In message , Nick Maclaren
writes

Like a small gorse, except blue. No seeds at this time of year,
unfortunately :-(

But what is it? It looked an excellent plant for a dry, sunny
bank? Obviously cold-hardy, deer resistant, yada yada ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Going to the Jepson Flora Project and looking for blue-flowered legumes
comes up with Psorothamnus (several species thereof). The other blue
flowered legumes in California (e.g. several lupins and vetches) aren't
spinous (fide Google, but Google was being obviously reluctant to
provide complete search results - e.g. Psorothamnus blue was producing
more hits for Psorothamnus than Fabaceae blue, even though they should
have produced the same).

But the range given doesn't include the Sierra Nevada, though some
species occur in mountains of the Mohave Desert or Basin and Range
Province.

http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/g...t.pl?3691,4186
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PSORO
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley