New Plants from Wyoming.— VI 



Bv AVEN Nklson 



Ruppia curvicarpa 



Stems light green, 6 dm. or more in length, capillary and fra- 

 gile at maturity : leaves variable in length, 3 cm. or more long : 

 peduncles long ; pedicels several in a cluster, capillary, fragile, from 

 3-6 cm. long : drupes black at maturity, oblong, 2 mm. in lengtli, 

 gibbous at base, hence appearing obliquely placed on the pedicel, 

 jncreasing slightly in diameter upward to the abruptly bent beak 

 which is tipped with a sharp acumination. 



Very abundant in the ** alkali*' lakes that occur at intervals on 

 the Laramie Plains. It is no doubt most nearly related to /v. 

 maritii)ia L. from w^hich its very characteristic fruits and long fra- 

 gile pedicels seem to separate it It differs also in its seasonal de- 

 velopment as it does not appear to reach maturity until late in 

 September, 



\ 



Type specimen in Herb. University of Wyoming from Laramie 

 Alkali Lakes, October 24, 1896. 



Salicornia rubra 



Annual with a* strong taproot, erect, pyramidal in form, closely 

 and divaricately branched from base to summit, the opposite 

 branches regularly at right angles to the preceding pair and grad- 

 ually shorter upward, the lower branches themselves similarly 

 branched, rather stout, about 3 mm. in diameter when green, 

 joints about as long as broad : scales short, approaching triangular, 

 much wider than long, subacute : fruiting spikes 2-4 cm. long, 

 very numerous, assuming a ruby red at maturity : middle flower 

 higher than the lateral ones, reaching to the summit of the joint : 

 the calyx broadly ovate, about 1.5 mm. long: utricle obscurely 

 pubescent, oval, I mm. long. 



This well-marked species is, perhaps, nearest to .9. hcrhacca L. 



under which name it has in fact been distributed by me under no. 



1 162. Its very compact and stouter habit and short joints at once 



separate it from that species. It thrives best along the low banks 



of the *' alkali " lakes of the plains. The soil in these situations is 



not simply impregnated with sodium chloride, but often thickly en- 



(122) 



