PEA FAMILY 359 



Sandy gravelly slopes, 8600 to 10,000 feet : near Sonora Pass. East to Utah 

 and Montana. July (fl. and fr.) . 



Field note. — Astragalus platytropis has been seldom collected. Its inflated pod, so large as 

 to be quite out of proportion to its diminutive alpine plant body, marks well this species, which 

 is very rare in California (with only one kno-v\Ti station). 



Locs. — Sonora Pass. Nevada: Lee Canon, Charleston Mts., Heller 11,005; Schellboume, 

 Jones. 



Kefs. — Astragalus platytropis Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 6:526 (1866), mt. near Sonora 

 Pass, Brewer; Jepson, Man. 569 (1925). Tragacantha platytropis Ktze. Eev. Gen. PI. 2:947 

 (1891). Phaca platytropis Eydb. Mem. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 1:246 (1900). Cystium platytrope 

 Eydb. Bull. Torr. Club 40:50 (1913). 



23. A. coccineus Bdg. Scarlet Loco. Stems densely tufted on the crown of 

 a stout taproot, 3I/2 to 6 inches high; herbage densely white-silky; leaves 2 to 4 

 inches long; leaflets 11 to 15, obovate to broadlj^ ovate, obtuse, 3 to 6 (or 7) lines 

 long; spikes numerous, 1 to 7-flowered, the flowers short-pedicellate, crowded near 

 the top ; calyx about half as long as the corolla, the linear-subulate teeth about Ys 

 the length of the cylindrical tube; corolla scarlet, straight, II/4 to II/2 inches long; 

 pods oblong, 1-celled, 1 to 1% inches long. 



Rocky cailon walls or mountain slopes in arid ranges, 3000 to 8000 feet : west 

 side of the Colorado Desert; San Bernardino Mts.; Inyo Co. East to Charleston 

 Mts., Nev. Apr.-May. 



Locs. — Astragalus coccineus is a very distinct species and a remarkably showy one, inhabit- 

 ing the desert ranges. It is on the whole rather infrequent, but may be cited as follows : Moun- 

 tain Sprs., e. San Diego Co., Parish 9025 ; Cuyamaca Mts., Neivlon 360 ; Box S Sprs., s. Mohave 

 Desert, M. S. BaJcer 2909c; Quail Sprs., Conchilla Eange, Munz 5221; Hanaupah Canon, Pana- 

 mint Eange, Jepson 7093; Lone Pine, T. Brandegee ; Silver Canon, White Mts., Eeller 8190; 

 Black Canon, White Mts., Buran 2626. 



Eefs.— Astragalus coccineus Bdg. Zoe. 2:72 (1891) ; Jepson, Man. 573, fig. 563 (1925). 

 A. purshii Dougl. var. coccineus Parry, W. Am. Sci. 7:10 (1890), type loc. Mountain Sprs., mts. 

 w. side of Colorado Desert, San Diego Co., Orcutt, the number being 1514, ace. to the spm. label, 

 A. grandiflorus Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. 17:370 (1882), type loc. San Bernardino Mts., S. B. 4- 

 W. F. Parish; not A. grandiflorus L. (1753). Xylophacos coccineus Hel. Muhl. 2 :217 (1906). 



24. A. purshii Dougl. Woolly Loco. Stems very short, 2 to 4 (or 8) inches 

 long, arising from a branched root-crown and forming densely matted tufts; herb- 

 age densely white-villous; leaves I14 to 3 inches long; leaflets 7 to 13 (or 15), 

 oblong-oblanceolate or narrowly obovate, 3 to 5 (or 6) lines long; peduncles shorter 

 than the leaves; racemes short, 3 to 6-flowered, the rachis 1 to 5 lines long; flowers 

 7 to 11 lines long; calyx-teeth slender-subulate, 14 to 1/2 as long as the narrow tube; 

 corolla white or white and blue; pods oblong, somewhat obcompressed, 1-celled, 

 somewhat curv^ed (especially at tip), densely clothed with long white or yellowish 

 hairs so as to appear like pellets of wool, 6 to 8 (or 10) lines long; beak none or the 

 pod with a short acute apex. 



Gravelly soil, 3500 to 5000 feet : east of the northern Sierra Nevada in Lassen 

 and Modoc Cos. North to British Columbia, east to the Rocky Mts. May (fl.), 

 June (fr.). 



Note on the pod. — The dorsal suture is not at all intruded in the specific form of Astragalus 

 purshii. In A. inflexus Dougl., a plant of the Columbia Eiver region with 2-celled fruits, the 

 dorsal suture is always intruded, so as to make a strong groove along the back of the pod. So 

 far as known this species does not enter the borders of northern California. There are, however, 

 named varieties of A. purshii in which the dorsal or both sutures are more or less intruded. 



Locs. — Diamond Mt., Lassen Co., Jones; Honey Lake, T. Brandegee; Big Valley, Lassen Co., 

 Baher 4' Nutting ; Egg Lake, Modoc Co., M. S. Baher. 



Var. tinctus Jones. Corolla purple. — Dry hills and plains, 2700 to 8000 feet: Siskiyou Co. 

 to Modoc Co., thence south along the east side of the Sierra Nevada to Inyo Co. 



Locs.— Humbug, Siskiyou Co., Butler 631; Butcher Hill, Yreka, Butler 708; Edgewood, 

 Siskiyou Co., Kisling ; Goose Lake, Modoc Co., B. M. Austin; Ft. Bidwell, Manning 97; West 

 Valley, Warner Mts., L. S. Smith 773; Truckee, Sonne; Trail Canon, White Mts., Buran 2748. 



