Oleomella. CAPPARIDACE.E. 51 



1. P. trachysperma, Torr. & Gray. Glandular-pubescent, erect, \ to 2 feet 

 high : leaves 3-foliolate ; leaflets lanceolate, \ to 2 inches long, acute, about equal- 

 ling the petioles, nearly sessile ; floral bracts mostly simple, ovate to lanceolate, 

 shortly petioled : petals 3 to 5 lines long, with slender claws as long as the sepals, 

 and an emarginate blade : stamens 12 to 16 ; filaments exserted : style 2 to 3 lines 

 long : pod 1 to 1\ inches long, very rarely on a short slender stipe : seeds finely 

 pitted and often warty. Fl. i. 669 ; Gray, Gen. 111. L 182, t. 79. P. unigland- 

 ulosa, Torr. Pacif. E. Eep. iv. 67 ; Watson, Bot. King Exp. 34. 



From the Columbia River to Kansas and southward to N. Nevada and Texas. The P. unigland- 

 ulosa, Cav., of Mexico and New Mexico, to which it has been referred, differs iu its much larger 

 flowers, greatly elongated style, larger pods upon a stout terete stipe, and smooth seeds. The 

 eastern P. graveolens may be distinguished by its smaller flowers, shorter style, fewer and shorter 

 stamens, and smoother seeds ; its leaves are also mostly obtuse or obtusish. 



3. CLEOME, Linn. 



Sepals 4, sometimes united at base. Petals with claws or sessile. Stamens 6, 

 upon the small torus. Pod (in our species) linear or oblong, stipitate, many-seeded : 

 style short or none. Seeds globose-reniform to ovate. Our species are all erect 

 branching annuals ; with palmately 3 - 7-foliolate leaves (leaflets entire), and yellow 

 or purple flowers, in bracteate racemes ; pods pendent on spreading pedicels. 



About 70 species, inhabitants of hot and dry regions, chiefly of America and Africa. The fol- 

 lowing species approach the eastern or southern borders of the State. 



1. C. lutea, Hook. Smooth or slightly pubescent, 1 to 2 feet high : leaflets 5, 

 linear- to oblong-lanceolate, one or two inches long, acute, short-petiolulate, equal- 

 ling the petioles ; stipules setaceous, caducous ; bracts simple, bristle-tipped : flowers 

 showy, bright yellow, corymbose, the raceme elongated in fruit : petals 3 to 4 lines 

 long, much exceeding the ovate-lanceolate sepals : stamens much exserted : pod 6 to 

 15 lines long, about 2 lines broad, acute at each end : style less than a line long : 

 the stipe and pedicel each about half an inch long. Fl. i. 70, t. 25 ; Lindl. Bot. 

 Reg. xxvii. t. 67. C. aurea, JSTutt. in Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 122 ; Watson, 1. c. 32. 



Abundant in the valleys of Northwestern Nevada, thence northward to the Columbia and east 

 to Colorado. 



2. C. platycarpa, Torr. With the habit and characters of the last, but pubes- 

 cent and somewhat glandular : leaflets 3, broadly oblong to lanceolate, 6 to 8 lines 

 long, obtuse or acutish : sepals linear-setaceous : pod 9 lines long, about 4 lines 

 broad, 10-12-seeded : style 2 lines long. Bot. Wilkes Exp. 235, t. 2. 



Klamath River, N. California (Pickering) ; Blue Mountains, Oregon, Nevius. 



3. C. sparsifolia, Watson. Smooth, diffusely branched, a foot high : leaves 

 much scattered, simple or 3-foliolate ; leaflets 2 or 3 lines long, oblanceolate, acute ; 

 stipules fimbriate, caducous : flowers few, in a loose raceme : sepals ovate : petals 

 with a nectariferous scale at base, 3 lines long, exceeding the stamens : pods 9 lines 

 long, narrow, acutish, very shortly stipitate. Bot. King Exp. 32, t. 5. 



In dry sand, near Ragtown, Carson Desert, Nevada, Watson. 



C. SONOR*, Gray, PI. Wright, ii. 16, is a tall slender glabrous species, with trifoliolate almost 

 sessile leaves and linear leaflets ; flowers small, in loose racemes ; pods half an inch long ; style 

 very short. From Northwestern Sonora to S. Colorado, and may enter S. California. 



4. CLEOMELLA, DC. 



Characters nearly as in Cleome, but the few-seeded pod small and ovoid-globose 

 or rhomboidal, or with the valves often laterally produced. Erect branching 

 annuals ; flowers yellow, racemose ; leaves 3-foliolate. 



A genus of half a dozen species, confined to the interior region of North America. 



