PEA FAMILY 1 45 



6. H. decumbens var. nevadensis Wats. Stems wiry, often 

 1 or 2 ft. long, the herbage conspicuously 

 hairy. Leaflets 3 to 5, obovate, acute, % 

 to Yz in. long. Flowers numerous, yellow- 

 ish, Y^ to nearly y 2 in. long, the peduncle 



long, with slender curved beak longer than 

 the body. {Lotus nevadensis Greene.) 



The numerous stems of this plant di- 

 verge from the perennial root like the 

 spokes of a wheel, forming loose, leafy 

 mats in half-shady and dry places of open pine forests. It is 

 a perennial but sometimes flowers as an annual. 



7. H. glabra Torr. Deer-weed. Stems woody at base, 2 to 

 4 ft. high, sparsely leafy, the herbage nearly glabrous. Leaf- 

 lets 3 to 6, oblong, y to y in. long. Flowers many, yellow, 

 turning red, y in. long, the umbels sessile. Pod with incurved 

 beak. (Syrmatium glabrum Vog.) — A foothill species, com- 

 mon at El Portal and elsewhere near our lower borders. 



5. ASTRAGALUS. Loco-weed. Rattle-weed. 

 Perennial herbs with pinnately compound leaves, true stip- 

 ules, and pale flowers in terminal racemes. Calyx 5-toothed. 

 Pod 2 to many-seeded, 1-celled or incompletely 2-celled. 



Leaflets not prickly-pointed. 

 Pod sessile in the calyx. 



Pod bladdery, not woolly 1. A. lentiginosus 



Pod not bladdery, woolly 2. A. purshii. 



Pod narrowed below to a stalk. 



Walls of the bladdery pod thin 3. A. whitneyi. 



Walls of the firm pod thick 4. A. bolanderi. 



Leaflets prickly-pointed and rigid 5. A. kentrophyta. 



1. A. lentiginosus Dougl. Leaflets 9 to 21, oblong or obo- 

 vate, entire, about y 2 in. long. Flowers white or purple. Pod 

 y to }i in. long, bladdery-inflated, ovate, stoutly beaked, 

 curved, sessile in the calyx. 



The numerous leafy stems give this plant a bush-like 

 appearance, though only 6 to 15 in. high. The typical form is 

 green but there is a var. fremontii Wats., with silvery pu- 

 bescence and larger, nearly straight pods. A. lentiginosus 

 grows at Mono Pass, where it inhabits warm, gravelly ridges. 

 It is probably one of the species responsible for the loco 

 disease mentioned under no. 4. 



2. A. purshii Dougl. Leaflets 9 to 19, narrowly oblong, y 2 

 in. or less long, crowded, woolly. Flowers dull white, purple- 



