Waterfowl, such as geese and ducks, feed on the fleshy branches and the seed- 

 bearing tips of the inflorescences. 



1. Stem annual; middle flowers higher than the lateral ones; seed 1.5-2 mm. 

 long 1. S. Bigelovii. 



1. Stem perennial with prolonged subligneous depressed stems and rhizomes; 



flowers nearly equal in height (2) 



2(1). Primary branches of stems prostrate, rooting freely, the erect or ascending 

 flowering branches usually simple and slender; spikes 2.5-3 mm. 

 thick 2. S. virginica. 



2. Primary branches erect or decumbent, not rooting, usually much-branched, 



the branches stout; spikes 4-5 mm. thick 3. S. utahensis. 



1. Salicomia Bigelovii Torr. Fig. 418. 



Annual herb, stout and succulent; stems erect, 1-6 dm. tall, green, with few 

 to many stout spreading or ascending branches, the joints 7-25 mm. long and 2-3 

 mm. thick; sheaths 2-lobed, the lobes acutely mucronate, 2-4 mm. long, ovate 

 to triangular-ovate, acuminate, at length spreading; spikes obtuse, 2-12 cm. long, 

 4-6 mm. thick, the joints 2-3.5 mm. long and 4.5-6 mm. thick; flowers 3 in each 

 group; lateral flowers contiguous below the acute lower angle of the central one; 

 middle flower somewhat higher than the lateral ones, reaching very nearly to the 

 edge of the joint; seed nearly black, 1.5-2 mm. long, covered with short curved 

 hairs. 



Salt marshes and flats, edge of water on bays, along the Atl. and Gulf coasts 

 of N.A. from N.S. to Fla. and Tex., s. to Yuc, W.I. and Bah. I.; also Calif.; 

 Aug.-Nov. 



2. Salicomia virginica L. Fig. 419. 



Perennial succulent herb, forming extensive mats, from subligneous rhizomes 

 freely forking in sand; stems decumbent or trailing, rooting freely at the nodes, 

 the branches 1-7 dm. long, greenish, turning lead-colored or pale-brown; spikes 

 1-6 cm. long, 2.5-3 mm. thick, mostly solitary at the tips of the ascending 

 branches or peduncled along some axes, loosening in age, the sheaths rounded or 

 the lobes acutish; joints 2.5-3 mm. long, 3-4 mm. thick; flowers in groups of 3; 

 central flower cuneate-obovate, truncate across the top, scarcely surpassing the 

 obliquely ovate lateral ones; mature scales broader than high, broadly ovate, with 

 prominent horizontally divergent firm margins; seed 0.7-1 mm. long, a little longer 

 than broad, densely covered with slender curved hairs. S. perennis sensu Standi., 

 non Mill. 



Coastal salt marshes and flats, wet sandy clay at high tide, sea coasts, s. N.H. 

 to Fla. and Tex.; Alas, to Calif.; widely distributed in the W. I., w. Eur. and N. 

 Afr.; Aug.-Oct., year around southw. 



3. Salicomia utahensis Tidestr. Utah samphire. 



Perennial herb, suffrutescent at the base; stems 1.5-3 dm. tall, solitary or 

 clustered, erect or decumbent, not rooting, sparsely- or much-branched, the 

 branches erect or decumbent; joints 7-18 mm. long and 2-5 mm. thick; scalelike 

 leaves connate, broadly triangular, about 3 mm. long, scarious-margined; spikes 

 few, 1-2 cm. long, 4-5 mm. thick, on short lateral branches; flowers 3 in each 

 cluster, subequal, of about the same height, extending nearly to the top of the 

 joint, the bracts broader than long. 



Edge of saline lakes and along shores and on islands, Ut., N.M. and Tex. 



2. Allenrolfea O. Ktze. Burro Weed 

 Four species that are native to America. 



836 



