Atbiplex. CVI. CHENOPODIACEiE. 467 



2. S. AMBiGUA. Michx. Dubious or Prostrate Samphire. 



Perennial, procumbent, branching ; jaints small, crescent-shaped ; spikes 

 opposite and alternate; cal. truncate; anth. pui-plish-yellow ; stig. 2. — A small 

 species, found in the vicinity of New Bedford, Ms. Dewey. 



2. salsGla. 



Latin salsus, salt. 



Calyx 5-parted. persistent, embracing the fruit with its base, and 

 crowning it with its enlarged limb ; styles 2 ; seed horizontal ; 

 embryo spiral. — Salt-marsh herbs, icith li?iear or subulate leaves. 



1. S. Kali. 



Herbaceous, decumbent; Zrx. subulate, channeled, spinose, smooth; cal. 

 margined, axillary— A rigid, prickly and very branching plant, of the sea- 

 coast, N. Eng. ! to Ga. Stem 1— 2f high, diffuse. Leaves about an inch long, 

 sessile, ending with a spine. Flowers green, succulent, sessile, bracteate. 

 Seed cochleate, enclosed in the calyx. Aug. Used in the preparation of soda. 

 0. CaroUniana. {Nuit. S. Caroliniana. Walt.); Ivs. dilated; cal. with a 

 broader margin ; st. smooth. 



2. S. SODA. 



Herbaceous, glabrous; branches ascending; Ivs. semiterete, rather acute; 

 cal. in fruit transversely connate, somewhat membranaceous. — In N. Y. Muh- 

 lenberg, who also attributes S. Tragus, another European species, to the shores 

 of N. J. But this is very uncertain. July. ^ 



3. SPINA CIA. 



Lat. spina, a prickle ; on account of the spiny processes of the fruit. 



Flowers c? 9. — c? Calyx 5-parted ; stamens 5. 9 Calyx 2 — 4-cleft ; 

 styles 4, capillary ; utricle contained within the indurated and some- 

 times muricated calyx. 



S. OLERACEA. Spinage. — Lvs. hastate-lanceolate, petiolate ; fr. sessile, prickly 

 or unarmed. — (J) Native country unknown, but it has long been a common 

 plant in gardens, and in some esteem as an esculent. Stem 1 — 2f high, with 

 leaves between hastate and sagittate, 2 — 3' long, and nearly half as wide, taper- 

 ing at base into a long petiole. Flowers greenish, the sterile ones in a ter- 

 minal-panicle, the fertile ones in dense, sessile, axillary racemes. June, July. 



4. ACNiDA. Mitchell, 

 Gr. a. not, Kviii), the nettle ; a nettle-like plant which doea not sting. 



Flowers c? 9- — c? Calyx 5-parted ; stamens 5. 9 Calyx 3-parted; 

 stig. 3 — 5, sessile ; utricle 1 -seeded. — Herbaceous weeds, mostly aquatic. 



1. A. CannabIna. Water Hemp. 



Lvs. ovate-lanceolate; caps, smooth, acute-angled. — ® In salt marshes 

 and inland swamps. Can. and U. S. Stem furrowed, smooth, 2 — 4f high. 

 Leaves alternate, petiolate, 2 — 5' long, tapering to a long point. Panicles 

 axillary and terminal, with numerous small, green flowers. Aug. 



2. A. RCSCOCARPA. Michx. 



Lts. oval-lanceolate ; caps, obtusely angled, rugose. — (T) Can. and U. S. 

 A tall, branching, unsightly plant in similar situations with the last. Stem 

 6 — 8f high, angular. Flowers greenish-white, in terminal and axillary spikes. Jl. 



5. ATRIPLEX 



Fls. monoeciously polygamous. ? Calyx 5-parted ; sta. 5 ; style 

 bipartite ; utricle depressed, invested in the calyx. 9 Calyx 2-leaYed ; 

 sta. ; style and fruit as above. — Mostly ®, rarely shrubby plants. 

 Lvs. alternate. Fls. glomerate, 'paniculate, c? and 9 on the same plant. 



1. A. iiORTENsis. Garden Orache. Golden Oroxhe. 



St. erect, herbaceous; lvs. triangular, toothed, of a uniform color both 

 sides; cal. of the fruit ovate, reticulate, entire. — il) Sparinglv naturalized in 

 40 



