Salicornia.] cxvu. CHENOPODIACEJE. (J. D. Hooker.) 13 



Stem woody, 12-18 in., thick at the base, much branched ; branches about -J in. 

 diatn. ; lobes of joints with (when dry) membranous margins. Flowers 3-nate. 

 Stamen 1. Utricle ovoid, subacute, styles distinct. Testa thinly coriaceous ; embryo 

 hooked, both ends pointing downwards. Moquin erroneously cites Nepal as a 

 habitat, and suggests its not being distinct from S. herbacea, which it does not 

 resemble. Roxburgh describes the perianths as flask-like, fleshy, with a longitudinal 

 slit for the exsertion of stamens and styles, and as adhering together firmly and to the 

 joints till the seed is ripe. 



XIV. SUJEDA, Forsk. 



Herbs or shrubs. Leaves fleshy, terete, rarely flattish. Flowers minute, 

 axillary, usually 2-sexual, bracteate and 2-bracteolate. Perianth short, 

 5-lobed or -partite ; lobes or segments equal or unequal, simple or gibbous 

 or subwinged. Stamens 5, short. Utricle included, membranous or spongy ; 

 stigmas 2-5, minute, subulate, recurved. Seed erect, oblique or horizontal, 

 testa crustaceous or coriaceous, albumen scanty or ; embryo piano-spiral. 

 Species about 40, in saline shores and deserts. 



Many annual species have dimorphic flowers ; viz. summer ones with albuminous 

 seeds and crustaceous testa, and autumnal ones with larger almost exalbumiuous seeds 

 and a membranous testa. I am far from sure that I have correctly determined the 

 names and synonymy of the Indian species. 



* Perennials. Styles usually 3-5, rarely 2. 



1. S. fruticosa, Forsk. Fl. JEg. Aral. 70 ; suberect or decumbent, 

 branches erect or divaricate, leaves ^-terete linear or ellipsoid obtuse floral 

 very short, spikes slender leafy, flowers axillary solitary or 2-3-nate, 2- 

 sexual, fruiting perianth subglobose segments obtuse incurved, styles 3 

 short, seed vertical or horizontal, testa black shining. Boiss. FL Orient, iv. 

 939; Moq. in DC. Prodr. xiii. 2. Salsola fruticosa, Linn.; Grah. Cat. 

 Bomb. PL 17; Engl. Sot. t. 635; Cav. Ic. t. 285 ; Sibth. Fl. G-rcec. t. 255. 

 S. indica, Wall. Cat. 6946 C. S. Lana, Edgew. in Hook. Journ. Bot.il 

 (1840) 286 ; Moq. L c. 190. 



NORTH-WEST INDIA ; from Delhi, and throughout the Panjab, westward to the 

 Indus, common in the plains. DISTRIB. Westward to the Atlantic, Africa and 

 America. 



Stem and branches usually slender. Leaves very variable, i-| in. long. I have 

 seen no specimen of Edgeworth's Salsola Lana, which I assume from his description 

 and locality to be S. fruticosa. Bunge, according to Boissier (Fl. Or. iv. 950, 

 under Haloxylon recurvum) refers it to Schoberia indica. 



2. S. monoica, Forsk. Fl. <3Za. Aral. 70 ; shrubby, branches suberect, 

 leaves linear flattish obtuse, spikes leafy panicled, flowers axillary 2-3-nate 

 polygamous, bracts minute scarious entire, fruiting perianth obovate-oblpng 

 lobes obtuse incurved, styles 2-5 short, seed vertical, testa black shining. 

 Boiss. FL Orient, iv, 940 ; Moq. in DC. Prodr. xiii. 2. 156 ; Wight Ic. 1. 1792. . 

 S. nudiflora, Thwaites Enum. 246. 



SOUTH DECCAN ; on the sea coast at TINNEVELLY, and Tuticorin, Wight. CEYLOX, 

 Moon, &c. DISTBIB. Arabia, Trop. Africa. 



I am in great doubt about this Indian plant, which in a dry state is difficult to 

 distinguish from S. fruticosa and vermiculata. Boissier, 1. c. 940, says that Thwaites' 

 S. indica is S. monoica, but Thwaites quotes Wight Ic. t. 1796, which has densely 

 crowded flowers (not 2-3 together as Boissier describes). Boissier (under S.frnticosa) 

 further says that all the specimens he has seen of S. indica, Willd., are . Ferable 

 to S. fruticosa or monoica. The plant I have here called monoica is Wight's 1. 1792 ; 



