PLUMBAGINE^ (LEAD WORT FAMILY.) 513 



scarious-margined, the lower one-third the length of the upper; flowers 

 .003 long; calyx-tube hairy, longer than triaugular-lobed limb — June 

 to November — Coast of Mediterranean and Dead Sea. 



4. S. Sicbcri, Boiss. 21 .2 to .5, glabrous-glaucescent. Leaves 

 ohovate-spathulate, long-petioled, .02 to .04 long. Lower branches 

 sterile, upper dichotomous. Spikelets 1-2-flowered, straight, forming 

 lax, one-sided spikes ; bracts brown, coriaceous with rusty, scarious 

 margin, the upper thrice as long as the lower; calyx-tube hirtulous, 

 much longer than limb — June to November — Rocks along seashore. 



5. S. virgata, Boiss. 2X .2 to .3, glabrous. Leaves oblong- 

 to lanceolate-spathulate, tapering to a long petiole, .02 to .03 long. 

 Lower branches sterile, upper dichotomous. Spikelets 2-4-flowered 

 usually incurved, forming lax, one-sided spikes; bracts coriaceous, rusty' 

 scarious-margined, the upper four times as long as the lower; calyx- 

 tube hairy, tioice as long as limh — Summer — Coast. 



6. S. rorida, S. et Sm. If .2 to .4, tubercular-roughened. 

 Leaves oblong to oblong-spathulate, tapering to a long petiole, .01 to 

 .02 long. Lower branches sterile, upper ending in one-si ded^ .01 Ion"- 

 spikes; spikelets 1-3-fiowered, nearly straight; lower bracts mem^ 

 branous, one-third as long as upper, coriaceous ; calyx-tube hirtulous, 

 with short limb — Late summer and autumn — Phoenician coast. 



T. S. pruinosa, L. % Aryal. Milleih. .4 to .5, furfuraceous. 

 Leaves soon disappearijig, obovate-spathulate to obovate-cordate, taper- 

 ing into a petiole. Scapes panicled with brittle, fiexuous- angled 

 branches, beset at nodes with tawny, triangular scales; lower branches 

 sterile, forked, jointed; spikelets 1 -flowered, arranged in scorpioid, 

 .01 to .015 long spikes; lower bracts ovate, acutish, one-fourth as long 

 as the inner, obtuse ones ; calyx-tube obconical, glabrous, as long as 

 obtusely 5-lobed limb — Spring — Valleys and plains around Dead Sea, 

 and northward; coast. 



S. S. Palmyreiisis, Post. Sp. nov. q (Plantse Postian. Fasc. 

 III. p. 16). .3 to .5, glabrous-glaucescent, depressed-punctate; branches 

 erect, densely leafy below. Leaves fleshy, linear-sjjathulate, .01 to .035 

 long, .001 to .002 broad at tip, semicylindrical, obtuse, sheaths broad- 

 ovate, acutish, not auricled. Flowering branches panicled; spikelets 

 1-3-flowered, spikes .008 to .01 long, 1-2-ranked; bracts reddish, 

 white-margined, not keeled, obtuse; calyx-tube hairy at ribs, limb half 

 as long as tube, lobes ovate, scarious —November — Salt marshes; 

 Palmyra, and eastward. 



♦ * Corolla gamopetalous. Spikelets densely spiked. Annuals. 



9. S. §pieata, Willd. .2 to .8, sparingly papillose-pubescent 

 or glabrescent. Leaves oblanceolate, petioled, entire or runcinate-pin- 

 natifid. Scapes a little longer than leaves; spikes 1- od, sessile, cylindri- 

 cal, the lower distant, the upper crowded; spikelets 2-4-flowered; 

 bracts brownish, papillose, the lower oblong-spathxdate, stipitate, in- 

 curved, awned, the upper broader, shorter, truncate at apex ; calyx-tube 

 glandular-hispid below, limb with 5, triangular, aristate lobes — Spring 

 — Salty places along coast, in Jordan Valley, around Dead Sea, and in 

 Merj of Damascus, and eastward. 



68 



