18 SPRING FLORA 



green or greenish; monoecious, dioecious, polygamous 

 or perfect. Calyx persistent (sometimes wanting) ; 

 2-5-lobed or parted, or reduced to a single sepal. 

 Corolla none. Stamens equalling in number, or less 

 than, the calyx-lobes, and opposite them. Anthers 

 2-celled. Pistil of 1-3 stigmas, an equal number of 

 styles, and a "superior," 1-celled and 1-ovuled ovary. 

 Fruit a utricle. 



Flowers perfect or polygamous; not enclosed in bract- 

 lets i. Monolepls 



Flowers monoecious or dioecious, the pistillate enclosed 



in 2 bractlets 2. Atrlplex 



1. MONOL.EPIS. 



Low and homely glabrous or somewhat mealy annuals. 

 Leaves small; alternate; petioled. Sepal 1, green and bract- 

 like. Stamen 1. Styles 2. 



1. M. Nuttalliana (R. & S.) Wats. (M. chenopodioides Moq.) 

 Much-branched from the base, somewhat succulent, rather 

 pale-green. Leaves lanceolate-hastate, changing upward into 

 leafy bracts. Flowers small, clustered in the axils; often red- 

 dish. Saline soil. May-July. 



2. ATRIPL.EX. (Obione.) Saltbush; Orache. 



Herbs or shrubs, usually mealy or scurfy. Flowers often 

 in spikes; staminate flowers bractless and consisting of a 3-5- 

 parted calyx and 3-5 stamens; the pistillate without perianth 

 biit bracted, the bracts enlarging in fruit. Styles 2. 



Bracts not winged on the back; leaves ovate to 



obovate 1. A. confertifolla 



Bracts broadly 4-winged on the back; leaves oblanceolate 



to narrowly oblong 2. A. canescens 



1. A. confertifolia "Wats. Shad -scale. A shrubby much- 

 branched perennial, 1-4 ft. hfgh; the branches somewhat spiny. 

 Leaves entire; wedge-shaped at base. Flower-clusters small 

 and axillary. Bracts round-wedge-shaped, united at base; 

 thick and scurfy; their margins entire. Dry exposed places 

 among rocks (especially calcareous tufa) on hills. June. 



2. A. oanescens (Pursh) James. A pale-green, shrubby, 

 much-branched perennial; 1-4 ft. high. Leaves entire. Flowers 

 mostly dioecious, in short, terminal spikes and in axillary 

 clusters. Bracts ovate, united nearly to their tops; their wings 

 thin, sinuately dentate. Dry saline soil. June-July. 



