84 



CRUCIFERAE 



Refs.— Lepidixtm montanttm Nutt.; T. & G. Fl. 1:11G (1838), typo loc. plains of the Rocky 

 Mountains, on the western side, to the borders of the Cohinibia River, Nuttall; Jepson, Man. 

 438 (1925). 



6. L. alyssoides Gray. Mesa Pepper. (Fig. 142.) Stems several from a 

 perennial base; herbage glabrous; leaves 1/2 to 1 or IY2 inches long, the blades of 

 the ba.sal and lower ones pinnately parted into 5 to 11 oblong or oval incised or 



entire lobes about 1 to 2 lines long, the blades 

 of the cauline pinnately incised or toothed or 

 entire; racemes dense; petals vehite; fruiting 

 pedicels 2 to 3 lines long; pods oval, 1 line long. 



Plains and mesas, 2000 to 5000 feet : eastern 

 ]\lohave Desert. North to Nevada, east to Colo- 

 rado and Texas. May. 



Locs. — New York Mts., J. Grinnell. Steamboat 

 Sprs., Nov., Sonne; Las Vegas, Nev., K. Brandegee. 



Tax. note. — The assertion is made by M. E. Jones 

 (Zee 4:266) that L. alyssoides Gray is only a more 

 enduring form of L. montanum Nutt. The two, it 

 would seem, are very closely allied. A. Thellung, who 

 accepts L. scopulorum Jones, L. vaseyanum Thell., L. 

 integrifolium Nutt. and L. fremontii Wats, as well as 

 L. alyssoides Gray and L. montanum Nutt., admits 

 that he has "den Speziesbegrifif etwas enger gefasst als 

 in den meisten iibrigen Teilen meiner Arbeit" (Gatt. 

 Lcpidium 209). He had, however, no field acquaint- 

 ance with these plants, and it is to be said that wider 

 and more intensive field studies and collections must be 

 made in the Great Basin before a satisfying investiga- 

 tion of these particular forms can be concluded. 



Refs. — Lepidium alyssoides Gray, Mem. Am, 

 Acad. 4:10 (1849), type based on specimens from 

 Santa Fe eastward to Rabbit's Ear Creek, N. Mex., 

 Fcndler; Jepson, Man. 439 (1925). L. montanum var. 

 alyssoides Jones, Zoe 4:266 (1893). 



Fig. 142. LEproiUM ax,yssoides Gray, 

 a, habit, X % ; &, fr. branchlet, X % ; 

 c, pod, X 4. 



7. L. fremontii Wats. Explorers Pep- 

 per. Rounded low evergreen bush, the stems 

 woody below, % to 2 feet high; herbage glabrous and glaucous; leaf -blades narrow, 

 linear, acute, 1 to 2 inches long, entire or with 1 or 2 pairs of linear salient lobes or 

 teeth; racemes very numerous; flowers on slender spreading pedicels; petals white, 

 11/2 to 2 lines long; pods thin, light-colored, shallowly obcordate with broad rounded 

 lobes, rounded or often pointed at the base, 3 lines long. 



Arid rocky slopes, rocky mesas or washes, 500 to 3200 feet : Colorado Desert, 

 north side; abundant in the Mohave Desert; north to Inyo Co. East to Colorado. 

 Jan.-May. 



Locs.— Laws, Inyo Co., Eeller 8310; Slate Range, Jepson; Granite Wells, Parish 9790; 

 Hanaupah Canon, Panamint Range, Jepson 6949; Funeral Mts., Jepson; Randsburg, Eeller 

 7679a; Lanfair, Maye L. Tennent; Box S Sprs., n. foot San Bernardino Mts., Wieslander; Hes- 

 peria, Jepson 6145; Barstow, Jepson 4786, 5434; Rosamond, Antelope Valley, Davy 2241; Little 

 Rock Creek, Peirson 677; Cottonwood Spr., Riverside Co., Jepson 12,562; Shavers Well, J. T. 

 Howell 3305; Hayfields, Chuckwalla Mts., Schellenger. Fallon, Nov., Blanche Boss 42. 



Refs.— Lepidium fremontii Wats. Bot. King 30, pi. 4, ff. 3, 4 (1871), type loc. Mohave 

 River, Fremont; Jepson, Man. 438, fig. 424 (1925). 



8. L. flavTim Torr. Yellow Pepper-grass. Prostrate or decumbent annual, 

 4 to 16 inches broad, very brittle at the joints; herbage glabrous, yellow-green; 

 leaves .slightly fleshy, the basal rosulate, their blades oblong-oblanceolate in outline, 

 regularly pinnatifid with short rounded lobes and narrow acute sinuses, the blades 

 of the cauline oblauceolate to obovate, pinnatifid, sparingly toothed or entire; 



