204 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM, 
New Mexico: Mesilla Valley; Alamillo; Albuquerque. Lower Sonoran Zone. 
A common tumbleweed in the southern part of the State. Without the fruit, 
which appears rather late in the season, it may be confused with certain species of 
Chenopodium. Herbarium specimens are éasily confused with <A. argentea, but 
that is a smaller, whiter plant, with prevailingly petioled leaves. 
8. Atriplex argentea Nutt. Gen. Pl. 1: 198. 1818. 
Type Locauity: ‘‘On sterile and saline places near the Missouri.”’ 
RanGeE: British Columbia and North Dakota to New Mexico. 
New Mexico: Carrizo Mountains; Farmington; Rio San Jose. Plains and valleys, 
in the Upper Sonoran Zone. 
9. Atriplex caput-medusae Eastw. Proc. Calif. Acad. IT. 6: 316. 1896. 
TypE Locauity: Not stated, but probably in southeastern Utah along the San Juan 
River. 
Raneae: Southern Utah and Colorado to northwestern New Mexico. 
New Mexico: San Juan Valley. Dry hills, in the Upper Sonoran Zone. 
10. Atriplex semibaccata R. Br. Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holl. 406. 1810. 
Atriplex flagellaris Woot. & Stand], Contr. U. 8. Nat. Herb. 16: 119, 1913, 
TYPE LOCALITY: Tasmania. 
Range: Australia and Tasmania; adventive from New Mexico to southern 
California, . 
New Mexico: Mesilla Valley; Alamorgordo. Dry fields, in the Lower Sonoran 
Zone, 
11. Atriplex canescens (Pursh) Nutt. Gen. Pl. 1: 197. 1818. SHAD SCALE, 
Calligonum canescens Pursh, Fl. Amer. Sept. 370. 1814. 
Obione canescens angustifolia Torr. U. 8. & Mex. Bound. Bot. 121, 1859, 
Atriplex canescens angustifolia S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 9: 120, 1874. 
Atriplex angustior Cockerell, Proc. Davenport Acad. 9: 7. 1902. 
Type Locatity: ‘‘In the plains of the Missouri, near the Big-bend.’’ 
Ranae: North Dakota to Arizona and northern Mexico. 
New Mexico: Common nearly throughout the State. Dry plains, in the Lower 
and Upper Sonoran zones. 
This is one of the commonest shrubs over the plains, in arroyos, and in the lower 
valleys of the Sonoran zones throughout the State. Itis variously called ‘‘chamiso,”’ 
“chamis,’’ and “‘sagebrush,’’ the last name being used mostly by newcomers who 
think that name applies to any grayish shrub. There are two forms common in the 
southern part of the State. One of them is a plant about 100 to 150 cm. high with 
short obovate or elliptic leaves, flowering generally in June and fruiting in late August 
and September. The other is a taller plant, frequently 2 meters high or more, with 
narrowly oblong-oblanceolate leaves, flowering and fruiting a month to 6 weeks earlier. 
The latter is the form described as A. angustior by Professor Cockerell. This seems 
also to be the form to which Dr. Rydberg applies the name tetraptera.1 The same 
writer maintains Atriplex occidentalis as a distinct species, but the characters depended 
upon to separate it seem not to hold in New Mexican material. 
The plant is of considerable value as a forage plant wherever it grows, being 
browsed extensively by cattle, sheep, and goats, particularly in winter and early 
spring when other forage is scarce. It tolerates large quantities of alkali, but also 
grows in soils where there is little or none, hence it is not always an indicator of alkali. 
12. Atriplex acanthocarpa (Torr.) S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 9: 117. 1874. 
Obione acanthocarpa Torr. U. 8S. & Mex. Bound. Bot. 183. 1859. 
Type Locatity: Plains between the Burro Mountains, New Mexico. Type collected 
by Bigelow. 
? Bull. Torrey Club 39: 311.1912. + 
