LOASA FAMILY 533 



clavate, 1 to li/4 inches long, 1 to 2 (or 3) lines wide; seeds roundish or obovoid, 

 irregularly angled, microscopically tesselate, 1 to 1^ lines long. 



Canon sides and rocky hill slopes, 500 to 4200 feet : Mt. Hamilton Range ; Sierra 

 Nevada foothills from Tuolumne Co. to Tulare Co. Mar.-July. 



Locs. — Mt. Hamilton Eange: Morrison Canon, Niles, Jepson 14,046; Mt. Day, R. J. Smith; 

 Los Buellis Hills, R. J. Smith; Mt. Hamilton, Pendleton 883. Sierra Nevada foothills: Duck 

 Bar, Stanislaus Eiver, A. L. Grant 721 ; Shawmut, Tuolumne Co., Chas. Lyser; Hennedey ranch, 

 s. Mariposa Co., J. B. Lemhert ; North Fork Kaweah Eiver, Jepson 576; Tule Eiver, Purpus 1545. 



Eefs.— Mentzelia lindleyi T. & G. Fl. 1:533 (1840) ; Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 323 (1901), 

 ed. 2, 268 (1911), Man. 649, fig. 642 (1925). Bartonia aurea Lindl. Bot. Eeg. t. 1831 (1836), 

 type cult., seeds from Cal., Douglas. Creolohus aureus Lilja, Fl. Sver. 67 (1839). Chrysostoma 

 aurea Lilja, Fl. Sver. Suppl. 1:33 (1840). M. aurea Baill. Hist. PI. 8:461, figs. 309-311 (1886) ; 

 Urb. & Gilg, Nova Acta Acad. Nat. Cur. 76:32, t. 2, figs. 1-11 (1900) ; not M. aurea Nutt. (1818). 

 Acrolasia aurea Eydb. Bull. Torr. Club 30:278 (1903). M. bartonia Steud. Nomencl. ed. 2, 

 2:128 (1841). M. crocea Kell. Proc. Cal. Acad. 7:110 (1877), collected by Eisen, type loc. not 

 stated, probably Sierra Nevada foothills in Fresno Co 



14. M. gracilenta T. & G. Buckaroo Penny. Stem mostly green or greenish, 

 sparingly branched or often simple, rather leafy, % to l^/o feet high; leaf -blades 

 narrowly oblong in outline, pinnatifid into broadly linear lobes or only coarsely 

 sinuate-toothed; blades of upper leaves sometimes disposed to be ovate or lance- 

 olate, somewhat sharply cleft or entire; flowers clustered at the summit; petals 

 yellow with orange base, obovate or oblanceolate, rounded or retuse at apex, 4 to 7 

 lines long; filaments dilated and somewhat united at base; capsule linear-clavate, 

 6 to 10 lines long, 1 line wide; seeds in 3 rows, prismatic, minutely tuberculate, 

 usually grooved on one angle, % line long. 



Valley plains and hill slopes, 500 to 5000 feet : Marysville Buttes ; coastal re- 

 gion from Monterey Co. to Riverside Co.; east to the Tehachapi Mts. East to 

 Arizona, south to Lower California. Mar.-July. 



Note on variation. — The rather leafy coastal form with greenish pubescent stems, narrow 

 phinately divided leaves and large flowers may be taken to represent the original of this species. 

 Divergence from this condition takes place in several directions. The stems may be glabrous, 

 white and shining with long internodes and few leaves ; there exist both large-flowered and small- 

 flowered phases ; also there is much variation in leaf shape. In general the capsules are broader 

 than in M. albicaulis but intermediates between these two species are so common that the specific 

 distinction is retained mostly upon practical considerations, since the extremes of the group are 

 dissimilar in aspect and widely distinct in range. 



Locs. — Marysville Buttes: South Peak, Jepson 14,047. South Coast Eanges: San Antonio 

 Creek, Monterey Co., Brewer 575; Paso Eobles, Barber 917. Coastal S. Cal.: Saugus, K. Bran- 

 degee; Playa del Eey, Braunton 866; Pomona, Braunton 219; Strawberry Valley, Mt. San 

 Jacinto, Hall 1121. 



Var. nitens Jepson comb. n. Stems glabrous, very slender, shining, white or flesh-color; 

 internodes long; leaves few, remote, their blades linear or linear-lanceolate, typically entire or 

 rather remotely toothed (or deeply pinnatifid) ; petals 3 to 6 (or 8) lines long; capsules linear- 

 clavate, Yz tol inch long, 1 to 1^ lines wide. — Desert washes, 750 to 4000 feet: Colorado Desert, 

 mountains on north side ; Mohave Desert and its bordering ranges ; Inyo and Mono Cos. ; upper 

 San Joaquin Valley; in less typical form in San Luis Obispo and San Benito Cos. East to Ne- 

 vada. Apr.-July. 



Locs. — Eagle Mts., Eiverside Co., Mum 4- KecTc 4955; Victorville, Peirson 7756; Arrastre 

 Creek, n. side San Gabriel Mts., Peirson 395 ; Kane Sprs. wash, Jepson 15,531 ; Searles sta., 

 Wheeler 4" Richardson 72 ; Homewood Canon, Argus Mts., Wheeler 4 Richardson 104 ; Lone Pine, 

 Inyo Co., K. Brandegee; Bishop, Almeda NordyTce; Pickle Mdw., Mono Co., Ottley 1122; Bakers- 

 field, Bavy 1715. In the following the stems are puberulent and more leafy, with the leaves 

 usually deeply pinnatifid, in these respects looking toward the species : Vancouver Pinnacles, San 

 Benito Co., Ball 9961; Paso Eobles, Barber; Atascadero, Brewer 506; Olcese ranch, Poso Creek, 

 Kern Co., Allison Krames; Silver Canon, White Mts., K. Brandegee ; Cottonwood Pass, n. side 

 Colorado Desert, Ball 6002. 



Var. eremopMla Jepson comb. n. Stems less leafy, glabrous, white and shining; leaves 

 sometimes few-toothed or entire ; petals % to 1 inch long, often with a very slight acumination. — 

 Desert mesas and arid hills, 2200 to 3800 feet: Temblor Eange; northern Mohave Desert; Inyo Co. 



Locs. — Elkhorn Scarp, se. San Luis Obispo Co., Jepson 16,229; Eandsburg, Beller 7692; 

 Searles sta., Wheeler 4 Richardson ; Big Pine. 



Eefs. — Mentzelia gracilenta T. & G. Fl. 1:534 (1840), type from Cal., Douglas; Jepson, 



