1917.] GROUND BUR-NUT AT BAKERSFJELD 61 



GROUND BUR-NUT AT BAKERSFIELD 



Jno. G. Brayton 



There is one plant true to its name, — Tribulus terrestris, — for it is 

 the terror of the earth. Ground Bur-nut it is also called. The history 

 of the plant locally seems to be that the first specimens were brought 

 here from Arizona in sheep or cattle cars about 1905. It grew along 

 the Santa Fe railroad track first, but being adapted by nature to 

 traveling- it soon spread far over the county, following ways of trav- 

 el for the most part. 



The foliage is rich green and appears more so since it grows in 

 the dry summer. The fruit is a pointed nutlet, having five pairs of 

 thorns, which are just long enough to pierce a bicycle or auto tire. 

 In fact I met it first on my bicycle and shall not forget it soon. In 

 one case an auto tire had five punctures from a single brush with 

 this simple-minded industrious plant. Since it grows right in the 

 dust of the road where there does not seem to be a particle of moist- 

 ure, you can readily understand how it is so hardy and spreads so 

 rapidly. Perhaps you have already met with my little friend, or you 

 surely w 7 ill soon on the State highway ; or if not, I will send a speci- 

 men when a good one appears. 



[This plant belongs to the Caltrops Family (Zygophyllaceae) 

 and is often called Puncture Weed. It is evidently traveling steadily, 

 since it has been reported in the last four years from a number of 

 widely separated stations in the State. It is a native of Europe, 

 thoroughly aggressive, and is evidently destined to become a trouble- 

 some weed. 



According to its original meaning, tribulus is a sort of instrument 

 resting on three of its iron prongs, a fourth projecting upward. 

 These devices were thrown on the ground and designed to impede 

 the enemy's cavalry. The word has naturally been transferred to 

 thorny or spiny fruits through the idea of resemblance. — W. L. J.l 



Taxonomic Notes on Californian Plants. — The yellow Star 

 Tulip of the Yellow Pine belt of the Sierra foothills has long been 

 known as CaloclwrtiisBenthamii Baker (1874). It was, however, first 

 published, with a figure, by Lindley in 1849 (Jour. Lond. Hort. Soc. 

 4:81) under the name Cyclobothra monophylla. This specific name is 

 not distinctive nowadays, but under the rules of nomenclature the 

 name must nevertheless be Calochortus monophyllus Jepson, n. 

 comb. 



The plant so long known as Brodiaea grandiflora Smith (1811) 

 is in similar case, having been first published as Hoo^era coronaria 

 Salisbury (1806). The correct name, then, is Brodiaea coi'oaaria 

 Jepson, n. comb. 



