DcLobei 3:. 1912 '^('7 



While the grouping of the lupines into sections in Piper's 

 Flora of Washington is excellent as a whole and an advance in 

 the right direction, the dependence placed upon pubescence is a 

 serious defect. L. mollis, described in this paper, should belong 

 to the Saxosi, so far as pubescence is concerned, yet I am con- 

 vinced its flowers are not at all like those of L. saxosus. I have 

 in mind an apparently undescribed plant related by floral char- 

 acters to L. mollis^ but with a sericeous pubescence. While in 

 some groups the pubescence may be fairly uniform, we must, as 

 a rule, look for stronger characters. These mav be found in the 

 flowers. The seeds arc often distinctive, but can not be de- 

 pended upon, as they may vary con.siderably in a group, and 

 again may be practically similar in several distinct groups. A 

 lupine specimen in fruit only is not specially desirable, unless a 

 flowering one can be obtained from the same place, provided its 

 identii>- is uncertain. 



The chief trouble with the lupines is not that they are .so 

 extremely difficult to place, but that they have neither been 

 properly .studied nor well described. Most lupine species are 

 local in distribution, but an attempt has been made to read into 

 them related species occupying other areas, or even species not 

 very clo.'^ely related. Most de.scriptions show that the flowers 

 have not been dis.sected, or if they were, the characters not de- 

 scribed. Even in dried unsoaked examples the difference be- 

 tween a flower having banner and wings pressed together with 

 little space between their apices, and one having the banner 

 reflected well away from the wings is easily noted. Vet men- 

 tion of just such characters is almost unknown. 



Lupinus yukonensis Greene, Leaflets 2: 233. Oct. 22, 191 2, 

 is evidentlv a synonym of L. borealis Heller, Muhlenbergia 8: 

 82. Aug. 10, 191 2. While Dr. Greene does not cite the collec- 

 tion number, it is evident from the date and place that both 

 names are based upon the same plant. 



