238 



LEGUMINOSAE 



tlic (li'Sfit, tlic iiidiviiliials aro coinparativi'ly few, scattered over tlie mesas or aloiif; Uie l)eds of 

 waslies, though sometimes this species is grt'«:»rious. TraveliiiK northerly tlirougli San Felipo 

 Valley in 1!>20 we noted that the shrubs increase in frequency until, on the north side, near Sen- 

 tcnac" Canon, there is established a pure association one-half mile wide and two miles long. 



Locs. — hitramontane region: Warner Hot Sprs. (Zoe 4:342); San Gorgonio Pass, Jcpson. 

 Colorado Desert: Vallecito, c. San Diego Co., Jci)son; San Felipe Valley, Jepson; Grapevine Spr., 

 e. of Warner Pass, Jcpson; Yaqui Well, e. San Diego Co., J. T. Jloivell 3250; Collins Valley, 

 Jepson: San Gorgonio Pass, Jcpson; Palm Canon of San Jacinto, Jcpson 1379; ISIorongo Pass, 

 J. T. IIoucIl 2S84; Thousand Palms Canon, Conchilla Range, Jcpson; Coimty Well, near Lookout 

 Mt., n. of Indio, Jcpson C021; Cottonwood Spr., n. of Mecca, Jcpson; Palo Verde Valley, Jcpson; 

 lUack Point, Riverside Mts., Colorado River, Jcpson 524()a. Mohave Desert: Brannans Ldg., 

 Whipple Mts., Jcpson; Little Chemehuevis Valley, Jcpson 5213; Coyote Holes, w. of Twenty- 

 nine Palms, Jcpson; Shays Well, Jepson; Ord IMt., Jepson 5892a; Daggett, Mary Bcal ; Provi- 

 dence Mts., T. Brandegee. Ariz.: Ehrenberg, Jepson 5256; mouth of Williams Fork, Colorado 

 River, Jepson. 



R^fg. — Acacia greggii Gray, PI. Wright. 1:65 (1852), type loc. w. Tex., Wright; Jepson, 

 Man. 514, fig. 515 (1925). Senegalia greggii Britt. & Rose, N. Am. Fl. 23:110 (1928). 



3. CERCIS L. Judas Tree 



Shrubs. Flowers red-purple, in umbel-like fascicles, appearing from winter 

 buds in advance of the simple leaves. Stipules caducous. Calyx in anthesis 

 broader than long, with 5 broad obtuse teeth. Corolla obscurely papilionaceous; 

 banner smaller than the wings and enclosed by them in the bud ; keel-petals larger 

 than the wing-petals and not united. Stamens 10, distinct, declined, the filaments 



clavate-dilated towards the base. Pod oblong, very 

 flat, the upper suture with a winged margin. Em- 

 bryo straight. — Species 5, North America, Europe, 

 Asia. (Kerkis, Greek name of the oriental Judas 

 Tree.) 



1. C. occidentalis Torr. (Fig. 173.) Western 

 Red-bud. Stems usually clustered, 8 to 15 feet high; 

 leaf-blades orbicular, cordate at base with nearly 

 closed sinus, 2V2 to 3I/2 inches broad; pods 2 to 2^ 

 inches long and 8 lines wide. 

 Foothills, 225 to 4000 feet: inner North Coast Ranges from Solano Co. to east- 

 ern Mendocino Co. and Shasta Co., thence south through the Sierra foothills to 

 Kern Co.; Cuyamaca Mts. of Southern California. East to Texas. Feb. -Apr. 

 Geographic range and habit. — There are in California remarkable gaps in the distribution 

 of Western Red-bud. It does not occur in the South Coast Ranges, in Napa Valley or thence 

 eastward in the broken country beyond Pope Valley. So conspicuous a species could scarcely 

 escape observation ; and it seems, further, well established that it does not grow in the mountains 

 of Santa Barbara Co., nor anywhere southward in the mountains of coastal Southern California 

 except in the Cuyamaca Mountains. Avoiding the Redwood belt, it occurs 

 near L'kiah, where it most nearly approaches the habitats of Sequoia 

 sempervirens. Its northern limit, as now known, is on the Klamath River, 

 since it has not yet been reported from southern Oregon where it might 

 be expected to occur. In the footliills on the east side of the inner North 

 Coast Range it is fairly frequent and is also well-known throughout the 

 length of the Sierra Nevada foothills. 



A bush is usually composed of a number of erect clustered stems 

 forming a clump. Pods are produced abundantly, but often contain few 

 good seed. Seed germinate tardily and seem to have some of the ecologi- 

 cal traits of the seed of typical chaparral shrubs (cf. fig. 174). The 

 slender branches of the root system are sometimes very long, as much as 

 20 feet, 1 to 2 inches in diameter at butt and tapering gradually dovra 

 to pencil size. On account of their toughness the native tribes used 

 these roots in basketry. In the old days of mule teaming straight slim 

 Red-bud sticks were used on freight wagons to bind down loads of hay 

 in order to prevent the shifting of binding-chains on the mountain grades. 



Locs. — Cottage Grove, Klamath River, Jepson; Forks of Salmon, Jepson; Cecilville, sw. 

 Siskiyou Co., Jepson; Kennet, Shasta Co., Jepson; Coram, Shasta Co., BlanMnship; Redding, 

 BlanTcinship ; Noble ranch to Dyer ranch. New River, Jepson; Hupa Valley, Jepson; Grouse 



Fig. 173. Cercis occidentalis 

 Torr.; leaves, X %. 



Fig. 174, Cercis 

 OCCIDENTALIS Torr. ; 

 cross sect, of seed 

 coat, with the closely 

 packed outer pali- 

 sade layer, X 135. 



