96 CHENOPODIACEAE 



out, the branches slender, usually widely divergent. Leaves strongly flattened, linear, 5-20 mm. 

 long ; flowers 1-4 in the axils, the clusters not crowded ; calyx-lobes obtuse or acutish ; seeds 

 1 mm. broad, dark brown. 



Alkaline soils, Lower Sonoran Zone; southeastern California to western Arizona and adjacent Lower Cali- 

 fornia. Type locality: Lee's Ferry, Arizona. July-Oct. Typical Suaeda suffrutescens S. Wats., to which these 

 plants have been referred by some authors, is confined to New Mexico and Texas. 



6. Suaeda fruticosa (L.) Forslc. Shrubby Sea-blite. Fig. 1555. 



Chenopodium fruticosum L. Sp. PI. 221. 1753. 



Suaeda fruticosa Forsk. Fl. Aegypt. 70. 1775. 



Suaeda intermedia S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 14: 296. 1879. 



Suaeda fruticosa var. tnultiflora Torr. Pacif. R. Rep. 4: 13. 1857. 



Suaeda Moquinii Greene, Pittonia 1: 264. 1889. 



Erect or ascending glabrous perennial, woody at base, 3-8 dm. high, the branches numerous, 

 slender or stout, usually ascending. Leaves numerous, narrowly linear, 10-25 mm. long, sub- 

 terete, spreading or ascending, those of the inflorescence but little reduced ; calyx deeply cleft, 

 the lobes acute or obtuse, rounded on the back; seeds 0.8 mm. broad, black and shining. 



Alkaline and saline soils, Sonoran Zones; eastern Oregon to the coastal region of southern California, east- 

 ward to Alberta and northern Mexico; also in the West Indies, Eurasia, and Africa. Type locality: seacoast of 

 France. July-Oct. 



7. Suaeda calif ornica S. Wats. California Sea-blite. Fig. 1556. 



Suaeda calif ornica S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 9: 89. 1874. 

 Dondia calif ornica Heller, Cat. N. Amer. PI. 3. 1898. 



Glabrous or very slightly villous perennial, with decumbent or ascending stems, 2-8 dm. 

 long, woody below, the branches stout, densely leafy. Leaves narrowly linear, 15-35 mm. long, 

 ascending or erect, subterete, acute or acuminate, those of the inflorescence usually crowded 

 and but little reduced ; flowers 1 or 2 in the axils ; calyx-lobes rounded on the back, glaucous ; 

 seed 1 . 5-2 mm. broad, black, shining. 



Salt marshes along the coast, Sonoran Zones; San Francisco Bay, California, to northern Lower California. 

 Type locality: salt marshes of San Francisco Bay. July-Oct. 



8. Suaeda taxifolia Standley. Woolly Sea-blite. Fig. 1557. 



Suaeda calif ornica var. pubescens Jepson, Fl. Calif. 447. 1914. 

 Dondia taxifolia Standley, N. Amer. Fl. 21: 91. 1916. 

 Suaeda taxifolia Standley, Field Mus. Bot. Ser. 8: 10. 1930. 



Much branched perennial, densely tomentulose or short-villous throughout; the branches 

 very stout, ascending or decumbent, 2-10 dm. long, densely leafy. Leaves narrowly linear, 10-25 

 mm. long, ascending or spreading, acute or acuminate, terete, those of the inflorescence crowded 

 and little reduced; flowers 1-4 in the axils, 2.5-3 mm. broad; calyx densely pubescent, lobes 

 rounded on the back ; seed 1 . 5-2 mm. broad, black. 



Salt marshes along the coast, Sonoran Zones; southern California from Santa Barbara County to Los 

 Angeles County. Type locality: in salt marshes, Playa del Rey. July-Nov. 



Suaeda taxifolia subsp. brevif61ia (Standley) Abrams comb. nov. (.Dondia brevifolia Standley, N. Amer. 

 Fl. 21: 92. 1916.) This subspecies differs from the typical species in the shorter leaves (3-8 mm.) and the 

 smaller flowers, 1-1. 5 mm. broad. Salt marshes along the coast, Sonoran Zones; Orange County, California, to 

 Lower California. Type locality: Newport, California. 



18. SALSOLA L. Sp. PI. 222. 1753. 



Annual or perennial herbs with erect bushy-branched stems, and mostly alternate, 

 rigid subulate pungent leaves. Flowers perfect, sessile, solitary or fascicled in the axils, 

 2-bracteolate. Calyx 5-parted, its lobes appendaged by a broad membranous horizontal 

 wing in fruit. Stamens 5 or sometimes fewer. Stigmas 2 or 3, subulate; ovary depressed. 

 Utricle flattened, included in the calyx. Seed horizontal, orbicular ; embryo spirally coiled ; 

 endosperm none. [Name Latin, a diminutive of salsus, salty.] 



A genus of about 50 species of wide geographic distribution. Type species, Salsola Soda L. 



1. Salsola Kali var. tenuifolia Tausch. Russian Thistle. Fig. 1558. 



Salsola Kali var. tenuifolia Tausch, Flora 11: 326. 1828. 



Salsola pestifer A. Nelson, in Coult. & Nels. Man. Bot. Rocky Mts. 169. 1909. 



Much branched annual forming dense brushy clumps, the stems slender or stout, the branches 

 glabrous or sometimes scabrous or pubescent. Leaves slender, nearly filiform, the lower 3-6 cm. 

 long, pungent, glabrous or minutely scabrous, green or glaucous, the upper shorter and broader, 

 somewhat indurate in age ; fruiting calyx 3-6 mm. broad, the wings membranous, conspicuously 

 veined and usually reddish, or the lowermost flowers sometimes merely carinate or with very 

 narrow veinless wings; seed black and shining, 1.5-2 mm. broad. 



In cultivated fields and waste places; becoming a troublesome weed in the Pacific States, especially in the 

 dry interior parts. Naturalized from Eurasia. July-Oct 



