BLADDERPOD.
Isomeris arborea, Nutt. Caper Family.
Shrubby; evil-scented. Leaves.—Alternate; compound, with three leaflets. Flowers.—With their parts in fours. Petals.—Yellow; five to eight lines long. Stamens.—Eight; of equal length. Ovary.—One-celled. Style short. Pod.—Pendulous; inflated; pear-shaped; on a long stalk. Hab.—Santa Barbara to San Diego.
This low shrub is somewhat plentiful upon the mesas of the south. Its yellow flowers attract one to it, only to be repulsed by the dreadful odor of its foliage. It certainly ought to have some compensating utility for so repellent a characteristic. The ovary is so long-stalked, even in the flower, that it looks like an abnormal, inflated stigma.
This is the only species of the genus.