142 



SAXIFRAGACEAE 



tifjcs of flowers, because of the persistence of the petals and otlier organs. Carpenteria, aa we 

 now know, is one of the rarest and most restricted in range of Califomian shrubs. (See figure 

 154.) Stations may be cited ns follows: north bank of San Joaquin River near Lake Corine; 

 Italian Crock; Backbone Creek and the slope above Auberry; Grapevine Spring (on headwaters 

 of Big Dry Creek) ; Big Creek (below the pines). The longitudinal range of the species is ap- 

 proximately twenty miles. While thus such a narrow endemic it must be said that in its district 

 it occurs in considerable abundance in many places on the woodland slopes. Above the Mission 

 station, on the railroad easterly from Auberry, the mountain side is whitened with its blossoms 

 during anthesis. Its foliage is bitter and the sheep seldom touch it. 



A typical station may be described from field notes as follows: About five miles above 

 Auberry the road swings to the left around the comer of a mountain ranch in a swale and goes 

 on northeasterly up a wooded mountain slope. After about a half mile we chance into a cluster 

 of singular looking shrubs which are noticeable on account of the conspicuous dried remains of 

 their white flowers. The shrubs, about a dozen in number at this spot, are scattered along the 

 bed of a scarcely discernible winter rivulet or shallow gulch. The altitude is about 2600 ft. 

 The slope is rather closely wooded with Quercus wislizenii, Pinus sabiniana, Rhus diversiloba, 

 Aesculus californica, Arctostaphylos mariposa and Umbellularia californica. It is quite obvious 

 on examining the shrubs that we have met with the rare Carpenteria californica. The shrubs are 

 eight to sixteen feet high, with erect stems from near the base. The main stems are one to three 

 inches in diameter. The bark on the main stems is very smooth and is now (July) exfoliating in 

 broad yellow sheets which greatly resemble a somewhat thin, soft and fairly pliable leather almost 

 exactly of a light buckskin color. The shrubs are past anthesis but the inflorescences are stUl 

 holding many of the persistent petals. 



The shrubs are bush-like in form, characteristic fire-chaparral type, many-stemmed from the 

 ground, forming much-spreading individuals in most cases. The leaves are somewhat revolute 

 from both edges, resulting thus in a somewhat narrow leaf from the standpoint of insolation. 

 The leaf, therefore, in its own way, is reduced in area, a common characteristic of typical shrub 

 members of the chaparral belt. The leaves are borne mostly in clusters on the new wood below 

 the inflorescence and hang down, so that this feature imparts a characteristic aspect to this 

 interesting shrub. — Jepson Field Book 47:368-370, ms. 



Refs. — Carpenteria californica Torr. PI. Frem. 12, pi. 7 (1853), type loc. Sierra foothUIs 

 in n. Fresno Co., Fremont; Jepson, Man. 466, fig. 461 (1925). 



17. JAMESIA T. & G. 



Shrubs with opposite deciduous leaves. Flow- 

 ers in terminal eymose clusters. Calyx 5-lobed, 

 its tube joined to lower part of the ovary. Petals 

 spreading. Stamens 10, the alternate shorter; 

 filaments dilated. Ovary conical, with 3 to 5 

 parietal placentae; styles 3 to 5. Capsule incom- 

 pletely 8 to 5 or 7-celled. Seeds many, striate- 

 reticulate. — Species 1. (Dr. Edwin James, bot- 

 anist and historian of Long's expedition to the 

 Rocky Mts., 1820.) 



1. J. americana T. & G. var. californica Jep- 

 son. Cliff Bush. (Fig. 155.) Low shrub % to 

 3 feet high, with shreddy gray or reddish bark, 

 the young parts and calyces pubescent; leaf- 

 blades roundish to ovate, coarsely serrate, green 

 and pubescent above, pale and densely strigose 

 beneath, I/2 to 1^/2 inches long, on short or some- 

 times long petioles; flowers deep pink; calyx-lobes 

 narrow-ovate, acute, rarely obtuse; petals oblong 

 or obovate, obtuse, 3V2 lines long; capsule (in- 

 cluding the persistent styles) 5 lines long, sur- 

 passing the now lanceolate calyx-lobes. 

 Granite cliffs and rocky caiion walls, 8500 to 12,000 feet : southern Sierra Ne- 

 vada on its east slope or easterly crests from Palisade Creek, Fresno Co., to the 

 Kern Caiion and Inyo Co.; Panamint Range. East to Southern Nevada. July. 



C U 



Fig. 155. Jamesia Americana 

 T. & G. var. californica Jepson. 

 a, fl. branchlet, X % ; b, fr. branch- 

 let, X V2; c, fl., X 2; d, fr., X 2. 



