THE SPECIES AND THE VARIETY AS ECOLOGICAL UNITS 103 
specific name Atriplex longipes (fig. 2). The name has disappeared 
from modern handbooks, or else it has been discarded with the re- 
mark that it refers to abnormal plants of other species. The »abnor- 
mal» characteristic meant is the long-stalked, leafy, fruiting bractlets, 
a characteristic found by me to be a hereditary feature peculiar 
to these southern types. Going up along the west coast, north of the 
Sound, we meet with a third set of types, which by cultivation have 
been found to be genotypically different from the eastern and southern | 
representatives. Forms belonging to this variety are now included 
under the specific name Atriplex hastifolium, Sariss. in systematic 
4 
Fig. 1. Atriplex praecox from the east coast (pot 12 cm. high). 
handbooks (fig. 3). They have certain characteristics in common with 
the southern and eastern groups, but are easily distinguished from 
these. The flowering period, although coming earlier than in other 
Atriplex species, falls later than in À. praecox and À. longipes. 
There can be no question that these three »species» belong to 
the same ecospecies. They form as such a natural group with an 
almost uninterrupted distribution all along the coast, occupying the 
lowest zone of the shore nearest to the water, where no other species 
of the genus thrive well. A cross made between A. longipes and A. 
