290 
BOTANY. 
small clusters axillary along tlie leafy brandies, sessile ; bracts nearly orbic- 
ular, becoming 3-5" in diameter, united and cuneate at the indurated com- 
pressed base, and dilated upward, obtuse, entire or rarely with a few lateral 
teeth, waxy farinaceous. — Abundant in the alkaline valleys of the Great 
Basin and extending southward into New Mexico, Arizona, and Northern 
Mexico; 4-6,000 feet altitude; April-October. O. spinosa, Moquin, col- 
lected by Nuttall, should be the same, judging from the description. (983.) 
Obione hymenelytra, Torr. Bot. Mex. Bound. 182. Pac. R. K Ptep. 4. 
129, t. 20. Stem shrubby, 2-3^ highj much-branched, the branches un- 
armed, subterete, hoary; leaves subdeltoid-orbicular, or truncate or sub- 
cordate at base, 1-li' in diameter, coarsely and acutely sinuate-dentate, 
densely hoary-scurfy ; flowers dioecious, the staminate in dense clusters col- 
lected into axillary and terminal paniculate spikes ; bracts reniform-orbicular, 
membranous, very entire, united only at base, the disk naked; fruiting 
bracts over 4" in breadth, reticulately veined, the short pedicel tumid and 
spongy. — Colorado Desert and on the Lower Gila; Southern Utah, (Pal- 
mer, 1870.) 
Obione Torreyi. Shrubby, 2 3° high, much branched, the short 
divaricate rigid l>ranchlets usually spinescent, scurfy-pulverulent ; leaves del- 
toid-hastate, 4-1' long, the smaller becoming ovate or oblong, entire, obtuse 
or acutish, mucronulate ; flowers dioecious, in numerous small sessile clus- 
ters, the staminate crowded in spreading panicles terminating the branch- 
lets, the pistillate more scattered along nearly simple branchlets, which are 
leafy only toward the base ; bracts of the flowers minute, ovate, obtuse and 
entire, united at base, densely farinaceous ; fruit unknown. — Near O. acan- 
thocarjm, Torr., but apparently very distinct, though the specimens are only 
in flower. Very frequent in the dry valleys bordering the Truckee and 
Carson Rivers, where it was also collected by Dr. Torrey (463 ;) July, 
August. (984.) 
Obione argentea, Moq. DC. Prodr. 13. 2. 115. Annual and herb- 
aceous, 6-15' high, branching from the base, the branches ascending, densely 
mealy-canescent, especially when young; leaves rather thick and fleshy, 
4-2' long, usually hastate or deltoid, sometimes rhomboidal or ovoid, atten- 
uate into the short petiole, obtuse or acutish, entire or rarely sinuate- 
toothed ; flowers monoecious, in sessile axillary clusters upon the leafy 
branches ; staminate clusters small ; bracts somewhat orbicular, united at 
