66 ELEMENTS OF BOTANY. 



III. SALSOLA. 



Herbs, annual or perennial; stems diffusely branched; 

 leaves alternate, fleshy ; flowers solitary in the axils, sessile, 

 perfect, 2-bracted ; calyx o-parted, the lobes becoming winged ; 

 stamens 5 ; style slender, stigmas 2 ; utricle flattened at the 

 apex, enclosed in the persistent calyx. 



S. Kali L. Saltwort. Annual ; stem very diffuse, smooth or 

 slightly pubescent, 1-2 ft. high ; leaves dull or grayish-green, succu- 

 lent, subulate, spine-tipped, ^-1 in. long ; flowers solitary in the axils ; 

 the calyx with a dilated, membranaceous, rose-colored wing. June- 

 September, Sandy sea beaches. 



33. AMARANTACEiE. AMARANTH FAMILY. 



Usually herbs, or a few species becoming shrubby ; leaves 

 simple, alternate or opposite, exstipulate ; flowers perfect or 

 imperfect, mostly greenish and inconspicuous and crowded in 

 bracted spikes or heads ; sepals 3-5, free or united at the 

 base ; petals none ; stamens 1-5, opposite the sepals, fila- 

 ments distinct or united ; pistil 1, ovary subglobose, 1-celled, 

 1-seeded ; fruit a utricle, usually circumscissile. 



L AMARANTUS. 



Herbs, annual ; stems erect or diffuse ; leaves alternate, 

 usually petioled, entire and mucronate ; flowers greenish or 

 purplish, crowded in dense axillary and terminal spikes or 

 clusters ; sepals 2-5, distinct ; stamens 2-5 ; stigmas 2-3, 

 recurved; utricle 2-3-toothed at the apex, circumscissile, 

 usually enclosed by the calyx. 



1. A. HYBRiDus L. Slender Pigweed. Annual; stem smooth 

 or nearly so, erect, branching, 2-6 ft. tall, often purplish; leaves 

 ovate or ovate-oblong, obtuse, notched or tapering at the apex, 

 mucronate, pale beneath, petioles long and slender ; flowering spikes 

 numerous, panicled, the terminal one long and slender, the others 

 shorter ; sepals acuminate, shorter than the subulate bracts ; utricle 



