50 KEY AND FLORA 



a. C. arbum L. LAMB'S-QUARTER, PIGWEED. Annual, erect, 

 simple or branched. Leaves cold to the touch, covered with a flour- 

 like powder, from lanceolate to ovate, wavy and toothed. Flowers 

 in spikes, either simple or panicled, and axillary or terminal. This 

 is common in cultivated ground. 



b. C. Califor'nicum Watson. SOAP PLANT. Perennial, from a 

 spindle-shaped root. Steins smooth, usually several from the root, 

 spreading and ascending. Leaves triangular, 2-3 in. long, sharply 

 and irregularly toothed. Flowers densely clustered in long, slender, 

 terminal spikes. Seed large, vertical, only partly covered by the 

 5-toothed, bell-shaped perianth. This blooms in spring, often under 

 bushes. Near the coast, from San Diego to San Francisco Bay. 



c. C. murale L. Stems generally reddish, with some flour-like 

 powder, branching rather closely, forming a compact plant, a foot or 

 two high. Leaves broadly triangular to lanceolate, coarsely and deeply 

 sinuate-toothed. Flowers generally in small clusters in the leaf axils, 

 shorter than the leaves. Sometimes the clusters are panicled at the 

 top of the stems. Seeds black with sharp edges. Common every- 

 where. 



d. C. ambrosioi'des L. WORMSEED. Stems annual, stout, and 

 branching, 2-3 ft. high. Leaves lance-shaped, 2-5 in. long, sinuate- 

 dentaie, on short petioles. Flowers in axillary spikes, or in panicled 

 leafless spikes. The entire plant has a strong, persistent, aromatic 

 odor. It is common in salt and alkaline marshes. 



II. AT/RIPLEX, Salty Sage 



Herbs or shrubs, mealy, scurfy or pubescent. Flowers in 

 simple or panicled spikes, or clustered in the axils. Staminate 

 flowers with the divisions of the perianth 3-5, and stamens 

 opposite the divisions. Pistillate flowers enclosed by 2 bracts, 

 which are distinct or united, variously toothed, or with wart- 

 like protuberances or winged, often thickened. Seed vertical, 

 generally falling with the bracts which enclose it. 



a. A. Califor'nica Moquin. Stems many from the base, spreading 

 on the ground a foot or more, densely mealy. Leaves sessile, small, 

 lanceolate, the lower opposite. Flowers monoecious in small, axillary 

 clusters, the staminate ones mostly near the top of the cluster. 

 Fruiting bracts small, round, spongy, not toothed, and ivithout wart-like 

 protuberances. This is found along the coast. 



b. C. canes'cens James. BUCKWHEAT SAGE, SALTY SAGE. 

 Shrubby, dioacious. Leaves grayish green, linear or oblanceolate. 

 Flowers in panicled spikes. Fruiting bracts with 4 distinct dilated 



