PEA FAMILY 349 



Tax. note. — In the flowering stage this species much resembles A. leucopsis var. asymmetricus 

 Jones. In habit of growth the two are similar and the youngest portion of the leafy shoots makes 

 a white spot in the top of the plant with each species. In A. oxyphysus the pod itself is drawn 

 down to a narrow or even clavate base above the stipe; in A. leucopsis var. asymmetricus the 

 pod is rounded or obtuse at base or at most shortly acute. 



Locs. — Mt. Hamilton Eange (east side) ; Emmet, Tres Pinos Creek, San Benito Co., Jepson 

 12,405; Antelope School, Panoche Pass, Jepson 12,412; Devils Den road sta., nw. Kern Co., 

 Jepson 16,247 ; Simmler (4 mi. s.), Carrizo Plain, Jepson 16,213 ; Famoso, Jepson 11,605 ; Bakers- 

 field, Davy 1718; Tehachapi foothills near Caliente, Jepson 15,435. 



Eefs. — Astragalus oxyphysus Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 6:218 (1864), type loc. Arroyo del 

 Puerto, Mt. Hamilton Eange, Brewer 1259; Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 292 (1901), ed. 2, 236 

 (1911), Man. 565 (1925). Tragacantha oxyphysus Ktze. Eev. Gen. PI. 2:947 (1891). Fhaca 

 oxyphysa Hel. Muhl. 2:86 (1905). 



5. A. leucopsis Torr. Coast Rattleweed. Steins erect or spreading, 1 to 3I/2 

 feet high; herbage greenish to caneseent, the hairs more or less arcuate or wavy; 

 leaves 2 to 5 inches long; leaflets 19 to 37, oval to oblong, obtuse, 2 to 9 lines long; 

 racemes rather dense, 1 to 4 inches long, the pedicels short (^ to 1% lines long), 

 the flowers horizontally spreading; peduncles stout, 3 to 8 inches long, often twice 

 as long as the leaves; flowers 5 to 9 lines long; calyx-teeth subulate, about i/^ as 

 long as the tube; corolla yellowish-white; banner often elongate, much exceeding 

 the wings and keel; pods much inflated, oblong or ovate, abruptly short-acute, 

 1-celled, 1 to 1% inches long; stipes straight or somewhat recurved, minutely ap- 

 pressed-pubescent, 3 to 6 lines long. 



Sand dunes, dry cliffs or hillslopes near the coast, 5 to 100 feet : San Luis Obispo 

 Co. to San Diego Co. ; Santa Barbara Islands. South to Lower California. Feb. -Apr. 



Locs. — S. Cal. coast: Morro, San Luis Obispo Co., Barber; Pt. Mugu, Ventura Co., J. T. 

 Howell 3141; Pt. Dume, Barber 376; Eedondo, Braunton 425; Santa Ana Canon, Orange Co., 

 J. T. Howell 2415; Oceanside, Parish 4454; Mt. Soledad, w. San Diego Co., Newlon 319; La 

 Jolla, Jepson 11,843; Mission grade, San Diego, Cleveland; Coronado, Berg. Santa Barbara 

 Islands: Santa Cruz Isl., T. Brandegee ; Avalon, Santa Catalina Isl., TrasTc. 



Var. leucophyllus Jones. Horse Loco. Young herbage silvery-pubescent, in age becom- 

 ing green, the hairs straight or nearly so ; leaflets linear to narrowly oblong, acute or obtuse, 

 6 to 10 (4 to 12) lines long; racemes 2 to 4 inches long; pods 1% to 2 inches long; stipes very 

 slender, usually very strongly recurved, % to 1% inches long. — Low open dry hills in clay soil, 

 50 to 1200 feet: southern Solano Co.; inner South Coast Eange from Contra Costa Co. to eastern 

 San Luis Obispo Co.; San Joaquin Valley from eastern Contra Costa Co. and San Joaquin Co. 

 to Madera Co. Apr.-July. This is the most common perennial Astragalus on the lower San 

 Joaquin plain and in the inner South Coast Eanges opposite San Francisco Bay. The herbage is 

 said to be poisonous to horses and sheep. WhUe this variety is closely related to the species, the 

 two do not overlap in their ranges so far as known to us, the species being quite littoral, the 

 variety being confined to the arid Inner Coast Eange hills and Great Valley plain. 



Locs. — Solano Co.: Pellejo Hills, Jepson 13,761; Benicia, Chandler 6090; Eio Vista, Jepson 

 13,762. Inner South Coast Eange: Moimtain House, e. Alameda Co., Jepson 10,571; Livermore 

 Valley, Jepson 13,764; betw. Mission San Jose and Sunol Valley, Jepson 13,760; San Lorenzo 

 Creek, e. Monterey Co., Hall 9968 ; Cholame, e. San Luis Obispo Co., Jepson 15,892. San Joaquin 

 Valley: Antioch, K. Brandegee; Byron, Bioletti; Bethany, San Joaquin Co., C. F. Balcer 2818; 

 Kjiights Ferry, Stanislaus Co., Jepson 10,568 ; Stanislaus Eiver bridge near Eipon, J. T. Howell 

 2397; Modesto, Bioletti; Santa Eita bridge, w. Merced Co., Jepson 12,744; Mendota, Jepson 

 13,321 ; Madera, Congdon. 



Var. brachypus Greene. Stipes barely equaling calyx. — San Miguel Isl. 



Var. curtipes Jones. Herbage pubescent with short straight appressed hairs, becoming 

 glabrate ; stipules large, more or less connate ; racemes dense, 1 to 2 inches long ; pods much in- 

 flated, 14 to 18 lines long; stipe about 2 lines long, scarcely exceeding the calyx-tube. — Dry open 

 hillsides, 5 to 500 feet : coastal San Luis Obispo Co. ; San Miguel and Santa Eosa islands. Jan.-Apr. 



Locs. — Chorro, K. Brandegee ; San Luis Obispo, Summers 205. 



Eefs.— Astragalus leucopsis Torr. Bot. Mex. Bound. 56 (1859). Fhaca leucopsis T. & G. 

 Fl. 1:694 (1840). P. canescens Nutt.; T. & G. Fl. 1:344 (1838), type loc. Santa Barbara, 

 Nuttall, not P. canescens H. & A. (1833). Tragacantha leucopsis Ktze. Eev. Gen. PL 2:946 

 (1891). Fhaca encenadae Eydb. N. Am. Fl. 24:336 (1929), type loc. Ensenada, L. Cal., Jones 

 3672 (pods and upper leaf surfaces glabrous). A. leucopsis var. lonchus Jones, Eev. N. Am. 

 Astrag. 119 (1923), type loc. San Diego, Jones 3083, a s^Tionym as evidenced by the type spm. 

 (Baker Herb.). Var. leucophyllus Jones, Contrib. W. Bot. 8:23 (1898). A. leucophyllus 



