where the original vegetation has been reduced ; consequently yellow owl- 

 clover frequently is abundant on areas where the cover of more palatable 

 plants has been somewhat depleted by overgrazing. The specific name, luteus, 

 being Latin for yellow, refers to the color of the flowers. 



The species deserves notice because of its commonness and wide distribu- 

 tion, and because it is a representative member of a rather large genus of 

 range species of somewhat unusual appearance. The plants are usually 

 small, produce but little herbage and, in the main, are low in palatability. 

 Accordingly, yellow owlclover is of minor consequence as a forage species. It 

 is practically worthless for cattle and only poor to fair sheep forage. 



OWLCLOVERS 



Orthocar'pus spp. 



Owlclovers, also known as orthocarps, compose a chiefly western North 

 American genus of annual and a few perennial weeds. The genus, includ- 

 ing some 30 species in western North America and one in South America, is 

 a member of the flgwort family (Scrophulariaceae), being closely related to 

 the paintbrushes and painted-cups (Castilleja spp.). The origin and signifi- 

 cance of the common name are obscure. The generic name is derived from the 

 Greek words orthos, upright, and karpos, fruit, and refers to the erect seed 

 pods. There is considerable difference in size, shape, and margins of the 

 leaves between various species of owlclover; their flower colors range from 

 white to yellow, pink, red, and purple ; the plants also vary in shape, size, 

 and color of the flower cluster bracts, which are entire, lobed, or divided. In 

 some species they are green and leaflike but in others are more or less petal- 

 like, with about the same range in color as the united petals (corollas). The 

 flowers are borne in terminal spikes; the corolla is strongly two-lipped, with 

 the upper lip erect or arched, and the lower one more or less spreading and 

 usually three-lobed. The four stamens are arranged in two pairs, ascending 

 under the upper lip. 



The owlclovers are widely distributed and occur in practically all parts of 

 the West, some species frequently being abundant locally. This is especially 

 true in the California foothills where certain species grow in nearly pure, dense 

 stands, adding brilliancy and characteristic color to the landscape when in 

 flower. The majority of the species occur in California, where the annual 

 species partially resemble winter annuals; the growth starts in February and 

 continues until June, when the plants dry up and disappear. In other parts 

 of the West, however, they often occur as summer annuals in the higher 

 mountains and bloom until the middle of September, or later. 



Owlclovers are low in palatability, generally ranking as practically worth- 

 less to poor cattle forage, although fair for sheep; they derive most of their 

 range importance from the fact that they are so widely distributed and 

 frequently abundant. 



Throughout the West as a whole, yellow owlclover is the most common and 

 widespread species. Purple- white owlclover (O. purpureo-aVbus), with rather 

 open spikes of white flowers which turn rose-purple, is a common plant of the 

 Rocky Mountains. O. erian'thus, often called Johnny-tuck, or (less happily) 

 butter-and-eggs, a relatively low species, 4 to 10 inches high, with sulphur- 

 yellow corollas tipped with purple, is often very abundant in the foothills of 

 California, frequently coloring wide stretches during April and May with gold- 

 tinted streamlike bands. Purple owlclover (O. purjwras' 'cem) , often called 

 escobita, is another common West Coast species, which occurs in California 

 and Oregon. It averages about 1 foot in height; the leaves are divided into 

 numerous threadlike, often brown-tinged divisions; the bracts of the flower 

 cluster are dilated at the base, and divided into narrow lobes, those of the 

 bracts accompanying the upper flowers having crimson or purple, widended tips ; 

 the crimson or purplish corollas are from three-fourths to 1*4 inches long, the 

 lower lip being white-tipped and spotted with yellow or purple dots or markings. 

 This ornamental species is thus far the only member of its genus well established 

 in the horticultural trade. 



