CHENOPODIACE^. (gOOSEFOOT FAMILY.) 405 



the branches, more or less scurfy ; fruiting bracts triangular-ovate or rhom- 

 boitlul, entire or toothed below, smooth or rauricate within. — Sea-shore, South 

 Carolina (Elliott). June- Sept. — Stems l°-2°loug. 



3. OBIONE, Gjertn. 



Chiefly as Atriplex, both in character and habit ; but the two indurated 

 bracts more or less united, often tootlied on the edges and crested on the sides, 

 and the radical superior. 



1. O. arenaria, Moquin. Plant coated with silvery scales ; stem branch- 

 ing from tlie base, ascending ; lowest leaves opposite, obovate, entire, petioled, 

 the others alternate, nearly sessile, lanceolate or oblong, acute, Avavy and 

 slightly toothed ; sterile flowers in close terminal spikes ; the fertile in axil- 

 lary clusters ; bracts 3-toothed at the summit, and with two mostly toothed 

 knobs at the sides. — Drifting sands along the coast. July - Sept. (T) — 

 Stem l°-2° high. Leaves 1'- l.J' long. 



2. O. cristata, Moquin. Plant scurfy, green ; stems diffusely branched ; 

 leaves oblong, mucronate, petioled, denticulate, green above, paler beneath ; 

 bracts roundish, acute, somewhat spiny-toothed on the margins, and witii 2-4 

 roundish knobs at the sides. — Sandy coast. South Florida. — Stem l°-l2° 

 high. Leaves ^' - r long. Flowers clustered. 



4. SALICORNIA, Tourn. Glasswort. 



Flowers perfect, lodged in excavations of tlie tliickened upper joints of the 

 stem, spiked ; calyx thin, with a denticulate border, at length spongy, and 

 surrounded 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. herbaeea, L. Annual; stem erect, much branched; the joints 

 tliickened 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. mucronata, Bigel. Annual; stem erect, branching, 1° high, tlie 

 joints 2-toothed at the apex ; spikes rather short and thick; seed round-oval. 



— Coast of North Carolina, and northward. Sept. 



3. S. ambigua, Michx. Stem shrul)by, prostrate or creeping; the 

 branches herbaceous, erect ; joints truncate, dilated upward, slightly 2- 

 toothed ; spikes cylindrical, obtuse, the uppermost approximate, sessile, the 

 lateral ones peduncled. — Sandy marshes along the coast. August. — Stem 

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



5. SUiEDA, Forskal. 



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 lea\es, and axillary clustered flowers. 



