﻿Nelson : New Plants from Wyoming 203 



would thrive in soil heavily impregnated with alkali. A number 

 of imported species have been highly recommended and have 

 been tried with varying success. Since those that give' greatest 

 promise are species of Atriplcx it is interesting to find some native 

 species in this genus that look as if they might prove profitable, or 

 at least worthy of trial. These species, one a perennial and the 

 other an annual, both inhabit saline basins or banks even to places 

 actually encrusted with the prevailing salt. They may be named 

 and described as follows : 



► 



A TRIP LEX PABULARIS. 



Dioecious, perennial, persisting by the very short woody base 

 which branches freely at or just above the surface of the ground ; 

 the annual branches nymerous and somewhat fascicled, strict and 

 usually but slightly branched, 2—5 dm. high ; entire plant with 

 closely appressed white scurf: leaves oblong to almost linear, obtuse, 

 cuneate at base, sessile or very short-petioled, 1—5 dm. long, 1 — 12 

 mm. broad : staminate panicle leafy, dense and short (5-15 cm.) : 

 pistillate panicle leafy, dense and long (more than half the length 

 of the stem) : fruit uniformly triangular-cuneate, decidedly com- 

 pressed, 4-5 mm. long, almost as broad at summit : bracts united, 

 marginless, the somewhat truncate summit three-toothed, the middle 

 one slightly longer and the lateral ones bearing an inconspicuous 

 rudimentary one ; the teeth of the otherwise closely appressed 

 bracts slightly divergent, their sides perfectly smooth, i. ?., not 

 crested nor muricate. 



From the Desert of Wyoming where it is found in abundance 

 on the highly saline soil of the low flats immediately adjacent to 

 such streams as Bitter Creek and Salt-Wells Creek. It endures 

 the strongest alkali soil, making a dense growth and a large 

 amount of forage which is highly prized as sheep fodder. 



In general appearance it most resembles A. Nuttallii S. Wats., 

 but is easily distinguished by its less woody base, its denser growth, 

 its more strictly erect habit, its habitat and especially by the very 

 distinct character of its fruiting bracts. 



Numbers 3712 and 4429 from Point of Rocks, Wyo., 1897. 



Atriplex volutans. 



Annual, silvery-scurfy throughout, divaricately and most in- 

 tricately branched ; branches ascending ; the plant at maturity a 



