358 MISC. PUBLICATION 42 3, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



1. Plants perennial (2). 



2. Petals at anthesis white, sometimes purple-veined, commonly fading purple, 

 6 to 10 mm. long; pedicels in fruit simply recurved (not sigmoid), slender, 

 10 to 15 mm. long; pods glabrous, sessile or nearly so, about 6 mm. in 

 diameter; leaf blades green and sparsely pubescent to rather densely 

 whitish pubescent, the basal ones usually lyrate, much larger than the 



stem leaves 2. L. purpurea. 



2. Petals at anthesis yellow, sometimes fading reddish; pedicels in fruit not 

 simply recurved, or if so, then the pods pubescent (3). 

 3. Pods glabrous, shorter to somewhat longer than the style; fruiting inflores- 

 cence often elongate; leaf blades oblanceolate or spatulate, commonly 

 entire ; pedicels in fruit up to 20 mm. long, erect or strongly ascending, 



straight or nearly so; petals 8 to 10 mm. long 3. L. fendleri. 



3. Pods pubescent (4). 



4. Pedicels in fruit simply recurved (not sigmoid), up to 15 mm. long; 



pods usually pendent; blades of the petals very narrow, not more 



than twice as wide as the claws; leaf blades linear or narrowly 



oblanceolate, the lower ones up to 10 cm. long_ 4. L. ludoviciana. 



4. Pedicels in fruit not recurved, either straight, simply curved upward, 



or sigmoid; pods not pendent; blades of the petals at least twice 



as wide as the claws: species difficult to distinguish (5). 



5. Pods short-ellipsoid or nearly globose ; basal leaves usually forming a 



distinct rosette, the blades of some of them commonly broadly 



oblanceolate to nearly orbicular and 4 mm. wide or wider (6). 



6. Stems erect or ascending; basal rosette not dense; stem leaves not 



crowded 5. L. rectipes. 



6. Stems decumbent or prostrate; basal rosette dense; stem leaves 



often crowded 6. L. cinerea. 



5. Pods ovoid or ovoid-ellipsoid; basal leaves not forming a distinct 

 rosette, the blades linear or narrowly oblanceolate, mostly less 

 than 4 mm. wide (7). 



7. Styles in fruit 2.5 to 6 mm. long; basal leaves mostly 3 cm. long or 



longer, usually involute 7. L. intermedia. 



7. Styles in fruit 1 to 2 mm. long; basal leaves not more than 2 5 

 cm. long, flat 8. L. arizonica. 



1. Lesquerella gordoni (A. Gray) S. Wats., Amer. Acad. Arts and 



Sci. Proc. 23: 253. 1888. 



Vesicaria gordoni A. Gray, Boston Jour. Nat. Hist. 6: 149. 1850. 



Greenlee County to Mohave County, south to Cochise, Pima, and 

 Yuma Counties, 4,000 feet or lower, dry plains and mesas, February to 

 May. Oklahoma to Utah, Arizona, and California, south to northern 

 Mexico. 



Extensive desert areas are colored in spring with the bright-yellow 

 flowers of this plant. It is reported to afford good forage, probably 

 after the pods mature. Throughout most of the range of the species 

 in Arizona, often growing with the typical form, is var. sessilis S. 

 Wats. (L. palmeri S. Wats.), characterized by pubescent, sometimes 

 sessile pods. 



2. Lesquerella purpurea (A. Gray) S. Wats., Amer. Acad. Arts and 



Sci. Proc. 23: 253. 1888. 



Vesicaria purpurea A. Gray, PL Wright. 2: 14. 1853. 



Coconino County to Cochise and Pima Counties, 1,600 to 5,000 

 feet, usually in partial shade of bushes, January to May. Texas to 

 Arizona and northern Mexico. 



Easily distinguished from all other Arizona species by its white or 

 purplish flowers. 



