174 SALSOLACEiE. 



densely spiked : perianth of 4 or 5 concave carinate sepals more or less 

 united : pericarp free from the oblong seed, this 3^ line long or less. — 

 Plentiful in alkaline soil at Byron Springs ; also in Tulare Co. In 

 characters of the flower and fruit this group differs greatly from Sali- 

 cornia proper ; but there are wider differences, of the same kind, within 

 the limits of Alriple.r as now received, not to speak of the great diversities 

 of habit between true Atriple.r and the Obione section ; consistency 

 therefore forbids the dismemberment of the old Saliconiia, at least until 

 Ohione and other genera shall have been restored. 



9. SUJEDA, Forskaal (Sea Elite). Saline herbs or shrubs, with 

 alternate fleshy linear entire leaves, and axillary sessile usually perfect 

 flowers. Perianth minutely bracteolate, 5-cleft or -parted, fleshy ; lobes 

 unappendaged, more or less carinate, crested or winged, enclosing the 

 fruit. Stamens 5. Styles 2, 3 or 4, short and thick. Pericarp mem- 

 branous, free or slightly adherent to the vertical or horizontal lenticular 

 seed. Testa shining, black and crustaceous. Embryo spiral: albumen 

 scant. 



* Annuals. 



1. S. diffusa, Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. ix. 88 (1874). Erect, }4-~l% ft. 

 high, with elongated usually flexuous branches, glabrous or more or less 

 pubescent •: leaves semiterete, narrow at base, acute or acuminate, % — 1 

 in. long, the floral ones shorter, rather distant on the branches : clusters 

 2 — 4-flowered : perianth cleft below the middle, the segments not carinate 

 or appendaged : seeds usually vertical, }^_ line broad, very smooth. — In 

 alkaline soils east of the Sierra Nevada ; but also on the western side 

 near Fort Tejon, Blake. 



2. S. depressa, Wats. 1. c. ; Pursh. Fl. i. 197 (1814), under Salsola. 

 Low and usually decumbent, with short ascending branches : leaves 

 semiterete, broadest at base, }4 — 1 in. long, the floral ones shorter and 

 oblong, or ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, rather crowded : perianth cleft to 

 the middle ; lobes somewhat unequals acute, one or more of them 

 strongly carinate or crested : seed vertical or horizontal, }4 line broad, 

 very lightly reticulate. — East of the Sierra only. 



* * Perennials, often woody at base. 



3. S. Californica, Wats. 1. c. 99 (1874). Stout, 2—3 ft. high, very 

 leafy, glabrous or somewhat pubescent : leaves broadly linear, subterete, 

 not wider at base, 3^3 — 1 in. long, acute, crowded on the branchlets : fl. 

 large, 1 — 4 in each axil : perianth cleft nearly to the base ; lobes not 

 appendaged : seeds vertical or horizontal, nearly 1 line broad, faintly 

 reticulate. — Apparently confined to the vicinity of sand beaches about 

 San Francisco Bay, and seldom seen. 



