LOASA FAMILY 531 



Locs. — Eppersons, w. Colusa Co., Curran; Clear Lake, Torrey; Mt. Diablo, Jepson 8331; 

 Willow Creek, Santa Lucia Mts., Eastwood; Lopez Canon, San Luis Obispo Co., Gondii; Santa 

 Barbara, Bingham; Los Alisos Canon, Santa Monica Mts., Epling; Santa Catalina Isl, (Erythea 

 7:140) ; Eubio Canon, San Gabriel Mts., Peirson 119; North Fork San Gabriel Canon, Peirson 

 2465; Cajon Canon, Jepson 6094; Claymine Canon, Santa Ana Mts., J. T. Howell 2642. 



Kefs. — Mentzelia micrantha T. & G. Fl. 1:535 (1840); Jepson, Fl. W. Mid Cal 322 

 (1901), ed. 2, 2G8 (1911), Man. 650, fig. 643 (1925). Bartonia micrantha H. & A. Bot. Beech. 

 343, t. 85 (1840), type from Cal., Douglas. Acrolasia micrantha Eydb. Bull, Torr. Club 30:278 

 (1903). A. micrantha var. stricta Dav. Bull. S. Cal. Acad. 5:15 (1906), type loc. Ojai, Ventura 

 Co., F. W. Huhiy 67 (segregated upon strict habit and symmetrically toothed leaves). 



10. M. dispersa Wats. Nada Stick-leaf. Stems usually branching, 8 to 18 

 inches high; herbage minutely pubescent; leaf -blades oblong to ovate, lanceolate 

 or linear, entire or sometimes toothed, ^/^ to 4 inches long; flowers approximate 

 near the ends of the branches; petals yellow with a small orange spot at base, ellip- 

 tic or obovate, 1 to 2 (or 21/2) lines long; stamens 12 to 14; filaments not dilated; 

 capsule linear, 4 to 10 lines long, I/2 to 1 line wide; seeds I/2 line long. 



Arid plains and dry mountain slopes, 50 to 6300 feet : almost throughout Cali- 

 fornia. East to Arizona and Colorado, north to British Columbia. June- Aug. 



Note on variation. — This group of plants, Mentzelia dispersa, while imperfectly segregated 

 from M. affinis, is a recognizable natural unit, but the same cannot be said of the named segre- 

 gates of the group. The stems are naked below to very leafy; the leaves are markedly different 

 in size and vary in shape from narrowly linear and entire to broad and several-toothed with every 

 gradation between; the petals range from 1 to 2i/^ lines; the capsules vary in length and the 

 calyx-lobes vary in shape and length. Several groups of plants could be segregated upon these 

 features but would have no constant characters and in most cases little or no geographic sig- 

 nificance. 



Locs. — S. Cal.: Fort Yuma, Jepson 11,735; Laguna Mts., T. Brandegee ; Conchilla Desert, 

 Jepson 6056 ; Strawberry Valley, San Jacinto Mts., Hall 2272 ; Trail Fork, San Gabriel Eiver, 

 Peirson 2466; Mt. Wilson, San Gabriel Mts., Geo. B. Grant; Mt. Pinos, Ventura Co., Hall 6664. 

 Coast Eanges: Stone Caiion, Monterey Co., Gondii; Mt. Diablo, Greene; Lower Lake grade. Lake 

 Co., Jepson; Potter Valley, Mendocino Co., Pur pus; South Yollo Bolly, Jepson 14,043; Yreka, 

 Butler 1026. Sierra Nevada: Lloyd Mdws., Tulare Co., Jepson 4877a; Horse Corral Mdw., South 

 Fork Kings Eiver, Jepson 767; Simpson Mdw., Middle Fork Kings Eiver, Henrietta Eliot; Pine 

 Eidge, Fresno Co., E. Brandegee ; Wawona (Clarks), Mariposa Co., Bolander 4863; Bowers Cave, 

 Mariposa Co., Jepson 14,042; Lake Merced, Mariposa Co., Jepson 4427; Hetch-Hetchy, A. L. 

 Grant 837; Sugar Pine, Tuolumne Co., Ghesnut 4" Drew; Kennedy Mdw., Tuolumne Co., A. L. 

 Grant 453; Angels Camp, Davy 1470; Tahoe, L. S. Smith 1651; Truckee, Sonne; Dog Valley, e. 

 Nevada Co., Jepson 14,044; Beckwith Pass, Lassen Co., Jepson 7773; Mt. Bidwell, Modoc Co., 

 Manning 159. 



Plants with slender shining stems, few-leaved and with long internodes, represent the more 

 arid aspect published as M. pinetorum Hel. However, the characters originally utilized to segre- 

 gate this form are not constantly associated. The var. obtusa Jepson (upper leaves usually many, 

 disposed to be orbicular or round-ovate, often very obtuse, 3 to 5 lines long) is mostly limited 

 to the San Gabriel, San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains (3000 to 7500 feet) and repre- 

 sents a geographic phase usually found at a higher altitude than the species. 



Eefs. — Mentzelia dispersa Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. 11:137 (1876) ; Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. 

 Cal. 322 (1901), ed. 2, 268 (1911), Man. 651, fig. 644 (1925). M. albicaulis var, integrifoliu 

 Wats. Bot. King 114 (1871), type loc. e. Humboldt Mts., Nev., Watson 430. M. integrifolia 

 Eydb. Mem. N. Y. Bot. Card. 1 :271 (1900). Acrolasia integrifolia Eydb. Bull. Torr. Club 30 : 278 

 (1903). M. albicaulis var. genuina Urb, & Gilg, Nova Acta Acad. Nat. Cur. 76:28 (1900), in 

 part. Acrolasia dispersa Dav. (by error "Wats."), Bull. S. Cal. Acad. 5 :14 (1906). A. albicaulis 

 var. integrifolia Daniels, Fl. Boulder, Colo. 174 (1911). A. latifolia Eydb. Bull. Torr. Club 

 31:567 (1904), type loc. mountains between Sunshine and Ward, Colo., Tweedy 5149. M. lati- 

 folia Nels. ; Coult. & Nels. Man. 324 (1909). M. dispersa var. latifolia Mcbr. Contrib. Gray Herb. 

 76:26 (1918). M. pinetorum Hel. Bull. S. Cal. Acad. 2:69 (1903), type loc. Mt, Sanhedrin, Lake 

 Co., Heller 5910. Acrolasia pinetorum 'H.el.'Muhl. 2:99 (1905). M. dispersa var. pinetorutn Jeip- 

 son, Man, 651 (1925). Var. obtusa Jepson, Man. 651 (1925), type loc. San Bernardino Mts., 

 Chandler. 



11, M. aflBnis Greene. Hydra Stick-leaf. Stem stoutish, branched from 

 the base or simple below, 1 to 1^ (or 3) feet high; herbage harsh-puberulent; leaf- 

 blades lanceolate or ovate in outline, deeply and often sharply pinnatifid, 1 to 2 

 (or 3%) inches long; flowers numerous but not congested; calyx-lobes subulate. 



