Bailey &. Bailey: Woody Plants of National Parks 75 



erect unbranched stems; berries about the size of a pea, dark blue, covered with 



a whitish bloom. (Syn. Berberis nervosa Pursh.) 



Occi^rrence. — OLYMPIC, common in the woods up to 2,000 feet: Lake Crescent; 

 E.lwha River near Elkhorn guard station. MOUNT RAINIER, common in the woods up 

 to about 4,500 feet: Longmire; vicinity of Kautz Creek; park entrances. CRATER LAKE, 

 rare along the southern boundary of the park: Redblanket Canyon; southeast corner of 

 park. 



Pigweed Family (Chenopodiaceae) 



Field Guide to the Genera 

 Leaves linear, fleshy. 



Shrubs 3 to 5 feet high; branchlets somewhat spme-tipped ; fruits with a broad 

 circular wavy wing around the middle, the wing 1/3 to 5/2 inch across 



SARCOBATUS, p. 75. 



Shrubs I to 3 feet high; branchlets not spine-tipped; fruits not winged 



SUAEDA, p. 75. 



Leaves linear to egg-shaped or roundish, not fleshy or sometimes slightly thickened. 



Leaves linear due to inroUed margins; fruits densely white-hair}' or cottony 



EUROTIA. p. 76. 



Leaf-margins not rolled under; fruits not cottony. 



Bracts surrounding fruit united into a single roundish or oval flattened sac- 

 like structure notched at the tip; branchlets spine-tipped 



GRAYIA, p. 76. 



Bracts surrounding fruits separate, or if united nearly to the tip, the tips 

 pointed or 3-toothed and the backs with tooth-like swellings 



ATRIPLEX, p. 76. 



Greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus Torr.). — Much-branched shrub, 3 

 to 5 feet high, with spine-tipped branchlets; bark white, or becoming gray 

 or blackish; leaves alternate, linear, fleshy, flat above, rounded below, i/^ to 2 

 inches long, smooth; male flowers borne in dense, cylindrical, cone-like clus- 

 ters at the ends of short branches; female flowers small, inconspicuous, green- 

 ish, without petals, borne on short branches in the leaf-axils, often on dif- 

 ferent plants from the male flowers; fruits small, with a thin, wavy, rufBe-like 

 wing around the middle. 



This shrub is characteristic of the dry, alkaline plains through the West, 

 especially in areas having black alkali soil which is considered worthless for 

 agricultural purposes. The bushes are intricately branched with many of the 

 rigid branchlets becoming spine-like at the tips, the small fleshy leaves, young 

 stems, and seeds are eaten by many forms of wild life. The plant is particu- 

 larly valuable as winter feed, ranking in importance with winterfat and big 

 sagebrush. The green twigs as well as the seeds were eaten by the Indians. 

 The wood is used as fuel by the Hopi Indians. 



Occurrence. — YELLOWSTONE: Gardiner River north of Mammoth Hot Springs; be- 

 tween Mammoth and Gardiner. MESA VERDE: Navajo Canyon at mouth of Spruce 

 Canyon. 



Desert Blight (Suaeda Toneyana Wats.). — Straggly, more or less 

 woody, evergreen plant, 1 to 3 feet high; leaves linear, fleshy, 1/2 to 1 inch 

 long, or the upper reduced; flowers small, inconspicuous, without petals, borne 



