PEA FAMILY 



365 



Eefs. — Astragalus bicristatus Gray, Proe. Am. Acad. 19:75 (1883), type loc. San Ber- 

 nardino Mts., S. B. 4- W. F. Parish; Jepson, Man. 570 (1925) . Homaloius Mcristatus Rydb. Bull. 

 Torr. Club 51:19 (1924). A. bicristatus var. tetrapteroides Jones, Contrib.W.'Bot. 10 :58 (1902), 

 type loc. Bear Valley, San Bernardino Mts., Jones. 



34. A. webberi Gray. June Loco. (Fig. 211.) Stems several, ascending or 

 erect, arising from a heavy root-crown, 5 to 12 inches high, strigulose; leaves ll^ 

 to 3 inches long; leaflets 11 to 17, mostly approximate, oblong, tapering from above 

 the middle to the acutish base and to the obtuse apex, silky-pubescent, 5 to 10 lines 

 long, 2 to 3 lines wide; peduncles stout, 2 to 4 inches long; racemes 1 to 2 inches 

 long, 5 to 9-flowered; flowers 6 to 7 lines long; calyx-teeth broadly subulate, about 

 % as long as the tube; corolla yellowish; pods obcompressed, oblong in outline, 



acute, cross-wrinkled, ridged on both sutures, 

 glabrous or nearly so, 9 to 14 lines long, 4 to 5 lines 

 wide. 



Valley flats, 3500 to 5000 feet: Plumas and 

 Sierra Cos., in valleys on or near the easterly 

 crests of the Sierra Nevada. May, f r. June. 



Note on occurrence. — Astragalus webberi Gray is a 

 localized endemic which has, apparently, been collected 

 only in Indian Valley, Plumas Co., and in Sierra Valley, 

 Sierra Co. It is related on the one hand to A. casei Gray 

 and on the other to A. bicristatus Gray. Its pods are 

 ridged on the two sutures as in A. bicristatus but more 

 narrowly. In A. webberi the dorsal ridge splits into two 

 before dehiscence of the pod, in A. bicristatus only with 

 dehiscence of the pod. The pod of A. webberi is not as 

 strongly obcompressed as in A. bicristatus. In A. casei 

 the leaflets are very much narrower and very much more 

 remote than in A. webberi, 



Ref s. — Astragalus webberi Gray ; B. & W. Bot. Cal. 

 1:154 (1876), based on spms. from Indian Valley (s. 

 side), Plumas Co., Ames, and Sierra Valley, Sierra Co., 

 Lemmon. Tragacantha webberi Ktze. Rev. Gen, PL 2:949 

 (1891). Xylophacos webberi Rydb. Bull. Torr. Club 52: 

 151 (1925). 



Fig. 211. Astragalus webberi 

 Gray, a, fl. branch, X ^ ; b, fl., X 

 1% ; c, pod, X %; d, cross sect, of 

 pod, X 1. 



35. A. casei Gray. Old Pakd Loco. Stems 

 several from the root-crown, branching, 9 to 11 

 inches high; herbage green and seemingly gla- 

 brous but sparingly strigulose; leaves 2 to 3 inches 

 long; leaflets 11 to 13, distant, linear, 6 to 11 lines long; racemes loose, 1 to 2 inches 

 long; flowers 6 to 7^/^ lines long; calyx black-strigulose, its teeth about % as long 

 as the tube; corolla purplish; pods oblong in outline, acute, strongly flattened con- 

 trary to the sutures, conspicuously beaked, 1-celled, scantily strigulose, 1 to II/2 

 inches long, 4 to 5 lines wide; beak stout, acuminate, spine-tipped, inflexed but 

 straight. 



Desert hillslopes or dry flats, 5500 to 7000 feet : Death Valley region. North 

 through western Nevada to eastern Washington. May. 



Locs. — Nelson Range, Hall 4" Chandler 7154; Willow Creek, Panamint Range, Coville Sr 

 Funston 74:7; Harrisburg Flats, Panamint Range, Parish 9897; Pifion HiU, White Mts., Duran 

 2861. Summit sta.. Mineral Co., Nev., ShocTcley 354; Gold Mt., Nev., Purpus 5984. 



Refs. — Astragalus casei Gray; B. & W. Bot. Cal. 1:154 (1876), type loc. Pyramid Lake, 

 Nev,, Lemmon, Case; Jepson, Man. 570, fig. 560 (1925). Tragacantha casei Ktze. Rev. Gen. PI. 

 2:943 (1891). Xylophacos casei Rydb. Bull. Torr. Club 52:147 (1925). 



36. A. iodanthus Wats. Washoe Loco. Stems many from the branched 

 root-crown, ascending or procumbent, 6 to 12 inches long; herbage glabrous or 

 essentially so; leaves l^/^ to 2^/2 inches long; leaflets 11 to 15, obovate, obtuse or 

 retuse, 1% to 5 lines long; racemes ^ to % inch long; flowers 4 to 5 lines long; 



