AMARANTH FAMILY 255 



Pistillate infloresconce of slender interrupted spikes: fruit cireuinscissilc. 1. A. tamariacina. 

 Pistillate inflorescence of closely clusteied spikes; fruit indehiscent or irregularly splitting. 



2. A. altissiina. 



1. A. tamariscina (Xutt.) Wood. Stem erect, much branched, 1-2 m. 

 long; le:if-blu(h's lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, obtuse or notched at the apex, 

 entire or imdulute; bracts lanceolate, spinulose-tipped, scarious-margined. 

 Swamps and alluvial soil: 111. — S.D.— Colo. — N.M. — La. Plain. Jl-S. 



2. A. altissima Riddell. Stem 1-3 m. high, with flexuose branches; leaf- 

 blades lanceolate to rhombic-ovate, entire; bracts rigid, acuminate; sepals of the 

 staminate flowers lanceolate, acuminate. A. tuberculata Moq. Swamps: Ont. 

 —S.D.— Colo.— Ohio. Plain. Jl-S. 



3. TIDESTROMIA Standi. 



Annual or perennial herbs, with stellate pubescence and mostly opposite, 

 entire or merely imdulate, short-pet ioled leaves. Flowers perfect, subtended by 

 3 bracts, solitary or clustered in the axils. Sepals 5, unequal, pubescent. Sta- 

 mens 5; filaments united at their bases; anthers 1-cell'^d. Ovary 1-celled; styles 

 short; stigmas capitate or 2-lobed. Ovules solitary. Utricle subglobose, inde- 

 hiscent. [Clndothri.t Nutt., not Cohn.] 



1. T. lanuginosa (Nutt.) Standi. Annual; stems diffusely branched; 

 branches ascending or prostrate, 1-6 dm. long; leaf-blades rhombic-ovate to or- 

 bicular, entire, 0.5-2 cm. long; flowers in axillary clusters; bractlets obtuse; 

 utricle glabrous, included in the calyx. Cladothrix lanuginosa Nutt. Dry soil: 

 Tex.— Kans.— Utah— Ariz. ; Mex. Son. Jl-S. 



4. FROELICHIA Moench. 



Annual or biennial herbs, with woolly or silky pubescence and opposite, 

 entire or undulate leaves. Flowers perfect, subtended by 3 bracts, in dense 

 spikes. Calyx 5-lobed, woolly; tube longitudinally crested or tubercled at 

 maturity. Stamens 5, included; filaments imited into a tube; anthers 1-celled. 

 Ovary 1-celled; styles short or wanting; stigmas capitate or brush-like. Utricle 

 indehiscent, enclosed in the tube of the filaments. 



Stout, 4-12 dm. tall; crest of fruiting calyx continuous, dentate. 1. F. campestris. 



Slender, 2-5 dm. high; crest of fruiting calyx interrupted, forming distinct spines. 



2. F. gracilis. 



1. F. campestris Small. Biennial or annual; leaves numerous and ap- 

 proximate below; blades .s])atulate to oblong or broadly linear, acute, white- 

 woollv beneath; sjiikes 1-10 cm. long. F . floridana Coult. & Nels., not Moq. Dry 

 or sandy soil: Minn.— 111.— Okla.—N.M.— Colo. Plain— Son. Je-S. 



2. F. gracilis Moq. Annual or perhaps biennial; stem usually branched at 

 the base, 2-3 dm. high; leaves numerous near the base of the plant, often clus- 

 tered; blades linear-oblanceolate or linear-oblong, 1-5 cm. long, acute, white- 

 woolly; spikes 1-3 cm. long. Sandy vallevs: la. — Ark. — -Tex. — Ariz. — Colo.; 

 Mex. Plain— Son. Jl-S. 



F.\MiLY 40. NYCTAGINACEAE. Four-o'clock Family. 



Annual or perennial licrbs (all ours), usually with swollen nodes, and 

 alternate or opposite leaves, without stipules. Flowers regular, ijerfect, 

 often subtended by bracts forming a calyx-like involucre. Perianth simple, 

 corolla-like, campanulate or funnelform. Stamens 1-maiiy. Pistil solitary; 

 ovary 1-celled, surrounded by the perianth-tube. Fruit indehiscent, angled, 

 ribbed, or winged. 



Bracts distinct. 



Fruit crested or winged; bracts in a whorl at the base of the hoad-like cluster; peri- 

 anth salverform. 

 Bracts conspicuous 



Wings not completely encircling the fruit, interrupted above and below. 



1. Adhonia. 



