AMARANTH FAMILY 255 



Pistillate inflorescence of slender interrupted spikes: fruit cipcamscissile. 1. A, tamariscina. 



Pistillate inflorescence of closely clustered spikes; fruit indehiscent or irregularly spUttuig. 



2. A. alUssima. 



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

 long; leaf-blades lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, obtuse or notched at the apex, 

 entire or undulate; bracts lanceolate, spinulose-tipped, scarious-marguied. 

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



2, A. altissiina 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, iuberculata 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 undulate, 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 l-cell':^d. Ovan.- 1-celled; styles 

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

 hiscent. [Cladothrix Nutt., not Cohn.l 



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

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

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

 utricle glabrous, included in the cah-x- 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 erested or tubercled at 

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

 Ovary 1-eelled; 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. I. F. campestris. 



Slender. 2-5 dm. high; crest of fruiting calyx interrupted, formmg distinct spmes. 



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

 proximate below; blades spatulate to oblong or broadly linear, acute, white- 

 woolly beneath ; spikes 1-10 cm . lon^. F. floridana Coult. & Nels- , not Moq. Dry 

 or sandv soil: Minn.— 111.— Okla.—N.M.— Colo. Plain— Son. Je-b. 



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

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

 tered; blades hnear-oblanceolate or linear-oblong, l-o cm. long, acute, white- 

 woolly; spikes 1-3 cm. long. Sandy valleys: la.— Ark.— Tex.— Ariz.— L-olo.; 

 Mex. Plain — Son. Jl-S. 



F.wiiLY 40. N7CTAGINACEAE. Four-o'clock Family. 



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

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

 often subtended by bracts f ormins a ealyx-hke involucre. Perianth simple, 

 corolla-like, campanulate or funnelform. Stamens 1-many Fistil solitary; 

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



ribbed, or winged. 



^'^Frtuf cres'ted or winged; bracts in a whorl at the base of the head-like cluster; peri- 

 anth salverform. 



^"■tvings^'not'completely encircling the fruit, interrupted *bove and^below. 



