674 AMAllANTACEiE. (AMARANTH FAMILY.) 



* * Fruit a yncmbranoxis utricle, with 1, crustaceous seed. 

 I StamtHodcs 0. Stamens as many as sepals. 

 3. AMARANTUS. Utricle circumscissile. Sepals 5-3. 



3. ALBEKSIA. © Utricle indehiscent. Sepals 3. 



t t Staminodes 5, alternating with 5 stamens. 



4. -tERVA. 21 rannous, desert herbs with shrubby base. Leaves alternate. 



5. ACIIYRANTIIES. ^ Pubescent, (not desert) shrubs. Leaves and brandies opposite, 



the latter jointed. 



1. DICrERA, Forsk. Digera. 



Flowers hermaiDhrodite, tlaree-bracted, ternate, the intermediate 

 fertile, the lateral sterile, changed into a branching crest. Sepals 5, 

 glabrous, somewhat unequal, erect. Stamens 5, free, subulate, anthers 

 2-cclled. Staminodes 0. Ovary 1-ovuled. Style filiform, stigmas 2, 

 recurved, short. Caryopsis crustaceous, nearly globular, included in 

 calyx, indehiscent. Seed vertical, lenticular, witn a thin, membranous 

 testa. Albumen central; embryo annular, peripheral; radicle some- 

 what ascending — Herbs, with alternate leaves, and spiked flowers. 



D. arveiiyi§, Forsk. If ,3 to .5; stems irregulary tetragonal, 

 striate, glabrous. Leaves ovate or rounded, acute or obtuse, petioles 

 glabrous or slightly ciliolate. Spikes slender, somewhat panicled, .15 

 long, .006 to .008 broad, rigid; flowers white or pinkish, .001 long; 

 sepals twice as long as bracts, sometimes by abortion 4, ovate-lanceolate, 

 the outer acute, 3-nerved, the inner obtuse, 1-nerved, shorter; crests 

 shorter than fruits, the lower branches recurved, nearly entire, the 

 upper incurved, nearly 3-lobed — 



Var. pereiiiiaiis, Moquiu. Stems decumbent. Leaves usually 

 lanceolate, .04 to .05 long, .015 broad, acute — Ghor-es-Safieh, and 

 Ghor-elFeifeh. 



2. AMARANTHS, L. Amaranth. 



Flowers polygamous-monoecious, 3-bracted. Sepals 5-3, equal, 

 erect. Stamens as many as sepals, free, filaments subulate, anthers 2- 

 celled, Staminodes 0. Style 0. Stigmas 2-3, subulate-filiform. Utricle 

 ovate, tapering, 2-3-beaked, circumscissile, 1 -seeded, with a membran- 

 ous pericarp. Seed vertical, lenticular-reniform, crustaceous; axil 0. 

 Albumen central; embryo circular; radicle inferior — Annuals, with 

 alternate leaves, and flowers in panicled spikes or axillary clusters. 



* Stamens and sepals 5. 



f Floicers red or 2'>urple, rarely pale. Utricle a little Idnger titan calyx. 



1. A. liypoclioii(lriacii§, L. .3 to .8, glabrous or scabrid- 

 ulous, erect. Leaves iong-petioled, oblong -lanceolate ^ ciineate, acuminate. 

 Spikes of panicle erect, cylindrical, oltuse, the termijial longer :, bracts 

 long-aristate, longer than deep .purple sepals ; utricle 2-3-clef t at tip — 

 Summer — Fields and vineyards ; common. 



2. A. paiiiciilatus, L. .3 to .G, scabridulous, erect. Leaves 

 ollong-ovate, tapering at both ends. Spikes of panicle erect, cylindrical, 

 acutish, slender, the terminal longer ; bracts aristate, longer than pur- 

 ple, rarely pallid sepals; utricle 2-3-toothed at apex— Summer — 

 Fields along coast of Palestine. 



