176 Key to the System of 



844. Fruit-calyx without any stalk-like prolongation. 



Quite shrubby, restricted to the coast, often tall ; leaves 

 succulent, glistening, from lanceolar to oval, entire ; 

 clusters of staminate flowers mostly in paniculate spikes, 

 those of pistillate flowers generally solitary and axillary ; 

 segments of the fruit-calyx from deltoid to rhomboid. 



A. cinereum. 



Fruit-calyx on a stalk-like prolongation ... ... 845 



845. Stalk-like prolongation nearly as long as the segments 



of the fruit-calyx. 



Desert-plant, somewhat shrubby ; leaves from narrow- 

 elliptical to obovate, entire ; clusters of staminate flowers 

 mostly in paniculate spikes, of the pistillate flowers some 

 axillary and solitary ; segments of the fruit-calyx almost 

 renate. A. stipitatum. 



Stalk-like prolongation considerably shorter than the 

 segments of the fruit-calyx. 



Coast-plant, somewhat shrubby, often prostrate ; leaves 

 from elliptic to lanceolar, entire ; clusters of staminate 

 flowers mostly in paniculate spikes, of the pistillate 

 flowers some solitary and axillary ; segments of the fruit- 

 calyx from deltoid to cordate and renate. 



A. paludosum, 



846. Fruit-calyx closed to near the middle ... ... 847 



Fruit-calyx closed to near the summit ... ... 849 



847. Fruit-calyx entirely of foliaceous texture. 



Quite shrubby ; leaves hastate-ovate, entire or somewhat 

 denticulated ; staminate and pistillate flowers on the same 

 plant, the clusters of the former in paniculate spikes, of 

 the latter axillary ; fruit-calyx turgid, rhomboid, entire 

 and without any appendages. A. rhagodioides. 



Fruit-calyx succulent and red towards the base ... 848 



848. Prostrate. 



Almost herbaceous ; leaves small, from lanceolar- to cuneate- 

 oval, often denticulated ; staminate and pistillate flowers 

 on the same plant, in axillary clusters or some solitary ; 

 fruit-calyx rhomboidal. A. semibaccatum. 



