46 CETJCIFEK^E. Lepidium. 



3. L. oxycarpum, Ton. & Gray. Nearly smooth : stems slender, ascending, 

 simple or branched, 3 to 6 inches high : leaves linear, pinnatifid with a few nar- 

 rowly linear or filiform segments or entire : raceme lax, elongated : sepals unequal ; 

 soon deciduous : petals none : stamens 2 : pods smooth, rounded, \\ lines broad, 

 nodding on slender pedicels as long as the pod, the broad and acute teeth short and 

 divergent. — Fl. i. 116. 



Var.- (?) strictum, Watson. Sepals green, persistent : fruiting racemes crowded, 

 the pedicels erect : wings less acute and spreading : lobes of the leaves less elongated. 

 Vallejo, Greene. Also by Douglas and Coulter, probably in the same region. The variety has 

 been collected only by Rattan, near Plaeerville, and is hardly referable to this species. 



~- +- Pod not reticulated or scarcely so. 



4. L. nitidum, Nutt. Glabrous or somewhat pubescent : stems simple or 

 branched, 3 to 16 inches high : leaves pinnately cut into narrow linear acuminate 

 segments, the uppermost often entire : petals present, small : pods in a loose raceme, 

 spreading, glabrous and shining, rounded, 1-| to 2 lines broad, acutely margined ; 

 the wings short, obtuse and slightly spreading : pedicels 1 or 2 lines long : seeds 

 often ash-colored. — Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 116. L. leiocarpum, Hook. & Am. Bot. 

 Beechey, 324. 



In winter and early spring, from above San Francisco to Los Angeles. 



5. L. Menziesii, DC. Hispid or pubescent : stems 3 to 6 inches high, branched : 

 leaves oblong, all pinnatifid with short oblong or spatulate acutish segments, which 

 are rarely sparingly toothed : petals none : pods glabrous, rounded, 1 to \\ fines 

 broad, not margined except by the short very obtuse teeth at the summit : pedicels 

 spreading or recurved, 1 or 2 lines long, slender and often scarcely flattened. — 

 Syst. ii. 539 ; & Prodr. i. 205. 



Santa Barbara (NuttalT) to Los Angeles (Brewer) ; Guadalupe Island, Palmer. These speci- 

 mens accord with others raised from seeds cultivated under the name in the garden at G eneva 

 prior to 1840, and with De Candolle's description based upon the original specimens of Men- 

 zies from " California. " The Oregon plant referred to this species has been for the most part 

 L. intermedium, though the one so named by Torrey in Bot. Wilkes Exp. is apparently L. Vir- 

 ginicum with unusually deeply pinnatifid leaves. 



6. L. lasiocarpum, Nutt. Eoughly puberulent or pubescent with short spread- 

 ing hairs : stems rather stout, branched, 3 to 10 inches high, decumbent : lower 

 leaves 3 to 4 inches long, more or less ciliolate at least on the petioles, pinnate, with 

 ovate to oblong sparingly toothed segments ; upper leaves 1 to 2 inches long, incisely 

 pinnatifid with, narrow lobes, or the uppermost entire : petals none or very small : 

 stamens 2 : pods rounded, 1 \ tp 2 lines broad, hispid on the margin, winged at the 

 apex with short very obtuse teeth, crowded in a narrow raceme on short ascending 

 or horizontal pedicels. — Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 115. 



Santa Barbara (NuttalT) ; Guadalupe Island, Palmer. Closely allied to the last species. - 

 L. Weightii, Gray. A very similar species, hirsute with spreading hairs ; leaves pinnatifid 

 or toothed ; pods hispid, rather broadly winged at the summit. Of the Rio Grande Valley, ranging 

 westward nearly to the Colorado ; appears to be in N. W. Nevada, Torrey, Lcmmon. 



* * Low annuals : pedicels terete : petals yellow : stamens 6 : style elongated ■ pods 



reticulated. 



7. L. flavum, Torrey. Glabrous, decumbent, diffusely branched : stems 3 to 6 

 inches long : radical leaves pinnatifid with short obtuse lobes ; cauline leaves few, 

 oblanceolate, acutely toothed or entire : racemes short, nearly sessile : petals bright 

 yellow : pods orbicular, a line broad or more, shortly winged with broad divergent 

 acutish teeth, on spreading or deflexed pedicels 2 to 4 lines long : style nearly as 

 long as the pod. — Pacif. E. Eep. iv. 67 ; Watson, Bot. King Exp. 30. 



On the Mohave River (Fremont, Bigelovi) ; also about Humboldt Lake and in the upper valley 

 of the Humboldt River, N. Nevada. 



