PLANTS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY. 35 



AUD1BERTIA STACHY01DES X POLYSTACHYA. 



Shrubby resembling in appearance A. stachyoides; stems hoary; leaves 

 hoary tomentose less rugose than in A. stachyoides and slightly folded; 

 bracts akin to those of A. stachyoides; flower 9 lines long, upper lip 2^ lines 

 long, slightly cleft, lower lip in shape resembling that of A. polystachya, 

 straight or slightly folded; no hairs beyond the throat; Stamens \)/ z lines 

 long as long or longer than the lower lip and divergent. Flowering, April, 

 May and June. 



Botanists have previously considered these hybrids as but forms of a 

 a variable species, but they seem to be genuine hybrids. Two main types 

 of this hybrid are to be found, one closely allied to A. stachyoides and the 

 other more nearly allied to A. polystachya. Only occasionally are the 

 whorls of the inflorescence arranged as in A. Polystachya. The foliage is 

 always more or less tomentose, and the shape of the leaf is exactly interme- 

 diate between the straight form of A. stachyoides and the folded form of 

 A. Polystachya. The flower is intermediate in size between that of A. stachy- 

 oides and A. polystachya with the upper lip nearly of the size and shape of 

 that of the former and the lower lip i.f that of the latter. The stamens in 

 A. stachyoides stand upright against the upper lip; in A. polystachya they 

 diverge against the lower lip; in the hybrid they occupy an intermediate 

 position between those points. 



This hybrid is quite common in the foothills and at Lincoln Park where 

 it was first discovered by Miss Alice J. Merritt. 



For illustration see page 36. 



