285 Didymocarpi. 



keel, white. Keel about 3 mm. lone, 2 mm. hijjh, the very broadly- 

 deltoid and obtuse tip only a little higher than the rest, very dai'k- 

 purple, shining through the banner and wings, abruptly rounded. 

 Calyx tube black-hairy, about 2 mm. long, narrowly campanulate, 

 acute at base, with teeth from half to as long as tube. Pedicels 

 and bracts minute. Peduncles rather stout for the plant, 3-5 cm. 

 long. Leaves 3-5 cm. long, rather few, with short but evident 

 petiole, delicate, spreading. Leaflets 4-5 pairs, cuneate-oblong-obo- 

 vate, not contiguous, sparsely pubescent below, 5-7 mm. long. 

 Stipules deltoid, green, aljout 2-3 mm. long. Stems short, flexuous, 

 much branched. Pubescence sparse, short, the upper sides. of leaflets 

 smooth. In fields from Mendocino Co. to San Francisco. 



269. Astragalus dldymocarpus H. & A. Bot. Beech. 334 t 81 

 (1841). A. Catalinensis Nutt., Hesperastragalus Heller. Pods 

 about 3 mm. long and 2 mm. high and wide, half-oblate-oval, or 

 obliquely ovate, deeply sulcate dorsally to beyond the middle and 

 with cross section a crescent with rounded ends, smooth, venti'al 

 suture raised and very thick and with strong ribs running out from 

 it and meshing on the angles much as in Euphorbia seeds. Flov/ers 

 purple or white, 4-8 mm. long in ovate to oblong heads. Banner 

 oval-ovate to oblong, 3-7 mm. long, arched at calyx tips to 45% 

 when colored with large, veined white spot low down, 1-2 mm. 

 longer than wings. Wings oblanceolate to ' obovate, 1 mm. wide, 

 white at tip and purple below, about 1 mm. longer than keel. Keel 

 straight, 3-4 mm. long, 2 mm. high, with triangular ascending tip 

 rounded and about 2.5 mm. high. Calyx tube campanulate, acute 

 at base, about 2 mm. long, with sharp sinuses. Bracts ovate, hya- 

 line, about 1 mm. long. Pedicels none. Peduncles 3-5 cm. long, 

 longer than leaves. Leaves 3-4 cm. long, lax. Leaflets 3-5 pairs, 

 narrowly cuneate-oblong and with contracted tip deeply notched, 

 about 1 cm. long, distant. Stipules triangular, reflexed, 2-3 mm. 

 long. Stems flexuous, erect or spreading, branched below, _ very 

 slender, with internodes few and 1-7 cm. long. Common in all 

 the valleys from central California to San Quentin Lower California, 

 running a little over into the Great Basin at Mojave. 



270. Astragalus dispermus Gray Proc. Am. Acad. 13 365 

 (1878). Pods oblately oval to 'deltoid-ovate, 3-4 mm. long, 2-2.5 

 mm. wide and 1.5-2 mm. high, with cross section flatly triquetrous- 

 cordate with shai-p angles (or rounded), pubescent, slightly to 

 deeply corrugated, sulcate as in didymocarpus and with ventral 

 suture convex as in that species, but a mere line. Flowers in a 

 dense ovate head, purple, 3-5 mm. long. Banner oval, 2-3 mm. long, 

 arched to 45°, often not exceeding the calyx tips, rarely 1 mm. 

 longer than wings. Wings white, obliquely oblong-lanceolate, ^2-1 

 mm. longer than keel. Keel straight, about 3 mm. long, abruptly 

 erect at tip and 2 mm. high, base 1.5 mm. high. Bracts green, 

 subulate, about 1 mm. long, scarcely visible. Calyx conspicuously 

 white-shaggy, the hairs concealing the shape, the teeth setaceou.sly 

 subulate, green, longer than the tube. Peduncles 1-5 cm. long, axil- 

 lary. Leaves 2-4 cm. long, all petioled, but upper short, spreading. 

 Leaflets thick, 3-5 pairs, distant, oblong with cuneate b?.se to cuneate, 

 notched, long-petiolulate, 3-7 mm. long. Stipules deltoid with subu- 

 late tips, green, 3 mm. long. Whole plant white-pubescent with 

 spreading hairs. Stems prostrate, at least the outer ones, often 2 

 ft. long, with long internodes, branching below. From Rhyolitc, 

 Nevada, to Wickenberg and Hillside, Arizona, through the Charleston 

 Mts. and throughout the deserts to both sides of the San Bernardino 

 Mts. and southward into Mexico, San Diego, California, etc. This 

 hybridizes with A. didymocarpus forming A. dispermus x didymo- 

 carpus, having the pods of didymocarpus and the pubescence and 

 leaves of dispermus. The hybrid grows at Banning, California. 



271. Astragalus diphacus Watson Proc. Am. Acad. 17 342 

 (1882). Pods 4-8 mm. long, about round, a little notched at both 



