R H A M N E iE. 85 



18. C. olig-aiithus, Nutt. in T. & G. 1. c. 266. "Stem and branches 

 villous : leaves elliptic-ovate, nearly glabrous above, villous beneath, 

 glandvilarly serrulate, rather obtuse : panicles lateral and terminal, very 

 short, few-flowered, naked, or leafy toward the base : disk pentagonal ; 

 ovary with 3 protuberances at the angles nearly as large as itself." — 

 Mountains near Hauta Bfirbara. 



19 ? C. hirsutus, Nutt. 1. c. " Somewhat spiny and almost hirsute, 

 particularly the young branches : leaves cordate-o\ate, glandularly 

 serrulate, nearly sessile, rather obtuse : panicle terminal, elongated, 

 leafy : disk obscurely pentagonal : protuberances of the ovary small." — 

 Habit of the preceding. We give Nuttall's own descriptions of his two 

 species which later writers of less than his experience in these shrubs 

 have probably unadvisedly combined. Dr. Parry was of opinion 

 that more than one species was embraced by the " C. hirsutus " of later 

 writers. We note that if both Nuttall's names apply to the same shrub, 

 oNganthus has the precedence over hirsutus. 



20. C. sorediatus, H. & A. Bot. Beech. 328 (1840) ; C\ azureus, KelL 

 Proc. Calif. Acad. i. 55 (1855) ; C. intricatus. Parry, Proc. Davenp. Acad. 

 V. 168 (1889). Shrubby or arborescent, 5 — 10 ft. high, nearly glabrous ; 

 branches spreading or recurved, and with short stiff branchlets : leaves 

 subcoriaceous, glossy above, glabrous or somewhat tomentose beneath, 

 but silky along the rims, oblong-ovate, % — 1% ^- Ions'! rounded or sub- 

 cordate at base : racemes of deep blue 3^2 — 2 in. long, usually not longer 

 than broad. — Plentiful on Mt. Tamalpais, on the northern slope ; common 

 in the Berkeley Hills, and far southward. Mar. — May. 



* * Evergreen shrubs ; branches mostly short, rigid and smaU-leaved, ivith 



warty stipules ; leaves muslly opposite, hard-coriaceous, closely 



pinnate-nerved, spinose-toothed or entire ; fruit with 



3 horns. — Subgenus Cerastes, Wats. 



■1— Shrubs prostrate or trailing. 



21. C. prostratus, Benth. PI. Hartw. 302 (1849). Prostrate, glabrous, 

 the branches rooting, repeatedly subdivided, the whole forming a close 

 mat a yard or two in diameter : leaves obovate or oblong-cuneiform, 

 % — 1 iQ- long, obtuse or truncate, with 2 or 3 pairs of coarse spinose 

 teeth above the middle : fl. few, bright blue, on short stout peduncles : 

 fr. y^ in. thick, horns erect. — One of the characteristic undershrubs of 

 pine woods in the middle Sierra from Mariposa Co. northward ; also in 

 the higher Coast Range northward ; rejoicing in the alliterative common 

 name of Mahala-Mats ; very beautiful when in flower ; fruit the largest 

 in the genus. June, July. 



22. C. coniiiTens, Greene, Pittonia, ii. 16 (1889). Diffuse but not 

 prostrate or rooting, the branches mostly simple, pliable rather than 



