PEA FAMILY 321 



Eefs. — Lotus SALSUGINOSUS Greene, Pitt. 2:140 (1890); Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 301 

 (1901),ed. 2, 230 (1911), Man. 551 (1925). EosacTcia maritimaT^ivLtt.; T. & G. Fl. 1:326 (1838), 

 type loc. Santa Barbara, Nuttall; not Lotus maritimus L. (1753). Anisolotus maritimus Hel. 

 Muhl. 8:48 (1912). Var. brevivexillus Ottley, Univ. Cal. Publ. Bot. 10:217 (1923); Jepson, 

 Man. 551 (1925). L. humilis Greene, Pitt. 2:140 (1890), type loc. San Bartolome Bay, L. Cal., 

 Pond; not L. humilis Schousb. (1878). 



15. L. micranthus Benth. Hill Lotus. Stems slender, wiry, erect or dif- 

 fusely branched from the base, 2 to 9 (or 14) inches high; herbage glabrous and 

 glaucous; leaves 2 to 8 lines long; rachis of leaf slender, grooved on the upper side; 

 leaflets 3 to 5, oblong, obovate or elliptical, obtuse, 1 to 6 lines long; peduncles fili- 

 form, iy2 to 11 lines long, 1-flowered; bract with 3 leaflets; flowers 2 to 2% lines 

 long; calyx turbinate-campanulate; corolla pale salmon, turning red; banner short- 

 oblong to nearly orbicular; keel acute; pods linear, flattened, straight or nearly so, 

 constricted between the seeds, 5 to 12 lines long, % to 1 line wide; seeds 5 to 9, 

 suborbicular to short-oblong. 



Open grassy or wooded hills or clay flats, 20 to 4600 feet : coastal Southern Cali- 

 fornia; Coast Ranges from San Luis Obispo Co. to Del Norte Co.; upper Sacra- 

 mento Valley; Sierra Nevada from Tulare Co. to Shasta Co. North to Washington. 

 Apr.-May. 



Field note. — Lotus micranthus is the most common of the annual vernal Loti on the grassy 

 foothills and very widely distributed. It is usually found in little colonies 10 to 20 feet broad 

 with the individuals forming a very dense growth. 



Locs. — S. Cal.: Cuyamaca Lake, Peirson 5963; Mesa Grande, San Diego Co., E. Ferguson 

 38 ; Monrovia Caiion, San Gabriel Mts., Peirson 436 ; Santa Cruz Isl., T. Brandegee. Coast 

 Eanges: Paso Eobles, Barber 1024; Pacific Grove, Heller 6671; Santa Cruz, Jones 2266; Lake 

 Pilarcitos, San Mateo Co., Davy 1156; San Francisco, Jepson 10,360; Fish Eanch, Berkeley Hills, 

 Jepson 13,788; Mt. Diablo, Brewer 1173; Fairfax, Marin Co., Ottley 339; Olema, Marin Co., 

 Jepson 13,785; Howell Mt., Napa Eange, Jepson 13,787; Bodega, Sonoma Co., Chandler 651; 

 Ft. Bragg, W. C. Mathews 118; Willits, Mendocino Co., Jepson 2499; Mail Eidge, Humboldt Co., 

 Jepson 1900; Little Eiver (mouth), Humboldt Co., Tracy 4795; Weaverville, E. S. Tates 286; 

 Sisson, K. Brandegee; Crescent City. Upper Sacramento Valley: Marysville Buttes, Eeller 

 11,271; Dibble Creek, w. Tehama Co., Jepson 13,786; Eedding, Blanlcinship. Sierra Nevada 

 foothills : Middle Tule Eiver, Peirson 5628 ; Kaweah, Hopping 172 ; Pinehurst, Fresno Co., 

 Ottley 1393; Chowchilla School, Mariposa Co. foothills, Jepson 12,806; Jupiter, Tuolumne Co., 

 A. L. Grant 776; Gwin Mine, Calaveras Co., Jepson 1809; Folsom, e. Sacramento Co., Jepson 

 15,740 ; Auburn, M. E. P. Ames. 



Eefs. — Lotus micranthus Benth. Trans. Linn. Soc. 17:367 (1837) ; Jepson, Fl. "W. Mid. 

 Cal. 302 (1901), ed. 2, 230 (1911), Man. 552, fig. 543 (1925). EosacHa parviflora Benth.; Lindl. 

 Bot. Eeg. sub t. 1257 (1829), type from "Northwest coast of America," Douglas; not Lotus 

 parviflorus Desf. (1800). Anisolotus parviflorus Hel. Muhl. 3:100 (1907). 



16. L. americanus Bisch. Spanish Clover. Stems branching, erect or ascend- 

 ing, 1/4 to 11/2 feet high, sometimes strictly erect, sometimes diffuse, with straggling 

 or ascending branches 2 to 3 feet long; herbage silky-villous or pilose to nearly 

 glabrous; leaflets 3, sometimes 1, sometimes 4 or 5, elliptic-ovate to lanceolate, 3 to 

 14 lines long; peduncles exceeding the leaves or shorter, 5 to 10 lines long; flowers 

 3 to 3 1/2 lines long; calyx-teeth subulate-lanceolate; corolla whitish or pinkish; 

 pods 7 to 14 lines long, 1 to 1 14 lines wide, glabrous, 3 to 7-seeded. 



Dry valley fields and open hills, 20 to 4500 feet : throughout cismontane Cali- 

 fornia, occasional in the transmontane region. North to Washington, northeast 

 to Minnesota, southeast to Texas and Mexico. May-Oct. 



Field note. — Lotus americanus is the most widely distributed and the most common species 

 of its genus in California, inhabiting low open hills, banks of arroyos, swales in the foothills, and 

 level lands of plains and valleys where it often forms colonies in half -moist areas or depressions. 

 In the dry summer fields it is often the only flowering plant in its favored place and season. It 

 is a forage plant of some value. 



Locs.— Coast Eanges: Sisson, Siskiyou Co., Jepson 13,777; Eush Creek, Trinity Co., H. S. 

 Yates 429; Big Lagoon, n. Humboldt Co., Tracy 6271; Dows Prairie, Humboldt Co., Tracy 6266; 

 White Thorn Valley, s. Humboldt Co., Tracy 5015; Long Valley, Mendocino Co., Jepson 9322; 

 Hopland, Mendocino Co., Jepson 7642; Mt. Konocti, Lake Co., Jepson 13,776; Moraga Valley, 

 Contra Costa Co., Jepson 13,778; Mt. Diablo, Jepson 8333; Milpitas, Santa Clara Co., E. J. 



