PLATE LXXII

Dalea virgata Lag., a handsome, floriferous shrub endemic to sunny oak-pine forest at 1950-2250 m in central Oaxaca, has virgate stems about a meter tall branching into a corymbose panicle of many heads. The green foliage is thinly pilosulous at least beneath, the spikes are dense but not conelike, and the bracts are deciduous and silky inside. The flowers develop in the dry season, starting in October and continuing into early winter; except for a white eye in the banner the petals are concolorous, of lively lilac-purple or pinkish-violet hue. Inflorescence × 1; the rest × 5.

1) top of stem; 2) stipules; 3) leaflets, dorsal and ventral views; 4) flower + bract; 5) calyx, laid open; 6) banner, ventral view; 6a) the same, profile; 7) wing; 8) keel; 9) androecium.