OF ARTS AND SCIENCES. 125 



3. S. AMBiGUA, Michx. Steins decumbent and rooting at the joints 

 or ascending, from a rather woody perennial rootstock, ^-1 foot long, 

 simple or simply branched, "■ greenish turning lead-color ; " spikes 

 ^-1 inch long, slender, short-jointed, the scales short, acutish or acute ; 

 flowers nearly equal in height and equalling the joint ; seed pubescent, 

 ■^ of a line long. — Seacoast from Massachusetts to Florida and Texas ; 

 Oregon and California. S. fruticosa of the Old World differs in being 

 erect, stouter and more branched, the seed larger and smooth. 



SaUcornia andtigita. Miclix., Flora, 1. 2. Elliott, Sketch, 1. 4. Spreng. 

 Syst. 1. 18. Torrey, Flora N.Y. 2. 141 ; Bot. Wilkes's Exp. 438. Chap- 

 man, Flora, 378. 

 , Scilicornia radlcnns. Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. 2. 125. 



Arthrocnemum (?) ambiguuin. Moquin, Enum. Chenop. 112; DC. Prodr. 

 132. 151. 



Arthrocnemum fruticosum, var. CaUfornicum. Moquin, DC. Prodr. 13^. 151. 



Newberry, Pac. R. R. Rep. 6. 88. 

 SaUcornia fruticosa. Torrey, Pac. R. R. Rep. 5. 304. 



SaUcornia herbacea. Cooper, Pac. R. R. Rep. 12. 68. Bolander, Catalogue, 25. 

 Collectors: — Blodgett ; Scouler; Chamisso ; Wilkes; 264 Druniraond; 



Lindhehuer; Wright; Lyall; Cooper; 2491 Brewer; Allen. 



17. SPIROSTACHYS, Sternberg. 



Flowers perfect, arranged spirally by threes in a crowded spike, in 

 the axils of fleshy subsessile bracts. Calyx of 4 (rarely 5) concave cari- 

 nate imbricated sepals, more or less united. Stamens 1-2, with slender 

 filaments at length exserted. Ovary oblong, axial : styles 2, rarely 3, 

 usually distinct. Fruit vertical, the membranous pericarp free from 

 the seed. Seed oblong, with a double membranous testa : albumen 

 rather copious, nearly three-fourths surrounded by the embryo ; radicle 

 inferior and basal, much longer than the cotyledons. — Alkaline or 

 saline jointed shrubs with alternate leafless branches, the branchlets 

 fleshy, green, with short scalelike leaves. 



IMuch confusion lias existed in regard to the genera of this tribe 

 (Salicornece) since the time of Moquin, whose errors have been pointed 

 out by Fenzl, Bunge, and more recently and fully by Sternberg. 

 The present genus was founded upon the South American species 

 S. Rilteriana, the only other species known. Arthrocnemum and Ha- 

 lostaehys, to which they have been referred, are genera with opposite 

 branches, &c., like SaUcornia. An Asian genus, HalojJeplis, is dis- 

 tinguished mainly by its superior radicle. 



1. S. occiDENTALis. Erect, diffusely branched, 2-5 feet high. Leaves 

 very short, broadly triangular and amplexicaul, acute, often neaidy 



