CHENOPODIACEAE 387 



B. Perennial. 



Fruiting bracts spongy, wingless. 



Fruiting bracts 8-12 mm. long, the faces tubercled : leaves alternate ; blades 



about 1 cm. long. 5. A. acanthocarpa. 



Fruiting bract.s 2 mm. broad, the faces not tubercled : leaves opposite ; blades 



less than 1 cm. long. 6. A. opposltifolia. 



Fruiting bracts indurated, winged. 7. A. canescens. 



1. Atriplex hastita L. Annual, somewhat scurfy or glabrate, the foliage light green 



or purplish. Stems erect or ascending, 3-8 dm. long, more or less branched, the branches 



often spreading : leaf-blades triangular in outline, triangular-hastate or hastate-lanceolate 



above, 2-8 cm. long, acute or acuminate, entire or sparingly toothed, broadly cuneate, 



truncate or subcordate at the base, the basal lobes spreading ; petioles much shorter than the 



blades : flower-cl asters commonly separated : mature bracts ovate or triangular, 4-5 mm. 



long, toothed, the faces spiny. 



In salt meadows and waste places mostly near the coast. New Brunswick to South Carolina. 

 Summer and fall. 



2. Atriplex arenaria Nutt. Annual, pale or silvery with more or less dense scurf. 

 Stems widely branched, often from the base, 1-5 dm. long, the branches spreading or 

 prostrate : leaf-blades oblong to oval, 1-4 cm. long, acute or mucronate, somewhat crisped, 

 entire, short-petioled or sessile : mature bracts united to above the middle, 3-5 mm. broad, 

 fan-shaped, 3-toothed at the top, the faces tuberculate or spiny. 



On sea beaches. Nova Scotia (?) to Florida and Alabama. Summer and fall. 



3. Atriplex tuberculata (Torr. ) Coulter. Annual, scurfy -pubescent. Stems erect or 

 ascending, 1-5 dm. tall, more or less branched : leaf-blades oblong-spatulate or oblong- 

 oblanceolate, 1.5-2 cm. long, acute, entire or unevenly repand-dentate, narrowed into short 

 petioles : flower-clusters inconspicuous : styles exserted : mature bracts broadly cuneate, 

 2.5-3 mm. long, united at the base, with coarse equal triangular teeth, the faces reticulated 

 and crested with 2 rows of acute tubercles. 



On hillsides, Texas. Spring and summer. 



4. Atriplex cristata H.B.K. Annual, green, but more or less scurfy. Stems erect 

 or ascending, 3-6 dm. tall, rather difHisely branched, the branches ridged : leaf -blades oblong 

 or nearly so, 1.5-3 cm. long, acute or cuspidate, undulate or finely serrate-dentate or 

 repand, short-petioled : flower-clusters continuous or often interrupted : styles included : 

 mature bracts 2-3 mm. broad, spiny toothed, the middle tooth longest, the faces with 2-4 

 tubercles. 



On sandy coasts, Florida. Spring to fall. 



5. Atriplex acanthocdrpa (Torr.) S. Wats. Perennial, appressed -scurfy. Stems 

 erect, 3-7 dm. tall, branched, woody especially below : leaves alternate ; blades oblong to 

 oblong-lanceolate or almost ovate, commonly somewhat hastate, 1-4 cm. long, acutish, 

 entire or sinuate, cuneately narrowed, short-petioled : flowers dioecious ; staminate in dense 

 interrupted spikes or panicles ; pistillate fewer in axillary clusters : mature bracts 8-12 

 mm. long, united to the linear apex, spongy, the edges toothed, the faces appendaged with 

 flattened tubercles. 



In dry soil, Texas and adjacent Mexico. Summer and fall. 



6. Atriplex opposltifolia S. Wats. Perennial, somewhat scurfy. Stems erect, 1-4 

 dm. tall, woody below, branched at the base and above : leaves mostly opposite ; blades 

 thick, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 2-4 mm. long, about equalling the nodes or surpassing 

 them, acute, broadest at the base, sessile : flowers axillary : mature bracts suborbicular, 

 2 mm. broad, radiately toothed, the faces 3-nerved, not appendaged. 



In dry soil, Texas and adjacent Mexico. Summer and fall. 



7. Atriplex canescens (Pursh) James. Perennial, scurfy-pubescent. Stems erect 

 or spreading, 2-6 dm. long, often copiously branched : leaf-blades oblong or oblanceolate 

 to linear-oblong, 1.5-5 cm. long, acute or slightly apiculate, entire, narrowed to the sessile 

 or nearly sessile base : flower-clusters axillary or in naked often interrupted spikes, monoe- 

 cious or dioecious : mature bracts united to the apex, indurated, slightly flattened : wings 

 4-8 mm. in diameter : seed 2 mm. long or nearly so. 



On prairies and hillsides. South Dakota to Nebraska, Texas and California. Spring and fall. 



4. CORISPERMUM L. 



Annual caulescent, herbs, with glabrous or pubescent foliage. Stems more or less 

 diffiisely branched. Leaves alternate : blades narrow, entire, sessile. Flowers perfect, 

 solitary in the axils of leaf-like bracts, without bractlets. Sepal 1, or sepals 2-3, imequal, 

 scarious. Stamens 1-3, or rarely 5, hypogynous, one longer than the rest : filaments 



