: coastal Southern California back of the coast line from the San Bernar- 

 dino Valley to Ventura Co.; Colorado and Mohave deserts; southern Sierra Nevada 

 in Kern Co. ; Inyo Co. East to Nevada and western Texas. Apr.-June. 



Field note. — In some portions of the deserts Linantbus aureus is infrequent; in other portions 

 it is locally abundant, forming colonies here and there an acre or several acres or even several 

 square miles in extent. A flower character is that the 3 linear stigmas diverge horizontally. The 

 corolla with yellow limb and orange throat represents the prevailing form, but there is also a form 

 with white or pale violet corolla. 



Locs. — Coastal S. Cal. : Riverside, Koethen 13 ; San Bernardino, Parish; Santa Anita Wash, 

 San Gabriel Mts., Peirson 2111 ; Big Tu junga Canon, San Gabriel Mts., Peirson 343 ; San Fernando 

 Valley (Dav. & Mox., Fl. S. Cal. 292) ; Lockwood Valley, Mt. Piiios, Hoffmann. Colorado Desert: 

 Mountain Springs grade, Orcutt 234; Vallecito, Jepson 8606; Box Caiion, Mason Valley, e. San 

 Diego Co., Jepson 8654; Pleasant Valley, near Lookout Mt., Conchilla Eange, Jepson 5983; Cot- 

 tonwood Spr., Eagle Mts., Jepson 12,554. Mohave Desert: Manzana, Antelope Valley, Davy; 

 Hesperia, Newlon 474; Domingo ranch valley. Providence Mts., Jepson 18,274; Hole-in-the-Wall, 

 Providence Mts., Jepson 18,328; Cedar Caiion, Mid Hills, Providence Mts., Jepson 18,336; Barn- 

 well, New York Mts., Jepson 5441. Southern Sierra Nevada in Kern Co.: Walker Pass, Jepson 

 19,874. Inyo Co.: Argus Mts., Purpus 5404; Bishop, Almeda Nordylce ; Laws, Heller 8199. 



Var. decorus (Gray) Jepson. Corolla white or pale violet. — Sandy flats and sandy plains, 

 in and bordering the Providence Mts., 2300 to 5000 feet: Fountain Caiion, Jepson 18,204; plain 

 east of Mitchell Caverns, Jepson 18,300. 



Geog. note. — The white-flowered form, var. decorus of Linanthus aureus, is abundant in the 

 eastern Mohave Desert in seasons of above-average rainfall. Its probable center of distribution 

 is here described : On the gently sloping plain extending upward from the Amboy basin northerly 

 to the base of the Old Dad Mountains, it is found, at this time (in late April, 1941), in colonies 

 about one-fourth mile square (Jepson 20,368), filling the sandy opens between the bushes of Larrea 

 tridentata var. glutinosa, Franseria dumosa and Lepidium f remontii. Linanthus aureus was not 

 observed here. Thirty miles north of this station, on the mesa which slopes downward and north- 

 ward towards the Kelso Sand-dunes it occurs again in an extensive colony covering several miles 

 (Jepson 20,540). Crossing the broad wash which runs westerly from the Kelso Sand-dunes and 

 ascending the mesa towards the great mountain mass, Kelso Mountains, lying between Kelso and 

 Baker, var. decorus is found again in great areas above Kelso (Jepson 20,580). Higher up it is 

 replaced by an equally extensive colony of Linanthus aureus (jepson 20,579). These colonics 

 meet but do not overlap and mingle, unless marginally. Proceeding through a mountain pass and 

 coming out onto a great plateau lying on the westerly side of the mountain mass referred to, 

 a colony of Linanthus aureus, about four to five miles long and as wide, is encountered (Jepson 

 20,594), the shrubs of the mesa in this area being very widely spaced. Farther clown the slope 

 towards Baker, var. decorus is again found in a broad colony two miles across (Jepson 20,595). 

 Each of these colonies consists exclusively of either Linanthus aureus or its var. decorus. The 

 colonies of var. decorus, while clearly belonging to this varietal unit, represent in each case, how- 

 ever, a slightly distinctive strain. Were the white-flowered plants found growing mingled with the 

 golden-flowered plants, significance of the white-flowered state might well be completed by describ- 

 ing it simply as a color form. On account of geographic segregation, however, these color forms 

 take on added significance, since they are indicators of micro-climatic or ecological areas. 



Kefs.— Linanthus aureus Greene, Pitt. 2:257 (1892); Jepson, Man. 802 (1925). Gilia 

 aurea Nutt., Proc. Acad. Phila. 4:11 (1848), type loc. ''Santa Barbara" (but undoubtedly towards 

 the interior), Gambel. G. aurea f. laeta Brand; Engler, Pflzr. 4-^'>:131 (1907), type loc. Ventura 

 Co. Grinnell 7. G. aurea f. pallescens Brand, I.e., type from S. Cal., Jones 3186. Var. decorus 

 Jep'son, Man. 803 (1925). Gilia aurea var. decora Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 8:264 (1870), type from 

 Cal., Fremont. G. aurea f. decora Brand, I.e. 



13. L. filipes Greene. (Fig. 390.) Stem dichotomously and diffusely much 

 branched, or sometimes erect, 2 to 6 inches high, the branches filiform; herbage 

 puberulent, sometimes villous at base ; leaf-blades palmately 5-parted into filiform 

 or acicular segments, l^/^ to 4 lines long ; inflorescence dichotomously paniculate- 

 eymose; pedicels filiform, 2 to 5 lines long; calyx usually narrow-turbinate, his- 

 pidulose, % as long as the corolla, the lobes Vs to nearly as long as the calyx-tube, 

 somewhat pungent-tipped ; corolla short-funnelform, white to pink or lilac, 2 to 3 

 lines long, with a hairy ring in the tube ; stamens exserted from the corolla-throat, 

 the filaments inserted near the base of the throat; style exceeding the stamens; 

 capsule-cells several-seeded. 



Open or openly wooded slopes or flats in the foothills, 200 to 4500 feet : North 

 Coast Ranges from Solano Co. to Shasta Co. (and the rolling plains immediately 



