LEG U MINOS M. 283 



other petals. Stamens distinct to the base: filaments alternately 

 longer: anthers oblong. Ovary 8-1 0-ovuled, hairy ; the style short 

 and incurved : stigma very minute, naked. Although we have 

 received this plant in a number of Californian collections, and it is 

 not uncommon in that State, the fruit remains a desideratum. From 

 the character of the ovary the legume is probably linear and several 

 seeded. 



Bentham is inclined to refer Pickeringia to Anagyris, and it is cer- 

 tainly nearly allied to that genus ; but until the fruit of the former is 

 known, the two genera cannot be satisfactorily compared. Anagt/ris 

 differs in having a short vexillum, and in the presence of stipules. 

 No traces of stipules have been found in Pickeringia. 



15. C EEC IS, Linn. 

 1. Cercis occidentals, Torr. (Tab. 3.) 



Cercis oecidentalis, Torr. in Gray, PL Lindh. 2, p. 177; & Bot. Whippl. Rep. p. 82. 

 C. siliquastrum, var. floribus jpaullo minoribus, Benth. PL Hartw. p. 307. 



Hab. Mountains of Northern California. — This extends southward, 

 along the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada. It also occurs in Western 

 Texas, and in the high lands near Saltillo, Mexico. It retains its 

 distinctive character of the broad short pods in all this wide range ; 

 so that we are satisfied it cannot be a variety of C. sUiquastrum. 

 With C. Canadensis it need never be confounded. Mr. Brackenridge 

 saw no specimens of it more than twelve feet high ; but Col. Fremont, 

 in one instance, found it a good-sized tree. 



Plate 3. Cercis occidentalis : Branches showing the inflorescence 

 and foliage. Fig. 1. A flower. 2. The separated petals. 3. A 

 flower with the corolla removed. 4. The pistil. 5. Pods, of natural 

 size. 6. A seed. 7. Transverse section of the same. 8. Longitu- 

 dinal section. All the details more or less magnified. 



