* 

 Atriplex. CHENOPODIACE.E. 51 



Membranous or spongy, not muricate nor margined. 



Monoecious, herbaceous and procumbent, leafy : leaves sessile, the 



lower opposite. 15. A. CALIFORNICA. 



Dioecious, erect and shrubby : spikes in naked panicles : leaves 



petioled, ovate to triangular-hastate. 

 Branches terete, divaricate, rarely spinescent : bracts compressed, 



united to above the middle. 16. A. LENTIFORMIS. 



Branches angled, spinescent: bracts compressed, distinct. 17. A. TOKKEYI. 



Branches terete, unarmed : bracts convex, united to the middle. 18. A. BUEVVEUI. 

 Fruiting bracts large, thick and scurfy, united at base, not muricate, 



the rounded margins free and entire : erect shrubs. 



Bracts sessile : leaves.ovate to oblanceolate, entire, nearly sessile. 19. A. COXFEUTIFOUA. 



Bracts pedicellate : leaves rounded, acutely dentate, pctioled. 20. A. HYMENELYTKA. 



Fruiting bracts connate, not scurfy nor muricate, with four distinct 

 broad veined and entire or toothed wings : erect shrub, with ob- 

 lanceolate to linear leaves. 21. A. CANESCENS. 



* Monoecious annuals, mostly erect, branching, somewhat succulent and mealy: 

 leaves triangular-hastate, at least the lower ones, rather large: bracts distinct 

 or nearly so, ovate-oblong to broadly triangular or hastate, the margin and 

 apex usually foliaceous in fruit : radicle inferior or ascending. 



1. A. patula, Linn. Usually stout, decumbent or erect, 1 to 4 feet high, dark 

 green and smooth or somewhat mealy : leaves lanceolate to broadly triangular- 

 hastate, obtuse or acute, entire or coarsely sinuate-toothed, 1 to 4 inches long, peti- 

 oled, the lower opposite : flower-clusters dense, in naked spikes or panicles, usually 

 largely pistillate : staminate calyx small, 5-parted : bracts ovate-rhombic to broadly 

 triangular or hastate, very variable, often becoming 3 to 6 lines long, mostly sessile, 

 the margin usually foliaceous, entire or toothed, the sides sometimes muricate : seed 

 dark, about a line broad : radicle lateral. 



A species common to this country and the Old World, ranging across the continent, in saline 

 or brackish localities. The broad leaved form, var. hastafa, Gray, is frequent in salt-marshes 

 near San Francisco. The more slender var. Jittoralis, Gray, with linear-lanceolate or linear 

 leaves, rarely hastate or toothed, is found on the Columbia River, and probably occurs farther 

 southward. The bracts vary greatly in size and form, scarcely exceeding the seed or very large 

 and conspicuous. The leaves are equally diverse, and several species and numerous varieties have 

 been based upon the various forms of the plant. 



2. A. phyllostegia, Watson. Erect, | to 1| feet high, scurfy-mealy or at length 

 glabrous : leaves alternate, rhombic-ovate to triangular or hastate, J to 2 inches 

 long, acute or acuminate, entire or sparingly sinuate, the lower on slender petioles : 

 flowers nearly dioecious, mostly axillary : staminate calyx 5-parted, a line broad : 

 bracts linear-lanceolate to cordate-ovate, acute or acuminate, becoming 2 to 6 lines 

 long and 2 lines wide, sessile or pedicellate, foliaceous ; the sides somewhat indu- 

 rated in fruit, 3-nerved, the lateral nerves often bi-tuberculate and spongy : pedicels 

 broader and often spongy above, 3 lines long or less : styles included : seed brown- 

 ish, scarcely line broad: radicle nearly superior. liev. Chenop. 108. Obione 

 phyttosteyia, Torrey ; Watson, I>ot. King Exp. 291. 



Hillsides and valleys, in subalkaline soil, in Southern California and Western Nevada ; Mo- 

 have Valley (Cooper) ; near Ojai, Peckham. Apparently nearly as variable as the last; very 

 distinctly marked in fruit. 



3. A. spicata, Watson. Stout, erect, 2 feet high, mealy : leaves alternate, 

 rhombic-ovate, acute, coarsely and irregularly sinuate-toothed, about 2 inches long, 

 attenuate to a short petiole : flowers mostly staminate, in dense axillary and terminal 

 naked and somewhat panicled spikes : staminate calyx large, 4-parted with broad 

 rounded lobes: bracts nearly concealed by the male flowers, 1J lines long, ovate- 

 oblong, apparently not greatly enlarged in fruit : styles long and exserted : nearly 

 mature seed ] line broad : radicle inferior. Rev. Chenop. 108. 



San Joaquin Valley, east of Mount Diablo, in alkaline soil, Brewer. Sparingly collected, and 

 mature specimens unknown. 



