PEA FAMILY. 231 



shorter than the tube; pod 7 to 10 lines long, linear, compressed, constricted 

 between the oval or roundish smooth seeds. — (Hosackia parvi flora Benth.) 



Common in the Coast Ranges on grassy hills, the plants, where found, 

 numerous and growing closely together : Xapa Co. ; Sonoma Co. ; Mt. Tamal- 

 pais; Mt. Diablo and southward to Monterey and Southern California. Apr.- 

 May. 



10. L. americanus (Nutt.) Bisch. Spanish Clover. Annual, more or 

 less silky-villous or pilose-pubescent, strictly erect and nearly simple, or more 

 commonly very diffusely branched with straggling or ascending stems 2 or 3 

 ft. long; leaflets 1 to mostly 3, ovate to oblong, acute or obtusish, 3 to 10 lines 

 or the lower 1 in. or more long; peduncles exceeding the leaves, the solitary 

 whitish or pinkish flower subtended by a bract 2 to 4 lines long; calyx-teeth 

 subulate-linear, longer than the short tube, almost equaling the (2 to 3 lines 

 long) corolla; pod narrowly linear, glabrous, about 1 in. long, 5 to 7-seeded; 

 seeds oblong, smooth, dark colored. — (Hosackia purshiana Benth.) 



Dry summer fields and open hills throughout California. July-Oct. Valued 

 for forage. 



11. L. humistratus Greene. Hill Lotus. Herbage soft-villous, branches 

 from the base decumbent, or ascending, or more often prostrate and forming 

 mats 5 to 9 in. broad; leaflets 4, narrowly oblong or cuneate-obovate, 3 to 5 

 lines long, the rachis over % line broad; flowers sessile, or nearly so, yellow, 

 3 or 4 lines long ; calyx>teeth linear, much longer than the tube ; wings at base 

 of blade joined above ovary as in the next; pod oblong, pilose, 4 lines long, 2 

 or 3-seeded. — (Hosackia brachycarpa Benth.) 



Abrupt sunny hillsides in clayey soil; Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada. Less 

 common than the next. May. 



12. L. subpinnatus Lag. var. wrangelianus Jepson. Annual, low, dif- 

 fusely branched, 4 to 7 in. high ; herbage sparsely pubescent with short hairs, 

 canescently villous, or nearly glabrous, especially on the upper surface of the 

 leaflets; foliage similar to the preceding; flowers distinctly pediceled, bright 

 yellow, 4 to 4% lines long; calyx-teeth broadly subulate, as long as the tube; 

 wings joined on the upper side of the ovary by the lobes or processes at the 

 base of the blade, their tips meeting above the keel, but not enfolding it; 

 pod pubescent, linear, 7 to 9 lines long, 5 to 7-seeded. — (L. wrangelianus 

 F. & M.) 



Common in the hill country of the Coast Ranges, south to Southern California 

 and north to Washington. Apr.-May. 



13. L. heermannii (Dur. & Hilg.) Greene. Very near the next, less 

 pubescent, the pubescence whitish, the herbage of a light green; stems pros- 

 trate, several from the root, 2 to 3 ft. long, with long branches throughout 

 their length ; leaflets somewhat broader . and more acute ; flowers one-half as 

 large; calyx hirsute with whitish hairs; corolla yellow turning to deep red. 



Santa Cruz Mts. and southward to Tejon Pass and Southern California. 



14. L. eriophorus Greene. Annual, villous-pubescent or somewhat tomen- 

 tose; stems numerous from the base, simple, often prostrate and almost mat- 

 ting the ground, about 1 ft. long; leaflets 5 to 7, obovate and often cuneate to 

 cuneate-oblong, mostly acutish and mucronulate, 3 to 5 lines long; umbels 

 5 to 7-flowered, nearly sessile; flowers yellow, turning brownish, 3% lines 

 long; calyx y 2 as long, very derjsely villous and tawny, the filiform teeth about 

 equaling the tube; body of pod 2 or 3 lines long, the long-pointed portion as 



