180 ERYTHEA. 



leaves sessile with linear segments; sepals 1 or 2 lines long, 

 obtuse; petals yellow, twice the length of the sepals; stamens 

 tetradynamous (but not markedly unequal), slightly exceed- 

 ing the short pistil; silique puberulent, ^ to 1^ inches long^ 

 a line wide, nearly diamond-shaped in cross-section, one- 

 celled below, the upper -J or J obcompressed, two-celled, the 

 valves dehiscent leaving the placentae supporting the narrow 

 but at the apex complete partition; seeds in two rows 

 occupying the whole length of the pod; pedicels slightly 



arcuate, varying from ^ to 1 inch in length. The common 

 and only species of Tf^opidocarpitm found in the immediate 

 neighborhood of Los Angeles. 



In the Botany of the State Survey, Tropidocarpiimy 

 gracile and T. scahrtuscidum are considered as synonymous- 

 Professor Greene in the Flora Franciscana treats the latter 

 as a variety, but no detailed account of the fruit is given. 

 From the description, however, I think T. scahritisculum is 

 the common species of this district outside of Los Angeles. 

 Those I have seen at San Bernardino, Newhall, and the 

 Mohave desert all seem to belong to it. 



All three species resemble each other in the form of the 

 leaf, color of the foliage, and in some other particulars, but 

 all diifer strikingly in fruit. In T. gracile the pod is smooth 

 and indehiscent. In T. scahrhiscidum^ as I understand it, 

 and in T. dubhim^ it is, so far as I have observed, always 

 dehiscent. In T. scabriuscidum the pod is obcompressed 

 throughout its whole length, two celled, the partition though 

 narrow, is complete from end to end. The pubescence on 

 the pod is very apparent in this, only microscopically so in 

 T. duhium. The pedicels in T. scahrhisculum are straight 

 and always less than a quarter of an inch long; in T, dubiitm 

 they are arcuate and always longer. 



