PEA FAMILY. 219 



12. L. micranthus Dougl. Slender, simple or more frequently branched 

 from the base, erect or ascending, 5 to 18 in. high, pilose-pubescent, not at all 

 succulent; leaflets 5 to 7, linear to linear-spatulate, % to 1% in. long, the 

 petioles twice as long; racemes peduncled, whorls 3 to 6, distinct or in- 

 distinct; pedicels 1% lines long, elongating more or less in fruit; upper 

 calyx-lip with divergent triangular acute lobes, the lower long, entire; corolla 

 2 to 2y 2 lines long, blue; banner with a white spot changing to light blue or 

 purple; wings narrow, appressed; keel falcate, densely pilose-ciliate above the 

 middle to near the apex; pod 5 to 7-seeded. 



Exceedingly variable species, common everywhere in May in the hill country 

 and on the plains: Coast Eanges, Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys; Sierra 

 Nevada foothills. There are apparent transitions to the next species. Var. 

 bicolor Wats. Lower calyx-lip twice as long as the upper; corolla 3 to 4% 

 lines long; folds on the center of the banner (covering the edges of the 

 oblique portion of the wings) much more prominent. — Bay region and north- 

 ward. Var. pachylobus Jepson. Peduncles stout; flowers small, subsessile 

 in few whorls; upper calyx-lip notched, the lower entire, twice as long; pods 

 very large. — Briones Hills, Contra Costa Co. Apr. 



13. L. trifidus Torr. Branched from the base, 7 to 12 in. high, densely 

 pilose, the younger parts canescent; leaflets mostly 6 to 8, linear to linear- 

 spatulate; racemes very short, mostly 2 to 3, sometimes 4 in. long; upper calyx- 

 lip deeply cleft with divergent segments, the lower deeply 3-cleft into long 

 slender segments; corolla 2 to 2% lines long, blue, the white spot on the banner 

 not changing in age; keel scarcely falcate, short and obtusely pointed, sparsely 

 ciliate from above the middle to just below the apex; pod 6 to 8-seeded; seeds 

 quadrate-ovate, dotted or diagonally marked. 



Sandy soil about the Bay and along the seaboard: Alameda and San Fran- 

 cisco, southward to Santa Cruz Co. and Pacific Grove. Doubtless no more 

 than a good variety of the next; best known by its strikingly pilose pubescence 

 and 3-cleft lower calyx-lip. 



14. L. polycarpus Greene. Erect, somewhat succulent, with rather stout 

 branches from the base or above the middle, moderately pubescent ; leaflets 

 6 to 8, linear-oblanceolate, 1% to 1 in. long; raceme narrow, rather short, with 

 4 to 7 distinct or indistinct whorls; pedicels 1 line long, ascending; upper 

 calyx-lip 2-cleft, the lobes ovate, parallel; lower entire or obscurely dentate, 

 somewhat longer; corolla 1% to 3 lines long, deep blue; banner obovate, retuse 

 or truncate, the center white, with dark dots, changing to red-purple, the sides 

 incurved, not reflexed; wings coherent at tip, inflated, exposing the base of the 

 short and nearly straight keel; keel obscurely ciliate below the apex; pod rigid, 

 slightly falcate, 1 in. long or more, 6 to 9-seeded. 



Occurring in its typical form in rich soil of low fields about the Bay and in 

 a modified form on the plains of the interior. Characterized chiefly by its rather 

 robust habit, short narrow close racemes of small flowers and many large pods. 

 Apr. 



L. hirsutissimus Benth. Eobust .plants with fistulous stems, branching 

 above the middle or at the base, 2 to 4 ft. high; herbage very hispid-bristly 

 and nettle-like; leaflets 5 to 7, cuneate-obovate, obtuse and mucronate, or 

 truncate, 1 to \y> in. long; racemes y 2 to 1% ft. long; flowers blue; pod very 

 hispid-bristly, 1*4 in. long. — Monterey and south to Southern California. Mar.- 

 May. 



15. L. luteolus Kell. Slender, simple below, loosely and widely branch- 



