( October 23, [9 19 1 ^1 



entire, all the- lobes broad, abruptly acute: achenes among the 

 largest, cuneately gibbous-obovate and very broadly so, 7-8 mm. 

 l° n gi 5 mm - wide above the middle, much flattened, glaucescent, 

 variously subretieulate-veiny: seed large, oblong-ovoid. 



Known only as collected on Mt. Sanhedrin, Lake county, 

 California, 14 July, 1902, by Mr. Heller; also distributed by 

 him under no. 5855, as "Thalictrum caesium;'" but that species 

 has achenes barely half as large, and white with bloom; not to 

 name other good characters. 



MULE EARS 

 By A. A. Heller 



Wyethia mollis Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 6: 544. 1865. 



So far I have not found the name "mule ears" applied to 

 this plant in any of our books, but have heard it used locally, 

 and a very appropriate name it is, for the large grey leaves look 

 remarkably like the ears of a mule. 



The plant was first collected near Carson City, Nevada, by 

 Dr. C. L. Anderson, and it is not uncommon in our foothills and 

 mountains leading up to the Sierra Nevada, often covering large 

 areas in open, gravelly places. It is most abundant at eleva- 

 tions of from 6000 t j 80 jo feet. The roots are thick and woody, 

 and the stem, from one to two feet high, bears several large 

 leaves and one or more large yellow flowers, as shown in the 

 illustration, which is from a photograph taken at Webber Lake, 

 California, in July, 1901, by Professor S. B. Doten, of the Ne- 

 vada Agricultural Experiment Station. The range of the spe- 

 cies is given in the Synoptical Mora as "Sierra Nevada, espe- 

 cially on the eastern side, from Sierra Valley to Virginia City, 

 Nevada, and westward to the Yosemite." 



It is of considerable importance as a forage plant for sheep 

 at least, as the writer can testify from personal observation. 

 The following is taken from Bulletin 51: 28, of the Nevada 

 Agricultural Experiment Station: 



