252 CHENOPODIACEAE 



15. SALSOLA L. SALTWORT, RUSSIAN THISTLE. 



Annual or perennial herbs, or shrubs, bushy-branched, with narrow, entire, 

 spine-tipped, rigid leaves. Flowers perfect, solitary or several together in the 

 axils, with 2 bractlets. Sepals 5, appendaged with a horizontal wing at matur- 

 ity. Stamens 5, rarely less; filaments linear or subulate. Ovary 1-celled, more 

 or less depressed; styles 2. Utricle flattened; seeds erect; endosperm wanting; 

 embryo spiral in form of a cone. 



1. S. Pestifer A. Nels. Divaricately branched annual; stem 3-10 dm. high; 

 leaves filiform, somewhat fleshy, 2-6 cm. long, spine-tipped; bracts subulate, 

 5-10 mm. long, with stout spines; calyx membranous, conspicuously veiny, 6-7 

 mm. in diameter. S. Tragus Reichenb., not L. Waste places, fields, and loose 

 sandy soil: Ont. N.J. Tex. Calif. Wash. Plain -Submont. Jl-S. 



16. DONDIA Adans. SEA ELITE. 



Annual or perennial herbs, or shrubby plants, more or less fleshy, with al- 

 ternate, narrow, terete leaves. Flowers perfect or polygamous, solitary or 

 clustered in the upper axils, bracteate. Sepals 5, keeled or narrowly winged at 

 maturity. Stamens 5; filaments short. Ovary 1-celled, rounded or flat on the 

 top; styles often 2. Utricle surrounded by the calyx; seeds horizontal or vertical; 

 endosperm wanting or scant. Embryo coiled in a flat spiral. [Sicaeda Forskal.j 



Sepals more or less fleshy, but none of them carinate; leaves narrowed at the base. 

 Plant perennial, stout. 



Seeds tubercled. 1. D. Torreyana. 



Seeds not tubercled. 2. D. intermedia. 



Plant annual, more slender. 3. D. nigra. 

 Sepals very fleshy, one or two decidedly carinate. 



Leaves subulate, broadest at the base; flowers crowded. 



Plant depressed, spreading. 4. D. depressa. 



Plant erect, strict. 5. D. erecta. 



Leaves narrowed at the base; spike slender; flowers not crowded. 6. -D. occidentalis. 



1. D. Torreyana (S. Wats.) Standl. Undershrub, woody at the base; herbace- 

 ous branches 6-10 dm. high, glabrous or somewhat pubescent, with strongly 

 ascending branchlets; leaves subterete, filiform, 1-4 cm. long, acute; bracts similar 

 but shorter; calyx deeply cleft; seeds 1.5 mm. broad. Swaeda Torreyana S. Wats. 

 S. Moqu'ni (Torr.) A. Nels., in part. Salt marshes: Wyo. Tex. N.M. Calif. 

 Nev. Son. Submont. Je-S. 



2. D. intermedia (S. Wats.) Heller. Undershrub, woody at the base; 

 herbaceous branches 2-5 dm. high, glabrous, with branchlets ascending but not 

 strongly so; leaves narrowly linear, narrowed at the base, 1-2 cm. long; bracts 

 shorter and broader; calyx -deeply cleft, not appendaged; seeds small, less than 

 1 mm. broad. Swaeda intermedia S. Wats. Alkaline soil: Ida. Utah 'Ariz. 

 Calif. Son. 



3. D. nigra (Raf.) Standl. Erect or ascending annual; stem diffusely 

 branched, 3-5 dm. high; branches long and flexuose; leaves filiform, terete, 1-3 

 cm. long, acute; bracts similar, but much shorter, usually less than 1 cm. long; 

 calyx cleft to just below the middle, fleshy; seeds vertical, 1 mm. broad, smooth. 

 Swaeda diffusa S. Wats. D. diffusa (S. Wats.) Heller. Sage plains and alka- 

 line soil: Wyo. N.M. Ariz. Ore.; n Mex. Plain. Jl-S. 



4. D. depressa (Pursh) Britton. Low and decumbent annual; stems 

 branching at the base, 2-10 dm. long; leaves linear, subulate, 1-3 cm. long; bracts 

 5-10 mm. long, rather crowded on the branchlets; calyx cleft to the middle; 

 seeds about 1 mm. broad, slightly reticulate. Chenopodium calceolariforme 

 Hook. Sicaeda depressa S. Wats. Dondia calceolariformis Rydb. Saline or 

 alkaline soil: Sask. Ivans. Nev. Mont. Plain Submont. Jl-S. 



6. D. erecta (S. Wats) A. Nels. Erect annual; stems rather simple or 

 with short erect branches, very leafy; leaves slender, 2-4 cm. long; bracts often 

 more than 1 cm. long; calyx cleft below the middle; seeds smooth, nearly 1.5 mm. 

 broad. Alkaline or saline flats: Sask. Colo. Nev. Mont. Plain Mont. 

 Jl-S. 



