June 30, 1913 65 
Acmispon glabratus sp. nov. 
Annual, very sparingly pubescent: stems several, slender, 
at first decumbent, later ascending, leafy; leaves subsessile, the 
very short petioles broad; leaflets yellow-green above, paler be- 
neath, somewhat fleshy, lateral ones mostly oblong, acutish, 
about 9mm. long, 3.5mm. wide, subsessile; terminal leaflet nar- 
rowly obovate, 11 mm. long, 5.5mm. wide, petiolules 2mm. 
long: peduncles shorter than the subtending leaf, 5mm. long or 
less: foliaceous bract ovate-lanceolate, 4mm. long, 21mm. wide: 
corollas small, 4mm. long, scattered, pinkish: calyx sparsely 
ciliate, glaucous, 3mm. long, lobes lanceolate, 0.5 mm. wide: 
blade of banner 3mm. long, 4mm. wide, claw 1 mm. long, lit- 
tle narrowed at base; blade of wings 3mm. long, 2mm. wide, 
bluntly auricled, claw slender, curved, 1 mm. long; keel 4mm. 
long, slightly over 1 mm. wide at the middle, moderately curved 
ventrally, strongly so dorsally, the blunt point not prolonged: 
pods 15 to 20mm. long, slightly rounded and constricted: seeds 
oblong, not flattened; 2.5mm. long, 1.5mm. wide, pale olive 
brown, unmarked. 
The type, in the herbarium of A. A. Heller, is Heller 7079, 
collected at the lower end of Donner Lake, Sierra county, Cali- 
fornia, July 25, 1003. It is the smallest flowered species thus 
far observed, and has broader calyx lobes than usual. 
CONCERNING SOME SPECIES OF AGOSERIS IN 
COLORADO 
By GEORGE E. OSTERHOUT 
It is evident that our idea of a species is largely dependent 
on our acquaintance with the plants. On first collecting a plant 
which differs from a known species, attention is arrested, but 
the collector is not at all sure that it should at once be described 
as a new species. He does not feel sure that the characters will 
be constant; but if the same is collected again in a different 
locality and the same characters are noticed, a conviction begins 
to dawn that the plant is worthy of a place in a list of species, 
and each additional collection adds to this conviction, 
