1921] 
PAYSON—MONOGRAPH OF THE GENUS LESQUERELLA 109 
The Capsules.—Of all the various parts of cruciferous plants 
that are of interest to the taxonomist, the first place is held by 
the capsules, or pods, since in their component parts occur much 
greater differentiations than in the more uniform flowers or more 
readily modified leaves. Lesquerella is no exception to this 
rule, for although we may base theoretical conclusions on the 
variations assumed by other parts of the plants these conclu- 
sions are quite worthless if they do not correlate with those de- 
rived from a study of the fruits. Were it not for certain simi- 
larities in the structure of the capsules the genus would be in- 
capable of maintenance in its present form and the relationship 
that is now so evident would become obscure. In order to 
analyze the various changes that have occurred and to trace 
their development, the component parts of the fruit will be con- 
sidered separately and in different paragraphs. 
The Gynophore.—The gynophore, or stipe that raises the pod 
above the torus in some species, is a character of considerable im- 
portance taxonomically and of great interest from the viewpoint 
of phylogeny. It is of the more interest because its significance 
at present is not at all certain. It is present to a noticeable de- 
gree in at least five species and reaches its greatest development 
in the two most primitive of these, L. Lindheimeri and L. gracilis, 
in which it is often quite two millimeters long. In the other 
three, L. Gordonii, L. Garrettit and L. latifolia, though shorter, 
it is yet quite evident. In some other species, although the 
stipe is scarcely measurable, the pods are seen to be not truly 
sessile. L. Gordonii, which was undoubtedly derived from L. 
gracilis or a closely related form, is in several ways a step higher 
in the scale of development and has a reduced stipe. In L 
Palmeri, which is a western offshoot of L. Gordonii, the stipe 
has disappeared completely. The other two species character- 
ized by the possession of a distinct stipe are not closely related 
and have their nearest relatives in species with sessile pods. In 
their cases at least, the stipe is evidently an individual and per- 
haps an atavistic variation. 
Because the most primitive species that show a distinct gyno- 
phore have it in its greatest development, and in more recent 
species it has gradually disappeared, the possibility is suggested 
that this character was present in the ancestral form of the genus. 
