Bailey & Bailey: Woody Plants of National Parks 77 



Bushes not spiny; leaves linear to oblong, % to 2 inches long. 



Fruit with 4 conspicuously winged bracts; wings thin, roundish, !/4 to '/2 inch 



long, the margins smooth or irregularly toothed or frayed 



2. A. canescens. 



Fruit with 2 ihickish spongy bracts united nearly to their tips; bracts convex, 

 pointed or 3-toothed at the tip, crested on the backs with conspicuous 

 teeth-Iike appendages 3. A. Cardneri. 



1. Shadscale, Spiny Saltbush (Atriplex confertifolta (Torr. 8C 

 Frem.) Wats.). — Compact, round-topped shrub, 1 to 4 feet high, many of the 

 branches ending in spinose tips; leaves thickish, egg-shaped to almost round, 

 rounded at the tips, I/4 to 2/3 inch long; flower clusters small, borne in the 

 leaf-axils; fruits with 2 broad, more or less triangular wings 1/3 to nearly 1 

 inch long at the top. 



Occurrence. — mesa VERDE : near junction of Navajo and Spruce Canyons. 



2. FouRWiNG Saltbush (Atnplex canescens (Pursh) Nutt.). — Round- 

 topped rigidly branched shrub 1 to 5 feet high with grayish-white herbage; 

 leaves narrowly oblong or broader at the tip, % to 2 inches long, finely 

 scurfy-fuzzy; flowers tiny, greenish or yellowish, borne in dense clusters in 

 the leaf axils or on short branches; fruits small seed-like structures with 4 

 conspicuous wings, the wing I/4 to 1/2 inch long and two-thirds as broad. 



Occurrence. — MESA VERDE: mouth of Spruce Canyon, 6,300 feet. ZION, common 

 in the lower canyons, 3,500 to 4,500 feet: near west entrance. GRAND C.XNYON, 2,500 

 to 7,000 feet. South Rim, occasional : Pasture Wash ; 2 miles south of Yaki Point. 

 Canyon, common, 2,500 to 4,000 feet: Phantom Ranch; Kaibab trail about 1% miles 

 below Yaki Point; switchbacks below Tip-off; Bright Angel trail about 1 mile above 

 Indian Gardens; Kaibab trail on Tonto north of the Colorado River; Shinumo Creek. 



3. Gardner Saltbush (Atnplex Gardneri (Moquin) Standi.). — Low, 

 diffusely-branched shrub, 2/3 to 3 feet high, with greenish scaly foliage; leaves 

 oblong, tapering to the base; male flowers borne in narrow, dense clusters at 

 the ends of the branches; female flowers clustered in the leaf-axils and at 

 the ends of the stems; fruits with 2 more or less spongy convex wings, the 

 wings more or less egg-shaped, with toothed margins and irregular swellings 

 on the sides. (Syn. A. Nuttalli Wats.). 



Occurrence. — YELLOWSTONE: between Mammoth and Gardiner. MESA VERDE: Nav- 

 ajo Canyon below Spruce Canyon. 



Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae) 

 Clematis, Virgin's Bower, Leather-flower (Clematis L.) 



The woody-stemmed Clematis species are mostly vines, commonly climbing 

 over bushes, trailing over the ground, or sometimes climbing trees. The 

 flowers, although without true petals, are quite conspicuous because of the 

 white or purple-blue petal-like sepals. The fruits, which develop rapidly 

 into small seed-like achenes with long white-fuzzy tails, are clustered into 



