97 



longer than the stamens, cleft for 2mm., the whole barely included within the 

 calyx when the lobes are not reflexed. Jepson makes no mention of this species 

 in his Flora, and it certainly is not referable to any other species known within 

 the region covered by his work. 



34. Eil)es ariduiM Greene, Pittonia, 4: 35. 1899. 



Near R. amictiim^ the stems much stouter, rigid and flexu- 

 ous, with puberulent bark, the nodes bearing short very stout 

 recurved triple spines: leaves small, canescently hirtellous on 

 both faces: peduncles 2-flowered; calyx-tube fnnnelform, the 

 lobes oblong, the whole calyx hoary-tomentulose, dark-red 

 within: fruits small, armed with short and stout (slender-coni- 

 cal) spines, in maturity bursting on one side and ejecting the 

 pulpy mass of the seeds, the pericarps persisting during the 

 succeeding winter. 



A remarkable species, discovered among the arid foothills 

 of the Californian Sierra near Caliente, Kern County, in 1893, 

 by Mr. N. C. Wilson. The specimens are scarcely yet in flower, 

 having been collected in January, but show buds near the time 

 of expansion, the branches being still loaded with the dry peri- 

 carps of the preceding year. The characters of the branches, 

 spines and foliage alone, would abundantly distinguish the spe- 

 cies from R. amictuni to which I at the time too hastily referred 

 the specimens. 



''35. Elbes liesperium McClatchie, Erythea, 3: 79. 1894. 

 Shrub 5-10 feet high with spreading branches; stems 

 smooth, beset with dark colored spines which are commonly 

 single, but occasionally double or triple; leaves, inflorescence 

 and young branches puberulent; leaves thin, >^-i^ in. broad, 

 3-5-lobed, the lobes incised; peduncles 1-2-flowered, 2-3 lines 

 long; pedicels about 3 lines long; bracts broad, fan-shaped with 

 ciliated membranous pinkish margin; flowers about three-eights 

 in. long; calyx-tube campanulate, slightly inflated, about i line 

 long; segments from greenish-white to greenish-red, 3-4 lines 

 long; petals white tinged with red, about half the length of the 



