252 CHENOPODIACEAE 



15. SALSOLA L. Saltwort, Russian Tuistle. 



Annual or perennial herbs, or shrubs, bushy-branched, with narrow, entire, 

 spine-tipped, rigid leaves. Flowers perfect, solitary or several together in the 

 axils, with 2 bractlets. Sepals 5, appendaged with a horizontal wing at matur- 

 ity. Stamens 5, rarely less; filaments linear or subulate. Ovary l-celletl, more 

 or less depressed; styles 2. Utricle flattened; seeds erect; endosperm wanting; 

 embr>'o spiral in form of a cone. 



1. S. Pestifer A. Nels. Divaricately branched annual; stem 3-10 dm. high; 

 leaves filiform, somewhat fleshy, 2-6 cm. long, spine-tipped; bracts subulate, 

 5-10 mm. long, with stout si)ines; calyx membranous, conspicuously veiny, 6-7 

 mm. in diameter. >S. Tragus Reichenb., not L. Waste places, fields, and loose 

 sandy soil: Ont. — N.J. — Tex. — Calif. — Wash. Plain — Submont. Jl-S. 



16. DONDIA Adans. Sea Elite. 



Annual or perennial herbs, or shrubby plants, more or less fleshy, with al- 

 ternate, narrow, terete leaves. Flowers perfect or polygamous, solitary or 

 clustered in the upper axils, bracteate. Sepals 5, keeled or narrowly winged at 

 maturity. Stamens 5; filaments short. Ovary 1-celled, rounded or flat on the 

 top: styles often 2. Utricle surrounded by the calyx; seeds horizontal or vertical; 

 endosperm wanting or scant. Embryo coiled in a flat spiral. [Swaeda Forskal.j 



Sepals more or less fleshy, but none of them carinate; leaves narrowed at the base. 

 Plant perennial, stout. 



Seeds tubercled. 1. D. Torreyana. 



Seeds not tubercled. 2. D. intermedia. 



Plant annual, more slender. . 3. D. nigra. 

 Sepals very fleshy, one or two decidedly carinate. 



Leaves subulate, broadest at the base; flowers crowded. 



Plant depressed, spreading. 4. D. depressa. 



Plant erect, strict. . 5. D. erecla. 



Leaves narrowed at the base; spike slender; flowers not crowded. 6. D. occidentalis. 



1. D. Torreyana (S. Wats.) Standi. Undershrub, woody at the base; herbace- 

 ous branches 6-10 dm. high, glabrous or somewhat jiubescent, with strongly 

 ascending branchlets; leaves subterete, filiform, 1-4 cm. long, acute; bracts similar 

 but shorter; calyx deeply cleft; seeds 1.5 mm. broad. Sivoi-da Torreyana S. Wats. 

 S. Moqu'ni (Torr.) A. Nels., in part. Salt marshes: Wyo.^ — ^Tex. — N.M.^ — ^Calif. 

 — Nev. (Son. — Submont. Je-S. 



2. D. intermedia (S. Wats.) Heller. Undershrub, woody at the base; 

 herbaceous branches 2-5 dm. high, glabrous, with branchlets ascending but not 

 strongly so; leaves narrowly linear, narrowed at the base, 1-2 cm. long; bracts 

 shorter and broader; calyx deeply cleft, not appendaged; seeds small, less than 

 1 mm. broad. Swaeda intermedia S. Wats. Alkaline soil : Ida. — Utah — Ariz. — 

 Calif. Son. 



3. D. nigra (Raf.) Standi. Erect or ascending annual; stem diff'usely 

 branched, 3-5 dm. high; branches long and flexuose; leaves filiform, terete, 1-3 

 cm. long, acute; bracts similar, but much shorter, usually less than 1 cm. long; 

 calyx cleft to just below the middle, fleshy; seeds vertical, 1 mm. broad, smooth. 

 Swaeda diffusa S. Wats. D. diffusa (S. Wats.) Heller. Sage plains and alka- 

 line soil: Wyo. — N.M.^ — Ariz. — Ore.; n Mex. Plain. Jl-S. 



4. D. depressa (Pursh) Britton. Low and decumbent annual; stems 

 branching at the base, 2-10 dm. long; leaves hnear, subulate, 1-3 cm. long; bracts 

 5-10 mm. long, rather crowded on the branchlets; calyx cleft to the middle; 

 seeds about 1 mm. broad, slightly reticulate. Chenopodium calceolariforme 

 Hook. Siraeda depressa S. Wats. Dondia calceolariformis Rydb. SaUne or 

 alkaline soil: Sask. — Kans. — Nev. — Mont. Plain — Submont. Jl-S. 



5. D. erecta (S. Wats) A. Nels. Erect annual; stems rather simple or 

 with short erect branches, very leaf}^; leaves slender, 2-4 cm. long; bracts often 

 more than 1 cm. long; calyx cleft below the middle; seeds smooth, nearly 1.5 mm. 

 broad. Alkaline or saline flats: Sask. — Colo. — ^Nev. — Mont. Plain — -Mont. 

 Jl-S. 



