378 AMARANTACEiE. (AMARANTH FAMILY.) 



rounded at the apex by a circular wing. Stamens 1-2. Styles united below. 

 Utricle included in the calyx. Embryo coiled, or bent into a ring. — Smooth 

 and succulent saline plants, with jointed leafless stems. Flowers three together ; 

 the lateral ones sometimes sterile, minute. 



1. S. herbacea, L. Annual; stem erect, much branched; the joints 

 thickened upward, obtusely 2-toothed at the apex ; spikes long, tapering to the 

 summit. — Salt marshes along the coast, Georgia, and northward. August. — 

 Stem 6'- 12' high. 



2. S. ambigua, Michx. Stem shrubby, prostrate or creeping ; the branches 

 herbaceous, erect ; joints truncate, dilated upward, slightly 2-toothed ; spikes 

 cylindrical, obtuse, the uppermost approximate, sessile, the lateral ones pedun- 

 cled. — Sandy marshes along the coast, Florida, and northward. Aug. — Stem 

 2° -3° long, the branches 4'- 6' high. 



5. CHENOPODINA, Moquin. 



Flowers perfect, bracted. Calyx 5-parted, fleshy, inflated and berry-like in 

 fruit. Stamens 5. Stigmas 2-3, spreading. Utricle depressed, enclosed in 

 the calyx. Seed horizontal, lenticular. Embryo flat-spiral, dividing the scanty 

 albumen into 2 portions. — Smooth saline plants, with fleshy terete alternate 

 leaves, and axillary clustered flowers. 



1. C. maritima, Moquin. Annual ; stem diff'useTy much branched ; leaves 

 linear, acute ; calyx-lobes obtuse, keeled ; stamens exscrtcd. — Low sandy places 

 along the coast, Florida, and northward. Sept. — Stem l°-3° high. Leaves 

 l'-2'long. Flowers minute. 



6. SALSOLA, L. Saltwort. 



Flowers perfect, 2-bracted. Calyx .5-parted, the lobes at length transversely 

 winged. Stamens 5, slightly united at the base. Style slender : stigmas 2. 

 Utricle flattened at the apex, enclosed in the persistent calyx. Embryo conical- 

 spiral. Albumen none. — Saline plants, with alternate and fleshy leaves, and 

 axillary flowers. 



1. S. Kali, L. Smooth; stem spreading, ascending; leaves subulate, spine- 

 pointed, like the ovate bracts; flowers solitary; calyx-lobes connivent, with the 

 dilated, membranaceous wing rose-colored. (S. Caroliniana, Walt.) — Sandy 

 shores, Georgia, and northward. Aug. 3) — Stem 1°- 1^° high. 



Ordkr 109, AMARANTACEiE. (Amaranth Family.) 



Chiefly herbs, with simple e.xstipulate leaves, and inconspicuous scarious- 

 bracted flowers, which are commonly crowded in spikes or heads. — Sepals 

 3-5, free, or united at the base, scarious, imbricated in the bud. Stamens 

 3-5, hypogynous, opposite the sepals, free, or united below, often with 



