PAPILIOEACEAS 



It is probably our most valuable southern Lotus. 



♦Lotus gr ecnoi is a perennial with sproo.ding habit and dis- 

 tinctly silvery colored leaves, found on our extreme southwestern 

 ranges. It is comparable to L. wrightii and possibly can be grown 

 at a somewhat lower altitude. 



Lotus longibracteatus can readily be confused with L. greenei. 

 It apparently is relatively scarce but has been reported from a wide 

 range, for example, Zion national Park in Utah and the Graham Moun- 

 tains in Arizona. 



Two very rare species of Lotus have been recently reported 

 from southern Arizona. One of those , L. hamatus, is a low spread- 

 ing annual which occupies extremely dry sites. Annuals of this type 

 should not be overlooked as they constitute excellent ground cover 

 on waste sites. It has been found only on the flats northeast of the 

 Baboquivari Mountains. Another Lotus which has every appearance of 

 being a much worthwhile plant for erosion control is L. a lamosanu s*. 

 It is abundant in rather moist situations in Sycamore Canyon, Santa 

 Cruz County, Arizona. Until recently it had not been reported north 

 of Mexico. It forms very dense turf and effectively holds the soil 

 in canyon bottoms during flood periods. Its use will be limited to 

 rather moist situations comparable with those where it was located. 

 However, our erosion control program calls for work in many sites 

 of this ohoracter= This is without question the best turf-forming 

 Lotus we have indigenous to our territory. 



*Vicia exigua is a native perennial Vetch which closely re- 

 sembles in habit V. pulcholl a. It, however, grows in much drier site 

 at lower altitudes. It has been reported from the Baboquivari Moun- 

 tains, the Coyote Mountains, from Sycamore Canyon and from the moun- 

 tains south of Ruby, Arizona. These are all in Santa Cruz and Pima 

 Counties, Arizona. This plant should prove of greater value for 

 erosion control than V. pur oh o 11 a because of its greater drought 

 resistance. In general appearance it is strikingly like that species 

 There are doubtless other wild vetches, some of which may prove to be 

 worth investigating. Some are annuals. One curious vetch, with very 

 narrow loaves, V. sparsiflora, occurs in the mountains about Alpine, 

 Arizona. 



Indigofera sphaerocarpa, Indigo Bush, is a leguminous shrub, 

 slight!;, resembling Arnorpha and like it, having very short pods. 

 In our range it is confined to southern Now Mexico and southern 

 Arizona. In tho mountains west of Animas, New Mexico, it attains 

 a height of three or four feet, grows in quite dry, rocky bottoms 

 and on rocky slopes, and is quite heavily grazed. It is never in 

 dense enough stands to constitute a good soil binder. 



( °Correction: This should follow discussion V. pulchell a, p.96.) 



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