Volume 8 December 7, 191 2 



MUHLENBERGIA 



THE NORTH AMERICAN LUPINES— IX. 

 By a. a. Heller 



Albifrondes 



Shrubs, rarely herbaceous perennials, with a silky or seri- 

 ceous pubescence: the petioles but little longer than the blades: 

 calyx densely silky, bracteolate: corollas some shade of violet, 

 large, i cm. or more long, and nearly as deep, the face of the 

 banner standing well away from the wings, often while or yel- 

 lowish, edges turned back, but usually separated by a space 4 or 

 5 mm. wide, especially at the base. Pacific coast plants, inhab- 

 iting open slopes and roadside banks at low or medium eleva- 

 tions; never stricth silvan. 



The species of this group, as many as were described at the 

 time, were included under Agardh's tribe Paniculati. But since 

 the Peruvian L. paniculatus is not known to me, and since he 

 also included certain of our species which do not belong in the 

 gronp, as here limited, I have not adopted Agardh's name. 



L. ALBIFRONS Benth.; Lindl. Bot. Reg. 19://. 1642. 1833. 

 This species as at present understood is probably an aggre- 

 gate. At least two forms are found in the bay region of Cali- 

 fornia. One has a distinct woody trunk rising several feet above 

 the ground, while the other is made up of many slender decum- 

 bent woody branches, from which the seasonal growth arises, 

 the whole plant rarely taller than the trunk of the first foru). 

 Agardh, in his Synopsis, and Bentham in Trans. Hort. See. II. 

 1: 410. 1835, describe the stem as decumbent. The exact type 

 station is not known, but the plant is probably restricted to mid- 

 dle California. 



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