420 POLYGONACEAE 



cuneate at base, undulate, densely tomentose beneath, glabrate above, 1 to 

 2 inches long, on slender petioles; involucres 2 or 3 lines long, glabrous or 

 nearly so, 2 to 6 in each cluster ; calyx glabrous, at least outside, 1 to 1% lines 

 long, usually white, sometimes rose-color or yellow; filaments a little hairy 

 at base. 



Throughout California, very common on dry hills, valley flats or moun- 

 tain slopes in the Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada. Oregon. July-Oct. 



L OCS . Shasta Co., Jones $ Alexander; Willow Creek, Humboldt Co., Tracy 3294; Bartletts, 

 Lake Co., K. Brandegee ; Petaluma, E. Palmer; Hackberry Canon, Caliente, K. Brandegee; 

 Tehipite, Hall 4- Chandler 514; Yosemite, Jepson 5661; Little Yosemite, Jepson 3152; Eancheria 

 Mt., Jepson 4610. 



Eriogonum nudum is an inconstant species and many specific segregates of 

 it have been published, the diagnoses leaning most heavily on two variable 

 characters, namely the degree of branching of the inflorescence and the degree 

 of hairiness. The acceptance of these specific segregates would, however, require 

 the naming of many forms still unnamed and necessitate a still greater refine- 

 ment of obviously inconstant characters. We are therefore disposed to arrange 

 the more well-known forms as varieties. 



Var. deductum Jepson n. comb. Stems many from the base, 5 -to 13 inches 

 high, umbellately trichotomous above, glabrous ; leaves oval, V 2 to % inch long, 

 on petioles 3 to 4 times as long. High Sierra Nevada, 7500 to 9500 feet. Seems 

 no more than a slightly reduced state of the common form of the species pre- 

 vailing at lower altitudes in the Sierra. 



Locs. Hockett's Mdw., Culbertson 4441; Farewell Gap, Jepson 1035; Wildflower Lake, 

 Kearsarge Pass, Jepson 878; Mt. Tallac, Fox. 



Var. scapigerum Jepson n. comb. Like var. deductum but the inflorescence 

 reduced to single heads terminating the slender scape-like stems. High moun- 

 tains about the upper Kern River. 



Locs. Cirque Peak, Hall ft Babcoclc 5504; near Whitney Meadows, Purpus 1559. 



Var. pubiflomm Benth. Stems 1% to 3 feet high, often inflated, glabrous, 

 the branches elongated; involucres 1 to 3 in a place; calyx deep yellow, hairy 

 towards the base. Desert region : Pahute Peak, Purpus 5535 ; Mt. Pinos, Hall 

 6623 (calyx white) ; Independence, Hall & Chandler 7295; Goose Valley, Modoc 

 Co., Austin & Bruce; Yreka, Butler 213, 1605; Hamburg, Siskiyou Co., Jepson 

 2954. 



Var. pauciflorum "Wats. Stems often inflated, indefinitely dichotomous, the 

 involucres scattered along the slender branches or occasionally in pairs; calyx 

 white. Southern California: San Jacinto and San Bernardino mountains. 



Var. oblongifolium Wats. Stems and involucres whitish tomentulose, the 

 stems about twice di- or tri-chotomous, the branches rather strict; leaves 

 broadly oblong, y 2 to 2y 2 inches long, abruptly contracted to slender petioles 

 iy 2 to 3 inches long; calyx white or rarely pale yellow, somewhat pubescent 

 on the inner lobes. Napa Co. to Humboldt Co. and east to Modoc Co., thence 

 south to Nevada Co., here apparently blending with the ordinary Sierran form. 



Var. sulphureum Jepson n. comb. Like the preceding but the branches of 

 the inflorescence more spreading; calyx pale yellow or white, a little hairy at 

 base. Eden Valley, Mendocino Co., to Siskiyou Co. 



Var. auriculatum J. P. Tracy in herb. Stems V 2 to 2V 2 feet high, somewhat 

 caudex-like at base, the caudexes set with leaves or ofd leaf-bases, y 2 to 4 

 inches high, each giving rise to a glabrous glaucous peduncle bearing a 

 dichotomous panicle; peduncles sometimes strongly fistulous; leaves oblong 

 to elliptic, obtuse, truncatish or subcordate at base, crenulate-undulate mar- 

 gined, densely white-lanate below, soon glabrescent and deep green above, 1 





