Caper Family 181 



1. CLEOME L. 



Ours branching herbs with digitately 3-5-foliate leaves 

 and yellow flow r ers in bracteolate racemes. Sepals 4, 

 often persistent. Petals 4, cruciate, entire, equal. Sta- 

 mens 6. Ovary stipitate with gland at the base. Cap- 

 sule elongated, long-stipitate, many-seeded. 



1. C. lutea Hook. Erect, glabrous, branching, 4-12 dm. high ; 

 leaves 5-foliate, slender-petioled or the upper 3-foliate and sub- 

 sessile ; leaflets oblong or oblong-oblanceolate, entire, short-stalked 

 or sessile, narrowed at the base, obtuse or acute and mucronulate 

 at the apex, 1-5 cm. long; bracts linear-oblong, mucronulate; 

 flowers densely racemose; pedicels slender, 10-12 mm. long; pod 

 linear, acute, 3-6 cm. long, borne on a stipe nearly as long. 



Field near Downey, Davidson. 



2. ISOMEBIS Nutt. 



Ill-scented shrubs with puberulent branches, 3-foliate 

 petioled leaves and large yellow flowers axillary or in 

 bracteate racemes. Sepals 4, persistent. Petals 4, oblong, 

 equal. Receptacle dilated with a hemispherical torus. 

 Stamens 6, inserted on the receptacle, enlarged and glan- 

 dular on the upper surface. Ovary long-stipitate, many- 

 ovuled on the placentae ; style short ; stigma minute. 

 Capsule oval or nearly globose, inflated, tardily 2-valved. 

 Seeds smooth. 



1. I. arborea Nutt. Widely branching shrub, 1-3 m. high, 

 with hard yellow wood and puberulent branches ; leaves 3-foliate ; 

 leaflets oblong to lanceolate, equaling the petioles, entire, mucro- 

 nate; flowers in terminal bracteate racemes; bracts simple; 

 petals yellow, 10-16 cm. long, twice longer than the sepals; cap- 

 sule oblong, 2.5-3.5 cm. long, attenuate into the stipe and 

 abruptly tapering at the apex. 



Frequent on bluffs and hills along the coast, Ballona Harbor; San Pedro; 

 San Joaquin Hills. February-July. 



I. ARBOREA GLOBOSA Coville. This subspecies, which differs 

 from the type in having globose capsules, has been reported from 

 Oceanside and may occur within our limits. 



