600 ON'AORACEAE 



L0C8. — Bishop, Inyo Co., K. Brandcgcc : Woatpard Pass, Inyo Co., Keclc 530; Silver Caflon, 

 White Mts., A'. Urandegcc ; Black Canon, White jMts., Duran 2094; Shumway, Lassen Co., C. C. 

 Bruce 2139. 



Var. villosa Wats. Leaves grayish-villous to thinly hirsute or villous, often glabrate, the 

 stem.s vory thinly hirsute usually; capsules .T to 5\U lines lonp. — Washes or in low chaparral, 5000 

 to 7500 feet: Mono Co. North to eastern WashiuKton, east to Nevada. 



Locs.— White Mts., Purpns G425 ; Benton, Shocldey 113; Mono Lake, Chesnut 4" Drew; 

 Mono Craters, Pcirson. 



Yar. decorticans Jepson. Herbage usually glabrous or glabrate, the inflorescence sometimes 

 a little glandular; spikes mostly nodding; capsules spreading or dowTicurved, little indurated, % 

 to V,2 li"f9 thick at base. — Washes, dry plains and mountain slopes, 500 to 7400 feet: San Gabriel 

 Mts. "(desert slope) and north to the mountains of Santa Barbara Co.; Colorado Desert; Mohave 

 Desert; South Coast Kangcs; upper San Joaquin Valley in Kern Co.; Greenhorn Range; Inyo 

 Co. East to Utah and Arizona. Mar.-June. 



Locs. — Colorado Desert: Calexico, Davy 7993; Coyote Wells, sw. Imperial Co., Newlon 389; 

 Vallecito, c. San Diego Co., Jepson 8556; San Felipe Narrows, Carl Meyer 30; Whitewater, 

 Parish. Coastal S. Cal.: Rock Creek, San Gabriel Mts., Peirson 479; Santa Paula, Benj. Cobb 

 156 ; Mono Flat ranger sta., Santa Barbara Co., A. L. Grant 1689. Mohave Desert : Warrens Well, 

 Jepson 5972; New York Mts., J. Grlnnell; Calico Wash, ne. of Barstow, Jepson 5359; Ilawes 

 sta., Jepson 15,554; Amargo sta., Jepson 15,775. South Coast Ranges: Elkhorn Scarp, Temblor 

 Range, se. San Luis Obispo Co., Jepson 16,230; Zapato Chino Creek, sw. Fresno Co., Jepson 

 15,387; San Carlos Creek, San Carlos Range, Jepson 2729; Bitterwater Valley, San Benito Co., 

 Jepson 12,044; Paso Robles, Betty Knight; Jolon, Monterey Co., Brewer 579; Corral Hollow, e. 

 Alameda Co., Brewer 1218. Upper San Joaquin Valley: Sivert sta., Kern Co., Jepson 11,609. 

 Inyo Co.: Cottonwood Creek, Owens Lake, Jepson 5092; Hanaupah Canon, Panamint Range, 

 Jepson 6976. 



Refs. — Oenothera alyssoides H. & A. Bot. Beech. 340 (1838), type loc. Pine Creek, Snake 

 country, Tolmie; Jepson, Man. 686 (1925). Sphaerostigma alyssoides Walp. Rep. 2:78 (1843). 

 0. gaurae flora var. alyssoides L6vl. Monog. Onoth. 241 (1904). Sphaerostigma iortuosum Nels. 

 Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 17:95 (1904), type loc. Truekee Pass, Virginia Mts., Washoe Co., Nev., 

 Kennedy. 0. gauraeflora var. vermiculata Jones, Contrib. W. Bot. 12:16 (1908), type loc. Reno, 

 Nev., Jones. Var. villosa Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. 8 :591 (1873), type from Nev. Sphaerostigma 

 alyssoides var. macrophrjllum Small, Bull. Torr. Club 23:192 (1896). S. utahense Small, Bull. 

 Torr. Club 23:191 (1896), type loc. Great Salt Lake, Stansbury. S. lemmonii Nels. Bot. Gaz. 

 40:61 (1905), tvpe loc. "eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada", Lemmon. Var. decorticans Jep- 

 son, Man. 686, fig. 668 (1925). Gaura decorticans H. & A. Bot. Beech. 343 (1838), type from 

 Cal., Douglas. 0. decorticans Greene, Fl. Fr. 217 (1891). Sphaerostigma decorticans Small, 

 Bull. Tori-. Club 23:191 (1896). 0. gauraeflora T. & G. Fl. 1:510 (1840), type from Cal., Doug- 

 las. Sphaerostigma gauraeflorum Wa]-p.'Rej). 2:78 (1843). 0. nevadensi.s Kell. Proc. Cal. Acad. 

 2:224, pi. 70 (1863), type loc. probably in Nevada. Sphaerostigma nevadense Hel. Muhl. 6:51 

 (1910). 0. gauraeflora var. caputmedusae Levi. Monog. Onoth. 226 (1904), type from Cal., 

 Lemmon. 0. rutila Dav. Erythea 2:62 (1894), type loc. Rock Creek, San Gabriel Mts., Davidson. 

 Sphaerostigma rutilum Parish, Erythea 6:89 (1898). 0. decorticans var. rutila Munz, Bot. Gaz. 

 85:245 (1928). 0. decorticans var. desertorum Mun^, Bot. Gaz. 85:246 (1928), type loc. 

 Garlic Sprs., ne. Mohave Desert, Mum 4' Keclc 7881. 0. decorticans var. condensata Munz, Bot. 

 Gaz. 85:247 (1928), type loc. Dos Palmas Spr., Colorado Desert, Munz 9960. 



21. 0. refracta Wats. Spider Oenothera. (Fig. 262.) Stems 1 to several 

 from the base, simple or mostly sparingly branched, % to 2^/2 feet high; herbage 

 glabrous or slightly puberiilent, sometimes a little glandular; leaves mostly basal 

 or on lower part of plant, the blades linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, pinnatifid to 

 irregularly dentate or denticulate, 1 to 6 inches long, the upper narrow-linear or 

 filiform, and often subentire, the lower ones shortly petioled; flowers in spikes, the 

 spikes somewhat nodding in bud; calyx-tube narrow-funnelform, l^/^ to 2 lines 

 long; petals pale yellow to white, II/2 to 2 lines long; capsules filiform-linear, cylin- 

 dric, straight or somewhat curved or contorted, mostly sharply refracted, 1^4 to 

 2% inches long. 



Desert washes, plains and dry slopes, 100 to 4500 feet : Colorado and Mohave 

 deserts; north to Inyo Co. East to Nevada and Utah. Feb. -May. 



Field note. — The stems in well-developed plants are coarse at base but very slenderly 

 branched above. On account of the few branches and sparse foliage the plant structure is very 

 skeleton-like. The stems are usually green, the branchlets, buds and leaves tending to be reddish. 



Locs. — Colorado Desert: Coyote Wells, Imperial Co., Jepson 11,755; Vallecito, e. San Diego 

 Co., Jepson 8591; Cottonwood Spr., n. of Mecca, Jepson 12,595; Chuckwalla Bench, Schellenger, 



