March 31, 19m 31 



wings 2 mm.: calyx densely white silk)-, the upper lobe 5111m. 

 long, shortly 2-toothed, the lower 7111m. long, obscurely 3- 

 toothed, a tuft of hairs in the sinus in lieu of a bractlet: banner 

 somewhat elliptical-ovate when spread out, 12 mm. long, 9111m. 

 wide near the middle, the sides reflexed and probably nearly 

 parallel, the face 3 mm. wide below with a deep groove, back 

 glabrous, the base slightly tumid but not spurred; wings moder- 

 ately inflated, open on the lower half and exposing the keel, 

 obliquely-oblong, 5 mm. wide near the middle; keel moderately 

 curved, short-acuminate, the upper third purple, the hyaline ven- 

 tral edges more or less eiliate: pods about 13 mm. long, 6 mm. 

 wide, densely white silky villous, 3 or 4-seeded, the seeds 3 mm. 

 long, 2 mm. wide, whitish, smooth, somewhat flattened. 



The type locality of this species is not given, but it was 

 probably collected about Washoe Lake, Washoe county, Nevada, 

 where it is common. It is a very handsome species, the dense 

 spikes of bright violet-purple flowers occupying the upper half 

 of the plant, while the stem and leaves are whitened by a sil- 

 very, silky pubescence. With us it inhabits moist sandy places 

 both in the woods and in meadows. At Franktown, where I 

 found it in abundance (no. 9772) growing in open damp sandy 

 places in the woods, the* plants were rather spreading, but out 

 in the meadows (no. 9778) it was taller and more slender, owing 

 to the fact that it had to contend with the grasses and other 

 plants surrounding it. 



In the original description the keel is said to be "silky-cili- 

 ate, M and the illustration shows it as eiliate except at the very 

 base. This character is subject to some variation, for in some 

 of my Pranktown specimens there is a dense tuft of hairs near 

 the apex, gradually thinning out to a little below the middle, 

 the lower third bare, while in other plants there is an evident 

 ciliation almost to the base. 



Without having critically examined specimens from outside 

 our range, I may state that.lhe species seems to have a rather 

 wide distribution, occurring from Mt. Pinos in the Tehachapi 

 range in southern California, northward along the Sierra Ne- 

 vada to western Nevada and adjacent California to at least as far 

 north as Plumas county. 



