52 CHENOPODIAGEJS. Atriplex. 



* * Monoecious annuals, not succulent, mostly lotv, more or less white~pubem2ent 

 or scurfy : leaves mostly small : bracts not greatly enlarged in fruit, more or 

 less united, sessile: radicle superior (except in n. 4). 



-i- Fruiting bracts very small, united, not indurated, ovate, entire, not margined or 



in any way appendaged. 



4. A. pusilla, Watson. Very slender, much branched from the base and leafy, 

 erect, 3 to 6 inches high, hoary : leaves broadly ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 2 to 4 

 lines long or the floral ones much smaller, acute, entire, sessile : flowers minute, 

 solitary, or one of each sex in the axils : calyx deeply 5-cleft : fruiting bracts half 

 a line long, acutish, compressed: styles exserted : seed nearly filling the sac; testa 

 thin. Eev. Chenop. 110. Obione pusilla, Torrey ; Watson, Bot. King Exp. 291. 



In alkaline valleys, Northwestern Nevada. 



+- - Fruiting bracts small, more or less united, somewhat indurated, herbaceously 

 margined at least at the summit and toothed ; the sides sometimes muricate, 

 somewhat 3-nerved : leaves alternate, not triangular or hastate. 



H- Bracts cuneate-orbicular, less than li lines broad, united to above the middle, 

 only the truncate or rounded summit margined. 



5. A. tnmcata, Gray. Hoary, rather stout, erect and mostly strict, 1 to 3 feet 

 high, simple or sparingly branched : leaves broadly ovate to lanceolate, acute, trun- 

 cate or cordate at base, sessile or the lower shortly petioled, to 1| inches long: 

 flower-clusters mostly axillary and androgynous : calyx usually 3 - 4-cleft : fruiting 

 bracts 1J lines long, cuneate-obovate or fan-shaped with a narrow herbaceous 

 coarsely (3-) toothed truncate summit, the more or less thickened and convex sides 

 often somewhat muricate : seed scarcely half a line broad. Proc. Am. Acad. viii. 

 398; Watson, 1. c. 111. Obione truncata, Torrey ; Watson, Bot. King Exp. 271. 



Frequent in dry valleys from Oregon to Northwestern Nevada. 



6. A. xnicrocarpa, Dietrich. Minutely puberulent and slightly hoary, the 

 numerous slender reddish branches nearly glabrous : stems \ to 1 foot long, spread- 

 ing and decumbent : leaves oblong or oblong-ovate, 3 to 5 lines long, acute at each 

 end, sessile : flowers in small axillary clusters, the terminal ones usually more 

 staminate : calyx deeply 5-cleft : fruiting bracts round-obovate, nearly a line broad 

 or usually less, the rounded summit narrowly bordered with 3 to 7 small herbaceous 

 teeth ; sides frequently somewhat muricate or 1-nerved : seed \ line broad. Wat- 

 son, 1. c. 112. Obione microcarpa, Benth. Bot. Sulph. 48. 



Near San Diego. Specimens from the streets of San Diego (D. Cleveland) differ in being more 

 farinose, the decumbent herbaceous stems (6 inches long or less) from an apparently perennial 

 caudex ; fruiting bracts larger, a line broad or more, and more herbaceously margined, 3-nerved ; 

 seed \ line broad. They are perhaps A. Coulteri, Dietr. 



7. A. bracteosa, Watson. Rather stout, suberect with spreading flexuous 

 branches, 2 or 3 feet high, mealy : leaves thin, sessile, lanceolate, very acute or 

 acuminate, | to 1 inch long, acutely sinuate-dentate or the uppermost entire : 

 staminate flowers in dense clusters in a naked terminal simple or compound spike : 

 calyx deeply 5-cleft : fruiting bracts in small axillary clusters, cuneate-orbicular, 

 1 to 1| lines broad, the upper rounded margin irregularly gash- toothed ; the sides 

 often somewhat muricate: seed less than half a line broad. Rev. Chenop. 115. 

 Obione bracteosa, Dur. & Hilg. in Pacif. R. Rep. v. 13, t. 14. 



On Pose Creek (ffeermann), described as forming large bushes ; near San Diego, Palmer. 



8. A. Coulteri, Dietrich. Erect, a foot or two high, slender, virgate, rigid, 

 branched and mealy : leaves lanceolate, attenuate at each end and mucronulate, 

 entire, rather thick, 4 to 6 lines long, a line broad or less : fruiting bracts in axil- 

 lary clusters, cuneate-orbicular, a line broad, the rounded margin reaching nearly to 



