138 



yellow or white, if there was any well marked sequence in the 

 evolution of color. Purple, however, is already a prominent 

 color in species of Helleborus, and it is evident that anthocyanins 

 and yellow plastids both antedate the evolution of Aqtdlegia. 



A few years ago* I described a hybrid between A .desertorum and 

 A. chrysantha. Our plant of A. desertorum, obtained in Santa 

 Fe Caiion in 1912, and then evidently of considerable age, is as 

 vigorous as ever in 191 9. It proves fertile with its own pollen, 

 and we have seedlings from it already in flower, perfectly true 

 to type. It has been and still is a question whether the differ- 

 ences between A. desertorum and A. elegantula may be due to 

 environment and hence not truly specific. Mr. Payson treats 

 them as distinct species, but declares that desertorum is knowoi 

 only from Arizona, though he quotes my remarks on the New 

 Mexico plant. A specimen obtained by Heller nine miles east 

 of Santa Fe, and therefore very near the locality of my desertorum 

 plant, is referred by Payson to elegantula. An analysis of the 

 characters of my plant, with Payson 's descriptions before me, 

 appears to indicate desertorum rather than elegantula, but it 

 agrees perfectly with neither. The leaves are early glaucous, 

 but at maturity clear green above. Only the leaflets of the 

 flowering stems are small; the basal leaves have them very large, 

 the apical leaflet 40 mm. long and 38 wide. The better developed 

 flowering stems bear well-developed leaves, but this can hardly 

 be a specific character. The leaflets have a quite dense erect 

 pubescence on the under side, which is a desertorum character. 

 {A. chrysantha has this pubescence less dense, but still very evi- 

 dent; but singularly enough the chrysantha X desertorum hybrid 

 has only a very few widely scattered hairs.) The spurs are 

 about 22 mm. long, thus agreeing better with desertorum, and 

 the sepals are red, pallid at tip. The original elegantula, as 

 described by Greene, had light green sepals. The sepals how- 

 ever are erect, not spreading as they should be in desertorum. 

 The follicles have the tips widely spreading. 



On the basis of the above characters, it might appear that the 

 Santa Fe Canon desertorum should be separated both from the 



* Botanical Gazette 62: 413. 1916. 



